The streets of downtown Dallas were windy last Friday afternoon. The Deep Ellum Arts Festival kicked off the first day of a three-day run with a handful in attendance to peruse the assemblage of tents containing well, art. For me, however, the day had a much more important meaning: 3 was coming to town.
3 is not a number — it’s a band. Comprised of a lead guitarist, a drummer, a percussionist/keyboardist, a bassist and fronted by the exceedingly talented Joey Eppard on vocals and both electric and acoustic guitar, the band fuses together three distinct styles (hence the name “3”): singer/songwriter, polyrhythmic funk and straight out rock ‘n roll. Eppard classifies the sound as “hybrid rock,” and I couldn’t agree more. Their recent signing to Metal Blade Records was an unexpected move which placed them among bands such as Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under, acts who sound nothing like 3. The band members consider themselves the “white sheep” of the family.
You would think that performing on both the Woodstock ’94 and ’99 stages and opening for Coheed and Cambria at sold-out venues would bring the band a higher level of recognition, as well as a much larger listener base. Unfortunately, that assumption is incorrect. Friday’s show coaxed no more than 30 people out of the woodwork, and what a crowd they were – aside from me, only one or two other people had enough energy and enthusiasm to rock out to 3’s set.
I conversed with the band’s merch guy and drummer in the unusually wide open space that should have been packed with eager fans. Both men were visibly exhausted, but full of compelling stories nevertheless. I ran into Joey Eppard, whom I had been scheduled to interview. He invited me backstage, and I eagerly obliged.
Backstage was hosted in the adjoining Ballroom where I first discovered 3. It was a fitting spot to hold the interview. Eppard, a newly converted vegetarian, offered me some vegetables from a snack tray before he grabbed a cup of hot tea and sat down to answer my questions. I asked about the band’s history, the record deal, Woodstock and their ties to Coheed. Joey’s brother, Joshua, plays drums in Coheed. Furthermore, Coheed (formerly Shabuti) practiced in the Eppards’ living room for about a year before they hit the road and found an audience.
After the interview, I walked back into the Tea Room where a man wearing a gas mask was kneeling onstage playing guitar. The lead singer delivered an ear-shattering roar into the microphone in between sporadic fits of head-banging which caused his long, brown hair to flop back and forth like a mop. That’s how I was introduced to Yakuza. They were interesting, for lack of a more thorough opinion.
3 took the stage, waking the audience from a mental slumber. Joey Eppard was dressed in a black button-down shirt with black jeans and shoes to match. Nobody in the audience doubted that he was the front man, and that he meant business. He was flanked by an all-black Ovation acoustic-electric on the left and a hollow-body electric guitar on the right.
The band started with the opening track off of their latest album, “Wake Pig.” Eppard’s self-taught style of playing, which incorporates aspects of Spanish flamenco guitar, shined onstage despite a suffering quality of sound in the venue. The volume level for his acoustic guitar, an integral component in many of the songs, was far too low.
The lead guitarist, on the other hand, projected his licks loud and clear. Equipped with a flashy guitar that he proudly boasted was “from 1986” and wearing a Contra shirt to complete the motif, he shredded as he moved around in his limited space onstage. The band filled every inch of the stage with equipment and members, so each person was basically forced to find a spot to plant themselves in.
After playing a handful of more recent songs, 3 performed “Halloween,” a song from a previous album, to satisfy the request of a devoted fan in the audience. The highlight of the performance, however, occurred during the last song of the set, “Amaze Disgrace.”
Joey started the song off with an acoustic finger-picking piece that launched the song into a steady explosion of beautiful, melodic distortion. The solemn nature of the song, highlighted by the phrase “And don’t you fear it when you hear it stirring down below?” in the chorus, was accentuated by Eppard’s passionate vocals. The song peaked when the band continued jamming long after the lyrics finished. Eppard played his guitar with such increasing fury that he ended up busting every single string on the Ovation. The fact that he prefers playing with his bare fingers, an unconventional and rather painful choice, heightened the dramatic act of the string slaughter. The audience exploded in applause and cheers, an accurate measure of the effect of the band’s awe-inspiring impression on the crowd.
I left the Tea Room with a head buzzing from pure joy and excitement. The sound fell short, but the energy level onstage more than compensated. 3 put on an electric performance and showed the audience an even mix of passion and musicianship. It was a night to remember.
