If you make the Ruxton Towers/Jupiter Mining Corporation/Celebrity Judges show this Friday at the Manette Saloon, you might soon find yourself on the Internet alongside a band that is on the brink.
Kicking off around 9 p.m. Sept. 7, the show will be recorded for a live Webcast, accessible online at each band’s Web site.
And judging by Ruxton Towers’ work on its first motion picture demo — available at www.myspace.com/ruxtontowers — the Manette Webcast will likely be a sight to behold.
“It’s fun to me,” said lead guitarist Chris Mathews Jr. said. “I think one of my favorite parts is being able to see the other bands.”
Celebrity Judges, arguably the most mellow band slated for the evening, will open the Friday night set with a serving of emo-covered Tom Petty-influenced guitar licks and thoughtfully melodious lyrics.
The young Bremerton band is relatively new to the scene, but gathering momentum having played a few dates with their friends Ruxton Towers back in May, releasing a demo and also grabbing a spot on the Big Mouth Productions bill with Seattle crooner Rocky Votolato in August.
This time around, Celebrity Judges will be playing with a crew a bit more spacey as they join forces for the first time with Jupiter Mining Corporation.
The Corporation has a similarly soft rock/emo sound with cleanly structured guitar parts, spacey chords and a lyrical substance that chases the moon, wondering things like “when will I get to see Mount Rainier from the inside?”
Ruxton Towers, the aforementioned band on the brink, recently got a look at the inside of a place that rivals Mt. Rainier’s stature in the Seattle music world — 107.7 The End’s headquarters.
After getting their songs — recorded by Kitsap mastermind Tony Reed at Temple Sound Studio, released in August of last year — on the air during the radio station’s “Young and the Restless” local music show, DJ Harms invited them out for a live on-air performance in the office space.
“We were very honored and very humbled,” Mathews Jr. said of the experience. “That’s probably the largest show we’ve played without being able to see the audience.”
The band also shared the illustrious Admiral Theatre stage with a fairly large audience when they landed on the bill for MxPx’s homecoming show last year.
The energy behind Ruxton Towers’ darkened but lively emo songs is captivating as the listener travels from placid cadence to a storm and back again and again — oftentimes within the same song.
With their 12 strings combined, guitarists Mathews Jr. and frontman John Boyce put together a soothing sound that breaks into roaring distortion and fluctuating solos. Brian Mathews behind the kit and Jaymes Dunlap on bass hold it steady with head-banging beats.
“I’m playing with some very solid musicians who I love to work with and I think that shows up when we play,” Mathews Jr. said.
The band’s cohesiveness and work ethic is almost a bit surprising when you look at the diversity of their locale. About 2 years ago when the band formed, Boyce had gone to Olympia looking for musicians when he found Mathews, ironically a Bremerton stringer.
Forming their roots in Bremerton, now half of the band lives in Seattle while the other remains in B-town.
Regardless they play shows all over the place, 21+ and all ages, having jammed at Maggie O’Tooles in Seattle Sept. 1, coming to Bremerton Friday and headed back to Seattle for a show in the shadow of the Space Needle at the Funhouse — billed as Seattle’s oldest surviving punk club Sept. 9.
Also look out for an all ages gig upcoming in Bremerton at the Artists for Freedom and Unity Hall on Callow Ave. For more information, check out Ruxton Towers’ Web site.