The S.O.G. Army, as fans are known, answered the call of duty Friday night at Fulton 55 for what was dubbed “Six Ounce Gloves 2nd Annual Last Show.”
The band, with roots in Fresno, played to an audience of 200-plus screaming, dancing and hard drinking fans.
Hollywood FAME Award’s 2007 winner for National Independent Hard Rock Band of the Year, Six Ounce Gloves is known for their unique, hard-hitting, melodic hard rock sound and that is what they brought, in full-force, to downtown Fresno’s Fulton 55.
“I think the show went great,” said Mike Bass, bassist for S.O.G. “I mean, the crowd is our meter about how we do and when they’re screaming and yelling louder than our singer?—it went really well.”
The audience—wound up tight after the second opening act, another local band called Mercury Bullet—pressed the stage with drinks and voices raised as they sang along to every song with vocalist Mitch Gordon. Gordon paced the stage like a caged, angry animal feeding off the emotion and excitement of the crowd.
The interaction between the members of the band (Gordon, Bass, Chad Brummer on guitar and Lee Tabor on drums) and the audience was like a big Rock ‘n’ Roll family reunion. In a sense, it was. In March 2011, S.O.G. held their final performance at Fulton 55 after the band decided it was time to get “real jobs” to support their growing families.
“Six months ago I was talking to this guy [pointing a thumb at Brummer] on the phone and I said, ‘Hey, we should play again,’” said Bass. “He goes, ‘I got a great idea, how about the second annual last show of Six Ounce Gloves?’ and I go, ‘I love it, that’s perfect.”
Friends and fans who S.O.G. hadn’t seen in years came out to see the band play; one in particular was brought onstage to be wished a happy birthday.
Allen Junette turned 21 Friday and celebrated at Fulton 55 with the band he has been following since his mother took him to see them when he was 13.
“I think they’re a great bunch of guys,” said Junette. “They’re very loyal to their fans. I haven’t found a band that’s stronger than them. They’re amazing people and an amazing band.”
Six Ounce Gloves writes and performs what they call “straight-forward rock” with their fans in mind.
“Whenever we write, we’re like, the crowd will really go crazy over this—let’s do this,” said Bass, and when they “do it” they do it hard, edgy and loud, the way Rock ‘n’Roll is supposed to be played. And as was evident Friday night, the crowd does go crazy.
Six Ounce Gloves released their first album “Timing is Everything” in 2006 and it’s single, “Where Do I Go,” was the #2 most requested at Fresno’s rock station KRZR 103.7. Encouraged by this success, in 2008 the band released its follow-up album “This Time for Change,” described as “intense, heavy-grooved and progressive,” and in 2011 released “It’s About Time for Everything to Change,” which has been very well received and garnered them a nomination for Best Metal Band at the 2011 L.A. Music Awards.
As of now, the band’s future is up in the air. The members are all living thousands of miles apart working what Bass calls “real jobs” to pay the bills, but they “definitely have it as a priority to write.”