Friday, May 16, 2003 | 8:39 a.m.
Spencer Patterson covers music for the Sun. His music notes column appears Fridays. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-2309.
As one of 10 bands on the bill for Saturday's "Our Big Concert 6" at Sam Boyd Stadium, Trapt will get to play only about half of its typical set.
Trapt singer Chris Brown says that should still be plenty of time to leave a lasting impression, given the competitive nature of hard-rock festivals.
"They've got all these great bands playing, so everyone kind of like steps up they're playing a little bit," Brown said in a phone interview from the Trapt bus, en route to Springfield, Mo., nightclub Remington's.
"It kind of inspires you to play even harder than you would, you know?"
Also on the bill for the Xtreme Radio show presented by KXTE 107.5-FM: the Deftones, Social Distortion, the Used, Taproot, Mudvayne, Taking Back Sunday, Blindside, S.T.U.N. and the suddenly omnipresent Richard Cheese & Lounge Against the Machine.
Tickets are $29 in advance and $37 on Saturday. Doors open at noon for the all-day event.
Trapt's first single, "Headstrong" is No. 4 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart this week, and the song's video is on daily rotation on MTV. The band's self-titled Warner Bros. debut is No. 43 in The Billboard 200 album chart.
Don't think of the band as an overnight success, though. The members of Trapt have been playing together for nearly six years, never giving up on their dream of landing a record deal.
"We were juniors in high school when we started in August of '97. We started making these little CDs here and there, but never pressed any copies, " begins Brown's tale of his band's slow rise to prominence.
Eventually, Trapt did press copies of its home recordings, self-releasing a pair of albums and catching the attention of Warner Bros. executives. Warner set up a private showcase, as fate would have it, on Sept. 11, 2001.
"It was in the morning, and it was all crazy," Brown recalled. "We just did six or seven songs, got through it. We got the deal and everything, but it was a really surreal feeling. It was hard to feel happy about it with that stuff happening on the East Coast."
Even if the members of Trapt couldn't enjoy their good fortune at the time, the reality of their big break began to sink in when Brown sang the lyrics to "Headstrong" in the studio for the first time.
"The first time I sang it, it just came out," Brown said. "I knew it was a good song right then, that it would connect with people. And even if it didn't, to me it's a good song."
Classified by many as another alt-metal act, Trapt actually sounds light years apart from Korn and Linkin Park on its November release. Though most of the tracks come down on the heavier side of rock, most still manage to sound hopeful, a tribute to their singer's keep-on-fighting attitude.
"Hopefully, what people get out of our music is to be themselves and do whatever it is that their heart tells them to do. Not what other people try to persuade them to do."
On sale
Rapper Nas plays the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on June 19. Tickets are $30-$50 for the 21-and-over show, and are available now at the House of Blues box office, at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 632-7600 or 474-4000 or online at hob.com or ticketmaster.com.
Britpop band Blur hits the House of Blues on June 12. Tickets are $25-$35 and go on sale Saturday at noon through the House of Blues box office and TicketMaster.
Tickets for two other House of Blues shows are on sale now. The "2003 Metal Gods Tour" featuring Rob Halford and Testament, canceled last week, is back on for June 7. Tickets are $25-$30.
Blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, backed by former Stevie Ray Vaughan rhythm section Double Trouble, plays the venue on June 9. Tickets are $25-$35.
Jam band Widespread Panic plays a pair of shows at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on July 29 and July 30. Tickets are $40.50 and go on sale Saturday at noon at the Hard Rock box office, by phone at 693-5066 or through TicketMaster.
Prog-metal acts Queensryche and Dream Theater pair up for a July 28 concert at The Joint. Tickets are $45.50 and go on sale Saturday at 1 p.m. through the Hard Rock box office and TicketMaster.
Teen hip-hop group B2K performs at the Aladdin's Theatre for Performing Arts on July 4. Also on the bill: Marques Houston, Mario, Nick Canon and DJ Justin Spalding. Tickets are $45-$65 and go on sale Saturday at noon at the Aladdin box office, by phone at 785-5000 or through TicketMaster.
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