My Google calendar is loaded with shows I know I’m interested in seeing. Every time a listing catches my eye, I mark the date, and it’s not uncommon to have possibilities lined up five nights out of a given week. Sometimes, though, I just feel like going to a show, even when the calendar stands empty. Tuesday night this feeling led me to the Funhouse.

Even before I stepped under the giant evil clown head and through the front door, I knew I had made the right decision. The sounds of opening band Shot For Shot were drifting through the walls and out to the Fifth Avenue sidewalk, and they made for a pleasant greeting. I hurried to pull out my five bucks and my ID, eager to get inside to hear more.

Shot For Shot claimed this was their first show. That may or may not be true, but I certainly can’t imagine that it is any of the members’ first band. The group’s sound was polished and their stage presence confident, with not a hint of amateurism to be found. The music itself hinted at a wide variety of influences, including rockabilly, blues, and Seventies punk. That’s a lot of musical history for just one band, but it blended seamlessly together into a sound that was classic, yet not derivative.

Next to take the stage were the Stillborn Again Christians. They got clever name points, for sure, but that actually made me suspicious; often when I hear an amusing moniker, I’m afraid the name is going to be all the band’s got going for them. Luckily, I needn’t have worried. Not only did Stillborn Again Christians’ loud, fast punk rock get the crowd revved up, but underneath the noise lurked pleasant melodies and tight playing. And though they seemed to use up most of their naming wit on the band – the songs bore titles such as “New Song,” “Punk Rock Song,” and “Last Song,”* – they had a certain good humor about them overall. “Why isn’t anyone throwing beer on us?” they demanded partway through the set, and then helpfully handed someone a beer. (Now that’s the DIY spirit.)

As the third band, Imperial Legions Of Rome, began to set up, my skeptic alarms went off again. Three of the members wore identical black robes. Now, I don’t have anything inherently against bands in costume, but I feel the getups are often a liability. If they don’t contribute something significant to the show, they’re likely going to distract the audience, and at that point everyone’s really better off without them.

Imperial Legions Of Rome would have been better off without them.

Now, they aren’t a bad band. Lead singer Eric “Spookytoof” Riley has a smooth, confident voice, and “Haunted” is well written and evocative enough to be quite disturbing. I was also impressed by the various genres the group danced through, from classic rock to metal to 70s rock. In the end, though, none of it sparked any lasting interest in me, and I spent most of the show wondering where the whole black robe idea came from. Maybe they could get a little publicity, and a little boost to their stage presence, by appearing on the first rock band edition of What Not To Wear.

*I see from their MySpace page that this is not actually the case. However, I like it that way, and so it will remain thus in my mind.

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