There is something to be said about a band that performs with a packed-house attitude when the only audience member dancing is a 60-year old cowboy with a habit of falling down.

Cancelled on by one of its openers, under-attended due to the 21+ age restriction and faced with a portly gentleman who run-the-well-dry as the only front-row thrasher, Highmoor had every right to put on a mediocre show Sept. 25 at Cirilo's bar in downtown Stockton.

But no, not while there are elderly alcoholics to entertain, and certainly not on the eve of vocalist Denis Crutchfield's 23rd birthday.

Despite feeling like the kid whose mom forgot to hire a magician for the party, Highmoor with remaining opener The Lowww Bros. of Merced made due and performed near- flawless sets teeming with enough energy to fill a venue a quarter of capacity.

Originally set to open with Boise, Idaho band The Franklin Coverup next to The Lowww Bros., Highmoor received a call earlier in the day with news that the nights trio of screaming, yelling and ground-stomping would instead be a coupling.

"They called me at like 5:30," Crutchfield said. "They said they have van problems and they were on the side of the road. They said they were really sorry."

The start of the evening was then handed to The Lowww Bros., a metalcore act consisting of southern-tip 209 musicians whose one-third of the evening pie suddenly became a heaping half. Sticking to an easy-to-digest six-song set, The Lowww Bros. set the tone for the event with machine-gun like drum rivets and a singer who isn't afraid to make good use of the copious space provided to him.

Apparently The Lowww Bros. were also lacking a guitarist for the show, a fact that had absolutely no effect on their performance. While a second guitarist for rhythm would have definitely added another layer to the starkness of some songs, lead strummer Anthony Perales maintained throughout the set.

Following equal portions of kicking, head-bobbing and air-punching, The Lowww Bros. gave way to the main act of the evening, Highmoor.

While it's certainly far, far, FAR past cliche to spout that a band sounds better live than on recording, I'm still going to incite the idea now. Highmoor is a group that needs to be heard live to be truly appreciated. The sound that the band composes has a definite epic feel to it, something heard from prominent metal groups, not often from local musicians playing bars.

Each song had a definite progression, split or marked by guitarists John Sangalang and Thomas Manto hitting a wailing scale amidst the room-filling thunder from drummer Baldo Pimentel, or heightened by a line from bassist Alex Casao only to be punctuated by a guttural scream from vocalist Denis Crutchfield.

All of the parts fit together well, without hiccups or technical issues from either band during performances.

Despite playing to a near-empty room, lacking a guitarist on one end and the presence of an opening act on the other, The Lowww Bros. and Highmoor put on a performance worthy of a packed house despite planning shortcomings.

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