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Showing posts with label *Bridget Taylor*. Show all posts
Showing posts with label *Bridget Taylor*. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Canal Club Show Review by Bridget Taylor

The Canal Club

Bands:
Threat of Scarlet: 7/10

Nemesis 10/10
Nemesis

Unheard Concept 9.5/10

Silk Attraction 9.5/10
Silk Attraction

A review by rokbonka aka Bridget Taylor

February 2nd was the day of two shows: The mighty Killswitch Engage at Toad’s Place and Unheard Concept with special guests at The Canal Club. I decided to ditch the Killswitch Engage show in order to hear music I haven’t experienced yet… And I was a little too late on buying a ticket. Anyway.

Would these four bands make up for a nationally recognized band?

The first band that kicked it off was Threat of Scarlet. Hailing from Richmond, these guys probably had the least show experience, so to speak. They started with an instrumental track before the lead singer took the stage. Their songs were interesting, but lacking in a bit in the variations. After growling out the performance, the vocalist thanked everyone and the band left the stage.

Nemesis was next. These guys, from Virginia Beach, epitomized the core definition of a metal show. Not only was this their first time at the Canal Club, it was also the last show of their bassist, Bruce. Not that any of that stopped them from putting on a hell raising show. The vocalist involved the crowd by getting them to yell out phrases, such as “Something Evil”, “Social!”, and. During the song “Everyone”, the band threw jumping in with their headbanging, causing a guitar peg (which holds the strap) to break off solidly. During the last song, the crowd paid tribute to Bruce leaving by giving him the bird, the only fitting way to say goodbye.

So how do you follow up that? You bring out Unheard Concept, of course. This was the mark of their 1st anniversary together, as well as their guitarist (Mike)’s 21st birthday. These guys have bonded with Nemesis (seeing as both bands are from Virginia Beach), and have another show with them March 1st; the singer came out sporting a “Nemesis” shirt as well. Throughout playing their set, free “Silk Attraction” shirts were thrown into the crowd to hype up for the next band. Not only did they rock out their songs, but also added a cover of “Ice, Ice Baby” to the mix. The only problem they had of the night (and it only occurred to them) was momentary feedback of the mic. That didn’t bother anyone, and the show carried on with more headbanging, jumping, and craziness. During the last song, all the bands and a few others were onstage, rocking out to the tune.

The final band of the night was Silk Attraction. It’s been a while since the Richmond-based band has played, and they have a busy schedule coming up (their album is due to release, and they plan to tour over the summer). They also gave out shirts as well as copies of their CD through the course of the show. Singer Jenna belted out the words with a sultry voice, accompanied by the hard riffs of guitar and bass and the steady bang of the drum. The songs were not only rock, they were also surprisingly danceable. “Poison” got the crowd to move, while “Blood” pumped fists and raised horns everywhere.

So, back to my original question: Were these bands really as cracked up as a national act? I think so. You can find all these bands on Myspace to find out what they’re doing next and listen to their hits. I highly recommend at least one show with each band – you won’t regret it.

ROCKIT.

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Rob Zombie - by Bridget Taylor

Gig Review: 01/07/2008
Headliner: Rob Zombie
Support: In This Moment
Venue: Toads Place
By Bridget Taylor

Rob Zombie with In This Moment.

A living legend and a band who spent all of last year touring their asses off. Playing together in the legendary Toad's Place, people had already started a line at 6 pm, an hour before the doors were scheduled to open. I say "scheduled" because they didn't open the place until 7:30pm. The show roughly ended at 11:15pm.

In This Moment came on for a full 30 minute set. Donned in a shiny light blue puffy dress with white outlinings, Maria Brinks stood apart from her band members (who were all dressed in black and band shirts). While screaming out the lyrics to her songs, she would occasionally rock side-to-side or lean on the ground to headbang. Honestly, she didn't do too many antics. They performed songs from their CD "Beautiful Tragedy" including Ashes and Beautiful Tragedy (saved as the last song).

One of the more spectacular sights to see was the drummer. Right before Beautiful Tragedy, he held a solo on stage, including a section where he had the audience clap as he drummed out a beat with them.

Overall, as this was my first time seeing them, it was a decent performance. My only rants are: Maria didn't seem to get into the "metal spirit" (She basically stood and walked, with occasional body twirls); Also, Maria has to choose between singing or screaming. While it works on the CD, she seems to lose her singing voice because she's prepping for a scream. The last twitch: In This Moment left after they played, so no fan sightings or autographs.

At almost 10pm, it was time for the big man: Rob Zombie. He started the show off in a bad way: His "Halloween" music came on, with pumpkins flashing on the television screens on stage (5 in total; two big ones on the stage, three small on the edge), and the audience roared. Five minutes later, it cut off, leaving another ten minutes until he actually started to perform. When Rob Zombie actually did start, the first song was "American Witch". Images of vixens and women flooded the screens; Two women dancers were in the background in corsets. Rob had the crowd riled up, jumping from speaker to speaker, letting them sing along with the songs (he stopped singing and pointed the mic out to the crowd). Also did a lot of interaction and talking to the crowd. At one point, a fan was holding up a sign, and he ripped it out her hands, saying she was crazy to hold a sign up for long, and made a reference to "American Idol".

He played a mixture of both his songs and previous White Zombie songs, such as "Living Dead Girl", "Thunderkiss '65", "The Devil's Rejects", and ending with "Dragula". Before the big finale, though, he asked John 5 (guitarist, formerly of Marilyn Manson) to "pick the next song". This led into impromptu covers of "Enter Sandman" by Metallica and "Sweet Dreams" originally by Eurythmics.

Zombie lived up to his legend of putting on a great show, but the only problem was his singing: Even though most of it WAS audible, there were times where his voice completely blended into the music. He also had fans wait outside for an hour to see him, but he once never left the tour bus. Great night. If by some chance you've had no time to see either of these bands, what are you waiting for?!

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If your on the East Coast, be sure to sign up for
MusicRVA Social Network!


And Be sure to sign up for the new Sojournstar Music Network!


and if you want to make money while having fun and promoting your band, music or business, then you must
Join me at Weblo Virtual World for Fun & Profit!