Sometimes I wish that all weeks would kick into gear like this one had and perhaps I should explain why. Last night I caught an intimate performance by the band Naked (who were visiting our fair Metropolis from Finland) and tonight I would be hitting a sold out show at the Gramercy Theatre by the Black Veil Brides. Yes, I did say a sold out show by the Black Veil Brides and I had to admit that this upon arrival revelation surprised me just a bit, but in a very good way. You see I had caught the BVB a couple of times over the last year and while there was a decent crowd for them during those shows; it seemed that the larger populace was missing the boat on the very energetic and entertaining band. Tonight this appears to have ended.

The band was currently supporting their latest release “Set The World On Fire” on the Warped Tour and this album comes care of Lava Records. When the chance to do a fan appreciation gig was presented as an opportunity the band went for it. I had to say that it was awesome walking into a packed Gramercy Theatre as every now and again I find this not to be the case no matter who is playing. The fans were ready to go and chanting “Black Veil Brides” again and again and finally the group took to the stage at around 8:30pm. As singer Andy Six prowled the stage you could see that he was also sporting some black tape around his ribs after a recent injury while performing. The singer had climbed high above the crowd and stumbled down causing a couple of ribs to break. It was nice to see him able to perform again but I hope he is more careful when exploring the regions away from the main stage the next time. From the moment they began it appeared that all the band members were happy to be here and the energy being exuded was almost a living thing. No one up there was standing still and at one moment you would find guitarists Jinxx or Jake and the next perhaps the bassist Ashley or Mr. Six. I loved it and the crowd was going crazy but not climbing over the barrier that separates them from the stage. Six reached out to the fans in the front rows a lot during the gig and mind you they were mostly female from what I could gauge. Many of them had presents for the singer and while some handed him embroidered thing we even found one girl giving up her costume for the night. She was dressed as Batman and handed the singer the cape and cowl.

The set was a tight but yet short one as the band delivered some tunes from “We Stitch These Wounds” and their new album in a kind of a back and forth fashion. They opened with a new one in “Love Isn’t Always Fair” and followed it with an “older” tune of “All Your Hate”. This would be the first time I had heard any of the new songs to my recollection, unless they played some the last time around but to be honest, I just did not remember. Hearing it in this fashion for the fans I had to say that the recording works and the material is sound in the live sense. It surely works together well with their older tunes and the band has not switched gears suddenly to confuse anyone. Andy spoke to the crowd a few times and told them how appreciative he was of them and then he also sent a shout out to the folks at MTV so I will imagine that a number of industry big shots were there as well. I did spot Lava Records own Jason Flom who we ran into the last time around and believe it or not, Sebastian Bach was also there rocking out to the show that the band was putting on.

“Perfect Weapon” brought us closer to the end of the show and “Fallen Angels” finished it up for us all. They didn’t perform “Set The World On Fire” which surprised me as the song is currently in the new Transformers movie. It was originally supposed to be in “Scream 4” but I think more people will be exposed to it in the fighting robot blockbuster more than the ill-received Horror film. I totally enjoyed myself and felt it was great to watch the bands own identities being fleshed out a little more as they continue to grow. One thing that I would suggest for Jinxx is to watch his use of the tongue-wagging and blood stains on his mouth in the event that Gene Simmons is watching. I think he has a patent on that stuff and he is a super power that is not to be trifled with. All in all there were about 500 fans in the venue but this was still considered a sold out gig based on how many of the public tickets that were made available. The down side was how the show ended before you knew it, but the band would be back again and Andy Six swore that from the stage. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into the album as a whole now that I got a copy and I wish the band the very best of luck and continued success. Thanks for bringing some of the Metal magic and persona back at a time when it is very sorely needed and most important of all for doing a show that reminded your fans that you are nothing without their love and attention. This is a lesson that more bands need to follow.

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Official Web Site: www.myspace.com/blackveilbrides