The band Rolling Quartz hails from South Korea and are what amounts to being a Pop Rock group, but after some careful listens on Spotify and enjoying the videos posted on YouTube on their own and other peoples feeds, I felt that they deserved a more worthy clarification of Hard Rock Idols group. Truth be told my background on the band was quite limited even though I had shared along tour announcements in the past when I chanced upon them. Sometimes we go automatic here to get the content flowing and when this new tour listed a date in Queens, I knew that I had to get myself over there and learn firsthand what the magic was all about. Research discovered that they had been here once before in 2023 with two gigs at the Mercury Lounge but I was covering something else and never looked into the show and prior to that was an appearance at a popular Anime convention in another city. The regional gig for New York would be at the Queens Theatre in the Park, and I had never been there before for anything so despite it being a bit of an MTA transit journey, the idea of a brand-new artist to my adventuring and a new venue made this all the more appealing an affair. After sorting out all of the necessary details I headed to Queens which for me is an R train to N to 7 and then a substantial walk through the park. It’s relatively close to Citi Field and a Mets game was happening that night so a lot of people were out and about.
If you haven’t heard about the three sister sensation that is The Warning by now then you have some serious catching up to do because they’ve been delivering some solid Hard Rock and Roll for several years and after catching them in concert a few years ago I can honestly say that they are worth looking into. They are currently on their headlining run called the “Keep Me Fed” tour and for the regional date they would be doing two back to back performances at the Warsaw Concerts space at the tail end of Greenpoint. Now for those who have seen shows here before, you already know that this is a sizable room and for those that don’t, please know that this is a sizable room ;p
I’m always excited to visit this venue despite it being a bit of a transit haul for me because it was the neighborhood that my Grandmother came from and I remember walking around it with her quite a bit when I was very young. So The Warning was doing two nights for their “Keep Me Fed” tour and I was going to be doing my thing on the first night as I had a toy event locked in for the night after. When I arrived I noticed that the line went from the front of the venue to all the way down the block. To my knowledge the two shows were completely sold out and that is always a great thing to find happening for an artist when they come to New York City. Starting off the musical menu for the night would be a band that I was going to get my first glimpse of tonight, the band Holy Wars. I admit that I didn’t know all that much about them but I am always open to seeing new Rock and Metal and I had to say that they hit the stage like a thunderclap. There was no set list posted for me to peruse but wow did they pack a punch courtesy of lead singer Kat Leon. Guitarist Nick Perez showed some solid skills while the drummer and bassist kept their rhythm section locked in. I didn’t catch their names that night but will be making sure to keep them in mind when I see them listed as a part of any other upcoming show I will be a part of. This was a really good start to the night. Continue reading The Warning @ Warsaw Concerts (9/16/2024)→
The music scene of many cities is finally getting back to more of a normal sense of business in this post-pandemic world and while the scourge that is/was COVID-19 is still very much a thing, there is more safety thanks to vaccines and precautions. This let’s artists that have sat at home get back to work and the venues that house their performances get back to business. Sony Hall in Hell’s Kitchen off of Times Square has been bringing in some cool acts and it was fantastic to find that the Michael Schenker Group was one of the artists making a visit. I was in attendance at this much anticipated show which found the lead off band of Images of Eden starting off the night but traffic into the city was horrendous due to a nearby street festival. When I walked into the venue the band was closing it up with a cover of the Triumph classic “Fight The Good Fight”. It’s a great number and perhaps the way we should all be living nowadays as we strive for normal once again. I will hopefully catch them at some other time.
Tonight was surely going to be a good one. This was my thought process as I stepped off the LIRR train and began the short walk to the UBS Arena in Belmont. I had to say that it was rather exciting to be returning to the place so soon because I had only just been here for the very first time for an absolutely incredible show my the legendary Scorpions. The other part about the excitement came from finally being able to catch Spiritbox who would be starting this event off as the lead act and with so many colleagues in the industry being behind their musical adventures how could I not take advantage of the chance to witness them myself. I was also quite excited to find Mastodon on the tour as I’d been a fan of their sound for a number of years but haven’t been able to catch them on their last few rounds for one reason or another. Then there is the mighty Ghost and what else can be said about this enigmatic outfit that hasn’t been said already.
Now I made sure to arrive early to be sure that I could catch everyone in concert and this is something that I tell all of the Metal hears that I see at shows. You paid a lot of money for a ticket so be sure to get yourself inside the venue to enjoy the whole thing. Having arrived earlier than the time that I had to meet the folks that let you inside I wandered the general grounds and was stoked to see so many of their fans in Ghost-themed cosplay. Most of you know that I go to the New York Comic Con every year and this was finding me feeling like this was a warmup for that event. There were faux Papas of all shapes and sizes and even a bunch of sinister Sisters. I snapped photos of anyone who would let me and will feature them at the close of this article or maybe even give them their own post. Since I am not there yet I am undecided but now I was inside and ready to enjoy the sounds of Spiritbox. Continue reading Ghost @ UBS Arena (9/10/2022)→
Though the ladies in Scandal from Japan have been a band since their formation in 2006, tonight’s performance at the Sony Hall in Hell’s Kitchen would be my first time witnessing them in action. I had heard them a few months earlier when the press releases were discussing upcoming music and a live-streaming show. I didn’t participate in the streaming event because after doing a couple of them during the pandemic craziness I found that I couldn’t keep my attention to them. Let’s not forget that folks like myself are glued to the computer all day long which always made escaping the cyberworld for a live show very appealing. Despite some absolute favorites doing streaming shows like KISS and Trans-Siberian Orchestra I only managed to watch two of these kinds of things for the purpose of show review and that fell to Anthrax and Hollow Mellow, the latter one also being a Japanese artist that was very interesting.
