Artist: The Aristocrats Venue: Gramercy Theatre (New York, NY) Opener: Travis Larson Band Date: 8/3/2019 Label:
Since I don’t always find myself getting to Progressive Music shows, I was really happy to be able to be on point for the recent appearance by a collective that I would say falls into the realm of Supergroup in terms of each members background. I am talking about none other than The Aristocrats, a group that formed in 2011 and features Guthrie Govan on guitar, Bryan Beller on bass and the inimitable Marco Minnemann on the drums. They would hit the ever popular Gramercy Theatre for an evening of mind-altering Progressive melodies and be joined by The Travis Larson Band. Going in I had no idea about the sound of either group, so I was very much looking forward to the musical education that I was in store for. Here is how the night progressed.
The Details: It’s been a little while since we’ve done a concert ticket giveaway contest here on the PiercingMetal website and with the legendary thrashers of Flotsam and Jetsam paying our Metal Metropolis a visit, I figured it was high time to throw one together. Over the years I’ve caught the band a couple of times and while having enjoyed a number of tunes would not consider myself the most ardent study of their work. It’s shows like these that help the interest grow and its awesome that they are still delivering the goods for the Metal Legions. The NYC show will feature a bevy of supporting acts (Dead By Wednesday, Magus Beast and The Hard Way) and thanks to the Marketing team at Live Nation, a few of our lucky readers will be seeing this show for free. The rules on how to participate are below.
When and Where: Wednesday, May 22nd at Gramercy Theatre (127 E 23rd St) 7PM Show
To Participate: I’m going to keep this an easy one for you and stick with our premise of telling me three things that you enjoy most about the band Flotsam and Jetsam and why you need to be at this show. Answers should have some meat on their bones and be better than “because they rule dude” – That stuff is a waste of time to me. Of course it’s important to follow some guidelines to make sure we are on the same page. Continue reading Win A Ticket For Flotsam & Jetsam @ Gramercy Theatre On 5/22/2019→
The Details: I’ve been a fan of The Sweet for as long as I can remember and yet despite this few decades of appreciation have never seen the band in concert. Unless I’ve misplaced an album, there are about a dozen in my music library and while this is the US version of the group (yes there are TWO “The Sweets” in 2018), this one features original bassist Steve Priest and our old friend from ZO2 Mr. Paulie Z. and a cadre of kickass musicians. Even more exciting is the fact that Tragedy, the all Heavy Metal tribute to The Bee Gees will be opening up – so what am I getting at here? Well, thanks to the mighty minds in the Marketing division, we are putting some of the PiercingMetal readers into this show for free. Check it out down below.
When and Where: Thursday, April 26th @ Gramercy Theatre (127 East 23rd Street, NYC)
To Participate: I usually ask for three things about the band or solo artist that is playing but I have a feeling that with The Sweet being a legendary act that has retained a cult level of status that many might not be 100% up on them. That said, I am asking that you hit YouTube, Spotify and Wikipedia to familiarize yourself just a little bit and then tell me three reasons why this show is of interest to you. I’ll be picking out the submissions that speak to me the most and will be letting them know directly. Before we continue here are some of the usual guidelines to keep the process straightforward. This contest will run until supplies run out or on the morning of the show. Whichever comes first. Continue reading Win A Ticket To See The Sweet @ Gramercy Theatre On 4/26/2018→
Artist: Station Venue: Gramercy Theatre (New York, NY) Opener: Tempt Date: 8/24/2017 Label: Independent Artist
Written By: Steven Stolper (copyright 2017) for PiercingMetal.com
If you are a fan of melodic rock of the kind played by Def Leppard and Van Halen, you know that there’s not much of that in the local music scene which is unfortunate. Blues rock, sure. Alterna-Pop indie grunge with progressive leanings, yes. Extreme metal of all flavors, why not. But if you want some good time rock n roll with catchy choruses backed up by decently played guitars with a wicked solo here and there, it’s pretty slim pickings. Two of the best groups carrying the torch for melodic rock/metal in the area are Station and Tempt. Shockingly, it seems that they have never played together before, so it was very exciting to see them on the same bill. Gramercy Theatre is one of the nicest venues of its size in the city, and a great place to see these local favorites.
Tempt took the stage first. Even though the band members are pretty young, they have been playing together for many years now, and their stagecraft is very polished. At some point, they had a different rhythm section. The current lineup is closer together in age which seems better for the band’s image. Interestingly enough the drummer’s father is also a drummer in a cool Canadian band called The Tea Party. They’re one of those bands that I’ve been a fan of but have never seen live. Maybe someday. A recent visit from fellow Canuck rockers Big Wreck, after more than a decade of absence, gives me hope. Tempt has an EP and a full-length album, Runaway, out, so plenty of material to choose from. Most of the night’s set was new music though. The new songs stay in the same bouncy pop metal/rock universe. A bit more of a slick pop sound to the vocal hooks maybe. More Hysteria than Pyromania so to speak. Front man Zach Allen is a very physical presence while belting out those melodies. Almost too active for this frustrated photographer trying to capture a moment. Guitarist Harrison Marcello’s creative soloing was a pleasure to listen to. The song-within-a-song kind of melodic compositions remind of Vito Bratta and Andy Timmons (from White Lion and Danger Danger respectively). Advanced technique but never overpowering the song. More John Norum than Yngwie Malmsteen if you will. The crowd liked what they were hearing and who could blame them. The band’s music is happy and easy to get into even if you don’t know the difference between White Lion and Black Sabbath. Band closed out the set with their anthemic first single “Under My Skin”. Continue reading Station @ Gramercy Theatre (8/24/2017)→
The Details: In today’s Metal world there are a lot of bands that play the same music with different members. Over the last few years we had two Great Whites, two L.A. Guns and even two Queensyrches for a while and now there are two groups playing the legendary sounds of the band Venom. This one is probably the most interesting of the recent crop because it features two original members and other members who served in the band when other folks moved onto different projects. I am speaking of the rising in prominence Venom Inc. who will deliver not only the bands classics but also some new throttling Metal as well. They are bringing this “Bloodstained Earth” tour to NYC and its sure to be a deadly time and when you add to the fact that the tour also features Goatwhore and Toxic Holocaust there is no other place in the city that you are going to want to be. Thanks to the fine folks in Marketing, we are putting a couple of diehard fans into the show for free and that excites me greatly. That lets you have more money for merchandise which is never a bad thing. Check out the details on how to participate.
When and Where: Saturday, September 2nd @ Gramercy Theatre (127 East 23rd St., NYC)
To Participate: I’ve decided to keep this an easy one and by saying that I mean I will be sticking to my usual formula of you readers giving me “3” things that you like most about the band if you have heard them already and if you are a newbie just give me “3” things that you are most interested in about their performance. Perhaps there are albums that “spoke” to you or concert appearances that sent you to the music shop to snag some of the band members earlier works. Just give me three solid answers and how important it is to be at this show. I know I make you work but I work here too so whining will not win out at all LOL. Make this good reading because the stuff remains on the website and can likely inspire new fans as well on how our freebies work. Writing “because they slay dude” is just too un-original and boring. I’ll be responding to the comments that I like most right below their answer. Kindly review some guidelines before entering your submission. We don’t have a lot of tickets for this one so you better make it good. By the way, we know Venom Inc. is a “new” band so album references would be to their new work or Venom classics that the members appeared on. Continue reading Win A Ticket To See Venom Inc. @ Gramercy Theatre On 9/2/2017→
