Artist: Black Veil Brides Venue: Gramercy Theatre (New York, NY) Opener: n/a Date: 7/25/2011 Label: Lava Records
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. Continue reading Black Veil Brides @ Gramercy Theatre (7/25/2011)→
Poison continued the summer shows with an appearance in Holmdel, NJ at the PNC Bank Arts Center. This go round would bring both Dokken and Sebastian Bach along for the ride and we made sure to be a part of the fun in order to bring you the scoop. Scroll past the logo below to be brought to our article to see our thoughts and photos of the bands.
Artist: Poison Venue: PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, NJ) Opener: Dokken, Sebastian Bach Date: 8/12/2008 Label: Koch Records
Over the last couple of years I have not been able to say that the summer was drawing to a close until I had attended one of the Poison “shed” concerts that always seem to come around these parts around the same time each year. For me, these shows were only a recent bit of fun to attend as I grew up entrenched in a much darker and a lot heavier type of Metal. Based on this fact I had to say that any love for Poison and how they did things was always kept on the low end of the conversation. Of course as time went on and my musical interests expanded I grew to appreciate just how much fun they were in concert and how catchy and relevant their music was when it came to living ones life in good spirits and with a smile. Poison had done some great summer shows over the last couple of years as well and my first go round was checking them out with Cinderella and the following year with Ratt. This time around would find not only the eighties staple Dokken, but also a performance from Skid Row’s former front man Sebastian Bach. Surely this was going to be a rocking night and Bach would be coming on first. The adventure was also taking place at the PNC Bank Arts Center, where I had just seen the Metal Masters tour the previous week. Continue reading Poison & Dokken @ PNC Bank Arts Center (8/12/2008)→
Artist: Various Artists Title: “Subdivisions: A Tribute To Rush” Label: Magna Carta Records Release Date: 3/15/2005 Genre: Progressive Rock Rating: 4/5
Magna Carta Records follows up their Rush tribute “Working Man” with “Subdivisions” and while there is nothing quite like the original, this album continues to showcase the other side of some Progressive and Rock greats it makes for a nice companion to the first release. The original “Working Man” found Mike Portnoy on most of the drumming, and he is clearly a monster talent capable of all things Peart; his adventures in Dream Theater have allowed him to take drumming to the next level. “Subdivisions” however lets all the drumming be handled by Steve Vai and Annihilator skin basher Mike Mangini. Mike is a killer player who does the album justice. Vinny Moore and Stu Hamm handle the rhythm guitars and bass on the whole recording as well and that makes the key focus be on the vocal talent this time around. Sebastian Bach is once again present on the album and he does a great considering his level of expertise. As a result “Tom Sawyer” and “Lakeside Park” have a new heaviness to them. Yet despite Bach’s presence I was more interested this time around in the contributions of the other singers and I feel many listeners could enjoy this as well. Joining the talented folks who put this together is Randy Jackson (Zebra), Kip Winger (Winger) and Jani Lane (Warrant). Continue reading “Subdivisions: A Tribute To Rush” by Various Artists→
Artist: Sebastian Bach Title: “Forever Wild” Label: Eagle Vision Release Date: 6/15/2004 Style: Heavy Metal Rating: 6.5/10
Taking portions of the VH1 show that held the same name “Forever Wild” and combining it with live concert footage we get this release from Sebastian Bach on Eagle Vision. It took a couple of views for me to come up with the proper opinion of it. While I have been a fan of Sebastian and his efforts for Metal and Hard Rock I found this DVD a little on the confusing side. For those that are unaware VH1 had a short-lived show bearing this name and it was dreadful if you asked me. The show was Sebastian pretty much running amok and they periodically showed videos. They also would place him in some odd situation on his own or with another rocker. It was almost like a “lets make a reality show about Sebastian Bach and how wild he can be” but never really followed any sort of scripting. I felt they should have either made a normal reality show about his life, and his band and touring and all or just done a Metal and Rock videos show with him as the host. I think the indecision of Network Executives is what endangered this show and made it so scattered. It was almost as if the creators were not placing so much attention in it. Over time this could have been developed into something a lot more interesting. Which brings us to this DVD. Continue reading “Forever Wild” by Sebastian Bach→
