If you managed to catch some of the off-dates from the Megadeth tour that Lacuna Coil was doing recently, then you very likely would have most likely been able to see their opening act Otherwise. If you didn’t, then you have missed out because the new signing to Century Media Records is generating quite a buzz around themselves and their debut release for the label in “True Love Never Dies”. I’ll admit to you that at the point of this posting that I am only one song deep into the band thanks to a video on YouTube but I will say that the stuff is really good and I want to know more. You can click the logo to reach a larger gallery of images from the performance but then be sure to return to the blog posting as there are images here that you will not find anywhere else.

That being said, today’s adventure would begin here at the EMI Offices in NYC and I was excited because I had never been up to these offices myself even though I’ve been reviewing their output since almost the beginning of my writing career. I was told that around 4pm the band would be playing at these offices and knew that I was not late when I saw them standing on the corner looking around for the same address that I was seeking. Talk about timing.

You might wonder how I realized that this was the band, well, they had their guitars and they looked more Rockish than the usual Fifth Avenue tourists. I quickly introduced myself and said that this had to be where we were both heading. Into the building we went and found a great cardboard cutout of The Beatles that I asked two of the guys to stand in front of.

Here’s a shot of the guys getting ready to perform. I’ll share the video that I shot from this with you after a whole lot of candid and interesting group shots. Fair enough?

The President of the North American offices of Century Media Records was in NYC for this gathering so I made sure to get him in a few of the pictures. His name is Don Robertson in case you didn’t know. I enjoyed meeting him since I cover so many of the Century Media artist concerts when they come through NYC. The first shot was with most of the guys sporting their shades.

And one with them not really wearing them for good measure.

As beer was one of the refreshments being served at the performance, one of the Otherwise guys thought it would be cool to have Don holding a bunch of beers. Personally I would have preferred that each of the members had one in their hand but oh well, I briefly lost command of the shot.

Here is Otherwise with EMI Music’s COO Colin Finkelstein.

I wanted to also get a whole group shot with the guys in Otherwise and fortunately I was able to rally everyone before they had to return to their offices and tasks.

Oh yes, I promised you a video clip so here we go. One of the songs that the band performed was entitled “Soldiers” and before it their lead singer Adrian speaks about the sad passing of their cousin and how their album and music was dedicated to his memory and belief in the band. I was glad to be able to capture this song since it really rocks. They also did “I Don’t Apologize” but I didn’t film that one. Sorry friends.

After the performance, which really only amounted to about ten to twelve minutes, the band did some pleasantries and then headed up to the roof of the building to enjoy the pleasant day and to see the city from its vantage point. There is a patio area up there which was very nice. Here are a bunch of shots from this part of the visit. I first did some of your standard band shots. This was great for the guys because it seemed as though most or all of them had never been to NYC before today from their native Las Vegas. Oh yea and in case you were curious the lineup is Adrian Patrick – Lead Vocals, Ryan Patrick – Guitar/Vocals, Corky Gainsford- Drums/Vocals, Vassilios Metropoulos – Bass/Vocals

I didn’t tag any of these with the site branding as I didn’t want to mess up any of the visual of my fair city. I felt it looked so good as backdrop. If you snag any of these images we do request a link to our Facebook or at least a credit. Now continue enjoying.

Now that the “work” was out of the way, it was time to enjoy a cold beer on a clear day in NYC. For May I admit it was a little chillier than normal but we were on a rooftop so its a bit windier up there. We were all hanging with some of the wonderful EMI Music Staff and here are some side moments from that.

The blonde girl is named Jillian and she had a ukelele at her desk so she brought it upstairs to entertain us all. Soon Adrian Patrick grabbed one of the guitars and an impromptu jam of “Jumper” by Third Eye Blind began. It was amusing.

Of course I had to make sure there was a shot of the band and I for posterity.

That’s all we wrote about this one, but check out this cool little visual as well before we close up shop for the day…..

As I mentioned the bands Century Media Records debut was kicking some ass on the Active Rock Charts and we applaud them for that. Check it out when you have some time or catch them in concert.