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We met so many great people at the recent Fallen Blue Benefit concert. One of the stand-outs was a band out of Columbus, Ohio named Iconic Tonic. We were first impressed that the guys took the time to make the long trip from Columbus, Ohio to Baltimore for a benefit concert. Anytime we see bands doing things to give back to the community like this, we want the world to take notice of how many rockers are amazing global citizens.
We had a chance to do a short interview with Lead Singer Dave Spencer and Drummer Tony Hawes the night before the Fallen Blue Benefit. Check out that interview and meet the band right here. You could not ask to meet a nicer couple of guys.
Iconic Tonic has a 2012 album release entitled "Rock and Roll" which was released on the Jamsync Music label and can be found on Itunes. The album features songs with a bit of a variety in style. If you took a bit of Alice in Chains, stirred in a little L.A. Guns and believe it or not, added in a little Pink Floyd, I think you might have their style kind of nailed down. How is that for sparking your interest? If you are looking for an album that features some creativity and is not afraid to mix in a few mellower interludes with some darker and heavier tunes such as my personal favorite "Zombie Baby", you will want to check out Iconic Tonic's "Rock and Roll" album.
The band's Bio on their website www.iconictonic.net reads as follows:
Iconic Tonic, formed in 2010 by long -time friends Dave Spencer, Chad Eric, and Tony Hawes. After each spent time in other projects that achieved both regional and national recognition, they decided it was time to fuel their creative energy towards an uncompromising and wickedly satisfying rock n’ roll band. Once together, the song ideas began to flow, and they immediately began rehearsing and recording. These guys give nothing less than 110%; a rock band with passion, drive, and one that has no creative barriers.
As singer Dave Spencer mentioned in the interview, the whole band was unable to make the trip to the Baltimore show where we saw our first Iconic Tonic show, so we were treated to an acoustic set. I actually love it when rock and roll bands unplug and do acoustic versions of their tunes, and Iconic Tonic did a few covers with little to no rehearsal, and then treated us to an acoustic version of "I Can't Breathe" from their album "Rock and Roll". Here is a video we shot of this cool acoustic performance.
Check out this trio from Ohio. We are hopeful that we will have the chance to see a "plugged in" Iconic Tonic show in the near future.
K-rock and Ms. MARR with Dave Spencer of Iconic Tonic
K-rock
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This post is not a review of the festival. That will be coming in a few days and will be posted over on the Concert Reviews Page. This post is just my stream of consciousness captured in print as I think back on the past two days. It is certainly not a full blown report, just what was on my mind tonight as I reflect.
Through some experience, and strategic planning we managed to see three bands from the front row, nearly center on the Festival Stage. We were thrilled to have this prime spot for XYZ, Quiet Riot and Loudness. Ms. MARR and I were talking about it yesterday and agreed that many of our favorite M3 memories form the past festivals are actually from the side stage. The sound is always amazing there and the crowd is always super pumped up. The only problem with the set up is that if you aren't resonably close to the front it can be tough to see. We always make a significant effort to get a good spot at the Festival Stage.
All three of the bands we saw on the side stage were incredible. We were especially excited to see XYZ. We saw these guys on the Monsters of Rock Cruise and were pumped to see them again. We loved their live set at both Monsters of Rock and M3 so much that we reached out to them to be on our upcoming episode of Behind the Bands, which we did indeed film with members of XYZ after the festival on Saturday night. We'll have that posted as soon as we can.
There are always several bands at M3 that we see for the first time, and normally one that jumps out at us. This years surprise was Loudness. The band literally made the trip from Tokyo to perform at M3 and they brought their "A" game. I won't spoil the upcoming review by telling you the whole story, but they were absolutely awesome. I heard tons of fans commenting on the band and praising their set. They were fantastic.
Another big story this year was the weather. We have seen M3 with rain, we have seen it with near 100 degree temperatures, and now, we can say we saw it in near perfect weather. We really couldn't have asked for nicer weather! There was a noticeable drop in the number of vendors this year, and the ever popular Freak Stage was no more. I don't know the particulars about why this was, but it would be nice to see more vendors at a show of this magnitude. I won't speculate as to the reason.
This year the Festival was broadcast via the Internet live to some 2 million viewers. While many were singing the praises of this new chapter in M3, as a fan who has been to all four M3 festivals, I am a little concerned that the immense popularity of the festival has 2 potential downsides. First is that I fear the promoters may try to score big by moving to a larger venue. I am not trying to start rumors, because I heard of no such thing but simply wondered if this could happen. I think this would change the whole dynamic of the festival and ruin a great tradition at Merriweather. I hope the Festival stays there. Second, I truly hope that the promoters take care of those of us who have attended for all 4 years and give us a crack at tickets first. I am not trying to be elitist or anything, but there are thousands of us who have been there from ther start who just want a decent shot at good tickets, which are getting harder to get each year under the pavillion.
As with almost any show we go to, the thing we enjoy the most is meeting you, the readers, the many musicians we have met through MARR and brand new friends as well. Later this week we hope to throw together a little photo montage of the many folks we had the chance to hang out with. Maybe your picture will be in there? A new sort of "Fraternity" of folks formed who attended both the Monsters of Rock Cruise and M3. We saw countless MOR shirts all over the place at this show.
As I mentioned in our video updates, I spent a ton of time at Merriweather as a teenager and young adult seeing more artists that I could ever even remember. Seeing many of these same bands again at Merriweather 20, and in some cases 30 years later is a lot of what I think draws the local Baltimore Metro area folks to the festival. What a great walk down memory lane this is for the local folks. Mixed in are the groups of people who literally come from all over the world to this event. I wish we had a chance to meet more of the international folks and hear their stories.
So after one one of the busiest weeks we have had here at MARR, we take 4 days here at home to reflect, edit, write, record, upload and do the other things we do to compile the coverage of the M3 and the Fallen Blue event we attended earlier this week. Then we head off to Columbus, Ohio to Rock on the Range. I had a number of you ask me as we were chatting at M3 how we do it. How do we cover this many events and travel, while maintaining the website and all of the other Social Media outlets we are on? It really is this simple: We love what we do. Nothing more to it than that. I will admit that this week was so busy that it did test my limits of stamina, but it was all worth it. We'll get the rest of the coverage of the M3 Festival up as soon as we can. Now it's time to try for something new: a good night's sleep!
K-rock
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Even though we travel all over the country covering rock music, it always warms my heart to hear all of the incredible music coming out of my home town of Baltimore, Maryland. One such band is King Belvedere who has their roots grounded in Baltimore, despite playing shows all over the Mid-Atlantic Region. We met the guys from King Belvedere right around the time we started MARR and have been catching their live shows as often as we can ever since.
We joined the band at the Fallen Blue Charity event (www.fallenblue.org) in Baltimore on May 9 where they made a huge announcement. Right after their set , the band headed over to a table where they signed to their new label Jamsync Music. www.jamsyncmusic.com
King Belvedere signs with Jamsync Music
According to the band's press releasedated May 10 : The new release is currently being recorded at 'Audio Production Factory' in Baltimore. A release date and title are yet to be determined. The new release will contain 10 tracks of high powered, screaming rock and roll filled with extreme energy that grips your soul and refuses to let go. 'Back Again' a ballad style track from the new project is being released in advance for a charity organization for Cystic Fibrosis.
We had a chance to chat with the band last night after signing and we can tell you that the guys are pumped up and ready to take their rock and roll adventure to the next level. We appreciate the fact that the guys chose to make the announcement at this important charity event. They always take good care of their fans and their presence at Fallen Blue shows their commitment to take good care of their community as well. Here is a brief little promo the guys shot with us the night before this important show: King Belvedere Fallen Blue Promo. We have a TON of coverage coming up from this show in the next week or so.
It seems like only yesterday we recorded our second episode of Behind the Bands featuring King Belvedere (actually it was just a little shy of a year ago). You can watch that interview right here. We had a great time recording the episode and especially love the fact that lead singer Jeff McKenny is wearing some MARR swag during the interview! The episode features some live performace footage as well. At the time the episode was recorded the band was playing gigs hard in support of their second album My Kinda Rock and Roll. You can pick up the first two King Belvedere albums on Itunes.
We'll be waiting for the new release from King Belvedere and wish them well on their new adventure. They have a very cool show coming up on May 25 at Recher Theatre in Baltimore. They will be there with a great lineup! The show features ZO2, King Belvedere, Kill Betty, Sextacy and Lower Class Citizen. The show is only $12, and you can buy tickets here. Your MARR crew will be there for this show and we hope to see you there.
K-rock
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On April 13 we were in Lancaster, PA and saw a band out of New Jersey called "New Day Dawn" for the first time. We were impressed with their set and wanted to learn more about the band. I immediately thought to myself that I didn't think that this was a band that had just picked up their instruments recently, or that played as a casual hobby. I could tell they had a certain presence that only experience (and of course talent) can bring.
Little did we know that when we met lead singer Dawn Botti that we were meeting a big-time corportate legal executive who has been practicing law for the past 15 years. Well this just made a great set of rock and roll an even more interesting story. We learned that Dawn was taking a second shot at the rock and roll life and doing so with a great deal of promise.
After having a chance to chat with Dawn after the show, we decided we wanted to get to know more about the band that has a hint of Halestorm and the Foo Fighters in style, but with a female lead singer who can belt out a rock tune with the best of them. Dawn is an engaging personality standing at a petite 5 feet tall, but with a voice that is 6'4".
We had a chance to ask lead singer Dawn Botti a few questions:
K-rock: New Day Dawn marks a return to the music industry for you. What drew you back?
Dawn: It's not that I ever truly left... I could never stop writing, singing or performing... But after our former band broke up... It seemed like it was time to refocus priorities. my husband and I did.... We became parents and concentrated on our "corporate careers" ... We still kept playing didn't put a lot of effort into it. It was just for fun. As far as what drew us back... Honestly there was a piece of me that felt like a quitter... Like I had given up on my dreams. And after much soul searching I also felt like I had let God down. He gave me my gift and love of music for some reason and I didn't feel like I had yet found my purpose. I met manager Jim Fetzer at the Millenium Music Conference - in Harrisburg, PA. He came out and asked me... "Do you want to try this for real again? " And he said if i did... He'd help me. It was like my prayers had been answered! so now we're back and I'm not quitting this time!
K-rock: You were previously in a band called Slushpuppy. How is New Day Dawn different?
Dawn: Yes, you can still see our stuff at www.slushpuppyrocks.com. NDD really picked up musically where SP left off. I'm the primary songwriter for both so it's not that different. However lyrically I speak with a more mature and reflective voice now. I hope women can relate to my lyrics.... We are such strong creatures and having kids only brings that out more.... You don't know what you are really made of until you have another person relying on you for their very existence.
K-rock: A lot of the tunes we heard were not on your "Company You Keep Album". Is there a new album in the works?
Dawn: Ah yes there is and we are super excited about it!!! It's about half recorded so far. The first 3 tracks were recorded and produced with Chris Henderson the guitarist from 3 Doors Down at his studio in Nashville called Rivergate Studios. He co-owns the studio with Bobby Capps from 38 Special. Both played on the tracks along with 3Doors drummer, Greg Upchurch. Then last week we recorded two more tracks (including Whatever It Takes) with producing and collaboration from John Moyer , bassist for Disturbed and Adrenaline Mob. It's a great sense of validation to have this level of talented musicians/ producers willing to work with us and actually really digging our songs! In 2 weeks, we head back to Nashville to get two or three more tunes done with Chris and then we'll do two tracks on our own in Philly and hopefully be done! It's been a long process including traveling between 4 cities (Nashville, New York/NJ, Austin and Philly!) Very different from the prior CD that was recorded in my attic.
K-rock: The song that "grabbed me" was Misunderstood. Can you tell me a little about it?
Dawn: Thanks! I'm partial to that one too. It was inspired by all the fights I used to have with the bass player from Slushpuppy. I'm a lawyer by day and we are trained to be really specific with our words (I know probably not the best mind set for a poetic lyrist!) Anyway, my bassist was constantly saying things that I just didn't understand or he'd contradict himself and it used to drive me nuts.... I recognized that it wasn't just his fault but both of ours and that's the message of the song. Lyrics: "So tell me what it is you said. Cuz your words sound different running through my head. This time take it slowly..my English ain't so good. Cuz every word you speak, I misunderstood."
K-rock: What's next for New Day Dawn?
Dawn: Next few weeks we'll be concentrating on finishing the record.... And hopefully we'll be able to jump onto some major shows by July. I know we're playing Six Flags on Aug 11th.
With Dawn's ability to sing and the chance to work with the likes of Chris Henderson, who knows what the future may hold for the band. We can tell you that they are a band worthy of making a trip out to your local live music venue to see. The band came close to "breaking out" if you will in 2003 as "slushpuppy" who was getting serious attention in the New York music scene from radio stations and had a near miss on a major label deal. We can tell you that based on what we saw from their live show that this is truly a new day for Dawn and the band as their name describes.
You can check out my personal favorite tune "Misunderstood" as well as some of the videos we shot of the band's set at Chameleon Club in Lancaster, PA on 4/13/12, including some of the new music they are working on at the bands Reverbnation site at http://www.reverbnation.com/newdaydawn We will be anxious to hear the new album and will keep an eye on these New Jersey rockers and will definitely catch their live act again.
K-rock
K-rock and Ms. MARR with Dawn Botti of New Day Dawn
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Earlier on the website I had been talking about a trip to San Francisco that Ms. MARR and I were thinking of taking in June. As we started to plan our trip, the plans took a detour as we just weren't finding much in the way of live music that we wanted to see out there that week, and as airfare rates continue to go up, we decided to change our plans and take an old fashioned road trip.
INTRODUCING THE MARR 2K/200 TOUR!
This means we will be traveling 2000 miles in 200 hours packed with live rock music!
We originally came up with the concept of "Seven Concerts in Seven Days.The challenge was to find bands that we wanted to see, in cities where we could make the drive each day from one to the next. So far we have 5 of the concerts scheduled, and one day that has been scheduled that may feature a show that night, and we have turned it into an 8 day affair! The journey will cover 2287 miles in 8 1/2 days (roughly 200 hours).
Here's what we have planned so far:
Day 1 June, 23
Who else would MARR start off a vacation with other than Pop Evil. We are looking forward to finally getting to see the guys play a show in their home state. We start the tour off in Bay City Michigan, where we will see Pop Evil, The Product, Wayland and Finding Clyde at River Roar. We will start driving to Michigan Friday night and roll into Bay City in time to catch the Evil boys.
Day 2 June 24
We see a great lineup of classic rock with Styx, Reo Speedwagon and Ted Nugent at the Charter One Pavillion on Chicago, Illinois. We have seen Styx and REO lots of timesand love them both, but this will actually be our first time ever seeing the legendary Ted Nugent.
Day 3 June 25
So far this is our only vacant day. If anyone knows of any good local shows in the Chicago vicinity, please let us know on our Facebook page.
Day 4 June 26
We will still be in the Chicago area as we see Puddle of Mudd, Otherwise and Paper Airplanes of Fire at Austin's Fuel Room in Libertyville, Illinois. We are particularly excited to be seeing Otherwise for the fourth time. They have taken off like wildfire since the 48 Hours Festival last fall and are a band we have been fans from the first time we saw them.
Day 5 June 27
We make the drive to Clarkston, Michigan where we will be seeing a perrenial favorite live act of ours as 3 Doors Down rocks the DTE Energy Music Theatre. We see 3DD every chance we get and are always impressed with their live show. As if that weren't enough, the legendary ZZ top will be performing as well. We've seen ZZ a bunch of times and they usually put on a great show as well.
Day 6 June 28
We will head off to Cleveland, Ohio. What else would folks like us be doing in Cleveland but visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! We have never been to the Hall and look forward to the experience. We are hoping to find a live show in Cleveland the same night, but do not yet have one scheduled. If you have suggestions, please let us know on our Facebook Page.
Day 7 June 29
We make the long drive from Cleveland to Dewey Beach, Delaware where we have a show we are really excited about. Halestorm, Emphatic and New Medicine will blow the roof off of the Bottle and Cork in Dewey Beach! We know a lot of you who read our posts will be at this show and it is going to be an incredible night! These are all 3 MARR Must See bands.
Day 8 June 30
We haven't decided if we are going to add an additional date to the journey yet, but it is possible that we will be heading over to Bristow, Virginia to catch Iron Maiden at Jiffy Lube Live on this night. We will post it on the site if we confirm it.
Well there you have it! 2287 miles 5 shows plus 2 we are still working on and a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We plan to do daily video posts so that you can join us on our journey and we will share all of the fun with you right here! Be sure to check out the site that week. It is going to be incredible.
K-rock
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I never used to like these "music inspired by" albums that are not really movie soundtrack's but songs that I suppose are supposed to remind us of the movie or make us want to see the film. However, recently a few have come out that have caught my attention. The most recent is the May 1 release of Avengers Assemble: Music Inspired by the Motion Picture.
This album has so many good artists on it that it is actally well worth your time to check out. The album has a lot of very cool songs on it from some huge artists. Here is the list of tunes:
Live to Rise - Soundgarden
I'm Alive - Shinedown
Dirt and Roses - Rise Against
Even If I Could - Papa Roach
Unbroken - Black Veil Brides
Breathe - Scott Weiland
Comeback - Redlight King
Into the Blue - Bush
A New Way to Bleed - Evanescence
Count on Me - Pusher Jones
Wherever I Go - Buckcherry
From Out Of Nowhere - Five Finger Death Punch
Shake the Ground - Cherry Bomb
Almost all of these tunes are really good. The two best tracks on the album are easily the two tracks from Papa Roach and Shinedown that are great tunes in each band's respective style. These are worthy of picking up a singles even of you don't get the album.The tunes from Rise Against, Black Veil Brides and Bush are also really strong efforts as well.
The Evanescence tune is pretty good, but it has some sort of odd little keyboard part that sounds like a buch of Star Wars light phasers shooting (I'm not a Star Wars Nut, so if I am calling them the wrong thing don't shoot me with one of them) and these get pretty annoying after a while. Also, the tune from Scott Weiland is pretty forgettable.
All of the other tunes on the album are really decent and the album is one I can definitely give a solid MARR recommendation to. Check it out and I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Here is a link to the Shinedown tune "I'm Alive"
Here is a link to Papa Roach "Even If I Could"
K-rock
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The life of MARR is a busy one. We are so appreciative of all of you who read our blog, reviews, watch our videos and especially those who join us at live shows! There is a TON of cool stuff happening at MARR as we start the month of May. Here is just a little snapshot of some of the fun:
May is a month that features two huge festivals for us. We wiill be covering the M3 festival in Columbia, Maryland and then will head out to Ohio for Rock on the Range. This will be the second year in a row we have attended these festivals back to back and we can't wait! What is even better is that we have scheduled to film interviews for Behind the Bands (our original video series) at each of these events! I can't release the names of the bands we will be working with yet, as sometimes these things have a way of changing, but trust me, you'll be excited with what we have planned.
If you haven't checked out our monthly column in Shockwave Magazine yet, check them out! We started writing a monthly column in this premier Baltimore publication back in March and have been featured in March, April and May editions. You can pick up a print copy in Baltimore area Guitar Centers and can read our artcles at this link:
Mid-Atlantic Rock Reviews in Shockwave.
We are true believers in the concept of "paying it forward" here at MARR and have embraced a few opportunities to work to support some important causes. We love the motto that our friend Dawn from the band New Day Dawn used "changing the world through rock and roll" and have even considered asking Dawn if we can steal it as a sort of motto. We have started selling our MARR gummy bands with all proceeds going to an important charity and have already started earning donations with 100% of the proceeds going to a charity that makes children's dreams come true. Be sure to ask us about them when you see us at shows. They are only $2 each and we are absorbing all costs. The full $2 will be donated.
Next week we will be covering the Fallen Blue fundraiser to support the families of those police officers have have fallen and whose families are in need of support. You can read more about this event at this link. There will be some really big names at this event and it will be a blast. Last, but not least, we have a HUGE interview scheduled in the near future with an artist you will all know who is doing some amazing things to support breast cancer research. Stay tuned!
We are planning our summer "vacation". How would you guess we would spend it? Covering live rock and roll shows, of course. There is no rest for us in our quest to bring you awesome coverage of live music. We are planning a week-long tour the last week of June that looks like it could take us from Michigan to Delaware in 7 days covering shows along the way. We are still working out the details on this event, but it is sliowly taking shape. Once it is finalized you can be sure I'll share all of the details right here with you.
We are excited about the rest of our schedule which you can see right here on the "Upcoming Shows" tab. Two events in particular are sort of mega-events. We will be heading to Cadott, Wisconsin for Rock Fest which is a HUGE 4 day festival in July. Later this year, right while the voting is taking place for our Golden Horns Awards, we will set sail once again as we board the Shiprocked Cruise in late November. You can see links to more information about both of these events on our "News and Information" tab. In addition we are thinking of possibly heading back to Vegas for year 2 of the 48 Hours Festival. We are still working out the details on that one.
We will be starting an exciting new feature on the web page later this month that has the potential to expand the MARR Army exponentially. Keep checking back and we think you will like what we have up our sleeve.
Well there you have it, just a few of the amazing things the month of May and the upcoming months hold in store for us, and for you our readers. Please be sure to stop us and say hello when you see us out at shows. We love meeting all of you and have been humbled by the numbers of you who walk up to us an introduce yourselves when you see us out. Meeting all of you is probably the thing we enjoy most about running the MARR Rock Army. Can't wait to see you at the next show!
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The title of this post is probably a little extreme for what I really wanted to say. I wanted to take a second crack at trying to help promote some excitement about a few of the albums that have been released so far this year that deserve a lot more recognition than they seem to be getting. These are three albums that I have reviewed earlier this year that just don't seem to be going anywhere, but are albums I think are worthy of possibly even a nomination on our annual "Golden Horns Awards".
The first one is the release from British rockers You Me at Six entitled "Sinners Never Sleep". I haven't stopped playing this thing from the day I got it. I was sick to find out that right after I bought the album, that I had missed the chance to see the band live two days prior simply becuse I didn't know about it.
This album is an intense punk/rock/metal album that has what is tough to come by these days: A unique sound. The album is angry and in your face. There is not a bad track on it and the most intense and coolest song is "Jaws on the Floor". Don't pass this album by! Here is a link to "Jaws on the Floor"
The second album on my list is the new release from Nine Lashes, "World We View". As much as Tooth and Nail Records does to sign great bands and produce great albums, there seems to be a lack of artists taking off who release on this label. I am not an industry insider in the record label realm, but it is just a pattern I have noticed.
Nine Lashes is another band I have not had the opportunity to see yet live. This album is so deserving of radio play on rock radio and satellite radio, and yet has seemed to avoid both. It is a rock album featuring amazing vocals, inspiring lyrics and guitar riffs you won't forget. I hope the world pays more attention to this one. It is an amazing album. Here is a link to Nine Lashes "Anthem of the Lonely".
I no sooner had the idea for this post and the third band on the list than Sirius Octane started playing the new single. Oklahoma rockers Aranda released yet another incredible album to follow up their self titled debut entitled "Stop The World". The band released the first single "Undone" which for some reason just didn't seem to catch on. In my mind this is a song I think that needs to be re-released somehow as a single if that is possible. It is an amazing tune that has #1 song all over it if only it could get a little more play.
In an odd twist of fate, as I thought about this post this week, Sirius Octane started playing the single "Satisfied", which is in my mind the weakest song on the album. I guess by revealing this I am proving that maybe I am the one who doesn't know what he is talking about. The band has an incredible live show that we have seen several times with vocals you will not forget. The Aranda brothers are two seriously underappreciated rock singers.
Aranda has landed a slot at the Rock on the Range Festival, and maybe a gig of this magnitude will push this album to where I belive it deserves to be, which is at the top of several charts. Here is a link to the incredible tune "Undone".
So there you have it. My list of albums releases this year that I hope the world takes a second look at. I am not unrealistic and realize that with the volume of music coming out that not every album I like will become a hit. I will suggest though, that if you need a fresh new album on your Ipod, that these are three that you should really take a look at. Time will tell.
K-rock.
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I can't rememner the last time I saw a single come out that sparked such a divided debate amongst fans as what I am seeing online happen right now amongst Godsmack fans. The band released a single on Itunes this week, which is a cover of the classic Joe Walsh tune "Rocky Mountain Way". I was reading a few reviews here and there and the Godsmack loyalists seem to be equally divided into camps of opinions I could summarize as "Love it" and "Burn it and let's never speak of it again.
My own opinion of it is that the tune is a decent enough cover of a song that is really hard to cover and should probably be avoided. There are too many things in my mind that make the tune a bad choice for a cover. First is the legendary and unique style of Joe Walsh that is so imprinted in most of our memories that it makes the tune sound "not quite right" even when some talented bands do the song. There are the keyboard parts that don't translate quite right if left out. And then there is the bluesy style that some have naturally, and that for some seems kind of fake when tried.
If you don't believe me, I can give you three examples of bands who are great talents who have tried to cover the tune who probably should not have. The first, and absolute worst is Ozzy Osbourne's cover of the classic. This tune is pure torture and that is coming from a guy who loves some Ozzy. Here is Ozzy's version of the tune.
Then there was the attempt from classic hair metal rockers Slaughter to try to remake the tune in 1997, that in my opinion met with the same tragic results as Ozzy's version, but was actually slightly better than Ozzy. Here is Slaughter's attempt at the tune.
Even the incredible rockers from the Great White North, Triumph, took a shot at the song which was better than the first two examples I have listed, but still just doesn't sound right. Here is Triumph's version of the classic tune.
Truth be told, of all of the examples, Godsmack's version is the best remake. Do I like their version? I think I need to listen to it some more to be sure. I think the lesson here is that this is one of those songs that is better left alone. It has certainly sparked some discussion amongst the circle of Godsmack fans. I think I'll just watch the fireworks on-line and let their fans decide.
Here is Godsmack's version of the Joe Walsh classic "Rocky Mountain Way".
We'll be seeing Godsmack in Cadott, Wisconsin at Rock Fest in July, and then again on the Shiprocked cruise in November. We'll be curious to see if they play the tune and what the crowd reaction is. We'll report it all for you right here on the web site.
K-rock
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Let me paint a picture for you. It is a late September evening at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, Maryland and your MARR crew is there to cover "Roll it Over" (an awesome band themeselves) and this group of guys walks out on the stage wearing Lego Heads. From the first note this band played, Ms. MARR and I were immediate die hard fans who would follow the band the next night to see them in Philadelphia and later travel to Atlanta to catch them again two more times, including spending New Year's Eve 2012 at their show.
Death is a Dialogue has got to be one of the best independent label bands in the country. Following the release of their 2011 EP "Offended Youth" the band has been working on new material and has released the first 3-song EP in what will be a series of 3 EPs prior to a full album release later this year. The best part about the EP is that you can stream and download the new tunes for FREE on the bands page at THIS LINK.
The band reminds me in many ways of Papa Roach in style and has every bit of the same "in your face" energy. The music is an blend of punk and metal that simply rolls you over. Lead singer Jason Lee Jones has an incredible rock singer/punk singer voice and the band prides themselves on producing raw, "non autotune enhanced" songs with challenging vocal parts. You can learn a lot more about the band by watching our interview with them at the link below.
We recorded an episode of Behind the Bands with Death is a Dialogue in October 2011 and you can see the full interview by clicking on this link.
All three of the new tunes "Living Out Loud", "Stay Right Here" and "Leech" are tunes that you flat out do not want to pass up putting on your Ipod. If you give the tunes a listen and want to hear more from the band, check out their EP "Offended Youth" as it has a similar style to the new tunes.
As much as I have raved about these guys, I will say "ditto" to the live act. Their live show is incredible. They are curretly playing a lot of shows in the Southeast including shows in Georgia, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. If you have the chance, don't miss them and you'll see what I mean. Here are a few live videos of the band we shot at various shows.
Here is "Some Things Never Change" from the "Offended Youth CD recorded live in Baltimore, MD.
Here is "Leech" from the new EP "The UIncaged Vol 1 Recorded New Years Eve in Atlanta, Georgia.
The songs on this EP are awesome and we can't wait for the release of the next two volumes and the eventual full album. Death is a Dialogue is a band we expect to see big things from. Check them out.
K-rock and Ms. MARR in Lego Heads with Death is a Dialogue
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They were an edgy band that broke up, reformed with a new line up, broke up again and now they have re-formed with their original line up and released their first studio album since 2003. They are Southern California alternative band Eve 6. I label them alternative, but Eve 6 has always been one of those bands that, despite not being a real heavy band is popular with a lot of rockers.
I have been pretty eager to hear what the guys were going to come out with after an 8 year wait. I must say that I was less than thrilled with what I heard from Eve 6 on this release. That edge that made them so appealing to rockers has seemingly disappeared on this album and it has much more of a Pop sound to it. I really was having a hard time latching on to any particular song that rocked, or even held my interest.
I am a fan of all types of music and having a more Pop sound certainly does not disqualify an album from being a great album for me. However, I just found the songs on this album to be way more generic than what I expected from Eve 6. I am glad that I stuck with the album all the way through, as the final two tracks on the album are pretty strong. The tune "Everything" is closer to what I was expecting to hear on this album from most of the tunes. It is follwed by another strong mellower tune "Pick Up The Pieces" which has a certain sort of 90s punk melodic appeal to it. These two songs are the only ones on the release that really grabbed me.
So it is with saddness that I have to place this album in the "don't recommend' category, although the two songs I pointed out may be worth a listen or two. I am a big enough fan of the band's earlier work that I probably would still go see them live and would be curious to see if the new songs had a different feel to them live. These guys are talented musicians and I really respect them and I have still never seen their live act. We'll have to see if a tour comes our way. Until then, I am going to take a pass on listening to the new tunes to much.
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This particular post will not be a "concert review" but simply a reflection on an incredibly cool weekend! (The reviews will come later this week).
I am certain that everyone has their definition of what makes for a good weekend. As the rankings go, this one was way up there on the awesomeness scale for us. Each of us had a vacation day on Friday and we spent it like we spend almost every other vacation day we have: going to a concert!
So Friday morning we made the trek up to Allentown, PA to see Pop Evil, Theory of a Deadman and a band we had not yet heard of from Florida named Stellar Revival. Despite the fact the we are always pumped for Pop Evil (this was our 15th time seeing them), this show was one where we knew we were going to be surrounded by awesome friends as happens now everytime we see Pop Evil. There is a very loyal group of followers who we have become great friends with after seeing so many shows together, and Allentown after parties with the guys from Pop Evil and this group are starting to become a tradition. Such a fun night.
Even better was the kick-off of our campaign to sell as many of our MARR gummy bracelets as possible as we raise some well deserved funds for the Make a Wish Foundation. We started selling the MARR gummys for $2 each this weekend and made our first $47 towards the campaign (I know the number is odd, but some folks said to "keep the change" since it was going to a charity). We thank all of you so much who bought them from us this weekend and all those who asked how to get them. We'll have them with us at every show!
So as if Friday couldn't get any better, we were stunned in a very positive way when Stellar Revival from Miami, Florida came on stage and blew the roof off Croc Rock! Wow, what a talent these guys are! I won't spoil the review here, except to say that you really need to checkl this band out. They are going to be huge. I had a chance to hang out with lead singer Rino Cerbone for a few minutes, and not only are they an absolutely awesome band, but they were very cool to talk to and spent a lot of time getting to know their brand new fans. I will be doing a full artist spotlight feature in the near future.
We had the chance after this show to spend some time with the interim guitar player from Pop Evil, Nick Fuelling. We aren't going to enter into the whole Nick vs. Tony debate here, but will simply say that Nick did a great job and played a very good set, and is one heck of a nice guy. We had the time to get to know him a little after the show and he seems to be a very down to earth dude.
Those are just a few highlights from Friday night, then it was off to Atlantic City to a show where we would meet yet more of you, our loyal readers, and hang with some of the other MARR die hards all night. The first cool thing was that this show was at House of Blues Atlantic City, which is probably our very favorite venue to see a show. Besides hanging with lots of you, there were three great bands on the list: Art of Dying, Adelitas Way and Shinedown.
We are regulars at all three bands' shows and in fact Ms. MARR figured out this was our 6th Art of Dying show in as many different states. Despite having seats upstairs, we couldn't pass up the chance to be up front for their set, so we were in about row 2 on the floor for Art of Dying. Then we watched Adelitas Way from closer to the back on the floor while we hung with friends. Adelitas Way is a band that gets better every time we see them and is now a real force to be reckoned with live. The cool thing about House of Blues in Atlantic City is that the "back of the room" is still a really great place to catch all of the action!
Then...Shinedown! Wow! I don't want to ruin the review in this post but if I said it was among best sets I have seen any band play in the past year? You get the picture. The boys are back and all I am saying tonight is...go get tickets!!!
So it sounds like a full weekend eh? Not yet! Thanks so much to Showboat Casino for featuring a FREE show with Trapt, right at the bottom of the escalator as we were leaving Shinedown. We were lucky enough to catch wind of this free show, and Trapt was great. Does life get any better? Seriously, Imagine leaving a show with a lineup like we just saw only to have a free encore concert from a band like Trapt. Way to go Showboat! You know how to treat the rockers!
Following Trapt's set we hung arounfd the Casino for a while and had the chance to hang out with Johnny Heatherington of Art of Dying for a few minutes and then time for a breif chat with Rick DeJesus from Adelitas Way. Having the chance to talk with the guys for a few minutes and to hang out with our MARR friends and meet some of you for the very first time was the icing on the cake to a great weekend. We took the time for a few other photo ops with band members and it was getting on to early in the morning and time to head back to the hotel and start loading the footage for you!
So there you have a summary of the kind of weekend that makes a perfect MARR weekend. Below I've shared a few pictures for you. Once again, the thing that made this weekend the most special was meeting so many of you, our readers for the very first time, as well as hanging out with those of you who we have grown to know so well. When you see us out at shows, please come say hi! We love meeting all of you.
K-rock and Ms. MARR with Johnny Heatherington of Art of Dying
K-rock and Ms. MARR with Rick Dejesus of Adelitas Way
K-rock and Ms. MARR with Barry Kerch from Shinedown
K-rock and Ms. MARR with Leigh Kakaty from Pop Evil
K-rock and our awesome friend Henry who showed up in his MARR T-shirt!
Thanks as always for reading and following. Check out our upcoming schedule and you'll see what an amazing summer this will be! There are a TON of videos from this weekend over on our YouTube channel at THIS LINK
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Thousand Foot Krutch released their sixth studio album this week. That's right... their sixth studio album. Surprised? I was very surprised to realize how long the band has been around. The new release "The End is Where We Begin" is a new beginning in the sense that the band has departed Tooth and Nail Records and released this album independently under the label TFK Records.
The band has been doing very well on Sirius Octane and currently the single "Let The Sparks Fly" sits at #6 on the satellite station's top 15. I must acknowledge that I have not paid a lot of attention to the band prior to this album and that I am kind of learning their style and working backwards through their discography. I was actuallly unaware that the band was a Christian Rock Band and really did not appreciate how well they had been doing in that genre. The band has been a part of the huge Christian Music Event "Creation" which features a lot of the big Christain Music acts.
The music is a version of rap/rock that at times hints of the style of bands like Papa Roach combining a pseudo metal hard rock style with occasional rap segments. This is a decent album, although I must acknowledge that the current hit single "Let The Sparks Fly" is probably the strongest tune on the album. The band is one I would describe as "very good" with the potential of becoming "great", and the album is pretty solid from top to bottom. The mellower tune "Be Somebody" has a lot of radio potential as well and is among the better tunes on the album.
Lyrically the band does not reveal the Christian Rock element in a very obvious way to the casual listener. There is a certain almost innocence to the lyrics that can make some of the rap portions of the music take a slightly awkward turn at times. I think the rap segments of the band's tunes lack a bit of edge that makes them sound a bit like guys "trying to do rap" at times. That being said, the music portion of the rap style tunes is decent enough and the rock songs are pretty strong.
While I am not willing to throw the label "Great" on this album, I am willing to say that it is very good and certainly worthy of some attention. Thousand Foot Krutch is definitely getting some attention from rock radio outlets in this area and time will tell how fans receive the rest of the album this Summer. We have never had the chance to see the band live, but will definitely give consideration to adding them to our schedule if the opportunity presents itself.
Here is a link to "Let The Sparks Fly".
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Many of you already know I am a native of Baltimore originally. Today the Baltimore, and the rock and roll community was stunned by the news of the passing of singer Brian Jack. Like so many other breaking stories, we heard the news through Facebook. We learned via Baltimore band "Crushing Day" and quickly began scouring sites and saw the many sad posts.
Brian had a lot of musical connections especially in the Mid-Atlantic area and was most famous for his role as the front man and lead singer of the band Child's Play, who were icons in Baltimore rock scene in the late1980's and early 1990s and were huge draws at legendary venues such as Hammerjacks and The Seagull Inn as well as many other classic Baltimore venues.
Brian's most notable tune has to be "Rat Race" which was released in 1990 under the production of mega-producer Howard Benson. One of the members of Child's Play, John Allen is known to many of you as the current frontman for the band "Charm City Devils" who is enjoying great success and are about to release a new album. Allen posted on his Facebook that he will be dedicating their huge CD release show at Recher Theatre in Towson, MD this Saturday to Brian Jack. Allen posted on his Facebook:
"I am completely shocked and saddened by the death of Brian Jack. He was one of the most gifted, charismatic artists I have ever had the pleasure of sharing the stage with. He along with the rest of the guys were the brothers I never had. I will miss him incredibly".
While Brian went on to a solo career and released a solo album in 1992 entitled "Promise of Love", he will still be largely remembered by music fans as the lead singer of Child's Play. No sources we have at the present time can confirm a cause of death and we will certainly not fuel rumors, so for now we simply have to report his passing.
Amelia from 98 Rock morning show in Baltimore summed it up this way on her Facebook page: "Gonna go reflect on the few times I got to spend with Brian Jack in OC. He used to play the Hurricane all the time when I worked out there. He was always smiling even though he wore no shoes when he played. You never knew what you would step in at the Hurricane. He played well and I loved his acoustic performances. My condolences to his close friends and family. A really sad day".
I don't think I can say it much better than that. We send out our condolences to family and friends of Brian Jack and mourn a sad day in the rock world, especially in the Baltimore area.
In honor of Brian, here is the video to "Rat Race"
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I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this post or not, and although it is a day late for the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I thought it was still worthy of doing a post to honor all those who lost their lives. It seems almost cliche' sometimes to say "all those who lost their lives" in a simple sentence without actually taking a minute to think about it. That is because it was so long ago. However, think of it like this: 3000 people died in the terror attack of Sept 11. We all know how devastating that was. By way of comparison the Titanic lost 1500 souls, and what was especially gruesome, was that while many survived, what they witnessed had to be unbelievable.
So tonight I am featuring a song list in honor of the Titanic and those souls lost in the sinking of the vessel. Now please understand that some of these songs are not sappy love songs, and you won't find any Celine Dion on here. They are songs that reminded me of the horror of the night, how awful it must have been and the terror of the event. Sound gruesome? Well it was a gruesome event. I can only imagine the horror of that night and sometimes I find it curious to hear the peaceful romantic rendering used so often in homage to the event. Not that it should be a disrespectful song, but I think that the movie sometimes romanticizes the horror just a bit.
I know this has the potential of coming off as a twisted way to look at it, and I want to be clear, none of the selections here were meant to be sarcastic or do anything other than make one think of the event. They are just some tunes that came to my mind in reflecting upon the struggle those folks endured.
Here are the songs I thought of in watching some of the specials yesterday.
1- Vertical Horizon - Save Me From Myself
2- Going Under - Marillion
3- Under Ice - Kate Bush
4- Get Through This - Art Of Dying
5- Undone - Aranda
6- Heroes - Shinedown
7- Never Surrender - Triumph
8- Fly To The Angels - Slaughter
9- Cold Dark Grave - 7 Day Binge
(Sorry - Couldn't find a link, but I had to leave it on)
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The release of Cavo's third studio album "Thick As Thieves" marks the bands departure from their previous label, and their first release on Eleven Seven records. The new Cavo release is a decent album, which is pretty similar in style to the most recent release, but I really can't go further than calling the album decent. I went through the album twice and noticed that there really were no stand out tunes that grabbed my attention. It wasn't that the songs were bad, but they had a certain mainstream sort of quality that made them somewhat forgetable.
I want to be clear that this is not what I would call a bad album, but I think it was a step back from their previous release "Bright Nights*Dark Days". I felt that "Bright Nights*Dark Days" was a decent album which was held up by the strength of two exceptionally good tunes in "Champagne" and "Blame". I could not find a stand out tune on this album that caught my ear and had me wanting more like the previously metioned tunes.
I have to give this album a pass as far as putting it on my Ipod goes. It certainly won't have you running away and if it was playing at a party, you certainly wouldn't be bothered by it, but would it grab and hold your attention? I am thinking probably not. "Celebrity" may be the exception to what I have said so far, and was in my opinion, the strongest tune on the album, and has the best potential of all of the tunes.
We've never seen Cavo play a full live set. We caught half of their set from pretty far away at Rock on the Range and will probably have a chance to catch them again this year at Rock on the Range. I will be curious to see how the live set holds up with the new tunes. Sometimes bands I have written mediocre reviews on surprise me an blow the crowd away live. Time will tell whether or not Cavo is one of those bands.
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We have been eagerly awaiting this release, as Halestorm is a band we see quite regularly, a band that we love and a band for whom we have been waiting very impatienlty to release their second full album.
I have to start this review by noting that this album was produced by Howard Benson, who is a giant in the industry. Everything this guy touches seems to be incredible. Consider some of the Benson produced albums including those from bands such as Emphatic, Papa Roach, Saliva, 10 Years, Art of Dying, Skillet, Daughtry, 3 Doors Down and more. I don't mean to steal the thunder from Halestorm here, but this guy deserves some serious recognition for producing all of these, and now Halestorm's "The Strange Case Of...", which is a top notch release.
The album has an almost concept album theme to it with hints of horror movie soundtrack tunes throughout the titles. I thought I would run with that theme. There is a cool tune called Mz. Hyde which kind of sums up the album. It is an album that shows several sides of Halestorm. There are several songs that are really similar in style to the first album, then there is a brand new style to some of the tunes on this album. This is not a bad thing. I actually really liked the fact that the band is evolving, while keeping their sense of who they are as a serious hard rocking band.
The best example of the classic style of the band has to be "Love Bites", which is an incredible, hard driving tune that may actually be my favorite tune that the band has released to date on either album. It was already released on the EP and currenlty sits at the number 3 spot on Sirius Octane's top 15. Other tunes in the style reminiscent of the first album include "I Miss the Misery" and "You Call Me a Bitch Like It's a Bad Thing". I won't spend too much time on these as most of you know what that style sounds like. I do need to mention that "I Miss The Misery" is a very strong tune that showcases that classic Lizzy style of the tough edged rocker so evident in the the first album.
What I am referring to as the "new era" of Halestorm is a very cool evolution of the band where they demonstrate a little diversity and the ability to have some fun with different styles. It reminds me of the evolution of Shinedown (a compliment I don't throw out lightly) and their willingness to experiment a little. The best example to me is a tune entitled "Rock Show" buried down at track #8. When I first put it on, I heard the hand claps at the beginning and thought, oh, no, where is this going. Next thing you know I found myself saying, "Let me listen to that again, and again" and before I realized it, I was really digging this song. It is defintiely different, but listen to it and tell me you don't catch yourself humming the chorus the rest of the day.
I thought "Mz. Hyde" was a very cool and clever little tune with the sort of creepy Halloween sounding keyboards and chorus. It is a fun tune to listen to and I can just picture it appearing at some point in at least a cameo role in an actual horror flick.
The band placed the normal mixture of a few ballads on the album. There are two that are very good, and one I could do without. If you like Lizzy's voice (and who doesn't) "In Your Room" really gives Lizzy a chance to showcase the softer side of her voice, which is amazing. "Break In" is another slow tune which is a really nice song, although not likely to get much radio play as it is a piano and vocal ballad.
I was not thrilled with "Beautiful With You" and could have skipped this one. There you have it, my only negative comment about the whole album. This is an absolute gem of an album. It was a long time coming, but I am glad that Halestorm took their time and came out with a fantastic second album. We have seen them perform a few of these songs live and we are really excited about seeing them again and catching a lot of the new tunes as they are worked into the live set. Several of them already have been in the set for a while, but there are many we have not heard live yet. We will next see them at Rock on the Range in May!
Photo by Ms. MARR
Here's a link to "Love Bites" live from Ram's Head Live in Baltimore back in December.
As a closing thought, I will just mention that I hit the repeat button again on "Rockshow". I know better than to make bold predictions about the future success of a tune, but if I were to mention a #1 tune....?
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Some of you may have noticed that there has been about a two week lull in our concert schedule recently. Just like anyone, we do occasionally have to catch up with the necesseties of life and take a little time off from the live music. That being said, we are about to enter an incredibly busy stretch of time where we will be covering some awesome events.
As we move into what I like to call "Festival Season" we have a few big festivals on the bill including the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, Maryland; Rock on the Range in Columbus, Ohio; Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin and The Shiprocked Cruise, sailing from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The big "festival" style events are some of our very favorite events to cover.
In addition to the festivals, we will continue to bring you coverage of some great live acts, including some really big events coming up with Kiss, Motley Crue, Nickleback, Lynyrd Skynyrd and a host of other national acts. There are a lot of shows we are still looking at but haven't confirmed on the schedule yet so stay tuned.
Last and definitely not least, we will continue to bring you lots of regional coverage of local, regional and up and coming bands from the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond. As much as we love the big festvals, we also really enjoy a night out in a small to mid-sized club hearing all sorts of amazing up and coming artists. Some of my very favorite bands on my Ipod are bands we met at local and regional shows, or as opening acts for other national bands. We appreciate how hard these local acts are all working to make their way in the industry and how "non-glamorous" and tough the industry can be for them. We definitely recommend taking in a local show in your area whenever you can.
Whatever your taste, Mid-Atlantic Rock Reviews was founded as a way to share our love of live music, so enjoy our coverage here, but get out there and see some live music yourself if you have access to a local venue. If you can't we'll still have great coverage for you in the form of live concert videos, reviews, interviews and more.
Here is what we currently have on the upcoming schedule. You can check our schedule anytime on the "Upcoming Shows" tab on this web page. Thanks for reading, watching and listening.
OUR UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
4/20/12 - Theory of a Deadman, Pop Evil and Steller Revival - Crocodile Rock - Allentown, PA
4/21/12 - Avalanche Tour featuring Shinedown, Adelitas Way and Art of Dying
4/28/12 - The Electric Boa - Redz - Philadelphia, PA.
5/4/12 - Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pier 6 - Baltimore, Maryland!
5/11/12 - 5/12/12 - M3 Festival - Merriweather Post Pavillion - Columbia, MD
5/18/12 - 5/21/12 - Rock on the Range - Crew Stadium - Columbus, Ohio
5/25/12 - ZO2 - Recher Theatre – Towson, MD
5/26/12 - 3 Doors Down and ZZ Top - Trump Taj Mahal - Atlantic City
7/14/12 - Nicleback, Bush and My Darkest Days - Hershey Stadium - Hershey, PA
7/19/12- 7/22/12 - Rock Fest - Cadott, Wisconsin
9/2/12 - KISS and Motley Crue - Burgettstown, PA
11/27/12 - 12/1/12 - Shiprocked Cruise - Ft. Lauderdale - Bahamas, Key West
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So we had an unusual idea to go along with the many unusual ideas and thoughts we express on this website. The week of July 4 we plan to host the first ever Mid-Atlantic Rock Reviews Virtual Cookout!
Here's how it will work. We are hosting an on-line event on our website on the week of July 4 (exact date to be determined). We will be featuring video footage from here at the headquarters, but more importantly, we will be featuring footage from bands, clubs and readers as well. We will be doing video posts throughout the day with fourum style posts, backyard games, concert videos from bands, video greetings from bands, pictures of you, the readers and greetings from music venues and maybe even a few prize giveaways!.
You don't want to miss your chance to be a part of the festivities. Heres how you can participate:
Bands: Send us a 30 second greeting to be included in the barbeque. It can be a promotion for an upcoming show, a live video, a music video or it can simply be a still picture with a recorded message or a random short video with you being goofy. There are only 3 rules:
1- Keep it PG-13, as we wont publish anything beyond and reserve the right to "keep it reasonably clean"
2- Keep it to 30 seconds
3- Mention the Mid-Atlantic Rock Reviews Bar B Que.
We will include your free commercial and promo for your band if you send it to us.
Clubs and venues can participate as well, All you need to do is follow the same 3 rules as above.
Promoters, Photographers and other in the industry...same rules.
Now for fans and readers, send us a picture of yourself enjoying a Bar B Que and we will include your Bar B Que photo as well (once again..PG 13 guys and gals). Be creative!
We are hoping this will be a fun event and that bands will enjoy the free promo and that readers will enjoy us posting your Bar B Que photos!
We are experimenting with this thing and hope we have enough submissions to make it a go. Please make sure we have all of your submissions by June 15.
Please don't post your submissions directly on our Facebook wall. Instead, email them to mdaltrr@verizon.net
Happy Easter All!
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Today Pop Evil announced on their Facebook page that guitar player Tony Greve would be moving on and leaving the band for personal reasons. Now we know most of you loyal readers know we love Pop Evil and are pretty close with them, but I can assure you that we had no knowledge whatsoever that this was going to happen. In fact as some of you have noted we interviewed Tony a few weeks ago and there was no mention of it either on or off camera. So rather than speculate as to why Tony is moving on, instead I thought we would share a few thoughts and fun memories about him.
I can assure you that I know Ms. MARR’s favorite memory was at a private party where they were playing the yet to be released album “War of Angels” and we were talking with Tony about the song “Purple” which we (and almost everybody else) had yet to hear. Tony proceeded to sing the new tune heard by so few to this point to Ms. MARR, and took the time to come back over and ask us what we thought once it came up on the PA system. Ms. MARR and I will always remember this sneak preview and the chance to actually hear Tony sing something.
Tony is a really approachable guy who seems to truly enjoy hanging out with fans (If he doesn’t, he certainly never lets it show). If you went to any Pop Evil show early and looked around, you could almost certainly find Tony wandering around. You could easily approach the guy before shows and we have seen him take the time to meet fans, sign anything and take pictures at every fan request.
I am not a guitar player and cannot intelligently comment on the technical expertise of Tony as a guitar player, but as a stage presence, he is a very entertaining guy. I can’t think of anyone else off the top of my head who makes individual eye contact with as many fans as Tony does. As you watch him play, if you are in the front three rows or so, you can almost bet at some point he will look right at you or point at you and it just makes you feel more a part of the show.
As sad as we are to see Tony go, fans should wish him well, but remember that this is the life of a rock and roll band. It is almost unheard of for any band to stay together for decades. The silver lining is that often bands go on to do great things with new faces, and those leaving often move on to create amazing music as well. Think of Dio’s time with Black Sabbath, Hagar’s time with Van Halen and any number of countless other examples. Let’s hope that this departure represents a great new chapter in the life of Pop Evil, as well as a great new chapter in the life of Tony Greve. We will miss Tony very much as a part of Pop Evil and hope that someday we will all look back on this as a win-win for both Tony and the band at some optimistic level. For now, it does sting a little though doesn’t it?
Good luck Tony and thanks for the great memories.
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