In the past two weeks alone I have seen 8 concerts. Not to mention the number I have seen already this year. This is by far the best I have seen this year. I picked up Forget Cassette's debut album "Instruments of Action" a couple of months ago and I was very impressed. I saw on their website that they were going to be in Dayton so Brie and I packed up and made the road trip to check them out live. It was worth more than the five hours of drive time. They played the night before in Cincinnati and most of the people who were at that show came up to Dayton as well.

Beth and Doni make up the duo that is Forget Cassettes. Beth plays guitar (a Gibson SG Bully) and sings wile Doni plays his retro Ludwig drums, Fender Rhodes, and Boss sampler. And yes, he plays them all at once. Being a "boy/girl" duo they suffer a lot of White Stripes comparisons. I have seen them both and this is what I know: The White Stripes is a guy with a gimmick; Forget Cassettes is the real deal. Both Doni and Beth play with an energy and passion that is rarely seen in other bands. Sometimes it is hard to believe that this little 90 pound girl can make so much sound, but can she ever.

The venue was packed and the fans were loyal and amorous. The constant shouts of "I love you" to Beth and Doni reminded me of a Tori Amos concert. Unfortunately Forget Cassettes has no national distribution either for their CDs or radio play. Yet their fan base is rapidly growing. I can easily say that as soon as word spreads they will be the next big thing. Although, this means that Beth may have to quit her day job as a social worker. I strongly urge everyone to pick up their CD and check this band out. It has been a while since I have heard something so new that was this good. It is nothing short of amazing.

Byron Schaller resides at In The Congo dot com. Come to the site to see pictures of the concert.