It was a cold night, hovering around the 0 degree mark. I arrived at the club, went to the door and waved in. I found a good spot to stand and bumped into a friend whom I run into often at these shows. We stood there and waited for the show to begin. We were there to see the former frontman of the band Anthrax, whom I have seen before and always puts on a good show, as well as being a very nice guy.
The first act hit the stage at approximately 9:00. They were called Shuga Kain. They played for about a half hour and were rather impressive. They were fronted by a female singer, who, besides looking good, had a powerful voice. The music they played was straight up rock and roll with a bit of a bluesy side to it. Reminiscent of an Aerosmith type style. At times the music sounded a bit generic, but the strength of the vocals made it stand out on its own. I hope to get another chance to see this group.
In between acts, we decided to go check out the merch table and see what Belladonna items were available. When we got over there, we discovered that there wasn't anything there. We stood there for a bit, and who arrived? Joey himself, sat down at the table and started to put out his wares. We started talking to him about the cold, and the tour, and music in general, really great and personable guy. Very accessible to fans and always willing to spend time. I bought a couple of CDs which he autographed for me, we thanked him and made our way back to our spot as the second act was starting.
The next band was a nu-metal type act called Vyle, and it wasn't just a clever name. They were not very good at all. The vocalist was bad, muffling himself with the mic, the rest of the band was just as bad. The only good thing I could think of is the bass player had a few good runs, but that's it. They struck bottom when they performed, more like massacred, the Anthrax rap/metal hybrid "I'm the Man." It was great when they finally left the stage. I've experienced worse, but this was just annoying.
Next up was a band called Multiple Personalities. These guys were really quite good, they played a style of radio friendly rock, which had it's own style. The only problem I had was that the lead singer had a bit too much of a tremolo in his voice, so much that it was distracting at times. They did do a couple of cover tracks which sounded quite good. These guys could have an interesting future.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
THe Anthrax Magical Mystery Tour mystery continues ..
That's an incredibly large number of support bands. Sounds pretty fun to be so informal though.
"Vyle, not just a clever name." ha ha.