Concert Review – RED, Halestorm, and Inept
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Last night I headed on down to the southside for the RED concert, I shared the event with Mike (as usual) and our friend Jen from church. The whole thing started for me just the way any special day should start, at Primantis. I just have to say that if you are from the Pittsburgh area, then you will know just how special Primantis is, and well if you’re not from Pittsburgh, well all I can say is… SUCKS TO BE YOU!! Sorry about that.. Well after Dinner at Primantis I had some time to kill and ended up going to the BeeHive Coffee shop for a Pot of Assam (that would be tea) while I waited for Mike and Jen to show up.
I didn’t have long to wait and we sat at the BeeHive enjoying the beverages until it was time to take the long walk (2 blocks) to the concert. 15bucks later we were in. The last warm up band “Halestorm” was onstage, we had missed the first Band “Inept” (More on that later) But I did manage to pick up CD’s from both the bands and even got my picture with LZZY Hale from Halestorm.
A moment if I may, We walked into the place just in time to be subjected to the ubiquitous DRUM SOLO. I use the word subjected since I have seen quite a few live concerts and being part of a band I have been subjected to far to many drum solos, and when the drum solo started I have to admit that I had several disparaging comments on my lips. That was until the drummer pulled out the biggest set of drum sticks I have ever seen. that or he suddenly shrank to a tiny size, kinda like Stephen at church size. It was just after this that all the members of Halestorm returned to the stage carrying, yes you guessed it, More drums. It was then I realized that they must of all met in the drum core in high school. Still it was an impressive display that went on just long enough to enjoy and not so long that I got bored.
The rocking continued after that and I was treated to a display of vocals I must say I see all to infrequently. LZZY HALE has a very serious set of pipes. Now I have a long standing bias toward chick vocalists so yeah Im still enjoying last nights show but long standing bias aside you will be selling yourself short if you enjoy rock and NOT check out Halestorm at myspace.com/halestorm Just check out the write up at jtindie.com
Now as I said I missed the First Band Inept and usually I don’t mind missing the first band, but I really think I missed out on things last night. I was talking with the band members and they noticed I was wearing my Skillet shirt, it turns out they played with skillet for awhile and their musical style compliments Skillet quite well. (If you want to hear them check out the recorded version of this review.)
Enough of all of this, You all came to hear me talk about the mainliner, RED. I use the term mainliner in the idea that RED must be some kind of drug, I have seen them 4 times now and it seems like I have some kind of addiction, There aren’t many bands I would make it a point to see over and over again. Disciple, RED, FireFlight, and yes Skillet. Watching RED perform reminds me each time I see them why I enjoy the live shows, even more than I enjoy their music. RED knows how to put on a jawdropping show, it is that simple. From the moment they took the stage until the final guitar screech faded they dominated the stage and demanded the complete attention of everyone. Perhaps the only down note was their choice to sign autographs out by their tour bus, as the rain started, not sure how that worked out, I already got their autographs on a poster and got my picture with them from last summers Vertical Fest.
Aside from the fact that just about everyone at the concert managed to stomp on my size 13’s the whole night was an unqualified success. I also enjoyed the fact that I ran into several people I know, People I have met at a lot of the other concerts in and around Pittsburgh, as well as Members of the band Third from First, A band I have played on my podcast as well as will be going back up to the NET at the end of this month to see them perform again with Everlife.
so to end this review Im gonna play some music from Halestorm and Inept. And before I go and leave you with the music I want to just say that it turns out I have been a fan of Halestorm since 2001 as I found a CD I bought at one of the Three rivers Arts Festivals and it is Halestorm “Breaking the silence” so there yall I am a long term indie music professional.. or something like that.
Here is Halestorm with I’m not an Angel followed by Inept with Finding Reasons. You can hear more of Inept on my next episode of JTindie.com Podcast.
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