Against Me!

Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! by Pete Troshak

Ever since he was young Against Me! singer Tom Gabel had a secret: he suffered from gender dysphoria, meaning that while he was outwardly male, he self-identified as female (for more on this see here.) Gabel suffered through 15 years of living a dual life in Against Me!. By day he was a standard-bearer of punk cred in a macho and insular hardcore scene, performing upwards of 200 shows a year. By night, after the show back at the hotel room, lonely but free at last, he would cross dress. In 2012 Gabel made the courageous decision to transition in public from male to female via hormone therapy. Goodbye Tom Gabel, hello Laura Jane Grace, a change that triggered the defection of Against Me!’s rhythm section. Undaunted, Grace and a reconstituted Against Me! recorded and released the extraordinary Transgender Dysphoria Blues and hit the road.

Tuesday night at the Trocadero, Against Me! version 2.0 delivered a triumphant and emotion-packed 23-song blitz through the band’s history, kicking off with the self-flagellating “Fuckmylife666.” Amid a hail of jangling power chords and galloping drums the towering, tattooed and striking Grace delivered her mantra, singing “Don’t want to live without teeth/Don’t want to die without bite” and “No more troubled sleep/there’s a brave new world that’s raging inside of me.” Next Grace slashed out the opening notes of “Cliché Guevara” on her jet black Rickenbacker, bringing a seismic roar from the crowd that planted a huge, Cheshire Cat smile on Grace’s face that remained the rest of the show. That Against Me! classic ignited the crowd, turning the floor of the century old venue into a sweaty sea of pogo-ing bodies, each one seemingly singing along word-for-word. Grace was joined as always by her longtime friend and perpetual Against Me! member James Bowman. Bowman barked backup vocals and displayed some impressive guitar playing while the new rhythm section — ex-Rocket From The Crypt drummer Atom Willard and bassist/Dee Dee Ramone doppelganger Inge Johansson — provided a tight and powerful foundation.

Highlights from their current album included the dazzling Bowie-meets-The-Beatles power pop of “Unconditional Love” and Grace talking about “cutting assholes out” of her life before delivering a raging “Black Me Out.” The old stuff was spectacular too. Grace teased the crowd with some guitar work that sounded like it was from a spaghetti western and a snippet of “Stairway to Heaven” before delivering an apocalyptic “Miami” that shook the foundations of the venue. Against Me! closed their main set with “The Ocean” from New Wave, the closest that Grace as Gabel ever came to being true about her gender identity pre-transition. Live the song was pure exorcism — a taut, emotional four minutes with some stunning cathartic guitar work from both Grace and Bowman that drove away some of the old ghosts and pain. The band then left the stage, only to be lured back by the sound of 1,200 fans stomping their feet and screaming “Against Me!” over and over. They encored with a shambling and beautifully chaotic “Sink, Florida, Sink,” with the entire crowd screaming “You got to fuck it up!” in unison as empty plastic water bottles and crowd-surfing punks competed for available airspace. Fittingly, the night ended with another Against Me! standard, “We Laugh At Danger (And Break All the Rules).” Laura Jane Grace and Against Me! aren’t just breaking all the rules though, they are rewriting them with blood, sweat and the redemptive power of rock ‘n’ roll.– PETE TROSHAK

see more pics here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644627547983/

see the original post on at - http://www.phawker.com/2014/05/07/being-there-against-me-the-troc/

Phantogram and Chvrches @ The Piazza

Sarah Barthel of Phantogram by Pete Troshak

On Saturday, Chvrches and Phantogram rocked a gigantic sun-drenched Piazza crowd that included a tsunami-like wave of crowd surfers, a wedding party and two-time Olympic gold medal winning snowboarder Shaun White. The crowd surfers landed safely, the wedding party rocked out on one side of the stage and White was there to catch some good music and to see his his girlfriend, Phantogram singer Sarah Barthel. Those that couldn’t fit in the square took in the show from adjacent building roofs or apartment balconies.

Scotland’s Chvrches took the stage first, kicking off their set of sweet-sounding-but-venomous 80′s-flavored synth-rock with a pulsating “We Sink.” The sun seemed to shine brighter after Chvrches arrived prompting lead singer Lauren Mayberry to crack wise that this was “the first time that the sun had come out for Scottish people.” Mayberry was a study in contrasts — button-cute, high-pitched singing voice, and rocking a leather jacket and convincingly singing the menacing “Gun” (“I have burned your bridges/I will be a gun/and it’s you I’ll come for.”) They closed with “The Mother We Share” which had the entire crowd waving their arms and singing along.

Phantogram played last, with Barthel taking the stage all dressed in black with a shirt that read KILL. And kill the band did, delivering a powerful hour of their skittering drum n’ bass-fueled guitar-rock. They kicked off with new song “Nothing But Trouble” from Voices, Phantogram’s excellent new album. The song featured femme fatale vocals from Barthel, beautifully chaotic samples crashing into each other and a sprawling acidic guitar solo from singer/guitarist Josh Carter. The band dipped into their back catalog for “Don’t Move” which featured a old school horn samples, thundering drums and ethereal vocals from Barthel. They ended their set with another old song “When I’m Small,” featuring 60’s spy movie-style jagged guitar and bass and Barthel’s seductive vocals. As the song drew near its close, Barthel climbed the barrier in front of the fans and leaned into the audience dispensing high fives, holding hands and letting them sing along. — PETE TROSHAK

see more pics here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644100913738/

see original post here - http://www.phawker.com/2014/05/04/being-there-phantogram-the-piazza/

Charles Washington by Pete Troshak

The third Annual Center City Jazzfest was held on Saturday afternoon, pleasing a sellout crowd with sixteen genre-spanning jazz performances spread out over four locations in Center City Philadelphia. The four venues were Fergie’s Pub, MilkBoy,Chris’ Jazz Cafe and Time – all within a few blocks of each other and three of them on Samson Street. The festival offered remarkable value at $15 per ticket if you bought them ahead of time, so you were paying less than a dollar per artist. Your ticket purchase earned you a wristband that allowed you access to any of the four venues whenever you wanted. Events were running at each venue simultaneously, so like any festival, you had to pick and choose what you wanted to see and hear. I kept on the move and was able to catch partial sets and photograph ten artists on the bill, and at times I definitely wished I could clone myself and see more than one set at once. It was an afternoon full of memorable performances that reminded both the attendees and musicians of the togetherness and pure joy that music can create. 

The opening act of the fest, vocalist Rhenda Fearrington set the tone for the day. She and her four piece backing band gave a spirited and powerful performance that rocked the tiny upstairs at Fergie’s Pub. Another highlight of the sets at Fergie’s were the Jazz guitar stylings of Mike Kennedy, who was backed by a tight three piece keys, upright bass and drum trio. Of all the locations used for Jazzfest, Fergie’s best recreated the intimate, packed clubs that many Jazz greats cut their teeth in. The small upstairs room got more and more full as the day went along, and many fans seemed to set up shop there for the afternoon. 

The events held upstairs at Milkboy also got more and more crowded as the afternoon went on. This venue hosted impressive sets by Giovana Robinson and Justin Faulkner. Panama’s Robinson and her group pleased the mid-afternoon crowd with a set featuring her passionate vocals and distinctive style of music – a mix of pop, world music and Jazz elements. Late in the day Philadelphia native Faulkner’s thunderous drumming led a trio through an hour of groovy, prog-like space jazz to a packed and rapturous audience that included many of the other musicians from other bands on the bill. 

Chris’ Jazz Cafe’s dinner theater-like set up and large stage area were a perfect fit for the musicians who played there on Saturday. Early in the day the Cafe hosted a fourteen piece Jazz orchestra of youths from The Kimmel Center Creative Music Program for Jazz. Despite being young they proved to be old souls with a swinging, powerful ensemble performance that showed that Jazz has a bright future in Philly. Later in the day the stage was owned by Joanna Pascale and her band. Pascale delivered an well received set of torch songs and included a meditative and memorable Jazzy take on Carole King’s classic “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” 

The Time restaurant hosted some of the best shows of the day in it’s large mirror and clock filled bar area. The bar area featured a lot of open standing room space, natural light and two large sliding windows behind the stage area that were usually open. The open windows allowed passersby and fans who couldn’t fit into the frequently packed venue to hear some of the music outside. Early on, trumpeter Charles Washington led a five piece backing band through an excellent set that evoked the spirit of the early Miles Davis combos. After them brassy Brooklyner Miss Ida Blue drew one of the largest, most enthusiastic crowds of the day. Her look was eye-catching: she aptly described herself as a “vamping dame” in one of her songs. Miss Blue and her clarinet/trombone/banjo and tuba backing band delivered a raucous set of her innuendo-laced Jazz that had the crowd roaring with laughter and appreciation for her singing and the group’s talent. Next up was Stacy Dillard who had the crowd smiling, bobbing their heads and exchanging “did you hear that” glances as he blasted out complicated runs of notes on his sax while leading his trio through an impressive and powerful hour of music. Last up at Time was Trio Up, composed of virtuoso performers Rick Tate on Sax, Ronnie Burrage on drums and Nimrod Speaks on bass. They showed their mastery of their instruments and their ability to create beautiful music together during a highlight-filled hour of muscular and complex Jazz that that thrilled the packed restaurant.

see more photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644199745543/

see original post on WXPN's The Key here - http://thekey.xpn.org/2014/04/21/jazz-fest-lights-up-center-city-with-an-afternoon-of-eclectic-exciting-performances/

Charetta, Oxzana, Breakage Rising and Bodyface @ Mercury Lounger in NYC

Four distinctly different New York based bands rocked a strong weeknight crowd at the intimate concert space of the cozy Mercury Lounge in the Lower East Side of the city that never sleeps on Thursday night.

Up first was Bodyface, a power trio with a hammering precise Chevelle-like musical attack filled with the the angsty soul of 90’s rock. Playing mostly in the shadows of the wide dark stage, they delivered a half a dozen intense songs driven by their tight rhythm section and singer Jared Kerr’s growling vocals and jagged guitar riffs. They have a new album due out soon but check out their song “Sunrise” to get an idea of their sound.

Oxzana performed next bringing their fierce Ukraine-via-Brooklyn industrial hard rock to a crowd that surged forward when they took the stage. Singer Aksana Serjia’s  passionate vocals and emotional and energetic performance mixed with the intense riffs and grooves of the band to  fire up the crowd and bring the excitement level in the room up a couple of notches.They were joined for most of their set by violinist Cassandra Sotos, who added some searing violin while rocking a white electric violin that resembled a white Gibson Flying V guitar. Check out Oxzana’s very theatrical video for “Crimes of Love.”

Breakage Rising played next, pleasing the crowd with their aggressive but groovy hard rock. They were led by mic-stand swinging and fedora topped singer Hunter. His part soulful/part growling vocals soared over the hardcore foundation laid down by guitarist Klyph, bassist Chris and drummer Dan while lead guitarist Sonny delivered blazing solos mixed with some Van Halen-esque tapping. The band won the unofficial award for “best song title of the night” with a swaggering rap/metal ode to bro-dom called “Sumo Karate Chop.”

Headliners Charetta  took the stage a little after eleven PM and delivered a crushing set of metal to the eager crowd, kicking off with their set with a pounding “Lights Out.” Feisty singer Angelina DelCarmen stalked the stage headbanging and waving her green and black hair while leaning out over the crowd and unleashing her powerful sometimes-sweet/sometimes-anguished vocals. Behind her bass player Richard Mollo and drummer Adonis Sanchez locked into a loud powerful groove that drove the band. On opposite sides of the stage guitarist Chris Fullam slammed out riff after riff and lead guitarist Pablo LaFrossia fired off stinging laser-like leads. The group played all of last year’s excellent Kickstarter funded EP Apocalypse with one highlight being “This Is Your Fall” showcasing DelCarmen’s anguished wail and the bands staggering stop-and-go riffs. Late in the set came another highlight from Apocalypse when the band delivered the ballad “Not Made Of Stone,” which was a memorable moment of quiet beauty in what otherwise was a loud night. Their setlist included some older material too, including a thundering mid-set “Runs In The Blood” and encoring with a lightning fast blitz through “The Truth Is Out” when the crowd chanted for more. The band joked about not having an encore prepared because they are used to opening for other bands, they should be prepared to play lots of encores in the future given the quality of their live performance on this night.

Charetta Setlist:

Intro
Lights Out
I’m Not Your Bitch
Runs In The Blood
The Apocalypse Is Here
Love Your Lies
Not Made Of Stone
This Is Your Fall
Watch It Burn

Encore:

The Truth Is Out

see more Charetta photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644199695935/

see Oxzana photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644199846594/

see Breakage Rising photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644186943331/

see Bodyface photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157644186321212/

Gary Numan @ The Trocadero Theatre, Philadelphia, PA

Gary Numan
Trocadero Theatre
Philadelphia, PA
March 23, 2014


Gary Numan will always be best known for his 1980 hit "Cars," but Sunday night at the Trocadero he proved he is no nostalgia act with a blazing nineteen song set of electronic rock heaviosity. Numan released one of his best works ever in late 2013, his twentieth album Splinter, and is on tour supporting it following a buzz-generating performance at the SXSW Festival. Numan and his four piece band fittingly took the stage to the strains of the instrumental "Resurrection" and launched into the stark industrial wasteland of new song "I Am Dust." Numan strapped on a Gibson Les Paul and churned out riffs alongside his guitar player while white strobe lights exploded behind him and a sea of industrial blips and bleeps sounded around them, setting the tone for the night. Numan spent most of the set slithering up and down his mic stand; hanging onto it was the only thing keeping him from being sucked into the black emotional void of his music. His backing band of a bass player, drummer, keyboard player and guitarist spent most of the night in the shadows but stood out by supporting Numan's powerful vocals with equally powerful riffs and rhythms. Half of the set consisted of songs from Splinter, which held their own against Numan's older songs. One standout new song was "The Calling," which featured a throbbing heartbeat-like beat that had the crowd grooving. Another was new song "Here In The Black," an anthemic blast of gothy metal goodness featuring eerie whispered vocals by Numan and the heaviest guitar riffs of the night. His two classic songs impressed live also with one featuring his best vocals of the night and another being paired with one of his new tunes to devastating emotional effect. First up was "Down In The Park" which featured Numan's loudest and most emotional singing of the night as his voice battled to rise over the glacial swelling and swirling keyboard riffs. Next, mournful blue lights strafed the crowd as Numan and Co. delivered the fragile but beautiful new paean to a love-gone-bad,"Lost." Numan's gentle bruised vocals combined with a sparse piano riff and sprays of frustration-filled notes from his guitar player to create a palpable feeling of despair. Seconds after the song ended the memorable keyboard riffs of the claustrophobic classic "Cars" sounded, bringing the crowd from their depths and raising the energy in the room. The song took on a new life live, with the guitar and bass dominating the keyboards and Numan dropping the detached icy vocals of the record. The man who was once sounded happy to be locked in that car now sings like a man who wants to break free from its confines. Numan has found the soul in the machine.

ZZ Ward @ The TLA

ZZ Ward by Pete Troshak

Zsuzsanna Eva Ward was born in Abington, PA, in the late eighties and spent her youth absorbing her dad’s blues records as well as her brother’s hip-hop albums. Fast forward to 2014 and that little girl has become ZZ Ward, a rising music star with a sound that combines the lyrical and sonic tropes of blues and soul as well as the rhythms of hip hop. Friday night Ward and her tight three-piece band packed the Theatre of Living Arts and thrilled a winter-weary hometown crowd on the opening night of her Last Love Tour. Ward took the stage wearing her trademark low-slung Fedora and a black fuzzy jacket, packing a harmonica, looking part gangster and part blue eyed soul princess. Her voice is a versatile weapon in a live setting, alternately sultry come hither croon and soul-baring blues at the drop of a hat. Ward’s band matched the intensity of her vocals, with extra props going to her bass player who laid down a river of rubbery baselines all set long.
The 15-song set list drew from both her major label debut Til The Casket Drops and Eleven Roses, the online-only demo/mixtape that preceded it. Highlights from the latter included the raw and haunting opening song “OVERdUe” and the thundering “Cinnamon Stix. But it was tracks from Til The Casket Drops that were the most persuaive and convincing. Early in the set, Ward and her band delivered a searing one two punch of piano and guitar fueled stompers “Til The Casket Drops” and “Put The Gun Down.” Later, Ward sounded like she was drowning in a sea of heartache during the rarely played bluesy piano ballad “Lil Darlin.” The highlight of the set was a stunning version of “Last Love Song” that showed why the tour is named after this song. Ward sat on a stool in the middle of the stage with an acoustic guitar on her lap. Her eyes were closed for part of the song as she delicately picked out the spectral guitar notes. Ward’s guitarist manned a keyboard and played the emotive piano notes while the drummer gently played shimmering flourishes on the cymbals with mallets. On top of that wall of sound Ward delivered the vocals –a last goodbye and gentle exorcism of a bad love. The song swelled to a beautiful bridge then rolled to an emotional finish and faded out, leaving the crowd drained but roaring their support. Ward might have had to extinguish that love, but her star is clearly shining bright. – PETE TROSHAK

see more pics from her Last Love Tour here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157642409912293/

see original post here - http://www.phawker.com/2014/03/02/being-there-zz-ward-the-tla/

Karmin @ TLA

The story of Karmin is one of the most interesting in music the last few years. Engaged pop duo Nick Noonan and Amy Heidemann started out covering hits by other artists in an attempt to show off their talents. They amassed millions of views on YouTube and fulfilled the dreams of every struggling musician by getting signed to a major label. They got backed by Questlove of the Roots here and here. They released an EP called Hello in 2012 that yielded a hit in the form of the inescapably catchy “Brokenhearted.” Everything seemed to be going their way, but then the ride got bumpy. The first full length album, Pulses, has been complete for over a year but in limbo due to disagreements between Karmin and Epic Records. The band is out on the road for their first tour as headliners despite the album not being for sale (it’s scheduled for release 5/25), and gave an impressive show at the Theatre Of Living Arts on Friday night on one of the first dates of their Pulses tour.

Bryce Vine by Pete Troshak

Early arrivers were treated to the first Philadelphia appearance by talented new artist Bryce Vine. He performed a short set of his smooth flowing, pop culture-referencing rap accompanied by just a DJ. Vine has a powerful stage presence and he quickly had the crowd giving him their full attention with his rap skills and personality. He did the cliche thing and asked if the crowd was ready for Karmin. When the crowd cheered loudly in response he faked disdain and said “How dare you, I still have more songs to play,” eliciting a huge laugh from the crowd. The highlight of his set was an impressive and amusing song he claimed he had just written called “I Just Wanna Be A Thug.” Over a sample from Green Day’s “Brain Stew,” Vine lyrically and humorously skewered the gangster culture that surrounds rap music. Vine has an album, Lazy Fair, due out later this year.

Karmin hit the stage soon after, backed by a guitarist, bassist and drummer. They opened with their new single “I Want It All” and delivered fourteen more songs in an energetic and crowd pleasing set. Amy was a ball of energy, bounding from one side of the stage to the other while displaying impressive rapping and singing skills. There were a bunch of new songs which showed off more of Nick’s singing than their older material. Besides singing, he played some mean slide trombone and jammed on a bank of keyboards in the middle of the stage. The best new song was title track “Pulses,” an urgent, throbbing number that rocked the crowd and showed some impressive singing by both of the duo. Amy warned that their new song “Neon Lights” was sad, then delivered a heartbreakingly beautiful version of the ballad. After that song, she talked about their frustration with the record being held up and discussed how touring was a happy escape from those problems. The last two songs of their main set showed the group veering more into rock ‘n’ roll territory with good results. New songs “Puppet” and “Hate to Love You” were louder and more guitar fueled than Karmin’s older songs but were both well received by the Philly crowd.

Karmin left the stage then, eliciting loud stomping and chanting by the crowd until the band returned a few minutes later. The first song of the encore was a cover of Chris Brown’s “Look At Me Now” with help from the an audience member identified as Shekar. He and Amy traded verses on the tune, with Shekar impressing Amy and the crowd with his skills. Next came the inevitable conclusion with their biggest song, “Brokenhearted.” The bouncy, bassline fueled song had the crowd moving, grooving and singing along loudly for four minutes of sweaty pop bliss to close out the night on a perfect note.

see more Karmin photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157640419429394/

see more Bryce Vine photos here - https://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157640419743654/

see original article here - http://thekey.xpn.org/2014/02/03/karmin-kicked-off-its-pulses-tour-with-a-high-energy-tla-show/

What Memorial Day Makes Me Think Of...

The picture above is my father Richard Troshak. He was the son of an immigrant, who spent much of his youth in an orphanage. Before he was old enough to drink, the pic you see above was snapped and he was in Germany serving the United States Army in World War II. He also served a few years later in the Korean War. He passed away in 2009, after a long successful life and marriage and having helped raised myself and my two siblings with my mom. I felt a need to talk about him and his brothers and sisters in the military, as I cleaned out an email-box full of "Memorial Day Sale" messages and watched the local news. Apparently the most important thing we need to know about the holiday is that there are a lot of people on the beach at the Jersey Shore and the water is fine, so jump in.

Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday that was created as a day to give respect to the people who gave their lives in the cause of keeping the country free. You might not agree with the political parties or the president or whatever, but the reality is that the U.S. has it pretty good compared to a lot of other places. There will always be ways things can be better, but we always have a chance to make them better because of the sacrifices of a lot of brave and selfless people. If my dad were here he would have  probably scowled at the TV like I did, and thought about the people that he trained with and served with that didn’t come back. Like me he probably would have wondered if we had lost sight of the fact that since World War I over six hundred thousand Americans have died as a result of actions classified as war. That’s over six hundred thousand loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be free to worry about the water temperature at the beach and whose house we are going to for a barbecue on Monday. 

Earlier this year I covered a concert by the group Flogging Molly for Phawker.com. I had never seen them and I had always connected them with my dad, although he probably never heard a note they played while he was alive. I took dad to his first concert, when he was seventy years old, to see Johnny Cash at the Keswick Theatre. Cash was on tour for his first American Recordings album and it was a magical performance. Dad bought me a vinyl copy of that album from the merchandise stand at the show that is a prized possession of mine. The singer of Flogging Molly, Dave King, is an immigrant from strife torn Ireland who has written a lot of songs about his father and family. The song that always makes me think of my dad is one that King dedicated to his dad (who coincidentally bought him his first Johnny Cash record) called “What’s Left Of The Flag.” It is the story of a father who with his dying breath still believes in freedom and loves his country, no matter how rough it's history has been. I am listening to it right now thinking about how lucky I was to have my dad for so long and about all those people who weren’t as lucky as me. I am not trying to ruin your picnic, so fire up the grill. I am asking you to not lose sight of why this day was originally set aside as a holiday. Take a moment Monday to think about all the people who weren’t lucky enough to keep their loved one as long as I was, and to thank them for their sacrifices and your freedom. 

Black Out The Sun Tour

Electric Factory
Philadelphia, PA
04/18/13

It’s early in the music tour and festival season, but Sevendust has hit the road in support of their Black Out The Sun album with one of the strongest and most intriguing line-ups that will be seen this year. Their partners in crime – Stolen Babies, Lacuna Coil and Coal Chamber.

Stolen Babies, Copyright Pete Troshak

First up were the spooky cabaret stylings of Stolen Babies. The group proved that hard rock and accordion can be fused together to create something dark and beautiful with an entertaining seven song set. Singer Dominique Persi was memorable, performing like an eerie and damaged but beautiful Tim Burton character. She alternated between eerily cooing and screaming into the mic while pumping away on the bellows of her accordion. Behind her creepy organs swirled and guitars riffed along to crazy twisted carnival music tempos.

See my Stolen Babies pics here

Stolen Babies Setlist:

Never Come Back -Splatter - Push Button - Filistata - Mousefood - Tablescrap - Spill

Cristina from Lacuna Coil, Copyright Pete Troshak

Next up was Lacuna Coil. They are the Ferrari of music – a sleek, Italian finely tuned precision metal machine. Clad in black jumpsuits echoing the Dharma Initiative on Lost, they took no prisoners with a set-list powerful enough to convert any non- believers. They drew most of their set from 2012’s excellent Dark Adrenaline, kicking off with a thundering “I Don’t Believe in Tomorrow” followed by a chiming and hard driving “Kill The Light.” Cristina Scabbia’s beautiful vocals soared, swooped and were contrasted and complemented by Andrea Ferro’s raw anguished singing. Together they blasted out Lacuna’s archetypal tales of lost love and darkness while their band-mates delivered sheets of sonic darkness and riffage. They ended their set with three songs that were the highlight of the night – a hammering “Intoxicated,” a roller-coaster “Trip The Darkness” and supercharged closer “Spellbound.”

See my Lacuna Coil pics here

Lacuna Coil Setlist:

I Don’t Believe in Tomorrow
Kill the Light
To the Edge
Upsidedown
Fragile
Survive
Intoxicated
Trip the Darkness
Spellbound

Coal Chamber apparently is not allowing photographers to shoot them on this tour, but despite a decade long absence from the music scene they were in fine form. They took the stage to the chilling piano theme  from John Carpenter’s “Halloween” and put on a frighteningly good show. Singer Dez Fafara paced the stage barking boldly into an old radio show style mic with a glowing green light in it while guitarist Meegs Rascón prowled from side to side of the stage dropping heavy riff after heavy riff. The foundation for their music has always been the low end – the down tuned heavy-like-concrete guitar riffs of Rascon over a locked in chugging engine of a rhythm section that sounds like a runaway train. This is still the strength of the band with Mikey Cox’s precise pounding of his drums and new bass player Chela Rhea Harper ably filling the big boots left behind in the absence of original bass player Rayna Foss. Harper was a sight on the stage – long dark hair flailing and flipping as she spent most of the set bent over and headbanging while laying groovy and powerful basslines. The group ended the set in the crowd – hugging, crowd surfing and joyful leaving fans hopeful for more music from this quartet.

Setlist:

Loco
Big Truck
Fiend
Rowboat
Something Told Me
Clock
Drove
Not Living
Dark Days
I
No Home
Oddity
Sway

Sevendust, copyright Pete Troshak

 Anticipation hung thick in the air and the crowd buzzed anxiously during what felt like a long wait for main-eventers Sevendust. The wait was immediately forgotten when the band arrived and launched into the powerful new “Decay” from Black Out The Sun. The tone for their set was established with the third song they played; a loud defiant rendition of “Denial” that shook the old factory and the whole block it sat on. The band has carved out an almost twenty year career built on pounding rhythms, industrial strength riffs and the passionate angry vocals of Lajon Witherspoon. Witherspoon stalked the stage with a molten intensity, tearing into an assortment of wrong-doing lovers and friends and singing like every song might be his last. Behind Witherspoon the band, all original members, raged loud. Bass player Vince Hornsby and drummer Morgan Rose were locked in and loud laying down a rock hard foundation while guitarists Clint Lowery and John Connolly wailed and riffed over them. There were highlights from every era of the band. One standout was the relentless, hardcore “Till Death” from their new album. It might the band’s most aggressive song ever and their punky version of it this night left the crowd’s ears ringing. Later in the set they paid tribute to their memorable debut album with two songs. First came “Bitch,” which started out as gentle crowd sing-along then developed into a thrashing set highlight. Soon after came the stuttering siren call riff of their debut song “Black.” That riff brought a roar from the crowd and signaled that that night was almost over.  Witherspoon roared and the band pounding out the song like it was just written, delivering it with the same intensity they do their new material. Some good things don’t ever change, and thankfully Sevendust is one of them.

See my Sevendust pics here

Setlist:

Decay
Praise
Denial
Till Death
Waffle
Strong Arm Broken
Rumble Fish
Bitch
Pieces
Black

Encore:
Splinter
Face to Face

Testament @ The Trocadero Theatre

Chuck Billy of Testament, Copyright Pete Troshak

Trocadero Theater
Philadelphia, PA
2/13/13

On tour celebrating 2012's excellent Dark Roots of The Earth album and almost 30 years of existance, Testament rolled into Philadelphia's Trocadero Theatre on Valentine's Day Eve. It was a dark and stormy night, with threat of a snowstorm looming over the city - in other words the perfect atmosphere for the arrival of one of the loudest most uncompromising and legendary metal groups ever to play. The band arrived to a roar from the packed house and immediately displayed that they are still vital and powerful by unleashing four explosive numbers from their current album in the first six songs - "Rise Up," "Native Blood," "True American Hate," and "Dark Roots of the Earth." Each of those songs stand with the best that they have ever recorded and live they are pure Testament - shuddering riffs, thundering drumming, blistering solos, bad attitude and singer Chuck Billy's angry growling and howling. At that point the band turned back the hands of time and unleashed "Into The Pit" driving the crowd into more of a frenzy and kicking off the second half of the show. Soon after came more hightlights - the rolling waves of riffs of the rarely played "Riding The Snake" and the slow burn punky "Trial By Fire." They followed that with an explosive hardcore "The Haunting" from their debut album and finished a few songs later with a ceiling rattling version of "The Formation of Damnation," then sending the crowd out into a snowy night full of the fire of metal.

See more Testament pics here.

Setlist:

Rise Up
More Than Meets the Eye
Burnt Offerings
Native Blood
True American Hate
Dark Roots of Earth
Into the Pit
Practice What You Preach
Riding the Snake
Eyes of Wrath
Trial By Fire
The Haunting
The New Order
D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
3 Days in Darkness
The Formation of Damnation

Halestorm "Haleidays" show

Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, Copyright Pete Troshak

Halestorm 

Electric Factory

Philadelphia, PA

12/27/2012

Halestorm returned to one of their home bases, Philadelphia, on Friday for the first time since they got nominated for a Grammy award. The group thrilled a packed house at The Electric Factory with a staggering two and a half hour, 29 song mega-set. It was one of a handful of special “Haleiday” shows they are playing during the holiday season. The show consisted two sets – a “light” acoustic set and a “dark” electric set.

The acoustic segment opened with the band all in white, sitting on stools in a row. Lzzy Hale (in a white flowing dress!) playing piano, Joe Hottinger on acoustic guitar, Josh Smith on bass and Arejay Hale playing percussion on a white wooden board. The band played some of their ballads and quieter numbers and three killer covers – “All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You” by Heart, “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC and “Gold Dust Woman” by Fleetwood Mac. The highlight of this set was Lzzy Hale alone at center stage, playing an acoustic guitar and singing “Hate It When You See Me Cry” – a B-side from the deluxe version of the album – while brother Arejay watched from the wings. Hale explained that she didn’t expect the positive reaction she received from the people who she let hear the song when she first recorded it, and that those reactions opened her up to writing more songs like it which ended up on the record. The “light” set closed with Lzzy again on piano playing the slow beautiful “Break In” to a spellbound crowd.
After a short break, the band returned to the stage for their electric set wearing their usual rocker garb, with Lzzy in a leather mini-skirt and jacket. The group opened their second set by tearing into “Mz. Hyde,” “Love Bites (So Do I)” and “Freak Like Me” taking the energy of the room to another level and not letting it down for fourteen more songs. Highlights included a stomping chant-along to the rarely played “Daughters of Darkness” and a cruching version of their signature song “It’s Not You.” They performed a hammering version of Skid Row’s “Slave to the Grind,” but the best cover of the night was a slashing, wailing cover of Judas Priest’s “Dissident Aggressor” with Lzzy ripping up the stage Halford style. They closed out with a pounding “I Get Off” and then encored with “Here’s To Us” and “I Miss The Misery” leaving every ounce of energy they had on stage and sending a smiling exhausted crowd out into a wintry night.

See my pics from the show here

Edit this setlist | More Halestorm setlists

Royal Thunder @ The Trocadero Theatre

Royal Thunder, Copyright Pete Troshak

Trocadero
Philadelphia, PA
12/16/12

Royal Thunder played a half hour set opening for Monster Magnet and showed why they should be the main event and not a supporting act. They opened strong with “Parsonz Curse, ” a lumbering descent into darkness that would’ve sounded at home on the first Black Sabbath LP. From there they alternated some of their shorter thrashier numbers with the longer dark songs, one of the highlights being the throbbing “Whispering World,” with throbbing bass and wailing vocals provided by powerful vocalist Mlny Parsonz. Parsonz is worth the price of admission alone – a rumbling bass player and an intense vocalist able to switch from hard to soft in a moment with a unique beautiful but rough voice. The band closed with the powerful, shifting “Blue,” a seven minute emotional and musical rollercoaster ride and then left the stage quietly, having made their statement.


See more Royal Thunder pics here.

Epica @ The Trocadero Theatre, Philadelphia, PA

Simone Simons of Epica, Copyright Pete Troshak

Trocadero Theater
Philadelphia, PA
10/25/12


Epica’s music is built on contrasts. Classical influences and the operatic soaring mezzo-soprano voice of Simone Simons vs. the rough growling vocals of guitarist/singer Mark Jansen and the band’s relentless, pounding riffs and rhythms. The band was tight and powerful, rattling the grand old building with a display of roaring metal thunder. Simons’ voice was in excellent form as usual, soaring sweet above the din to the roof of the one hundred forty year old venue and rolling out over the crowd in emotional waves.

The band kick-started their 80 minute set with the twisting and turning “Monopoly on Truth”, a new track that represents the light and shade of the band as well as anything in their catalog. They followed with ten more tracks of roller coaster highs and lows, hitting on selections from all five albums. The main set ended on with an explosive duo – a stirring rendition of “Sancta Terra” immediately followed by their first single, “The Phantom Agony”, which sacrificed no power despite being a decade old. They returned for the encore with the fantastic new “Storm the Sorrow” and followed it up with the gypsy tinged “Quietus” and finishing with a crushing “Consign to Oblivion”. It was a fitting end to a epic show that proved that the band’s name is more than just a name, it’s a goal they aim for and hit.

See more of my pics here

Setlist:

Monopoly on Truth
Sensorium
Unleashed
Martyr of the Free Word
The Obsessive Devotion
Cry for the Moon
Sancta Terra
The Phantom Agony

Encore:
Storm the Sorrow
Quietus
Consign to Oblivion

The Greatest

I was fortunate enough to be sent to photograph and write about Muhammad Ali receiving a Liberty Medal in Philadelphia.

my thoughts - http://www.phawker.com/2012/09/14/sidewalking-the-greatest/

And the most touching moment of the night, a moment between father and daughter...

Longwood Gardens featuring Lights by Bruce Munro

more pics - http://www.flickr.com/photos/petryfrompa/sets/72157631140324126/

Carnival of Madness Tour 2012 @ House Of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ

Amy Lee from Evanescence, Copyright Pete Troshak

Carnival of Madness Tour
House of Blues
Atlantic City, NJ
08/03/2012

When you think of the word Carnival what comes to mind? Fun? Rides? Death defying feats? Displays of power and skill? Bright lights and a big show in the big top? All of this and more was on display at Friday Nights Carnival of Madness stop at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ.

The Carnival of Madness tour is now in it’s third year, and is becoming one of “the” tours to catch each year with it’s mouthwatering line-up of hard rock and alternative rock bands. Previous tours have included Shinedown, Puddle of Mudd, Sevendust, Theory of a Deadman, Black Stone Cherry and Alter Bridge.

This year’s line-up keeps up the high pedigree of previous years with Evanescence, Chevelle, Halestorm, Cavo and New Medicine on the bill.

New Medicine, Copyright Pete Troshak

Opening band New Medicine started the Carnival off with a taste of fun with a short set. A high energy, balls to the wall rock group with attitude and great stage presence, their music aggressive but entertaining with a solid groove and big hooks and sing-a-long choruses. They were the perfect band to kick off this party, with tunes like “American Wasted” but they also stopped to show a deeper, more sensitive side with the song “Little Sister” written by singer Jake Scherer about the loss of his sister. See New Medicine pics here.

Cavo, Copyright Pete Troshak

Cavo followed with a different, darker vibe bringing balance to the Carnival. Their music: hard-hitting soaring anthemic rock roller coaster rides, almost cinematic and emotional but still entertaining. Singer Casey Walker’s steely gaze kept the crowd’s attention where it belonged while guitar player Chris Hobbs was acrobatic both in his stage moves and his playing. Highlights were their performances of “Thick as Thieves” and “Circles” from their current album. See more Cavo pics here.

Lzzy Hale of Halestorm, Copyright Pete Troshak

Halestorm was the next act to perform for the carnival goers. Three members of the monochrome clad group took their positions and then guitarist/singer Lzzy Hale shot out to center stage as if launched from a cannon, as brother and drummer Arejay Hale counted out the opening beats to the pulse pounding, explosive lead track from their current album “Love Bites (And So Do I)”. The group followed that with “Mz Hyde” and live staple “It’s Not You”, taking the energy in the room to a new high. The group made the most of it’s time on stage squeezing in five more songs and a cool short drum solo before delivering a bone-crunching version of “I Get Off” and to help keep the party going, recent song “Here’s To Us”, a tune about love, life and togetherness.

Where are the death defying feats you ask? They were handled by Halestorm drummer Arejay Hale, who at the end of their set crowd surfed all the way to the back of the venue and then returned a sweaty, triumphant half-naked warrior mess through the crowd, freely giving out hugs high-fives and handshakes to anyone who approached him.

See more Halestorm pics here

Setlist:
Love Bites (So Do I)
Mz. Hyde
It’s Not You
Freak Like Me
Familiar Taste of Poison
Rock Show
You Call Me a Bitch Like It’s a Bad Thing
I Miss the Misery
I Get Off
Here’s to Us

Chevelle, Copyright Pete Troshak

Chevelle followed, pummeling the crowd to a delusional state with their circular, proggy metal while a massive menacing statue of a bull stood watch from the back of the stage. Their track “Send The Pain Below” has the line “much like suffocating”, this accurately describes the raw power and skill of Chevelle live as you feel the weight of their sound pinning you with its horns and the desperation and angst in singer Pete Loeffler’s voice – while his brother Sam works away hidden and thundering behind a metal industrial mass of drums and bassist Dean Bernardini slaps and rumbles on bass. They close out their long set with “Send The Pain Below”, old favorite “The Red” and current title track “Hats Off To The Bull”.

See more Chevelle pics here

Setlist:
Face To The Floor
Sleep Apnea
The Clincher
The Meddler
Jars
Get Some
I Get It
Piñata
Forfeit
Send The Pain Below
The Red
Hats Off To The Bull

Amy Lee of Evanescence, Copyright Pete Troshak

And after that, finally in the big top, the main event of the carnival, Evanescence. Circus headmistress Amy Lee stormed the stage like a fierce woman warrior and claimed it for her own. The amazing stage presence of Lee and her singing and piano prowess and the raw emotion of her vocals cut through the defense and  souls of the crowd, reminding them of lost love and pain and giving them release.

The rest of the band is a precision machine, nailing the emotional twists and turns of the music with ease and perfection, leaving no doubt that they are the definitive lineup. Terry Balsamo and Troy McLawhorn handle the guitar duties meting out crushing riffs or stinging pain drenched solos as needed. Bass player Tim Mc Cord holds down the low end and Will Hunt pounds the drums hard as anyone in the business, while frequently twirling and tossing his drumsticks between beats.
Amy Lee - Carnival of Madness, Atlantic City August 3rd 2012
The band took the crowd on a journey throughout the 18 song set, covering songs from all three albums and one surprise. It’s hard to pick highlights, but the pulsating opener “What You Want”, a cathartic rendition of “Lost In Paradise” and a beautiful and fragile but powerful version of “Lithium” stick out. The main set closes with “Bring Me To Life”, different in that it’s stripped of the male counter vocals of the original version, but still as powerful as the day it was released.
The band returns for two songs, a surprise in the form of the excellent rocker “Disappear” – a B-Side from the current album, and a haunting “My Immortal”. After that it’s light’s out, the Carnival is over, and the crowd leaves happy and satisfied hoping that it returns next year.

See more Evanescence pics here

Setlist:
What You Want
Going Under
The Other Side
Weight of the World
Made of Stone
Lithium
Lost in Paradise
My Heart Is Broken
Sick
The Change
Whisper
Your Star
Call Me When You’re Sober
Imaginary
Never Go Back
Bring Me To Life

Encore:
Disappear
My Immortal

Back From the Dead - Garbage 5/25/12

Garbage

House of Blues

Atlantic City

5/25/12

Beyonce wasn’t the only one making a comeback in Atlantic City (NJ) this weekend, rock band Garbage thrilled an enthusiastic crowd at Showboat’s House of Blues on Friday, helping to kick off the holiday weekend with a bang.

The band released an excellent new album last week, Not Your Kind of People, and is on the road playing intimate venues to get warmed up after a seven year touring hiatus.

Scottish vixen Shirley Manson, with a powerful voice can that still go from cool purr to fiery growl in seconds, prowled the stage like an angry jungle cat telling tales of stupid girls and bad boyfriends,  while legendary producer and talented drummer Butch Vig thumped and thundered behind her.  The two other founding members, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker, capably split guitar duties, spraying and lasering the crowd with riffs and bursts of guitar brilliance.

The twenty-one song career spanning setlist was heavy on material from their breakthrough first album but included a few cuts from each stop in their career and movie songs “#1 Crush” and James Bond theme “The World Is Not Enough”. The group is no nostalgia act though, their new material is as powerful as their old – current single “Blood For Poppies”, the desperate, careening “Man on a Wire” and throbbing, rumbling encore starter “Automatic Systematic Habit” all showed that the band is as vital now as when their career started eighteen years ago. Fittingly they finished off the frenzied crowd with a knockout punch - the powerful “Vow” from their debut album, a scorned lover’s promise to “come back from the dead” to settle unfinished business. Garbage is back. 


pete974@aol.com


sadly I was unable to obtain clearance from the band's press to photo them in time for the show, you can check out my other work:


see my photography work here


see my other music writing here

Hot fun in the summertime - WMMR BBQ 2012

WMMR BBQ

Camden, NJ 

5/20/12

Philadelphia radio institution 93.3 WMMR held their annual summer kick-off BBQ concert in Camden on Sunday, a yearly tradition which this year had more Pennsylvania flavor by including Red Lion hard rockers Halestorm,  who are making noise and getting notice with their outstanding new album , The Strange Case of...

Lzzy Hale by P. Troshak

Singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale was a guitar carrying tornado in white – she hit the stage running , took no prisoners and ripped the place up - showcasing her powerful singing and guitar playing while her talented brother Arejay rolled and thundered on drums. Lead guitarist Joe Hottinger wailed and bass player Josh Smith held down the low end.

Lzzy Hale by P. Troshak

The band came out guns blazing – first firing off the blistering four lead tracks from their current album, one bullet after another - and following them up with some new and old songs including live highlight "It's Not You", which got a loud appreciative reaction from the hot afternoon festival crowd. They closed with new song "Here's To Us" - a song about memories, life and brotherhood perfect for a sunny afternoon Philly party with friends.

Slash by P. Troshak

Also on the bill, a man who only needs one name for an introduction:  Slash. The guitar legend performed a crowd energizing set at the event with  Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy, including songs from their just dropped album, a Velvet Revolver song – the slow burning, explosive "Slither", which got one of the biggest pops from the crowd all day - and of course, three Guns N' Roses songs - "Nightrain", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child O' Mine". Kennedy was impressive, handling the material with a style all his own, obviously not intimidated by having to sing songs originally done by Axl and Weiland. Slash's playing was nimble and electrifying as always, bringing roars from the crowd who remembered many summers past with those anthems.

Myles Kennedy by P. Troshak

Other groups on the bill – Pop Evil, Adelitas Way, Shinedown, Godsmack, Steel Panther

See more pics here

See the rest of my photos here

See my writing here

Pete974@aol.com

"The rules I break got me a place up on the radar.."

Santigold at the Trocadero

Philadelphia, PA 

5/8/12

On Tuesday night at the Trocadero, Philly born singer Santigold proved that you can go home again, kicking off her tour with a triumphant show in front of a raucous hometown crowd. She might reside in New York now, but her heart and soul are pure Philadelphia.

The tour is in support of her strong second album, Master of My Make-Believe,  Santigold's first album in four years.  Her music is a stew of different elements; punk rock, reggae, dance, dub, pop and rap elements swirl through her work, sometimes all in one song. Where her debut solo album was the kind of album you might put on at a party, her current record is lyrically deeper and has more of a driving around late at night kind of vibe.  Standout tracks include “Go”, “Disparate Youth”, “Big Mouth”, and “The Keepers”.

Santigold and her band -two dancers, two multi-instrumentalists and a drummer - hit the stage dressed like a high school spirit squad and immediately turned the Troc into a grooving, sweaty, mess of a dancehall with their skittering beats, dubby bass and shrapnel guitar. Santigold can flow with the best of them on the mic and she seemed genuinely moved by the love she received from the crowd. The energy she received, multiplied and sent back out threatened to blow the roof off the hundred and forty year old plus building, taking the show to another level.

Seamlessly mixing old and new tracks and keeping the party going for an hour and a half, the band and the crowd both couldn’t stop dancing and grooving. It’s hard to pick out one highlight but the coolest moment was when she allowed fifty or so audience members to join her on stage to dance and sing along with her to “Creator”, a true Philly moment of love and togetherness and beautiful chaos.

visit Santigold's site to sign up for the mailing list and get a free download 

see the published version of this article on Phawker.com here

see more of my pics of Santigold here and my other pics here 

Willie Nelson - Keswick Theatre - 5/6/12

Forget what you know about Willie Nelson.

Sure, you know him as a musician, and probably associate certain things with that name:  a guy who loves pot, once owed a lot of money to the IRS, makes funny commercials and cameos in movies and tv shows.

Who is he really though?

Nelson was born in 1933 during the Great Depression. He was performing with bands and playing before he was a teen and by his late 20's he had become a successful songwriter. He wrote a little song called "Crazy" which made a legend out of Patsy Cline in 1961, and then spent the next fifty plus years defining and redefining songwriting and music. Nelson has created an influential body of work, mainly country but often mixing genres - taking recent detours through blues and reggae, but always sounding like Willie.

Nelson is an icon, an outlaw, a cowboy, a fierce guitar player and nuanced singer, a great songwriter, a larger than life character who seems hewn from a piece of granite. He is still out on the road most of the time at age 79, outperforming many people a quarter of his age.

Using imagery from one of his best albums (1996's Spirit), Nelson is like an old grizzled matador who refuses to cede the ring because he knows he can still battle and because it's the only life he knows.

A more apt comparison might be to that of a wily old boxer (like Philly icon Bernard Hopkins), who gets knocked down a lot, but always gets back up swinging and wins more than his share of fights. Nelson hasn't stayed down on the mat or off the road long in his 72 years of performing, and he showed on Sunday night at the Keswick Theatre that he is still a champion.

Nelson's voice, while weathered, is still strong and memorable. His unique guitar playing - short staccato bursts of notes, with a strong Spanish/Classical influence - remains powerful as ever. Nelson and his crack band mixed classics, some deep cuts and a few recent songs to the delight of a packed house for almost two hours. The crowd listened carefully to the old master and between songs erupted in applause, letting Nelson know he was deeply revered and appreciated.

Highlights: "Still is Still Moving To Me", "Always On My Mind", "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground", a medley of "Funny How Time Slips Away/Crazy/Nightlife" and late in the set a showstopper – a brilliant, epic "Ou Es-Tu, Mon Amour?/I Never Cared for You" (from 1998’s overlooked Teatro), showing that this gunslinger still has a lot of bullets left.

Go see him if you get the chance, you will find him in his home - out on the road.

Thanks to the Keswick Theatre for putting on the show, it's a wonderful venue, check it out here

PS -this review was published in a slightly edited form, due to space and the beginning overlapping with a previous post, on the website phawker.com, see the published version here

Sadly I was unable to get clearance to take photos from Willie's reps in time before the show, you can see my other photo work here

See my review and pics of Greg Lake's recent Keswick Show here.