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

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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