NYS Music 20​13

Tag: stars in stereo

  • Review: Monster Energy Drink Outbreak Tour 2013

    Monster Energy Drink’s 2013 Outbreak Tour invaded the Mid-Hudson Civic Center Sunday, Oct. 20 in Poughkeepsie N.Y.

    Matt Tuck
    Matt Tuck

    Headlining the tour was Bullet For My Valentine with special guest Black Veil Brides, Stars In Stereo, and Throw The Fight.

    Bullet For My Valentine
    Bullet For My Valentine

    Opening the show was Throw The Fight. I have never seen this band before, but they totally rocked live.

    Matt Tuck
    Matt Tuck

    Lead vocalist James Clark gave a brief, heartfelt speech about being a cancer survivor and reminded everyone to chase their dreams, because five years ago he was in the crowd as a fan, and now he is on the stage living his dream.

    Matt Tuck
    Matt Tuck

    I recommend going out and seeing this band live if you get the chance. I had a chance to talk with them after their set, and they are a bunch of really cool down to earth guys besides great performers.

    Stars In Stereo were slated in the second spot for this event.

    Bullet For My Valentine
    Bullet For My Valentine

    This is now my third time seeing Stars In Stereo this year. It seems like they are opening for everybody these days.

    Throw The Fight
    Throw The Fight

    Bec Hollcraft is really starting to come into her own as a performer. Last time I saw her, I felt like she was a little bit reserved but not anymore.

    Guitarist Jordan McGraw has a lot of energy and is always playing to the crowd, pumping them up.

    The first two times I saw them, they played a cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” but didn’t touch it this time and just played tracks off their album.

    Outbreak Tour 2013
    Outbreak Tour 2013

    Up next in the three spot was Black Veil Brides. I know this band had their detractors, but every time I see them on a show, they give a really good live performance.

    Andy Biersack of BVB even said during his thank you speech to everyone in the crowd who is not a BVB fan, “Thank you for putting up with us and letting us perform for you before Bullet For My Valentine came out.”

    Just like some of the “boy bands” you see in the pop genre, I think the young female teenage following they have generates most of the negative press they get from fans. BVB seems to be the “boy band” of rock music.

    Welch metal-core rockers, Bullet For My Valentine, are up next in the headlining forth spot for this show.

    BFMV came right out and kicked @$$ from start to finish.

    This was one of the best live performances by a band that I’ve seen all year! This was my first time seeing BFMV and I was not disappointed.

    Bullet is a really solid band, and the crowd just ate up their energy. Lead vocalist Matthew Tuck is just amazing on vocals live, and Jason James was just as good with his screaming/growl backing vocals.

    From drums to guitar to bass, these guys are all very talented musicians.

    Near the end of the set, Matt invited out Jordan McGraw of Stars In Stereo and Ryan Baustert of Throw The Fight. Matt said that “tomorrow is these guys’ birthday,” and brought them out for a drink on stage.

    Throw The Fight
    Throw The Fight

    Matt made them do a head stand as members from BFMV held their ankles and poured a nice alcoholic beverage in a red solo cup down their throats. Ryan failed his first head stand attempt, which made Matt quip in with “you’re not to flexible, are you?”

    Bullet performed “Tears Don’t Fall” as the last song of the night. I don’t think they had a choice. When Matt told the crowd this was going to be the last song of the night, the crowd started an immediate chant of “Tears Don’t Fall,” which brought a huge smile to Matt’s face.

    This was a really good concert from start to finish. It might even be in the top 10 of best concerts I’ve seen in 2013. All the bands were really good on this show, and if you love music like I do, and you don’t get into the band bashing like some fans do because they don’t like a certain band’s image, go out and see these bands when they come to your area. Remember, it’s all about the music and having a good time!

    Black Veil Brides
    Black Veil Bride

  • Review: Krockathon 18

    Krockathon 18 was held in the Chevy Court of the N.Y. State fairgrounds. The lineup for this show was just amazing! Sevendust, Skillet, Three Days Grace and Chevelle to name a few.

    Krock even tweaked some things to the venue so they could sell 500 more tickets. The show went pretty smoothly for the most part. The main drawbacks from the fans were that there was no tailgating allowed in the parking lot, and there were not enough beer and food vendor’s. They could have used about 30 more port-a-potties also.

    First up was Stars In Stereo. They got the crowd going for this one. They did a decent cover of Aerosmith’s Dream On. Singer Bec Hollcraft seemed a little reserved at the beginning, but came into her own by the end. She could be a star someday. If I had to compare them to another band, I would have to say that they are like Paramore kicked up a notch.

    All the way from the UK, The Virginmary’s were up next. They were pretty good. I really never heard anything by them, but I really enjoyed their performance. They can definitely rock it live.

    This next band was just amazing live. Aranda, to me, is one of the bands on this bill that stole the show. The Aranda brothers, Dameon and Gabe, have some fun with each other using one guitar and holding it in different positions while the other brother plays it!!! Pretty cool $#!^. I highly recommend Aranda’s “Stop The World“cd. It is just hot from top to bottom. I would really like to see this band play a longer set.

    The next band on the bill was Red. Red had their Graffiti brick wall set up behind them, which I love as a backdrop. Michael Barnes vocals were just right on point. The Armstrong twins just know how to rock, and they have a ton of energy. I’ve seen Red live of couple of times now, and they just bring it to every show. They are also some of the coolest, most down to earth guys you can meet.

    Skillet, who just dropped their “Rise” cd, was next. Here is another band that just stole the show for me. Skillet live is just f’in awesome. Watching Jen Ledger on drums is insane. She just kicks so much @$$ up there. Skillet had their usual co2 pyro in front of the stage. Korey Cooper on guitar and keyboard is just amazing. Watching her rock out is just really fun to watch. The crowd was just nuts for Skillet and John Cooper had them wrapped around his finger. Jen also threw her drumsticks to a fan holding a sign asking her for them, which I though was classy move.

    Asking Alexandria were up next and the crowd loved them. I personally am not a huge fan of theirs, but they do put on a good live set.

    Flyleaf was set to play next. I am really not feeling Kristen May live. The band itself is OK but she is the $#!^’s. It seemed like every song was butchered by her, and it made me sick. I saw them the night before this show, and again I was not impressed.

    Another band I saw the night before was P.O.D. This is when the first of two rain showers started, and it lasted for most of P.O.D’s set. Every time I see this band they kick @$$! I love watching Sonny on stage because you can see how he just feels the lyrics he is singing.

    Well up next, according to front man Phillip LaBonte, is the hardest band on the show! All That Remains took the stage next and, like usual, they just killed it. I’ve seen this band a couple of times now, and I love them more and more.

    One of my favorite bands ever, Sevendust, is now ready to rock the stage. The topless women are now starting to come out in full force. Lajon is one of the best front men in the business to me. I love him on stage. His emotions bring my emotions out more. The whole band just rocks from start to finish. Lajon said halfway through, “We are not rockstars, we just love to play music.” One classy guy, and a very classy band. You’re all rockstars to me!

    I was standing next to a girl at this show who was there for this next band only. Chevelle took the stage and the crowd just loved them. They were really good and sounded awesome.

    Last up is Three Days Grace. The second rain fall is now starting. This is where the only snag took place as 3DG took forever to come out and delayed everyone in the rain for about an half hour. After chants of “WTF” and “this is B.S,” the show finally started. This was my second time seeing Matt sing for 3DG and he is really good. I think I liked him better the first time I saw him, though. The crowd was really over for them and even though it was down pouring rain, it was still awesome.

    What a great event Krockathon was. A couple of things that I would like to see added to next year’s event—besides more vendors and bathrooms—is a more of a festival experience. I think the bands should have been more hands on for the fans. Don’t get me wrong, some were, but not enough. I think if they set it up like Mayhem/Uproar and they had different tents for the different bands. The facility sure looked like they had enough room for it. One thing I didn’t get was the sticker that they passed out at the gate that was for random meet-n-greets with the bands, but I noticed that the Krock staff was also grabbing people who didn’t have stickers instead of the ones who did, which annoyed a lot of people who got there early to get one of the stickers.