Author: Jenny Caulfield

Asking Alexandria has Clifton Park stand up and scream

Old school fans of Asking Alexandria cannot miss the 10 Years in the Black Tour. On November 15, Asking Alexandria alongside Born of Osiris, I See Stars, After The Burial, Upon A Burning Body and Bad Omens, brought the tour to Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park to showcase not only the best of the Sumerian Records, but the best of each band as well.

Asking Alexandria, headliners for Sumerian Records’ 10 year anniversary tour, have a surprise waiting for fans coming out this month. For any new fans of Asking Alexandria who expected to see songs from their latest release, The Black, performed on this year’s tour, you are surely mistaken.

Bad Omens opened the show with clean, intense, harsh vocals by vocalist Nicholas Ryan. They were the best way to start the night, especially impressive being the drumming by drummer Nick Folio. Their set allowed for the crowd surfers to come out early, and were just what the audience needed before watching Upon A Burning Body.

Texas natives, Upon A Burning Body, woke up the crowd to the fullest during, “Texas Blood Money.” A fan favorite by Upon A Burning Body, this was the first song of the night that really got everyone in the venue up and moving. At the end of the song, a couple in the crowd starting ballroom dancing to the Mexican interlude that followed the song.

Encouraging the crowd to be active, frontman Danny Leal invited fans to come up to him and give him a high five. “Don’t be afraid, every single one of you get the f-ck over here,” said frontman Leal.

Although this show was not a sell out and not everyone had arrived at the venue yet, during Upon A Burning Body’s set, there was a reminder of what a concert should really be like. A smaller number of fans were all working to get everyone off of their feet that wanted to crowd surf, and making sure they would get safely to the front of the venue.

Following Upon A Burning Body were metal group After The Burial. The excitement from Upon A Burning Body carried over into After The Burial’s set, with frontman Anthony Notarmaso encouraging shaking people around in the audience.

“If you came here with a friend start shaking this mother f-cker side to side. I promise if you do it, they will smile,” said Notarmaso before performing, “Collapse.”

Before performing their last song, the crowd was so upset about their set being over, fans started yelling profanities from the crowd towards the stage encouraging them to stay longer.

I See Stars, who released a their new album, Treehouse, over the summer, has gone from playing The Vans Warped Tour to being a part of this ten year celebration with Sumerian Records.

With their unique style of blending electronic and metal together, I See Stars were one of the most entertaining and energetic performances from the tour. Frontman Devin Oliver left no area of the venue untouched, whether by jumping on top of stereos to reach out to fans, or going up against the audience themselves.

“I want you to sing louder, I want you to jump higher,” said Oliver.

Although performing a majority of their set to promote Treehouse, there are some fans who were hoping for earlier I See Stars songs to appear on the setlist, like their 2012 song featuring Danny Worsnop of Asking Alexandria, “Endless Sky.”

All of the energy given off from Oliver was given back to him by the reactions from fans during their entire set.

Heavy metal quintet, Born Of Osiris, were the heaviest band on the tour, and fans knew it immediately. Although it can seem odd going from the upbeat style of I See Stars to the heavy style of Born Of Osiris, the shift was not as strange as fans may think.

Playing songs like, “Follow The Signs,” were exactly what they crowd needed to be ready for headliners Asking Alexandria.

Despite being named the, 10 Years in the Black Tour, fans of Asking Alexandria may find themselves pleasantly surprised about the content played by Asking Alexandria. This tour not only surprises original fans with old content, but they actually go through their evolution as a band.

Asking Alexandria, who reunited with original vocalist Worsnop and parted ways with vocalist Denis Stoff soon before the tour began, gave, according to Worsnop, “a whopping five days before the tour started,” to prepare for the tour.

With a lack of preparation and the confusion from fans, Asking Alexandria are using the 10 Years in the Black Tour to perform the stages of Asking Alexandria, starting with performing from Reckless & Relentless, followed by From Death To Destiny, and ending with songs from Stand Up and Scream.

According to Worsnop, bringing himself back into the mix makes the band feel they are back to how they were, “When it was five guys in a beat up RV in a Walmart parking lot in New Jersey.”

The chemistry between every member of the band surpasses any expectation. Despite being, in general, well-rounded musicians, the energy and connection between the members of Asking Alexandria is enjoyable for everyone to watch.

Every member of the band, whether it’s guitarist Ben Bruce, or guitarist Cameron Liddell, make sure to get up on speakers and get as close to fans as possible.

Worsnop, who has had vocal issues in the past, surprised the audience with the way his live performance has improved. His vocals, especially on songs like, “The Final Episode,” and “A Single Moment of Sincerity,” sound remarkably like the original recordings from 2009.

As well as going through the evolution of Asking Alexandria, the band also paused between songs to share stories and give background on some of the songs and the albums themselves.

“I’m not addicted to drugs anymore, that’s cool,” said Worsnop to introduce the middle of the show where they started performing songs off of From Death To Destiny.

The performance by every member of Asking Alexandria is not only incredibly impressive, but you get a sense that these five guys who started the band together, missed their time performing together. Any fan of Asking Alexandria looking to see old school Asking Alexandria songs performed, cannot miss out on the 10 Years in the Black Tour.

November 19, 2016
Attila brings the Chaos Tour to Clifton Park

Attila’s Chris Fronzak said that Attila has been around for 12 years and will be for 100 more.

With their performance from the Chaos Tour On Oct. 20, at Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, this can easily be true. Metalcore band Attila packed the venue alongside Chelsea Grin, Emmure and Sylar for a night of raw heavy music.

Openers Sylar from Queens, NY gave a heavy start to the night to let fans know what they were in for. Although the activity from the crowd for their set was minimal, frontman Jayden Panesso didn’t stop building intensity from the audience. The musicians themselves utilized the space on stage to make sure every part of the venue got a taste of their sound.

Following Sylar was the five-piece metalcore band Emmure. As soon as they stepped foot on stage, you could feel the atmosphere in the venue change. Fans were opening circle pits, mosh pits and created such havoc that an ambulance with paramedics came towards the end of their set to help the injured fans.

With fans screaming and moving all over the venue, Emmure was immediately called on stage for an encore after their set despite being the second band on the lineup.

Chelsea Grin, who accidentally set off fire alarms during their set, had one of the most engaging performances of the evening. Vocalist Alex Koehler made sure to get in contact with every fan that crowd surfed to the front and got off stage and against the barricade of the audience twice to share his mic with fans.

With every song performed by Chelsea Grin, the intensity in the venue became stronger and stronger. More fans were acting out and jumping on top of other fans to sing lyrics with Koehler. With fans filled with excitement, headliners Attila came on stage to end the night with what would leave fans in awe.

Although some find Attila’s lyrics distasteful, Attila came out performing “Public Apology,” a single from their new album Chaos, out Nov. 4, to set the pace for their show. Front man Fronzak immediately wanted to show fans what Attila are about by making it clear he had no care in the world about what happened during their show.

“There are no rules at an Attila concert,” said Fronzak.

Whether you like Attila’s music or not, it is impossible to deny their absolute love for their fan base. Fronzak immediately went out of his way to make every fan feel special by utilizing the space of the entire stage. Fronzak was sharing the mic with fans and promoting activity by inviting every fan to crowd surf to the front and give him a high five.

Trying to excite fans, Attila left the stage momentarily only to come back moments later with Fronzak shooting fog from a fog gun across the audience.

Besides the band’s incredible fan interaction, they had stellar stage performance to complement it. The general performance by everyone in Attila was entertaining. You could tell every musician was loving what they were performing and only became more excited by seeing the reactions from their fans.

Out of most of the bands in the metalcore scene, Attila stand out as going above and beyond to show how much they love the fans of their music.

Following the trend of making fans feel important, Fronzak made a fan’s dream come true of singing on stage with Attila. Before performing their popular song “Payback,” Fronzak called for the best metal vocalist in the audience to come on stage. Becoming what he called “tryouts for Attila,” three men took the stage to compete to perform “Payback” on stage.

With the crowd cheering for their favorite vocalist, a fan got to live out his dream of performing, “Payback” in full, with his favorite band.

To appeal to his fans, Fronzak made clear the messages in his music. “We never claimed to be perfect. We know we’re f-ck up’s, that’s why we make music about it.”

Smiles stretched across the faces of fans of all ages who came out to rage with Attila. With the amount of fan interaction, it was impossible for any fan to leave the venue without feeling like an important part of the Chaos Tour.

With this type of attitude and energy for their live performances, it is easy to say Attila will have many years of tours ahead of them. If you are looking for a night of heavy music with a feeling of exuberance, make sure not to miss the Chaos Tour.

October 26, 2016
Blink-182 Paves the Way for Next Generation of Punk at SPAC

Blink-182 proved to everyone attending their summer tour last night in Saratoga Springs at SPAC that they are more than just “crappy punk rock.”

With over 20 years of experience under their belt, it is not shocking that they spent their entire summer touring across North America in stadiums and amphitheaters.

Blink-182 came to an almost entirely sold-out Saratoga Performing Arts Center on September 4. With A Day To Remember and All Time Low by their side, Blink-182 gave a performance that could only be described as breathtaking.

Although the tour is split between openers All Time Low and All-American Rejects, All Time Low gave their final performance on Blink-182’s tour this night. Sharing the special moment with Saratoga, All Time Low gave what could be their best performance of the tour.

Unfortunately for All Time Low fans, despite how preeminent their performance was, frontman Alex Gaskarth felt that the crowd in Saratoga Springs performance for them was not up to par. When Gaskarth asked fans to sing along, “Heyo”, with the band, little show attendees sang along with them. To his disappointment, Gaskarth said, “Wow, that is the worst that has been the whole tour.”

A Day To Remember, who just released their newest album Bad Vibrations this week, gave the energetic and overly fun performance all fans hope for at any A Day To Remember concert.

With confetti cannons, toilet paper and shirts being flung from a t-shirt cannon, A Day To Remember have mastered the art of making fans jump and scream through the duration of their performance.

With years of performing and now six full-length albums to work with, A Day To Remember found a perfect setlist to show off all types of their sound with a blend of songs like, “2nd Sucks,” and “If It Means A Lot To You” in their setlist.

Blink-182 played in Saratoga for the first time since the Honda Civic Tour in 2011. With fans waiting in line for hours and driving from all parts of New York to be there, the response from Blink-182 fans was incredible.

Blink-182 is one of the most influential punk rock bands in my generation. Even All Time Low would stop every night to thank Blink-182 for bringing them on the road. Growing up listening to Blink-182, All Time Low are a first hand example of how inspiring of a band Blink-182 is for their genre.

With the new presence of Matt Skiba on vocals and guitar as the replacement for longtime member Tom Delonge, it is hard to say which version of Blink-182 is better live. What can be said, is that Blink-182 put on a performance last night that fans will remember for years to come. Some songs off of their set like, “Reckless Abandon” and “I Miss You,” were stellar performances by Skiba to match Delonge’s vocals.

Blending songs like one of their earlier hits “Carousel,” to newer songs like “San Diego,” into the setlist made it so that fans of Blink-182 from any era would be able to enjoy a nearly flawless performance.

From an almost perfect setlist to little to no vocal or instrumental issues, Blink-182 put on a performance that left fans in awe. From the lawn seats to the pit, fans joined from all areas of Saratoga Springs to sing along to as many Blink-182 songs as they knew.

Leaving the venue, all you could see was the sweat running down people’s faces, and smiles stretched across the faces of Blink-182 fans of all ages.

September 7, 2016
Blink-182 Brings Classic Pop-Punk to the Lakeview Amphitheater

Flinging toilet paper, throwing bras and shooting fireworks is just the beginning of the beautiful chaos presented by a Blink-182 show. On Aug. 23, All Time Low, A Day To Remember and Blink-182 presented the Lakeview Amphitheater in Syracuse, NY with nothing less than an outstanding rock show.

The show opened with Maryland natives All Time Low who gave a performance that left fans in awe. During their opening song, “Lost In Stereo,” guitarist Jack Barakat ran off stage and into the audience surprising hundreds of fans with pictures and high-fives.

Barakat went out of his way to hit every part of the venue from the floor seats, to out past the lawn, while continuing to perform “Lost In Stereo.” As exciting as it was to watch, Barakat should have expected the fans that ran after him in droves trying to get his attention.

“I grabbed some dude’s hand and he grabbed my ass,” said Barakat after he returned to the stage from being in the crowd. When returning, they played what was their best song of the night, “Weightless,” which showed off the most energy and excitement from the crowd.

As an opener, All Time Low expressed their incomparable joy for being asked to be a part of the tour with Blink-182. Frontman Alex Gaskarth opened up to the crowd about how they started playing music in high school, and found their influence from bands like Blink-182.

“We started this band when we were just in high school and we had just found out about bands like NOFX, Blink-182 and Green Day, and all of those bands are basically the reason we are a band,” said Gaskarth.

With some vocal issues to start off the night, Gaskarth stabilized his voice when singing the acoustic song, “Missing You,” which showed off his rich tonal quality, and less strain in his vocals.

As excited as fans were to see Barakat out-and-about in the venue, during All Time Low’s closing song, “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” Gaskarth followed the trend by running with his microphone up the halls of the amphitheater and ending against the barricade of the lawn.

Like every All Time Low performance, by the end of their set, the stage and their mic stands showed off a rainbow assortment of bras thrown on stage by young fans.

Opening with All Time Low’s pop-punk style, the crowd was ready to hear five-piece rock band, A Day To Remember, fill the Amphitheater with their heavier sound.

Starting their set with fan-favorite “The Downfall Of Us All,” dozens of beach balls were released into the audience, but this wasn’t the only thing shot out to the crowd during their set.

During their beloved song, “Right Back At It Again,” a man came out with a costume and a t-shirt cannon shooting shirts to fans the entire song. Besides the t-shirts, the band starting throwing out dozens of rolls of toilet paper during, “All Signs Point To Lauderdale,” which made the venue sparkle with the white rolls being thrown every direction.

With t-shirts and toilet paper shot across the venue from song-to-song, fans were screaming from excitement. With all of the energy and smiles from their set, “Right Back At It Again” and “All Signs Point To Lauderdale”, became the most memorable parts of their performance.

“How many people grew up listening to heavy music?” asked frontman Jeremy McKinnon before performing the popular, “2nd Sucks.” Although this was the heaviest song of their set, A Day To Remember also played their heavy, recent single, “Paranoia,” off of their upcoming release, Bad Vibrations out Sept. 2.

A Day To Remember used their stage presence, performing abilities and outstanding stage effects to stand out as putting on the best performance of the night.

As soon as punk legends Blink-182 took the stage, they immediately went into performing their ever popular, “Feeling This.” Blink-182, which now includes original members drummer Travis Barker and vocalist and bassist Mark Hoppus, were accompanied by their fill-in member, Matt Skiba.

Although there were attempts by Skiba to nail Delonge’s vocals in songs like “Stay Together For The Kids” and “Reckless Abandon,” these attempts backfired on Skiba. With vocal strains and pitch issues, Skiba struggled to stay true to the original vocal parts of songs. This being said, in songs like “Los Angeles” and “Cynical,” Skiba hit the nail on the head vocally.

Despite their new album, California being released a few months ago, Blink-182 presented a diverse selection of songs that stretched across their discography for their set list. With their mix of performing older songs like, “Dumpweed” and newer songs like, “San Diego,” Blink-182 built their set list to accommodate fans of all eras.

Possibly the highlight of Blink-182’s set was when Hoppus brought smiles to the faces of fans all across the venue as he decided to do a song entirely in the dark.

“We invite you to take part in rock and roll history, as you take out your cellular phones, turn on the flashlight feature, and watch in utter f-cking awe and amazement, as we perform this song entirely in the dark,” said Hoppus.

Against what the crowd anticipated, the song that they went into performing was the minute long, infamous, humorous song, “Happy Holidays, You Bastard,” which after finishing the song, Hoppus said “You’re welcome” to the audience.

Along with Blink-182’s traditional humor, before performing their hit, “Stay Together For The Kids,” Hoppus gave the audience a briefing of the upsetting nature of the song.

“It’s so sad, you want to put on eyeliner, be alone in your room and listen to Taking Back Sunday and tell your parents to f-ck off,” said Hoppus.

With fans of all ages attending and singing along to Blink-182, it is easy to see how influential of a band they are. Some fans, like 26-year-old Tatianna Davis, were seeing Blink-182 as a celebration. Celebrating her two-year anniversary with her boyfriend, Davis and her boyfriend attended the show together. “These are bands I grew up listening to that I absolutely adore,” said Davis.

Blink-182 closed their set with, “Dammit,” but surprised the crowd by bringing out Landon Barker to close the set. By following the footsteps of his father on the drums, young Barker was the perfect close to the evening.

The smiles on the faces of fans covered in confetti, toilet paper and dirt was priceless, which should be more than enough motivation to see a Blink-182 tour in a town near you.

All Time Low Setlist: Lost In Stereo, Love Like War, Dancing With A Wolf, Six Feet Under The Stars, Backseat Serenade, Something’s Gotta Give, Missing You, Weightless, Dear Maria, Count Me In

A Day To Remember Setlist: Downfall of us All, I’m Made of Wax Larry, What Are You Made of?, It’s Complicated, 2nd Sucks, Right Back At It Again, Have Faith in Me, All Signs Point To Lauderdale, Paranoia, All I Want, If It Means A Lot To You, The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle

Blink-182 Setlist: Feeling This, What’s My Age Again?, Family Reunion, Rock Show, Cynical, First Date, Down, I Miss You, Bored To Death, Built This Pool, Dumpweed, Stay Together For The Kids, Reckless Abandon, San Diego, Not Now, Violence, Kings of the Weekend, Dysentery Gary, Happy Holidays, You Bastard, Los Angeles, Carousel, All The Small Things, Brohemian Rhapsody, Dammit

August 24, 2016
Joey Pettinato Uses Music to Control Disorder

Joey Pettinato is about to make the biggest deal of his life at 16-years-old.

Pettinato, known by his stage name of “JJ Savage”, is about to sign his first contract with Overit Studios in Albany.

The contract with Overit states that the studio will pay for Pettinato’s various expenses needed for things like recording, mixing and mastering.

“I feel accomplished, I feel blessed, lucky and grateful,“ said Pettinato.

Since he was five-years-old, Pettinato has battled Tourette Syndrome. Despite taking medication, his tics are still recurrent, especially when he’s nervous. “I take medication and it helps a little, but I get some tics especially when I am nervous,” he said.

He doesn’t battle Tourette Syndrome empty handed. Whenever Pettinato picks up his guitar, his symptoms disappear. “When I pick up the guitar, the music totally takes me over and I get no symptoms…it’s amazing,” said Pettinato.

This discovery did not only surprise Pettinato, but also his family. “My dad noticed [the lack of symptoms]. He sat and watched me play and the more he applauded, the more I played,” he said.

A gift from his parents, Pettinato starting playing the guitar at ten-years-old. Loving the instrument, he immediately started taking guitar lessons. “I remember playing for hours,” he said.

Pettinato recalls playing one hour per day when he got his first guitar. “After week two I couldn’t put it down, I played every chance I got,” he said. The first song Pettinato learned in it’s entirety was, “Iron Man”, by Black Sabbath.

Now 16-years-old, Pettinato plays music from home. Being bullied from other students for his tics, Pettinato left public school around sixth grade. He is currently homeschooled.

“I tried to go back in eighth grade which lasted one day, and then again in ninth grade. It lasted a few days, but the kids laughing and making fun of me was too much.”

Although Pettinato has been out of public school for many years, he still is bullied. “I get laughed at by kids my age everywhere I go,” he said.

The bullying Pettinato faced was difficult for him, but only fueled his passion for music. When he was 13-years-old, Pettinato wrote and recorded, “We Are The Brave”, a song against bullying.

“I made 200 copies and gave them to anyone who wanted one free of change, and mailed them everywhere at people’s request,” he said. Pettinato was sold-out of his song in about two weeks, with the farthest recording being sent out to Vietnam.

“It’s nice to know, and it makes me proud I spread the word about anti-bullying all over the world.”

Through his success, Pettinato now has five endorsements from companies like Sinister Guitar Picks, Von York Guitar Strings and Intex Cables. Besides these, Pettinato was recently made a Gibson Artist.

This January, Pettinato attended the National Association of Music Merchants Convention in Anaheim, CA. After playing some guitars at a Gibson booth, he was approached by a Gibson representative who inquired about Pettinato becoming an official Gibson Artist.

“Behind a set of curtains they heard me play and wanted to talk to me the next day,” he said. “On day two I went back, and the AR rep told me they wanted me on the Gibson team.”

Spending most days playing the guitar, Pettinato started his first rock band, Savage Child, at 11-years-old. “We were together for about a year. We opened for local acts at Humpy’s and the Fuller Roadhouse,” he said.

Pettinato is currently a member of the rock bands Obsidian, Backlash and the John Morse Band. His band Obsidian performed last weekend at the Red Buddha Lounge in New Jersey and PJs in Mahopac, Putnam County.

August 10, 2016