So, because I have developed a few connections through my work and have started writing music reviews for Urban Dialect, I have now had guestlist access to two shows that I would otherwise had to pay for. Last night I waltzed in to the Grog Shop to see Waiting For Evangeline, Murder By Death! and Rasputina. The evening cost me $6.25: I bought a Woodchick and left a tip and paid metered parking. Not a bad deal for three and a half hours of music.
Waiting for Evangeline is based out of Akron. They were better than Yellowcard but I kinda got the feeling that they hadn’t settled down on their own particular style yet. They had some really nice riffs but every time the lead singer screamed I wanted to laugh. It needs some work. They were all business though and the crowd seemed to like them well enough. I grabbed the band’s sticker afterward to add to my guitar case. No guitar case is complete unless it is covered with random band stickers.
Murder By Death! was the band my coworker is good friends with. They all went to college together and she was at their first show ever and first road show. They had a cellist and keyboards in addition to the guitar, bass, drumkit combo. They were pretty good and they impressed the crowd. A couple of times the sound malfunctioned slightly but it didn’t slow them down at all.
Rasputina was really good. I have come to the conclusion from watching the cellist in MbD and the ladies of Raspy that the cellos is a mighty sexy instrument when played by a girl. It is also capable of being more metal than I’d thought cellos could be. Melora introduced their songs with quirky little anecdotes and then they would play and create wicked cool soundscapes. They also covered Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll, an amazing version of Heart’s Barracuda and CCR’s Bad Moon Rising. They also made everyone sit down so that everyone would be able to see them perform.