Conquering Cali and the Epicenter Festival - Part I

September 24, 2011
Irvine, California
Epicenter Festival - Part I: Drive A, Crossfade, Middle Class Rut

      

Last week, I headed to Irvine to catch my first ever California rock experience at the Epicenter Festival for its second year. From the moment I touched down at LAX, it was apparent that I wasn’t the only rocker in town for the show. Fans galore, decked out in their finest band apparel and cameras in hand, lined the same baggage claim as me. It was my first indication that, while many of the fans to fill the 20,000 seat Verizon Wireless Amphitheater were from Cali, many others were “just visiting.” I even met one guy who flew over from France! 

Loud music and high-flying stunts during the Outbreak Tour

March 2, 2011
Huntsville, AL
Monster Energy Drink Outbreak Tour: Rev Theory, Pop Evil, The Black Cloud Collective and Aranda

Pop Evil's Leigh Kakaty gets a few helping hands from the crowd during the Monster Energy Drink Outbreak Tour stop in Huntsville, Alabama.

They say desperate times call for desperate measures. Though there have been some great local band shows in Memphis lately, the number of national acts rolling through is severely dwindling. So I once again hit the road, on a weeknight nonetheless, to catch the Monster Energy Drink Outbreak Tour on its closest stop to me. The locale - a mere three hours away in Huntsville, Alabama.

For Those Women About to Rock

Lzzy Hale at Rock on the Range 2010

This week brought us the centenary celebration of International Women’s Day, so I thought I’d take a look at some of the women currently turning the rock world on its ear. Unlike their pop counterparts of recent years, these women are more than just a pretty face and hot body (though they’re pretty smokin’ too.) For each, its never a case of either/or. They can sing AND scream, write AND play. They can do it all. And with their “anything you can do, I can do better” attitudes, they’re showing the boys who’s boss.

Nonpoint Brings Out Memphis’ Finest

Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Newby’s –Memphis, TN
Nonpoint with Dirge Within, Red Line Chemistry, Inner 61, and Surrender the Fall

Nonpoint's Elias Soriano works the crowd during the Memphis stop of their tour.

Midweek shows are usually the bane of my existence. They don’t mix well with those like me who have to commute to work for an 8:00 am start the next day. And, as my luck would have it, they’re lately associated with concerts I’m dying to see but too far away to drive over and back on a “school night.” But the stars aligned when my hometown bar Newby’s announced a mid-week show featuring Nonpoint. And I wasn’t the only one to come out for the occasion.

My Thoughts on Winning New Fans & Hustling

Looking back at all the shows I attended in 2010 (and even the few I've been to in 2011,) it’s amazing all the little “side stories” that I remember from each event. They don’t all make it in the final concert reviews I post to my blog, but there are quite a few still floating around in my brain that really stick out to me. Considering how slow my concert schedule is right now, I figured this would be a good time to highlight one of these miscellaneous tales.

A Nightmare in Kentucky

Friday, January 28, 2010
Rupp Arena – Lexington, KY
Nightmare After Christmas Tour: Avenged Sevenfold, Stone Sour, Hollywood Undead and New Medicine

Fans rocking out during the Nightmare After Christmas Tour in Lexington, Kentucky.

It’s been a slow start to the year, as far as hometown shows go. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and drive the six hours north to Lexington, Kentucky for a stop on the Nightmare After Christmas Tour. I was still pumped from seeing the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival in Atlanta last year where I caught several of these bands. Add in another band that’s been that’s been on my “List” for some time now, and my RSVP for this event was an emphatic YES!

Experienced Rockers in the Big Easy

Thursday, January 6, 2011
House of Blues – New Orleans, LA
Styx

(L-R) Tommy Shaw, original bassist Chuck Panozzo and Ricky Phillips of Styx at the House of Blues New Orleans.

It’s a New Year and time to restart my yearly concert calendar. It’s always an exciting time for me, wondering what the year holds and who I’ll see next. And it’s just as exciting to know that I’ll kick it all off with an “old friend” of sorts. Yes, folks, we’re starting 2011 with a tried and true favorite of mine… Styx.  I guess it’s ironic that the last concert review I posted was from a Styx show. Ironic, but not surprising.