Sabaton: 10/19/16 at Revolution Life in Fort Lauderdale, FL

[caption id="attachment_7935" align="aligncenter" width="6016"] Photo Credit Robin Ervolina[/caption]
Written by Robin Ervolina
In some ways it's a place you never want to find yourself, between Huntress and Trivium (get your head out of the gutter), but Sabaton is succulent meat in this hearty metal sandwich. The boys from Sweden eagerly seized the stage from Huntress, and via solid metal and genuine crowd interaction, set it perfectly for Trivium. With their songs of war and victory, and their infection fun style, they marched right into this photographer's heart. When new guitar player Tommy Johansson (ReinXeed), was given the opportunity to call the fourth song in their set, he turned his ear to the throng of fans humming a tune I'd been hearing since the doors opened.

Joakim Brodén: You bastard. You know I hate that song.
Tommy Johansson: Yep.
Joakim: And you chose it anyway? I guess this is your last American tour.
Brodén then fired a wink into the audience, and launched into "Swedish Pagans." 

They ended with "Primo Victoria, " which Brodén dedicated "to your fathers and grandfathers who shipped over here to make sure we aren't speaking German right now."
Sabaton delivers a solid good time without gimmicks, playing as a cohesive machine in spite of their member reset. If you've never seen a band truly in love with playing and singing metal, make this your next show. It will raise the bar for other bands, and leave you completely satiated.
 Photo Credit Robin Ervolina/Rock and Robin Photos - Shot for Shockwave Magazine

Huntress: 10/19/16 at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Photo and review by: Robin Ervolina
What happens when a classically trained vocalist says fuck you to the opera world and straps on fuck me boots and a black cat suit? Throw a few long-haired guitar gods in the mix, and you've got Huntress, the bad ass metal outfit from California. Huntress attacked the stage like a battle ground, unleashing a theatrical spectacle full of impossible energy. Vocalist Jill Janus growls menacingly, sings like a fallen angel, unleashes her four-octave range with reckless abandon. Lighting and perfectly placed fans hail the hair apocalypse, setting an eerie atmosphere for Huntress to collect fans.
As far as tour support goes, Trivium and Sabaton could have done much, much worse.  There is nothing understated about Huntress. Glorious manes of gold and dark form a hairy-go-round to frantic riffs. Performance and metal are in their blood. Their too-brief set left me breathless, and I heard many an audible, "Damn!" from a crowd road hard and put away wet. Warm up act, my ass; Huntress is clearly a wear down act. Check out their site frequently for tour dates because this is a show you definitely have to experience.
Photo Credits: Robin Ervolina

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Trivium: 10/19/16 at Revolution Life in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Photo and review by: Robin Ervolina
Try to describe a Trivium show. Go ahead. I'll wait.

Well, it's a hypothetical wait. I'm not really waiting. Neither did you. That's okay. Here's my point: I could tell you in my own words about this great night at Revolution with Florida-grown metal monsters Trivium, but lead singer Matt Heafy said it best. It was a "head banging, asses shaking, bodies moving" kind of night. Trivium's set list was filled with fan favorites from previous CDs as well as tunes from their recently released seventh CD, Silence in the Snow. "Strife" was one of the biggest hits, with the roars of the audience at times drowning out Heafy's vocals. As they filled the night with solid metal (no gimmicks, just music for the love of it) the energy level of the weeknight crowd never waned. I for one was glad Revolution removed the old wood flooring erected during the filming of Rock of Ages; the wobble we have experienced for so long, was long gone just in time. Fans were jumping and rocking from the first drum kick to the last riff.
Click on photo for full set!

I'm not sure if we made it into your list of best five cities in this tour, Matt, but thank you for packing Revolution Live on a week night! You can catch Trivium on the road with Huntress and Sabaton through

Dance Gavin Dance: 10/16/16 at Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Photo and story by: Robin Ervolina
If you haven't read my review of Dance Gavin Dance's Mothership, I'll link it here but give you the short version. I was offered an album to review. I lost my fucking mind over it. I became, in a matter of seconds, a rabid fan. That's all you need to know, going into this show review. I didn't walk in unbiased, and yet still managed to find myself gobsmacked, once again, in a matter of seconds.
Prior to Dance Gavin Dance taking the stage, the crowd dynamic changed tangeably. This band of fans, properly fluffed and amped by the opening acts, lit up. It's hard to describe what I experienced, tucked safely away on the balcony above the stage, my camera poised to react to the first sighting of Tilian. There was a new energy emerging from the floor. Guys were reckless in their enthusiasm. Girls were standing at attention, barring themselves from the inevitable last minute general admission ticket holder (please don't be that dick that shows up late and attempts to "excuse me" your way in front of fans who staked their vantage point hours earlier). Chants of "Young Robot" rose up from the crowd multiple times. High fives were handed out and stories were shared as we waited anxiously for their set to start. I secretly prayed they would open their set the same way they opened Mothership, so when that drum kick hit, and the crowd went wild, I too screamed "Give me that canvas, let me paint some shit" before turning my lens to the stage.
Tilian came out with crutches and a pretty impressive leg brace. In spite of the apparent injury he was, I'm told by long time fans perched nearby, in full form. Full form for Tilian is passion; he is over the top evidently in love with his music. He swoons to the sounds of his bandmates, caresses up his arm as he sinks into the song (it's okay, Tilian, we all feel the same way when you sing). It's infectious the way he smiles, sways, and gets lost in his lyrics. Speaking of lyrics, let's talk about Jon Mess. One of the grandest things about DGD is Jon Mess's poetry. I have friends who are not fans of screaming vocals. "Why is he yelling? Why is he angry?" However, text them one snippet from any DGD song and they'll inevitably tell me how amazing the lyrics are. This is why I love his delivery. He releases the emotion I'm forced to contain, and there is beauty beneath the "Mess-y vocals." By the way, Jon, I think you should trademark that moniker.
After three songs I gleefully put my camera away and get ready to hit the floor. Earlier my daughter had said to me repeatedly, "Be careful, Mom. Be careful." I scoffed at the notion that I could not handle myself on the floor. After all, I survived a ska pit in Philly and a metal pit in Vegas. This venue doesn't even permit crowd surfing! How bad could it be? That's when I noticed the small floor in the tiny venue was alive with movement. Frenzied fans had formed a singular unit, swaying together, moving in unison, then against each other as circle pits formed here, then there, then got absorbed into the mass of bodies once more. I opted to enjoy the rest of the show from my perch, singing each lyric of every song I know, and celebrating with the fans to my left and right. They're singing too. They're cheering and smiling and feeling. And it occurs to me that this is another facet of this amazing band. In this collective of disjunct thoughts and raw emotion is the purity of feeling something. This is what they gift to us. This jumbled emotive presentation is like ripping pages from all your friends' diaries and trying to piece them back together into one novel. You may not get it all, but you love it because you love them  and it just makes sense, somehow.
Exhausted we end the night, emotionally spent and instantly wishing we could watch them paint the canvas one more time. It's that DGD magic, and it's a poison I'd hit again gladly.
(click to view all photos)

Being As An Ocean: 10/1/16 at Louder Than Life Festival in Louisville, KY

Written and photographed by Robin Ervolina
When my daughter tells me to listen to something, I listen to her (now anyhow). She's been right too many times, so on her recommendation I hauled butt over to the far side of the Louder Than Life festival grounds to catch Being As An Ocean. I had researched them, listened to their music, and even written a little blurb about them as pre-festival promotion. None of that, not even my kid's edict, prepared me for what I was about to witness. If I could get in a time machine and put my camera away for this set, I swear I would. This is a band that is solely focused on their music and the connection it has created with their fans. Singer Joel Quartuccio spent more time in the crowd than on stage, and that's exactly where he looked like he needed to be. I have rarely witnessed such absolute love from one group of people as I did this day with Being As An Ocean. I'm thankful to have witnessed this communal outpouring of love, affection and appreciation between fan and band. Dig into the music and catch them if they come to your town.

I Fight Fail: Voyages and Vantage Points

Written by Robin Ervolina
When I was younger (much) Dark Side of The Moon was my lullaby. The somniferous nature of space rock cradled my psyche and allowed my frontal lobe to recede into the nothingness of sleep. As I’ve grown older (not much!) I’ve learned to take my shit to the pit, but this trippy psychedelic sound still holds a special place in my heart, and it’s a room I Fight Fail’s Voyages and Vantage Points seamlessly inhabits.
The one minute and 12 second intro is a nearly monotone monologue of Earth as seen from space. “From this distant vantage point, our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.” The dialogue continues over a synthesized melody, connecting us to the vast universe where borders are things you reach for and infinity is the gift you're given. This is, by the way, how you should listen to space rock; throw your arms out wide and reach your hands to the edges of forever. That’s the mood and mode I Fight Fail brings forth.
This four-piece outfit from Canton, Ohio is joining the space rock genre in a really interesting way. Vocally, you’re not dealing with the hypnotherapist tone associated with classic space rock bands like Pink Floyd. Lead singer Andy Potter has a pop punk vibe, immediately evident in “Are You Okay.” It imparts some angsty feel to the typical mesmerizing nature of tune-in-and-tune-out tunes. "Anything at All" has a great rock intro and lays those sweet vocals over an extraterrestrial choir. The repetitive choruses through the CD have both a 50s era simplicity and a “focus on the pocket watch” trance-inducing state. By the time I get to “Revive the Expired,” I’m fully checked out. I know because this tune triggered something, emotionally speaking. I had to go back and listen to the lyrics because in the middle of fading into the universe, I found myself choking up. Free therapy, anyone?
I Fight Fail has done something different within their genre; their instrumentation soothes my soul, sings it to sleep, and then the piercing voice of Potter wakes up something buried within … and you can’t wake up until you’ve slept, am I right? It's almost as if I Fight Fail took me on a voyage so I could see clearly from a new vantage point (I see what you did there). So dream, perchance to sleep, and pick up your copy of Voyages and Vantage Points today.

The Soul Shakers: "Here To Have A Good Time"

Written by Robin Ervolina
I'm so grateful I grew up in the 80s. I had the benefit of The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton on the radio, and for a few dollars I could still buy The Doors and Zeppelin on vinyl at The Bargain Basement. These are the bands we played at parties, and the cassette tapes we wound back with pencils in a pinch. This is the music that formed the foundation for my love of punk and metal, in all their variations and expressions. Rock is ever evolving and changing, but God bless The Soul Shakers for remembering my roots. With their debut single, "Here To Have A Good Time," the Nashville based duo brings good goddamn rock and roll front and center once more.
Brett Hellings is an able and versatile vocalist, singing sweet and dirty, with the highs and lows of his register on display. His seductive sound is appealing and infectious in the first verse before breaking into a screaming, turn-it-up-full-blast, call-to-party chorus. Elias Reidy sings harmony and forms the backbone for The Soul Shaker sound with his shreddy guitar riffs and come-hither chords. "Here To Have a Good Time" is not a song heavy in content, and it's not a tune meant to teach us a lesson. No one is trying to get over a breakup and no one is struggling with heavy social or political strife. This isn’t serious; it’s sex, shots, and rock-n-roll, baby. With lines like, "I'm not here to be your rock and roll boyfriend," and "I'm here to make some bad decisions," you have a solid tune with no pretensions. Thank the God, and pass the Jack.
Check out their video for "Here To Have A Good Time," and make sure you get on the pre-order bandwagon. Don't make me say, "I told you so."
https://youtu.be/3KpgMW94ULY

Alter Bridge: Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti Interview at Louder Than Life 2016

Photo Credit / Written by: Robin Ervolina

When it comes to large festivals, Alter Bridge counts themselves down for a great time. Louder Than Life was no exception, and AB arrived in Louisville with an arsenal of new and older songs to wow the gigantic crowd of people. Shockwave had the honor of sitting with Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti for an interview shortly before their set. We got to talk to them about their love for festivals, what goes on behind the scenes of a listening party, and some secrets behind the choosing of “Show Me A Leader” as the first single.

Shockwave Magazine: We're sitting here with Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti from Alter Bridge. Are you going to be able to have a chance to stay and watch some bands? If so, who are you looking forward to?
Mark: We're going to be here all day. I wanted to see Crobot today but I think they might have played already.
I think they played this morning.
Mark: Did they? Damn it.
Myles: I still haven't seen Ghost yet, believe it or not. I'm excited to see them.
Well, lets jump right into the heavier questions. You guys have a big weekend coming up. The Last Hero drops on Friday. Tell us about the writing or recording process on that. 
Mark: Well we, Myles and I, got together to start piecing stuff together. Then we met with the guys in pre-production. This time around we jumped right into demo phase with our producer, Elvis. We tried to capture as much lightning in the bottle as we could on this record. That was a little different than what we've done in the past. Usually we live with songs a little longer, but this time we jumped right into it.
Myles: Yeah, I mean we started the whole spontaneous approach on the Fortress record. We tried not to overthink it. We continued with that and, like he said, we were flying by the seat of our pants even more on this record, and somehow we ended up landing on our feet. We're real happy.
It's a highly anticipated release. So there's a lot going on with that. How do you think it compares to the rest of your catalog?
Mark: It's got a little bit of everything in there. I think we just keep trying to push ourselves so stuff doesn't sound so similar to the last record. It's always got to be better than the last record. Elvis did a really good job of pushing the limits for us and making sure that we set a high benchmark for this album. You know, he's very proud to work with us and we're very proud to work with him. Together we try to make the best record we can.
You just dropped "Poison In Your Veins" as your second single. Anymore surprises before Friday?
Mark: Yeah, we just released "The Other Side" on Saturday.
Myles: Yeah yeah, that's right.
Oh! We were here and busy all day and we didn't catch that.
Myles: We're just throwing them out there.
Please tell us about "The Other Side."
Myles: "The Other Side" is kind of the perfect Halloween song, because it's kinda got this doom-y intro and it's really kind of spooky, so it definitely fits the month we're in now.
We can't wait to hear it. Now, you said in an interview that you thought "Poison in Your Veins" would be your first single, but you ended up going with "Show Me A Leader." What did you favor about "Show Me A Leader" over "Poison In Your Veins?" 
Mark: I think the climate right now is perfect for "Show Me A Leader." It just speaks to the world's need of great leaders and people that you can believe in these days. You know, with the circus that you see on TV everyday, it seemed like a fitting single for the climate.
For those that think "Show Me A Leader" is political, what would you have to say about that?
Myles: Well, I mean, I think that what inspired it and the emotions that came from it, it is somewhat political. We don't have an agenda. We aren't saying "Vote right wing, left wing, moderate" or whatever, but it definitely is a reflection of the disillusionment everyone seems to be feeling right now, and the frustration. It's more of an emotional purge than anything. (laughing)
You had a listening party for The Last Hero where people got to rate your songs. What is it about listening parties that you guys like to do? I mean, what do you get from them? I have to tell you, your fans LOVE them. We had someone there and she was there as a fan, she bought a ticket. She asked if she could write about it, and to this day it is still our most read article. They love it, you love it. Not a lot of people do it.
Mark: We have fans from all around the world that come into these listening parties. They are the most die hard of all of our fans. We like to spend time and get to know these people that we get to see all around the globe, all in one place. They get to know one another. One of the best things for us is that we make a checklist of all the songs. We have them rate them "first listen," so when it comes down to choosing singles and how we are going to plot the record out, we see how the fans and the initial reaction is to our songs. It helps us as well.
Do you guys get to review them personally? See what everyone has to say? That seems like a pretty big task.
Myles: Yeah, you know, we basically handed out these sheets with a series of... I don't even know what...
Mark: Like... a smiley face, a frown? (laughing)
It's like a rating system?
Myles: It helps us out, because when you finish a record, a lot of times you lose your perspective. You don't know, you're too close to it and you just don't know what your fan base is going to dig and not dig. So it helps us wade through all that.
So when you went through them, were your surprised?
Mark: Well one song we think the audio got jacked up. Oh, it was "Poison in your Veins." Someone stepped on a cable and people didn't hear half the song. So when the ratings came in, that one ranked not as high as we thought it would. Then somebody informed us that the audio got messed up.
Which one won by the way?
Myles: "Show Me A Leader." Or wait, wait, as far as what the fans liked?
Yes, the fans' choice.
Mark: The highest liked song was "Losing Patience" but as far as single choices, "Show Me A Leader" and "My Champion"  were up there at the top.
Did that affect, ultimately, what you guys were going to release as your first single, since "Show Me A Leader" was picked as one of your fans' favorites?
Myles: I think, ultimately, we played the record for so many different people and a lot of people kept coming back to "Show Me A Leader." Personally, I was kind of surprised. I thought that was going to be more of just an album track. Mark believed in that one all along. You just never know. It was kind of like through the fan listening party and through "tastemakers" listening to the record. Actually, I think the person that ultimately decided what the single was going to be... believe it or not ... we were playing a venue and we were backstage. Mark brought his guitar tech in and we said "Frosty, what do you think our first single should be? Listen to these three songs and tell us." And Frosty halfway into "Show Me A Leader" was like "There's your single!" So, I think Frosty finally tipped the scale.
Mark: The thing about "Show Me A Leader," the intro makes the song. So when it goes to radio, they edited out a minute and a half of that song. Without the intro its a decent song, but it's not a great song. It's a great song with the intro on it, so we kind of shot ourselves in the foot a little bit when it comes to picking a first single that's five minutes long.
Well for the record, I think it's a great song even without the intro. The intro does add kind of like a creepy moodiness to it, so I'm back and forth. I understand why they had to cut it for radio ... but I prefer the five minute cut, personally. Now, Mark, on this album you brought in a guitar you never [recorded with] before.
Mark: I brought in a seven-string guitar and I remember talking to Myles and saying "What are we going to do on this album to make it different." We wanted to use some alternate tuning. I wanted to use a seven-string guitar. Myles stuck to the six-string, but it's just that we want to keep on challenging ourselves and branch out.
For people who say that this is heavier, do you think that this is a heavier sounding album as compared to Fortress and AB 1 & 2?
Myles: I don't know. Personally, to me I think we've always had an element of heavy. It's just a matter of how many up tempo songs. There are quite a few up tempo songs on this record. So maybe that's what people mean by heavy, I'm not really sure.
Yeah, I'm not sure either. I didn't get to go to your party.
(Mark and Myles laughing)
Myles: Awww, I'm sorry.
Next time for sure. (laughing) So the next question we have is aimed at Myles. Between touring for Alter Bridge and touring for Slash, it seems vocally that you never stop. What do you do to protect your voice?
Myles: It's a life of no fun (laughing). Lets just put it this way, drinking is only an occasional thing. It can't be an all the time thing when you're touring as much as we do. I just try and be smart about it, do my warm ups and just be aware that my instrument is always with me.
It seems like you are always doing festivals, but you definitely don't have a problem filling a stadium all on your own. What is it about festivals that you like?
Mark: Getting in front of new fans. There's a lot of people out here today that aren't familiar with us. Hopefully after today there's 15 or 16 that buy a concert ticket down the road.
Oh, only 15 or 16. (laughing) I've seen you [Mark] on Shiprocked twice now. The joke was always that everyone wanted AB but they never thought it would happen. How did he get you to jump on board? Like, literally, get on the boat.
Myles: You know what, I think it was just one of those things where I had to get over my fear of boats.
You have a fear of boats?
Myles: Yeah, ever since I saw Titanic... I'm not a big fan of the idea of sinking.
I promise you, your fans will throw you a life raft. They will not let you go down with the ship. Anything else you wanted to add before we wrap it up?
Myles: You know what, we're just excited to be out playing and hopefully y'all dig The Last Hero, out October 7th.
Mark: And we'll be back in the states on tour in January, so look forward to that.
Thank you guys so much for sitting with us today, we appreciate your time.
If you missed their set at Louder Than Life last weekend, we've got you (visually) covered.

Photo Credit: Robin Ervolina

Alter Bridge rounded off their day in Louisville with a rock show for the ages. They went on stage for a 45 minute set, blowing the proverbial roof off the Champions Park festival.

Catch their new CD “The Last Hero,” out tomorrow. Be sure to pick your copy, and catch them out on tour in January. Click here for all things AB so you're not left out!

Dance Gavin Dance: Mothership

You know how teenagers think they know it all? Well, sometimes they do.
When Dance Gavin Dance’s Mothership hit my inbox I took the opportunity to listen because they’re one of my daughter’s favorite bands going back about a decade. Even though I screamed “Turn that shit down!” through her locked bedroom door more times than either of us had the patience to count, I decided to give Mothership a shot.
And that was it. Really
Okay, it was more like this:
Drum kick
A few bars of guitar feedback
Cue unclean vocalist Jon Mess

Give me that canvas/let me paint some shit

Cue Tilian Pearson’s clean heavenly vocals

Pass me some poison/let me take a hit

Then back and forth they take their turns taking my breath.

I’m just embarrassed and comfortably numb
But failure is painful and lying is fun
Dress coat, cocktails, looking so fancy
We feel like we’re a little bit classy
Cheers to the fact that we’re not dead

I’m sitting back. I’m leaning forward. My jaw is on the ground. One hand draws back my hair, the other presses my earbud in deeper. Then together Mess and Pearson sing:

Swimming with the sharks but we’re still not dead yet

And then the melody changes. Then again. Then again. Then Tilian sings:

Don’t close your eyes tonight/perfect melodies are hard to find

I click the pause button. This is all over the place. It's almost biblical, the way the unclean meets the clean, vocally speaking. Melodies change abruptly, story lines, if they exist at all, are esoteric. I’ve never heard anything quite like Dance Gavin Dance, and I’ve never wanted to write the perfect review so bad in my life. So I click play, take out a pen, and try to capture lightening on paper. I research Dance Gavin Dance and vow to devour their entire catalog so I can write the most informed and on point review of my life.
Two months later I’m still trying to write this review, and Mothership comes out tomorrow. I have memorized every song on this CD. There are no misses. I’ve listened to all Dance Gavin Dance’s CDs, and fallen in love with all their lead vocalists. I’ve decided there is no point in comparing one CD to another any more than I can compare Jonny to Kurt to Tilian. I can draw some parallels; for instance you get another song about the Robot With Human Hair ("Young Robot"). Maybe a few more connections can be made by their oldest diehard fans, but me? I’m a new diehard fan, so I’m writing this review to you, the person who hasn’t heard of Dance Gavin Dance, or hasn't listened to them. I’m going to tell you that this is one of the most amazing productions of the year. I’m going to tell you that Mothership is like nothing you’ve heard from any other band. It’s not a scream rock verse followed by a clean vocal chorus, like many pop punk and alt core bands. There is no formula followed here. Each song is like unwrapping a unique gift from a friend who knows you completely and excels in delighting you with surprises.
I can’t give you a play-by-play because Mothership is a fully immersive experience, but let me give you some highlights. “Young Robot” turns so many hooks it’s dizzying. How a song can be so cohesive yet so scrambled is baffling. “Flossie Dickey Bounce” starts with a screaming intro of "Cocaine cringe fest," and somehow turns into the most lovely and heart aching song of courtship and regret. “Deception” shows off Tilian’s soaring vocals, as he weaves his siren song in and around Mess' throaty roar. "Inspire the Liars”  has Pearson turning his instrument loose, screaming as beautifully as he croons. Every song on Mothership feels like flipping through a bipolar’s diary. There is anger:

I don’t even fucking feel a thing

And then there are vulnerable confessions:

I just crashed my car / and it got me thinking of you / So I just thought I’d call to tell you / I still love you

Each song vacillates within and throughout the whole of the collection. When the final song, “Man of the Year” ends the CD with the lyrics

Don’t be alarmed to discover / siren songs can pull you under

I burst into a tearful smile. It’s not unusual for a song to fit your mood, or even create one. Listening to Mothership is more like having someone read your mind, then giving all your voices, a voice.
It’s been a long time since a band gripped me like this. Maybe this is the magic of Dance Gavin Dance. Maybe it’s just magic. Either way, I recommend you find out for yourself when Mothership goes on sale tomorrow. Also, hug your teenager and tell her to turn that shit up. You just never know.