Best Rock List Doyle Interview
Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein sat down with Suzie Soule of Best Rock List to talk about the forthcoming album, the newest member of their tour, and being the fittest man in metal music.
Click to view Doyle Interview
Suzie Soule
Doyle with Mushroomhead Concert Review
~Mojoe’s Joliet, Illinois
Mojoe’s embraces metal and hardcore music and is a venue for the fans to get up close and personal with the artists. Mushroomhead continues to tour in the small venues and have gained a huge following by being accessible to their fans. Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein who has been in the industry for over thirty years has gained an impressive following as well. He started his career with the Misfits, created bands like Gorgeous Frankenstein, and now transitioned to the self-named band DOYLE. The fans at this show spanned ten to sixty because of the lengthy careers of both Doyle and Mushroomhead.
The opening bands were heavy and are a testament to metal music thriving in this country. In today’s radio market, it takes a lot more work to gain a fan base than rock or pop bands. Social media tries to connect bands to fans but really live shows are the best way to connect the bands to their fans. Here is another way that Mojoe’s supports metal by getting local bands to open for nationally touring bands.
Consume The Divide
Consume The Divide was first band to take the stage. They had a short but impressive set. The band is based out of Chicago, Illinois. If you like Machine Head and Dope, you should check out Consume The Divide.
https://www.facebook.com/consumethedivide
Psychopathic Daze
Psychopathic Daze from Chicago was next. They were brutal metal similar to Suicide Silence or Chimaira. Their set was phenomenal. The crowd loved almost every song. Their energy got the pit going. A tempo perfect for a savage pit. The more mature people had to be upstairs or step away from this pit.
https://www.facebook.com/psychopathicdaze
The third opener was With Our Arms To The Sun, a band out of Sedona, Arizona. They are self-described as a cinematic experimental music. Vocals are sparse in their set and they seemed to play a slower, methodical tempo.
http://www.withourarmstothesun.com/
Finally, DOYLE got to the stage. The band consists of vocalist, Alex ‘Wolfman’ Story, also of Cancerslug, Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, formerly of the Misfits, touring bassist, Die Trich Thrall, also of Beauty In The Suffering, and touring drummer, Anthony ‘Tiny’ Biuso. The guys dwarfed the tiny stage at Mojoe’s, especially the larger than life Doyle. Doyle WVF definitely speaks softly but carries a big f☠cking axe. His guitar is a custom designed Rand Annihilator.
The band’s sound is rooted in punk but the sound is definitely thrash metal. Their set consisted of Dreaming Dead Girls, Cemetarysexxx off of the “Abominator” album. They also graced the fans with Misfits’ tracks. Despite the small setting, Alex Story ripped it up by moving around on the stage, cutting himself to bleed, and writhing on the floor during the performance. The bleeding is explained on Cancerslug’s website:
“Alex is always very spontaneous live. He has been known to use knives, broken bottles, ripped beer cans, or other items to open his flesh during performances. He views it as a nod to shamans, medicine men, and voodoo priests who believed that blood must be spilled in order to commune with the old gods of the spirit world.”
Click to view Doyle Photo Gallery
The fans loved the energy that DOYLE brought. Some were there exclusively to see DOYLE. We got to speak to Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein before their set and tasted the hot sauce they were selling. Best Rock List also got to meet the newest member of the tour, a Chihuahua named Brutal.
Mushroomhead started the evening with Qwerty. The water toms had cherub angels, crucifixes, and bible pages for this tour. Getting all nine members onto the tiny stage was a feat at Mojoe’s. That is part of the experience of a Mushroomhead show. The smaller the venue, the wetter you get from the water drums. The band was formed in 1993 and hails from Cleveland, Ohio. That math is over twenty years doing what they are doing today. Their set also contained Solitaire/Unraveling and Kill Tomorrow and Our Apologies. Robert Diablo took to the crowd and did some surfing.
Click to view Mushroomhead Photo Gallery
The tour continues. You can see all the dates here.
Mushroomhead Concert Photos
~Mojoes in Joliet, Illinois
J Mann of Mushroomhead
Waylon Reavis of Mushroomhead
St1tch and Waylon Reavis of Mushroomhead
Tommy Church of Mushroomhead
J Mann of Mushroomhead
Dr. F (Ryan Farrell) of Mushroomhead
Dr. F (Ryan Farrell) of Mushroomhead
Robert Diablo and J Mann of Mushroomhead
St1tch of Mushroomhead
Robert Diablo of Mushroomhead
Robert Diablo riding the crowd
Mushroomhead
Mushroomhead
Mushroomhead Fans
DOYLE
~Mojoes in Joliet, Illinois
DOYLE
Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein
Doyle and Alex Story
Alex Story
DOYLE
Doyle’s bad ass boot
Alex Story
Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein
Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein
Anthony Tiny Biuso
DOYLE
Alex Wolfman Story and Anthony Biuso DOYLE
Heart Concert Review with Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
Ann Wilson of Heart
Heart has been in Rock and Roll for over forty years. The staying power and success of a band with siblings is rare in the music industry. Their debut album Dreamboat Annie is indisputably their strongest album. The album was released in 1976. Most of the crowd became a fan of Heart in that great decade we remember as the Eighties. These Dreams and Bad Animals were the soundtracks of so many of the female fans’ lives. Don’t get me wrong, the guys were singing along too (just not as fervently as the women). The lyrics of “Alone” are relatable to every woman who has ever struggled with feminism and independence.
Joan Jett and The Heartbreakers
Openers Joan Jett and The Blackhearts are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. Punk rock and Joan Jett are synonymous. Joan Jett was a founding member of The Runaways. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts started the show with “Bad Reputation”. Petite Joan Jett was looking especially well in skintight gray bodysuit and laced up leather jacket. She looked great at age fifty-six perhaps due in part to her vegetarianism. “Cherry Bomb” a hit from The Runaways was up next and some new songs were part of the setlist including “Any Weather”, a song co-written by Dave Grohl. The rendition of “I Love Rock and Roll” was solid but felt rote. The hit “Crimson and Clover” was next and the audience loved singing along to every single word of the song. Ending the night on a great note, “I Hate Myself For Loving You” was energetic and an anthem for women who always fall for the bad boys.
Joan Jett and The Heartbreakers
Heart started with their standard “Barracuda.” If they started with another song, I think their fans would be surprised. Heartmongers, Heart fan club members, abounded in the floor in front of the stage.
Heart
Ann Wilson who is sixty-four and Nancy Wilson who is four years younger looked and performed great with a classy style. Nancy wore a little black dress with a sheer collar and sheer sleeves along with tattoo designed leggings. A brilliant, sparkling bracelet adorned her left hand. Ann was dressed in black tunic and pants with multiple long sparkly necklace. Ann Wilson’s skill as a female rock vocalist is almost unparalleled. She is a soprano with a three octave range. Her voice was amazing still after over forty years.
They performed “What About Love” next and a man took his girlfriend into the aisle, got down on one knee and proposed to her. Kevin and Lisa became engaged during the song. Congratulations were handed out by everyone around them.
The proposal photo by a fellow fan
The happy couple, Kevin and Lisa
“Alone” was sung along to like we were all in the shower. The feeling when a crowd is singing with all they have is like no other. You feel a comararderie with the people around you. Ann talked about who when she was growing up, she wanted to sing like Aretha Franklin. The next song was an Aretha cover “Ain’t No Way”. They ended the night with “Crazy On You” with the introduction played acoustically by Nancy. Their encore was reliable as well with Led Zeppelin covers of “Immigrant Song”, “No Quarter”, and “Misty Mountain Hop”.
Nancy Wilson of Heart
Best Rock Band List
Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys (Photo from Arctic Monkeys France)
Formed 2002 in Sheffield, England
Current Members (click on member’s name for Wikipedia):
Alex Turner, vocalist and guitarist
Jamie Cook, guitarist
Nick O’Malley, bassist
Matthew Helders, drummer
Arctic Monkey’s Facebook
Resources: Accessed 2-20-2015
Best Rock Band List
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse (Photo from Holy City Sinner)
Formed 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, U.S.A.
Current Members (click on member’s name for Wikipedia):
Isaac Brock, vocalist
Jeremiah Green, drummer
Tom Peloso, guitarist
Russell Higbee, bassist
Jim Fairchild, guitarist, vocalist
Lisa Molinaro, violinist
Davey Brozowski, drummer
@modestmouse Instagram
Modest Mouse’s MySpace
Resources: Accessed 2-19-2015
Chevelle at Expo Gardens in Peoria, Illinois
Pete Loeffler of Chevelle
Sam Loeffler of Chevelle
Pete Loeffler of Chevelle
Pete Loeffler of Chevelle
Dean Bernardini of Chevelle
Pete Loeffler of Chevelle
Dean Bernardini of Chevelle
Sam Loeffler of Chevelle
Pete Loeffler of Chevelle
Pete Loeffler of Chevelle
The Best Indie Rock Songs of 2014
Indie Rock is a genre that emerged in England however it has a grip firmly in international culture as well. It has evolved from a band rebelling from the heavy-handed by a major record label to a distinctive sound. For a band to become very large and stay independent can be hard. Artists are smarter nowadays and read record contracts before signing them. A band that has a great sound can get recognized through the internet and all media methods. There has been a resurgence of lo-fi sound and there are also strides being made in electronic indie rock. A lot of the songs deal with love, some are just fun, and all are the best songs looking back at 2014.
12. King And Cross by Ásgeir Ásgeir is an Islandic singer-songerwriter and He toured with Hozier. While the video is like an interpretative dance version of Game of Thrones. The song is an ethereal, fun song.
11. Heart Is a Drum by Beck B
eck won the Grammy for Album of The Year for Morning Phase. This track is a great representation of the entire album. It is a timeless song. Beck proves that Pharrell Williams is not the only who likes cool hats. Just watch the video for Heart is a Drum
10. Wait for Me by Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon are known for their hits “Use Somebody” and “Sex On Fire”. This track is a bit slower and more methodic. Kings of Leon is a band from Tennessee comprised of three Followill brothers and their cousin with the same surname.
9. Step by Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend was formed when the members met while attending Columbia University. The band has incorporated world music sounds into their music. The name Vampire Weekend came from a short film that Ezra Koenig worked on in the summer before sophomore year in college.
8. Mess Is Mine by Vance Joy Born James Keogh and taking the stage name is Vance Joy is an Australian singer-songwriter. Taylor Swift recently covered his song “Riptide”. “Mess Is Mine” is a sweet love song perfect for a weekend of love. The video is an interesting journey of a polar bear.
7. Red Eyes by The War on Drugs T
he War on Drugs has a timeless sound similar to a combination of Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen with a synthesizer all mixed in. The War on Drugs is a band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
6. From Eden by Hozier
Andrew Hozier-Byrne is monomously known as Hozier. He has exploded onto the world with his social message video “Take Me To Church”. Hozier is a singer-songwriter with a pure, mellow sound. His album Hozier is perfect for a weekend with a lover. The majority of the songs are sweet about falling in and being in love with a person.
5. Shut Up + Dance by Walk The Moon
Walk The Moon is bringing back the amazing decade of the eighties with this catchy tune. The video is the epitome of bad eighties videos with a group of friends in crazy clothes dancing around.
4. Do You by Spoon
Spoon is a rock band formed in Austin, Texas. “Do You” is a fun song, full of good vibes. The video portrays a man who is beat up driving along in a world in havoc. He has a passenger in the backseat. At the end, we see who the culprit of the destruction is.
3. These Four Words by The Maine
The Maine is a rock band from Las Vegas. These Four Words is a testament to breaking up and following one’s heart. If you hear the melody of the piano from this song on a date, know that what is coming next is not going to be good.
2. Do I Wanna Know by Arctic Monkeys
This is the classic song about not moving on from an ex. This describes the feeling that we get when we second guess a break in a relationship. The lyrics, “Ever thought of calling when you’ve had a few? ‘Cause I always do, Maybe I’m too busy being yours to fall for someone”.
1. Lampshades on Fire by Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an indie rock powerhouse band from Washington, United States. They have a decade of hits and this song is off their upcoming album. You cannot sit still when listening to this song. It makes you want to get up and move to the beat. That is why it tops the list of best indie rock songs of 2014.
Islander Interview with Mikey Carvajal
Vocalist Mikey Carvajal talks to Best Rock List and tells us who he wants to collaborate with on their next album. You might be surprised to hear who it is.
Find all their social media here:
