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I Prevail Concert Review Heart vs Mind Tour

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Suzie Soule

I Prevail Concert Review
The Heart vs Mind Tour with Too Close To Touch and Chasing Safety

Sometimes when you go to a show, you like one of the openers and not the other one. Other times, the opener will sound nothing like the genre that you are there to see. For this show, the opening bands sound was extremely cohesive with the headliner. All the bands were similar so you were instantly fan of all three bands.

Too Close To Touch is a post-hardcore band from Lexington, Kentucky. The vocalist, Keaton Pierce, has a diverse vocal range. Where bands with such talent usually have two singers, Too Close To Touch, has just one. Their song “Perfect World” is about the fantasy we all have of reconciliation when there is a breakup. We all dream that the one who walked away will come crawling back to us.

Click to view Too Close To Touch Photo Gallery

Chasing Safety had a high energy set. Their vocalist, Johnny Galivan, was slinging the microphone like an 80’s rocker. He must have driven his mom crazy when he was little with all the energy he had. He was doing cartwheels and taking phones from members of the crowd. The band sounds similar to Of Mice & Men and Crown The Empire.

Click to view Chasing Safety Photo Gallery

I Prevail has exploded onto the hard rock scene with their cover of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space”. The I Prevail version is really a bold undertaking and the arrangement with the screaming vocals is pure genius. It hardly sounds like the original and that is why metal fans like it so much. The band has two vocalists, Brian Burkheiser, clean vocals and Eric Vanlerberghe, unclean vocals.

I Prevail’s album Heart vs Mind is out now. There are just seven songs on the album but every song is great. There are songs for post-hardcore fans and rock fans alike. They played the majority of their album and covered some “Break Stuff” as well. The fans were ready to bang their heads and participate in a little pit action. The crowd was not able to let them go after their set and asked for one more song. Their encore was an acoustic version of “My Heart I Surrender”.

Click to view I Prevail Photo Gallery

The Word Alive and Chelsea Grin Concert Review

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Suzie Soule

The Word Alive and Chelsea Grin Concert Review
The Real Sick Tour with Like Moths To Flames, Sylar and Under Paris
April 30, 2015

The Word Alive and Chelsea Grin returned to The Castle Theatre in Bloomington, Illinois on The Real Sick Tour. This tour is hitting smaller venues all over the country. You can meet the guys in the bands up close and personal. The Word Alive has special VIP packages.

Five bands took the stage and gave the fans what they needed for the evening, a cathartic release for the middle of the week. Many fans had traveled from out of town to make it to the show.

Sylar is rock band from Queens, New York and they have a style that can be described as nu metal. Fans of The Word Alive, Deftones, and Islander will like Sylar. The vocalist, Jayden Panesso, stood out wearing a white shirt and white gloves. Sylar has quickly gained a following and loyal fans.

Sylar

Like Moths To Flames performed next. Like Moths To Flames is a metalcore band from Columbus, Ohio. They have been reunited with vocalist, Chris Roetter, for a little over a year. Their live show is energetic and very solid. Their songs, “Bury Your Pain” and “I Solemnly Swear” resonated with the crowd.

Like Moths To Flames

The Word Alive drew in the crowd. So many fans love the the newest album, Real, that was released June of 2014. I spoke to vocalist, Telle Smith, in an interview before the show. We discuss Real , Colby the Frenchie, and what kinds of gifts he likes to receive from the fans.

The Word Alive’s set included several songs off of Real. Telle challenged the crowd to sing along as well as the crowd did in Japan two weeks before to “Lighthouse”. The crowd met their challenge. They also performed “The Hounds of Anubis” off of their Deceiver album for those that like their heavier songs. The crowd also did very well on “Life Cycles”. Of course, “Life Cycles” is the mantra for TWA fans. If The Word Alive could only play one song at a show and it was “Life Cycles”, I think everyone would be okay just seeing it alone.

Click to view The Word Alive Photo Gallery

The closer for the evening was Chelsea Grin. No doubt about it, Chelsea Grin is hardcore. The fans were ready to F.S.U.. Many of the fans that were there to see The Word Alive left to get home early on a school night. They made a mistake by leaving before Chelsea Grin’s set. There is nothing comparable to a live metal show where the energy is fierce. The act of banging your head, crowd surfing, or moshing in the pit gives you that carthartic release. They started the evening with “Playing with Fire” which got everyone in a good mood. Also included in the setlist were “My Damnation”, “Morte Ætérna”, and “Clockwork”

The vocalist, Alex Koehler, encourage the crowd when they needed it. Here is a moment when there was a battle between each side of the pit. It appears to be men versus women but believe me, it was both sexes competing.

Chelsea Grin pit battle

Click to view Chelsea Grin Photo Gallery

The Real Sick Tour continues. You should catch it if you can.

Sylar

The Word Alive Concert Photos

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Suzie Soule

The Word Alive Concert Photos
~The Castle Theatre in Bloomington, Illinois

The Word Alive

Telle Smith of The Word Alive

Luke Hollandd of The Word Alive

The Word Alive

Tony Pizzuti and Luke Hollandd of The Word Alive

Chelsea Grin Concert Photos

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Suzie Soule

Chelsea Grin Concert Photos
~The Castle Theatre in Bloomington, Illinois

Chelsea Grin

Stephen Rutishauser of Chelsea Grin

David Flinn and Jason Richardson of Chelsea Grin

Alex Koehler of Chelsea Grin

Chelsea Grin

I Prevail Concert Photos

Posted on May 2, 2015 by Suzie Soule

I Prevail Concert Photos
~The Castle Theatre in Bloomington, Illinois

Eric Vanlerberghe of I Prevail

Brian Burkheiser of I Prevail

Steve Menoian of I Prevail

Dylan Bowman of I Prevail

I Prevail

Tony Camposeo of I Prevail

Eric Vanlerberghe of I Prevail

Brian Burkheiser of I Prevail

I Prevail

Frank Lillingham III of I Prevail

Win Two Tickets to Slipknot with Hatebreed

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Suzie Soule

Win two tickets to Slipknot with Hatebreed

May 8, 2015 7:30 p.m. at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, Illinois

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER KURT BROOKS

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Doyle Interview

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Suzie Soule

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

Doyle with Mushroomhead Concert Review

Posted on March 31, 2015 by 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.