Smash Magazine put together a concert at Backstage Bar & Billiards with Sleep Eater, A Trigger Within, Bravo Delta, and Code Red Riot, and I had the pleasure of covering the show.
Kicking things off was the local hard rock band, Sleep Eater, and I knew very little about this group except that they have one EP out called Off The Beaten Path. They combine melodic and harsh vocals and use a lot of keyboard/synthesizer in each of their songs. They put on a solid set, and while this was the first time I had seen them, I have since had the chance to listen to their EP a couple of times, and I like their song "Disappear". Hopefully I will get the chance to see them again and develop more of a feel for their style and sound.
Next up was A Trigger Within, a hard rock/metal band from LA. The brainchild of Irish singer/songwriter Jimmy Trigger he describes the band's style as "Synth Soaked Anthem Metal", but however you choose to classify them, in my opinion, they absolutely stole the show on this night. Along with Trigger, the band features David Bruno (guitar), Tyler Morgan (guitar), Eric Sinful (Bass) and Dylan Roy (drums). A Trigger Within started their set off with two songs from their EP, I, and from the start these guys capture your attention, especially Trigger, whipping his knee length dreadlocks while singing and dancing around the too-small stage - right off the bat I knew that this band was the real deal. Their second song, "Graves", blew me away, from the synth intro, to Jimmy's gravelly vocals, this song really grabs you. Jimmy's vocals start out in almost a whisper, building up to a scream, which then rolls into a rap-like delivery, with a really catchy hook. The lyrics are well-written and blend with the music in a manner that encourages you to sing along on every chorus. They continued their set with three new songs not on the EP, followed by a mash-up of Danzig's "Mother" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman", which they re-titled "Enter Your Mom", that was very well done and really got the crowd singing along. The final song of their set was from their EP and titled "A Time To Kill", and has a simple chorus that gets stuck in your head, and Jimmy encouraged everyone to sing along after teaching it to us. It goes like this..."hey, hey, whadaya say? Move motherfucker, get out of my way!" As soon as they were finished with their break down I went over to their merch table and bought two t-shirts and their EP. I am definitely a fan.
Following up ATW's stellar performance was another local hard rock band, Bravo Delta. This band is stacked with top-notch musicians (Brandon Davis (guitar/vocals), Andy Ingraham (guitar), Roman Snakejam (bass), and Brian Scott (drums)) and is one of my top five favorite local bands. They have recently released a new album, Unbreakable, which I think is outstanding and their title-track single has been receiving lots of attention, garnering radio air-play across the country. They are an excellent live band and this night was no exception. They rocked the house and got the crowd jumping. They just get better and better and I could watch Andy tap his way through the intro to Unbreakable all night long. He is an incredible talent and absolutely shreds on his guitar.
Rounding out the night was the headliner, Code Red Riot created by former Otherwise drummer Corky Gainsford, and is another of my top five favorite local bands. Instead of sitting behind the kit, Corky is the frontman of the operation handling vocal duties and acting as an auxillary drummer on occasion. Corky is the consummate frontman with lots of energy and charisma, engaging the audience, bounding around the stage, jumping off of the drum riser, and throughly enjoying his role. He gives it all in every performance, as he did on this occasion. Accompanying Corky are Jon Wozniak (bass), Adam Fishcer (drums), and the super-talented Chris Iorio as live guitarist (to fill in for Tyler "Taz" Azure (guitar) since he now resides in Minnesota). Code Red Riot has put out one incredible album and are currently working on some new music. They are a true up-and-comer in the music industry, having attracted attention world-wide, in fact, a band in South Korea has done a cover of their song "Living Low" (and did a killer job of it too) that can be found on YouTube. Talk about going international!
Well, to sum up the evening I went to Triple B's to see and support a couple of my favorite local bands and ended up discovering another solid local group in Sleep Eater, as well as finding a phenomenal band from LA that I am now a huge fan of. A Trigger Within is one that I will be keeping a close eye on as a band that deserves a lot of attention. I highly recommend seeing them live but, if you can't, you should at least check out their EP. All four songs on it could be played on any rock station in the country. I guarantee that if you love hard rock, with clean, clear, understandable, well-written vocals and solid musicianship...well, who doesn't?! Check them out. You won't be disappointed!
Code Red Riot Photos from Randy Udell / R U Rockin' Photos
Barvo Delta Photos from Randy Udell / R U Rockin' Photos
A Trigger Within Photos from Randy Udell / R U Rockin' Photos
Sleep Eater photos from Randy Udell / R U Rockin' Photos