On Thursday, February 3, Death Angel, a group with roots in the Northern California metal scene that spawned Metallica and Testament, headlines a five-band show at Nashua’s Amber Room.  Two days later, the biggest rock music event in years not held at the Verizon Wireless Arena happens as Hinder, Saving Abel and My Darkest Days top an all-day show with at least five other bands at the Armory Ballroom in Manchester.  The venue, located in the Radisson Hotel complex, hasn’t hosted a show of this caliber since the mid-1990s.

The rock and roll weekend closes Sunday, February 6, as Taproot tops another multi-band bill at the Amber Room, including New York noir rockers Me Talk Pretty and Leaving Eden and others to be announced.

Leaving Eden is also appearing at the Armory show; the quartet recently completed work on a record that represents a major step for the 8-year old band, according to guitarist and principal songwriter Eric Gynan.  “We’re excited, it’s the best thing we’ve ever done,” he said as the band gathered around the phone for a recent interview from their Haverhill practice space.  “We’ve done a lot of recording, but never formally released anything. Technically, we’ve probably made eight CDs.”

The new disc, Tied & Bound, features forceful melodic hard rock, which relies heavily on the vocal interplay between Eric and his wife, lead singer Carole Gynan.  The two met when Carole auditioned for their previous band, Redhouse, around 10 years ago.  “No, we didn’t start dating right away,” says Carole with a laugh.

The band honed their sound by booking as many shows as possible. “The biggest thing is playing concerts,” says Eric.  “That’s why we play anywhere, anyhow; it doesn’t matter – we’ll play.  If you’re sitting in the basement, that’s where you’re going to stay.  People think they can do a bunch of stuff online and make a buzz, to me it’s not real, it’s virtual. You can only do so much there.”

Former RA drummer Andy Ryan, who joined the band late last year, provides more than rhythm to the album. He came on board quickly and assimilated immediately, playing live and heading into sessions in short order. “It was a day to learn the songs, a day for a show, and then a day for the studio,” says Ryan.

“I feel like Andy and I played in a past life,” says Eric.

“There’s something going on,” agrees Ryan.  “In my transition from band to band, drummers can be like the Spinal Tap thing, but this was something instantaneous, and the music has been completely different for me since I joined.”

On the album, Ryan’s drum fills are often used as a lead instrument.  “I complement the song as much as I can, but just the way the band works, things that I do off the top of my head seem to work.”

That’s no accident, says Eric, “All these songs had that element already to showcase the drums. I’m a drummer as well – that’s my favorite instrument as far as listening to a song.”

Following the New England shows, Leaving Eden will head to California for a series of shows and “A-List parties” at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Casino. A spring and summer run through Europe is also planned, including a stop in the UK for the Bulldog Bash biker rally, held in William Shakespeare’s hometown at Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Also appearing at the Manchester Armory show is Gone For Days, a new hard rock band fronted by Chris Taylor, who recently left Vegas Temper to focus on making original music.  The band includes Nashville music veteran Jesse Wayne Hatch on guitar. Taylor said in a recent email that the two met “through a mutual long distance management relationship, and soon started writing songs and recording demos over the Internet.”

The online collaboration proved fruitful enough that Hatch soon made plans to relocate to New England and start a band with Taylor. Rounding out the band’s lineup are former Dogfight members Tony LaScoya on drums and Mike Querci playing bass.

“The music and sound came together extraordinarily fast,” says Taylor. The Armory gig will be the group’s first live show.

The promoter of all three shows, New England Concerts, hopes to continue producing events at the newly revived Manchester venue.  “I do have a lot of plans for the Armory Ballroom,” says NEC President Bernie Goulet.

This story appears in the February 3, 2011 issue of Hippo Press

Sully and Mama

“If you’re 25 to 30 and on up, you inherently know all the words — we just do them Rezidudes style,” Cornish says.

The band is putting the finishing touches on A Beat Off, their second album. Among the songs receiving the double-timed drums and hyper-caffeinated guitar treatment are “Hotel California,” “My Favorite Things” and The Beatles’ “All My Loving.” Easy, fun targets all, but the album also includes selections that every rocker loves — “Fortunate Son,” “American Girl” — done straight up, albeit with the pedal pushed to the floor.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra built a career from turning it up to eleven; this winter’s tour is no exception. “It’s God-like — bigger, with more toys,” said band creator recently Paul O’Neill during a break in rehearsals. The tour stops in Manchester for two shows on Sunday, Nov. 7.

Michael Franti showers sunshine

Listening to the cheery music of Michael Franti and Spearhead, it’s hard to fathom that he once brought a hard edge and angry attitude to just about every word he spoke or sang. Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Franti fronted the proto-punk/funk Beatnigs and the politically charged Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.

And Nite Roundup

When Jandee Lee Porter was a young girl in Charlestown, N.H., she’d sing along with her grandmother’s Patsy Cline records while the two baked cookies together. Porter insists her destiny became clear the first time she held a hairbrush and pretended it was a microphone.

“I have been on the stage since I was probably 3 or 4 years old,” she said recently from her new home in Boston, “and definitely it progressed to become something more substantial since I’ve gotten older.”

And Nite Roundup

Vegas Temper wants the airwaves.

Earlier this summer, the Manchester rockers went into the studio to record a pair of songs. They put the finishing touches on one of them in early September and began shopping it to regional radio, which responded immediately. Stations in Boston and Maine, in addition to Rock 101, added “Money” to their playlists, and the list continues to grow.

Lucid expands its territory

The problem with any local music scene is the circuit’s only so big. Lucid, playing the Shaskeen on Friday, Oct. 15, has a large following in its home city of Plattsburgh, N.Y. The six-piece band’s music melds jazzy rock, blues and straight-up funk into a lively, dance floor-filling concoction. Between the college and townies, along with the many clubs that regularly book them in upstate New York, their schedule stays pretty full.

In Nite Roundup, there’s comedy, country, fright, jamming and dim sum with a side of metal.

Soon Young, a History Channel buff, was mining Clapton’s roots, exploring B.B. King, Albert King, Muddy Waters and other seminal blues players. “I bought all their records and books to figure out what their story was,” he says. “I think a few of them really stuck with me.”

The other day, Young arranged for Clapton to receive a copy of his first album, Counting Down. “He got it yesterday, and I’m just waiting to get that phone call to see what he says.” It’s not a lofty aspiration considering what the 28-year-old Young has done so far.

Also Nite Roundup

From the Thursday, October 7 Hippo Press:

Tina Jessie is a Mötley Crüe fan; but that
term doesn’t adequately capture her passion
for the band. The self-described “Shouter”
has attended more than 55 shows since the
glam rockers’ 1982 debut, and that doesn’t
count solo gigs. She began logging onto
the band’s website back in the days of dialup,
and her cars sport vanity plates reading
“CRUE 13” and “CRUEZIN” — sadly, no
umlaut was available.
Jessie is also a part-time rock promoter with
a Mötley Crüe focus, the principal organizer
of the New England Crüefest, a fundraiser for
the band’s favorite charities happening Sunday,
Oct. 10, at Milly’s Tavern. Performing
at the benefit are Crüe cover band Shout at
the Devil, local rockers Lords of Audio, the
all-girl metal band Jaded, ’80s cover band
Snakebite, Iron Maiden tribute group Run to
the Hills and the Guns n’ Roses themed Tribute
This!
The event grew out of a 2001 fan gathering
at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles, a
nightclub the band played early in its career.
Explained Jessie in a recent e-mail, “they
decided to celebrate the old days when rock
& roll ruled the L.A. music scene, get some
bands to play, and perhaps raise some money
for the Skylar Neil Memorial Foundation,”
named after band front man Vince Neil’s
daughter, who died of cancer at age four.
“The idea was to bring the fans together
while the band was not touring and help out
their charities as well,” Jessie said. When the
band got back on the road in 2005, the festivals
expanded to Cleveland, Nova Scotia,
Vancouver, Australia, New York City, Orlando,
Chicago, Atlanta and, in 2007, New
Hampshire. In addition to Neil’s charity, the
event raises money causes supported by each
band member. Running Wild in the Night is a
charity run by Covenant House for homeless
and runaway youth sponsored by bassist Nikki
Sixx, while drummer Tommy Lee chose St.
Jude’s Hospital and Mick Mars sponsors the
Spondylitis Association (the guitarist himself
suffers from the spinal/pelvic joint disease).
The first New England Crüefest almost
didn’t happen, when the original venue pulled
out five weeks before the show. “I had to cancel
the bands, give back donations and gave
up,” Jessie said. But she caught a break when
Mad Bob’s Saloon in Manchester offered
to host the show at the last minute. Despite
logistical problems like fans arriving at the
wrong venue and not being redirected to Mad
Bob’s, the event managed to raise a respectable
$2,500.
“We did pretty well considering the window
we had,” Jessie said. “A lot of the bands
had booked other gigs, but some of them
decided to do it for us anyway, which was
rather nice.” But she vowed that the next
time around things would go more smoothly,
and she immediately got busy collecting
raffle items and planning for another show —
which, due to national Crüefest tours, couldn’t
happen in 2008 or 2009.
Now that the New England Crüefest is
finally taking place, Jessie jokes that everyone
who comes will probably leave with a door
prize. Donations include several items signed
by the band: a copy of Nikki Six’s book The
Heroin Diaries (along with a soundtrack CD),
a drumhead signed by Tommy Lee, along
with guitars, ukuleles and other memorabilia
from the band’s management company.
Jesse Acciacca hand-painted a guitar for the
2007 event, which he and Jessie brought to
Vince Neil to be signed. “He was so impressed
that he more or less has been having Jesse
paint all his guitars for the all the tours he’s
been doing since,” Jessie said. “They’re on
display in Las Vegas, and at Vince’s restaurant
in Florida.” Another Acciacca design, originally
done for the 2008 event, will be given
away at the show, with a headstock repainted
with a 2010 date.
The night will be a reunion of sorts for a
few of the bands that either played or were
booked for the first Crüefest. Lords of Audio
guitarist Robby Gagnon’s Project G appeared
in 2007, as did the Hangovers; former member
of that band are in Tribute This! Jaded was
set for the Mad Bob’s show until one of the
members suffered a broken wrist.
Run to the Hills was on the original bill,
but they booked another gig before the new
venue was found; Jessie is excited to have
them on board for this year’s show. “You really
think you’re hearing [Iron Maiden lead
singer] Bruce Dickinson perform,” she said.
“They’ve been together for years and are very
tight.”
Led by a female vocalist, headliners Shout
at the Devil recreate the Mötley Crüe concert
experience of 1983 right down the smallest
detail. The Maine band, said Jessie, “does the
whole show and she looks and sounds just
like Vince Neil.”
Anyone arriving in ’80s attire will be eligible
to win tickets to see Vince Neil at
Maximum Capacity in Chicopee, Mass., on
Oct. 15, or Trixster’s show next month in Sanford,
Maine. “Last time, just about everybody
went home with a little something, even if it
was a T-shirt,” said Jessie.

Crüefest 2010
featuring Shout At The Devil, Run to the
Hills, Lords of Audio, Snakebite, Jaded and
Tribute This!
When: Sunday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m.
Where: Milly’s Tavern, 500 Commercial
St. in Manchester
Tickets: $10 (21 and up)
Info: www,millystavern.com

From the first strains of “Fire on the Mountain,” the musical influences of Superfrog were pretty clear. But the rest of their opening set New Boston’s Gravity Tavern last Friday was anything but a rehash of jam band talking points. The band segued into a Latin-tinged original, and then flipped to a revved-up cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” A new song, “Round and Round,” was capped with an Eagles-worthy a cappella vocal.

Later, the band wheeled back around to their roots, closing with another Grateful Dead song. But their atypical version of “Shakedown Street” included a streetwise rap and snatches from the 1972 Deodata jazz-pop remake of “Also Sprach Zarathustra.”

Superfrog’s forthcoming album, Call From the Moon, is equally eclectic. There’s pedal-to-the-floor rock (“Astronautical”), barrio funk (“Tequilador”) and jazz-infused rhythm numbers (“Minor Annoyance,” the calypso-flavored “Wish”), drawing from influences as disparate as Rusted Root and early Chicago records.

Putting the muse back into local music:

In fits and starts, an artistic force is asserting itself in Manchester. Folk singers at Boynton’s Taproom, Rocko’s perennial metal scene, and recent renegade one-offs at Jillian’s Billiards and the “Old and Bold” show at Milly’s Tavern are all indicators of a growing trend.

The muse is returning to local music. Most recently, it’s happening at a downtown Manchester pool hall.

And Nite Roundup

In his sweeping new biography, Bob Dylan in America, Princeton historian Sean Wilentz discusses one of Dylan’s key influences, Blind Willie McTell. “He was a sponge … who soaked up every kind of music he heard and then expressed it in his own way,” writes Wilentz — much like Dylan.

It’s also true of Dylan contemporary Maria Muldaur. In junior high school, she led two doo-wop groups and was offered a record contract, which her mother nixed.

“She put an abrupt end to my hopeful little rock and roll career, which in retrospect is probably a good thing,” said Muldaur recently from a tour stop in Fredericton, New Brunswick. “The really cool, hip funky music [was] co-opted … Elvis got drafted and replaced with Pat Boone.

Slutty Pete’s birthday blues:

When Wan-Tu Blues Band harp player Pete Zona first began performing live, he was constantly searching for an open jam session. In 2004, his girlfriend Brenda Cadieux decided to bring the music to the couple’s favorite bar, the Village Trestle in Goffstown. She organized a surprise birthday party and invited the many musicians Zona had sat in with. “Point being they all had to let Peter play with them,” explained Cadieux recently.

On that day, guitarist Tom Bellerini dubbed him Slutty Pete, because, says Cadieux, “he will play with anyone.” When the participants all agreed the experience was so much fun it should be repeated a week later, the gathering also marked the beginning of an enduring Sunday afternoon tradition. But while the weekly Wan-Tu Blues Band session is one of the most popular in the area, nothing draws a crowd like Slutty Pete’s annual Birthday Jam.

plus, the week’s Nite Roundup