03/24/2004 Edwin McCain, Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise, Pete Riley (Buffalo, NY @ The Tralf)
By Eric | March 24, 2004 11:59 pm
Tiff absolutely loves Edwin McCain, so after getting a taste seeing him acoustically at the Tralf back in November, this was the full on band this time. Edwin’s guitar player, Pete Riley, opened things up with just him and an acoustic guitar. A nice way to the get the night started. Next was Robert Bradley and Blackwater Surprise, who were a blues band with Bradley as the lead singer. Bradley is a blind black man with a raspy voice, and his voice complemented his band quite well. It was the kind of blues with a bit of an edge that keeps me a little more interested than just flat-out blues. After their set, Edwin was up next with his band, and rocked the place! I personally don’t know too many of the songs all that well, but that didn’t really matter, as Edwin himself and his band rock-and-rolled through a nearly two-hour set, keeping everyone interested and captivated the entire night. A great show to just sit, relax and enjoy. 🙂
[flickr]7082230561[/flickr]
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 03/24/2004 Edwin McCain, Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise, Pete Riley (Buffalo, NY @ The Tralf)
Tags: 2004, Buffalo, Edwin McCain, Pete Riley, Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise, The Tralf
Rochester Sno-core
By Eric | March 24, 2004 1:53 pm
Last night, due to the generosity of one of my co-workers, I got free tickets to see the Sno-Core tour at Water Street last night. Trapt headlined, and they were pretty decent, about as good as when I saw them open for Nickelback. Smile Empty Soul wasn’t any better than in Buffalo (which wasn’t good to begin with, and the meet-and-greet was lame too). Finger Eleven only got 30 minutes to play, and 5 of the 6 songs were from the new album (the one that wasn’t was Costume for a Gutterball, which I’ve *never* heard them do), and newcomers Strata weren’t bad at all for openers.
Tonight after work we’re going to a Tiff show… Edwin McCain at the Tralf. Should be a nice intimate show, not too many people, good tunes, good times, etc 🙂
Topics: Blog | 4 Comments »
Tags: Buffalo, NT, rochester, tiff, Work
03/23/2004 Trapt, Smile Empty Soul, Finger Eleven, Strata (Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall)
By Eric | March 23, 2004 11:59 pm
This one turned out to be a freebie for me, as my buddy Mike from work won tickets off the Nerve, and then couldn’t go, so he passed them off to me! This also included a meet-and-greet earlier in the day with Smile Empty Soul. The meet-and-greet happened at 3pm, and we waited out in the “lobby” of Water Street while Trapt finished up their soundcheck. Once they were done, Smile Empty Soul did theirs, and they came down and said hi afterwards. Blah. What do you say to a band you don’t really care for? 🙂 Anyway, back to the show at 7, and for an opening band, Strata wasn’t too bad at all. They have a sound much like that of most of Wind-Up’s bands, which isn’t a bad thing. They had their half-hour, and Finger Eleven was up next. Unfortunately, they only got about a half-hour as well. (If you ask me, why SES was billed over F11 is beyond me, but whatever.) Opened with Other Light, into Complicated Questions, and then Absent Elements. They then pulled out a song from Tip, and something I’d never heard them play live before, “Costume For A Gutterball”. Back to the new album for One Thing, and closed out the set with Good Times. F11 sounded excellent, and for only being an opener, still were as enthusiastic as they have been on this latest tour. Then it was time for Smile Empty Soul, and the 12 year olds started to scream. Blah, they really weren’t any better than when I saw them in Buffalo at Edgefest. Trapt was after them, and while they sounded okay, it was the same set, pretty much, that they did in Utica opening for Nickelback (which is the entire album), and just like in Utica, the set started out energetically, but then got boring during the middle of the set, only to liven up again at the end. For free, it wasn’t bad. Can’t say I would have paid to go, however.
[flickr]7082230493[/flickr]
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 03/23/2004 Trapt, Smile Empty Soul, Finger Eleven, Strata (Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall)
Tags: 2004, Finger Eleven, rochester, Smile Empty Soul, Strata, Trapt, Water Street Music Hall
03/13/2004 Aaron Lewis (Verona, NY @ Turning Stone Casino Showroom)
By Eric | March 13, 2004 11:59 pm
This was one show I didn’t think I’d ever see come to fruition… Aaron Lewis playing solo, acoustically, anywhere outside of the Springfield area, especially now that Staind is huge? No way… YES WAY TED! The Turning Stone Showroom is a pretty nice facility, the layout with 8 people to a table is different, I suppose Vegas shows are like this as well. Anyway, this was just Aaron and a guitar. Not that anything else was really needed… it was that good! He started out with “So Far Away”, and then dug right in on the covers. Pearl Jam’s “Indifference” (Aaron: “I think I forgot a verse in there, s’ok, I got the important ones, right?”), and then “Nutshell” by Alice in Chains. This was followed by “Layne”, and then the one song Staind fans have been dying to hear for years… “Black Rain”. And it’s definately a shame we haven’t gotten to hear this song earlier! “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield was next, and the first real crowd participation song, “Outside”. Throughout the whole show, Aaron kept remarking that he should have created a setlist, that he wasn’t the best guitar player, and that he didn’t know how to play all of Staind’s songs on the guitar, so he was playing all the songs he knew by heart, which happened to be a lot of Pearl Jam… “Elderly Woman” was the next tune, followed by “Let It Out” (a b-side on the Price to Play single), “Redemption Songs” (Bob Marley), “Zoe Jane”, and one of the most interesting things I’ve seen and heard, an acoustic take on Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”!! This whipped the crowd into a frenzy! Aaron next took on the Who’s “Behind Blue Eyes”, and remarked that he did it better than Fred Durst did. 🙂 He attempted to play STP’s Plush, fumbled through half of it before laughing and giving up, and then nailed “Creep” instead. More covers followed, one being an obscure 70’s one-hit-wonder: Stephen Bishop’s “On and On”, a joking take on “Puff the Magic Dragon” (“I don’t know the words to it, and I don’t want to…” :)), and Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”. The crowd was very appreciative of the covers, and didn’t seem to mind a bit that the set was light on Staind tunes. Cat Stevens’ “Father and Son” was next, and the main set was closed with “It’s Been Awhile”. The crowd was never silent until Aaron came back out to play yet one more Pearl Jam song… “Release”, and then the last song of the night, much to the delight of myself and a couple other folks also yelling for it… “Excess Baggage”. The show was incredible, Aaron sounded awesome, and for the Staind fans that didn’t get to see this show or the one in Atlantic City, they certainly missed quite a bit.
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 03/13/2004 Aaron Lewis (Verona, NY @ Turning Stone Casino Showroom)
Tags: 2004, Aaron Lewis, Turning Stone Casino Showroom, Verona
Dumb Music Survey Time!
By Eric | February 23, 2004 6:43 pm
Throw Winamp on random and jot down the first 10 songs it plays (according to what I saw… no matter how embarrassing. I don’t own anything embarrassing!)
1. Moist – See Touch Feel
2. David Usher – St. Lawrence River
3. A Perfect Circle – The Nurse Who Loved Me (Live 11/01/03)
4. Days of the New – Enemy
5. Korn – Trash
6. Pearl Jam – Go (Live on Two Legs)
7. Matthew Good Band – She’s Got A New Disguise
8. Gravity Kills – Alive
9. Caroline’s Spine – Forget
10. System of a Down – Peephole (Live)
10 out of 9540 songs on Winamp. Not the best cross-section of my music… or is it? 🙂
Topics: Blog | 3 Comments »
Tags: music, random
01/06/2004 Sevendust, Ill Nino, Element 80 (Albany, NY @ Northern Lights)
By Eric | January 6, 2004 11:59 pm
I got to this show courtesy of working at the Saratoga race track on the install there. Ron and I headed down I-87 to Clifton Park to check out the show. After buying tickets at the door, we got inside and got warm, and I found Krista and Jen, who had driven up from Rhode Island. Element 80 was on first, and being a 4-piece from Texas, they immediately reminded me of Drowning Pool, and they sounded very similar to my ear. Not bad at all, for an opening band, I rather liked them. After their set, Ill Nino got underway, and there were quite a few fans there for them. I wasn’t sure what to expect from these guys, but I was kinda unimpressed with them. The latin-influenced drums were cool, but the songs all sounded the same, and the lead singer was not the most adept at working the crowd, other than to keep telling us to “get up” and then calling us pussies for not getting totally into their music. Blah. It was tolerable, and I’ve seen way worse, but I’ve seen better as well. Then for a horse of a different color, Sevendust came out and rocked everyones socks off! Opening with the signature Black, right into Denial and Crucified, they had the crowd in a frenzy the whole time. Sounding just as good as ever, next was Rumblefish, Skeleton Song, and the new single, Broken Down. Picking it back up with Trust, Praise, then back down again with Angel’s Son, the crowd was singing note for note. Enemy was next, and the main set was finished with Suffocate. Encore time! Starting with Waffle, and then a great closer in Face to Face, the crowd barely had the energy to go two more songs! The last song was supposed to be Bitch according to the setlist, but probably due to time constraints they didn’t play it. Ah well, the show was still amazing, and as always, Sevendust put on a rockin fun show!
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 01/06/2004 Sevendust, Ill Nino, Element 80 (Albany, NY @ Northern Lights)
Tags: 2004, Albany, Element 80, Ill Nino, Northern Lights, Sevendust
12/03/2003 Zebrahead, Lucky Boys Confusion, Plain White T’s, Supergarage (Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall)
By Eric | December 3, 2003 11:59 pm
I drove back to Rochester for the day to see this show with Tiff, as Lucky Boys is one of her favorite bands. The tickets said doors at 6, so we got there about 6:15, only to still wait in line for a bit. Since this was on the club side (the smaller side), we got to wait indoors. Plus, a grand total of about 75 people showed up. If it was on the big side, the place would have looked completely empty. So as we’re milling around, Tiff spots the bass player from LBC, and gets an autograph and chats for a minute or two with him. Supergarage started around 7, and asked if anyone knew who they were. Of course not! They’re from Toronto, and I think they won some contest on Edge 102 a while back, Battle of the Bands or something. They were decent, nothing great, but not intolerable either. Standard rock/punk fare. They mentioned they came with nothing but weed, and appeared to use the Plain White T’s gear. Not sure. Anyway, the Plain White T’s were indeed next, and we had seen them once before, opening for Saves the Day at Showplace. They were pretty good as pop/punk goes, and seemed to have a couple fans there that knew the words. Then it was time for LBC. They didn’t disappoint at all, as the show sounded great, and the guys had a lot of energy. Opening with Champions, and then right into Breaking Rules, the guys seemed surprised that there were a good 10-15 of us that knew the songs and were rocking out. Atari, Fred Astaire and Blame were next, with the intensity level continuing to be high… Bossman, Closer, and Broken continued the pace, and because they ended up being a little pressed for time, Sunday Afternoon didn’t get played, even though it was on the setlist. The new single, Hey Driver, was paired up with 3-10 (CB’s Caddy Pt 3) for the finale. The little room at Water Street sounded great, and even though the crowd was small, the LBC guys didn’t seem deterred by that at all. After their set, we collected autographs from the rest of the guys, and Tiff got a couple pictures as well. We stuck around for 3 of Zebrahead’s songs, weren’t impressed in the least, and took off. I thought there would have been at least a couple more people in attendance, but hey, small and intimate is never bad, right?
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 12/03/2003 Zebrahead, Lucky Boys Confusion, Plain White T’s, Supergarage (Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall)
Tags: 2003, Lucky Boys Confusion, Plain White T’s, rochester, Supergarage, Water Street Music Hall, Zebrahead
No More Doubledrive :(
By Eric | November 27, 2003 1:07 pm
Hello friends and fans of the band.
It’s been 6 years since the first spark that eventually lead to the creation of doubleDrive. Donnie, Josh, Mike and I have ridden the roller coaster of ups and downs that forged the great friendships and many songs between us that I am very proud to have been a part of. We have, however, decided that all good things must come to an end. Our last show will be in Atlanta, GA at the Cotton Club on November 28th, the day after Thanksgiving. We hope that you realize this was not an easy decision for any of us to make. It’s not easy to come together as brothers and put an end to something that you have put so much into and loved so much. Donnie has worked very hard to get a street team site started and we are disappointed that we won’t have the chance to use it.
Thanks to all of you for your support at our shows and for sticking with us through our down times. We have been fortunate to have met some wonderful people in the music industry that have gone out of their way to bring this band’s music to the listeners and we would like to thank you. This having been said, I don’t believe this is the end for any of us as far as music is concerned, and we will each be looking forward to seeing all of you again. If you have the ways and means to get down to the Atlanta show, we would like to see you there.
Please keep checking back for updates about what the band members are up to, as well as news about some other things that are in the works.
I wish I could have seen them more than once… but I’m sure they’ll be better off doing their own thing, as they never could seem to crack the mainstream market and get some notice. Ah well, I have my albums and the one show I did see, and it was great while it lasted!
Topics: Blog | 1 Comment »
Tags: friends, music, Nate, NT, Work
11/25/2003 Fuel, Revis, Sloth (Albany, NY @ Northern Lights)
By Eric | November 25, 2003 11:59 pm
After putting in a day’s work at the NY Lottery office in Schenectady, I drove the 15 minutes over to Clifton Park to partake in a show that I should have seen two weeks before… Fuel! They were supposed to play at the Landmark in Syracuse, and I had 4th row. Ah well, this was a better place to see them anyway… much smaller! Northern Lights is not that big of a place, in fact Water Street is bigger, and the stage is about the same distance away. The first band on, Sloth, was nothing to write home about. The riffs were ordinary, the lyrics were bunk, and the band looked like a mish-mosh of styles. Anyway, Revis was up next, and while I enjoyed their set, having the CD and all, I thought they could have been better. They played pretty much everything off of Places For Breathing, plus a new untitled song, and looked rather ho-hum doing it. I think the crowd sensed this as well, as there weren’t a whole lot of people moving around. Technically, the band sounded fine, but the singer had a bit of trouble hitting some of the notes, and was the only one really getting into his performance. Its too bad, because I wanted to enjoy them, but really found it difficult to. After a set change, the mood was picked up in a major way when Fuel came out… definately NOT lackluster! Opening with Last Time, and right into Jesus Or A Gun, the Fuel boys haven’t lost it in terms of the live show at all. They rocked just as hard as they had on the last two tours, and then some! Won’t Back Down was next, then the first super-singalong, Innocent, with the Pink Floyd “Comfortably Numb” intro. The guys really seemed to be enjoying themselves, as Scar, Untitled, Million Miles, and Down Inside Of You were next. It never fails, however, that there’s a fight at a Fuel show, for whatever reason. At least this time, I wasn’t involved! Short of that, the crowd was into the show, but not really into being idiots, which was nice for a change. Sunburn with the extended intro was next, Falls On Me and Shimmer after that, then back to the rockin with Down, Prove, and Empty Spaces. Hemorrhage closed out the main set, which left most of us satisfied. Naturally, there were two more, and after playing Quarter, closed it up with Bittersweet. My only complaint was no Ozone, but thats minor. The show was incredible, they sounded great, the crowd was decent, the venue was cool, and much better than sitting in seats in the Landmark, no matter how close!
Topics: Concerts | Comments Off on 11/25/2003 Fuel, Revis, Sloth (Albany, NY @ Northern Lights)
Tags: 2003, Albany, Fuel, Northern Lights, Revis, Sloth
Perfectly Circular
By Eric | November 21, 2003 11:05 am
I’m in Rochester for the time being, Tiff’s got one more final today and then we’re off to Horseheads to visit her parents for the weekend.
Knock Knock.
Who’s There?
Little Boy Blue.
Little Boy Blue Who?
Michael Jackson.
Thanks Maynard! He was ripping on MJ all night long… in any event, as always, the review will be coming shortly, but for my own recollection purposes, as well as for anyone that’s interested, the setlist last night was as follows: vanishing, pet, the hollow, magdelena, weak and powerless, rose, blue, thomas, the package, 3 libras, the nurse who loved me, gravity, the outsider, the noose, judith. No encore, but none needed. They sounded great! Year of the Rabbit wasn’t half bad either… considering the other band that had been opening, The Icarus Line got terrible reviews. More on this later!
Topics: Blog | 3 Comments »
Tags: NT, rochester, tiff