24 Nov 09

...or should I say blue Tuesday...



Happy Thanksgiving, blogspot readers!

SouthSide had a chance to enjoy some pre-holiday fun at the Elbo Room before preparing the turkey feast. This was the place for seeing local metal bands rockin' the stage. Fans were treated to performances by Failure Of Progress and Lollipop Factory. This reviewer, however, was intrigued by the dark mysteriousness of Sage 4 after visiting their Myspace page.

There was a creepy feeling when sudden darkness surrounded the basement lounge ...an air of mystery clung heavily as the band took the stage. With an ambient setting like that, SouthSide was ready to understand the secrets of Sage4. This local band, under the cover of blue faux candlelight, performed a rockin' metal set. This reviewer instantly liked the atmosphere created for them. It certainly gave her the chilled feeling of being deep inside her own grave. Morbid thought, she knows but how else was one suppose to enjoy a performance like theirs under the brightness of day? No, blogspot readers, the cover darkness was where you can feel right at home with this band.

The darkness also served as a perfect vice to convey the haunting vocals (by Tracy) behind the Sage4's metal sound. SouthSide could hear the pain and woe as well as fire and passion off the lyrics when she sang. Sometimes where was a bit of tortured frustration hidden in there of what love can do to a soul like hers. A good example would be listening to Am I Evil? off their current CD, Graves. A good question in which needed a truthful answer haunted by the vocals full of pain. Sage's metal sound resonates the mood throughout each song in which this reviewer was wowedy by the guitar rhythms. At times, they were dizzily swirling higher before crashing hard back to reality. SouthSide recommends listening to their Out of Body. This was the moment when both music and vocals shined together. Look for this song to be used in the upcoming movie, Evil Angel starring Ving Rhames. She also loved Everyone's A Hypocrite that had tumbling guitar riffs going so fast that it was hard to keep up with this band.

They eneded this journey with a rousing rendition of a Tool classic. You had to be there to see this band rockin' out the Elbo Room. Sage4's performance took SouthSide to a scary place where her nightmares of love lost and pain roam - and to her, that's a good thing. It forced her to face her fears ...to feel things she would rather keep hidden while letting their dark sound surround her. Think of them as Evanescence however with a harder metal sound and vocals to match.

For more information, visit Sage4 at http://www.sage4.com/ or www.myspace.com/sage4.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide