10 Sept 10

Hey, blogspot readers, SouthSide rocked Schubas! Her latest adventure had this busy reviewer hanging out at the popular Lakeview venue for an exclusive celebration sponsored by Binny's (Beverage Depot). Matt Ryd was celebrating the official release of his newest CD titled Looking For Home. Besides a sold-out crowd of family, friends and special guests, he also asked Little Light and Mike Mentzer to share the stage with him on this night.

Performing their show together, Little Light kicked off the night with a soothing, mellow performance of semi-acoustic music. Pairing the electric with an acoustic added some depth and emotion inot the duo's sound which immediately grabbed everyone's attention. SouthSide enjoyed not only how the vocals wonderfully complimented each other but also conveyed the imagery and tone of their songs performed. In the truest of simplistic terms, blogspot readers, nothing - neither music nor vocals were ever hurried or rushed during this fantastic opening set. These musicians simply allowed the mellowness of their music breathe ...inspire in which had everyone delighting in its wondrous effects. And it also gave SouthSide her unique opportunity to see an electric used an acoustic instead of the hardcore rock instrument though still retaining that lively rhythm. SouthSide highly recommends checking out this local duo when or wherever they're performing next.


...you're all genies in my bottle...

I Fight Dragons fans will remember the name of former member, Mike Mentzer as the laser gun rockin' guitarist of the band. Well, he may not be fighting dragons or rescuing princesses these days but he's still rockin' the stage as front man of his own band with more of an alternative/pop sound. Featuring Al (of Contriaband on bass) and Justin (of Fashion Bomb on drums ...without the mask and paint tonight), Mike's music and sound had this vibrant groove in which had the audience dancing. She enjoyed the bursts of energy felt throughout the performance that included songs such as Lessons From Being Alone and Butterfly. The highlight of the night came when he performed a popular IFD song, This Just In. SouthSide remembered how it originally was performed with the videogame pop however she enjoyed Mike's version better as it was intended to be. He uncovered his own song with more raw emotions in his vocals especially witin the tenor falsettos. Also, his cover version of Christina Aguilera's Genie In The Bottle cleverly ditched the original poppness for something more within a rhythmic funk/groove sound. It was steamier (than Christina's original) and quite soulful spoken from a male's point of view. Another fine moment happened when Mike performed an acoustically solo that truly had showed him transtitioning from part of the band to front man on his own in SouthSide's eyes during These Eyes. It also demonstrated the dynamic power of his vocals as a singer/songwriter. This reviewer highly suggests IFD fans checking out the "new" Mike Mentzer as he rocks the stage on his own. For more information, visit http://www.mikementzermusic.com or http://www.myspace.com/mikementzermusic.


...we'll be playing guitar bingo later in the show...

If you're a Scrubs fan, you've probably heard of Matt Ryd ...better yet his hit song, Healed, featured on an episode before. Even if you have or haven't, this reviewer highly suggests getting yourself quite acquainted with Matt by snagging his latest CD, Looking For Home, as well as attending his next live show. Fans will enjoy his eclectic yet rockin' Americana/alternative sound that's full of life and energy. He had one lively rhythm section featuring Justin (again on drums ...and looking very dapper in a shirt and tie), John (on violin), Ben (on bass) and Joan (backing vocals and keys). Performing song off the CD like For So Long, Pieces and Wondrin', it was very difficult for SouthSide to pick which was the highlight of the night since this singer/songwriter had so many throughout his set. She did find a couple of examples such as when his father, Steve Ryd, joined him on stage for Lie To Me with a rockin' trumpet solo. Another was when he performed SouthSide's favorite song, Shadow Of Your Life (track 11 on the CD) in which the live version was more moving than its recorded version. Hearing the haunting rhythms off the violin live coupled with Matt's acoustic guitar took on a whole new meaning for this reviewer as she felt the lyrics to come life inside her ears. Or feel that angst and frustration when he wrote the songs Thought Was Wrong and Over You (the ultimate break up song for the year. And of course, the true special moment happened when Matt finally performed his hit song, Healed, to end the spectacular performance. However, this crowd didn't have enough of Matt and his rockin' band ...so as an encore, he rocked out the crowd with a Jackson 5 cover I Want You Back. Now it was truly a party, blogspot readers. For more information, visit http://www.mattryd.com or http://www.myspace.com/mattryd.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide