04 Dec 10

Hey, blogspot readers, it's a snowy rockin' Saturday night! This reviewer's busy hitting the streets ...spreading a bit of holiday cheer at two hot shows. First she's checking out good friends Sutured Psyche and Beneath The Stares performing at Metal Shaker. Then, she's making a mad dash to Elbo Room to see headlining band Alice Sweet Alice (from Kansas City, MO) rock out the stage with their "electropostpunkadelic" sound.

Sutured Psyche was already in full swing rockin' the stage when SouthSide arrived at the Northwestside bar. Though taking a quick break to fix broken strings, this band performed another thrilling ...exciting hardcore rock show for its audience. However, (and though no fault of the band's own), this reviewer felt the opening set was good. The acoustics inside Metal Shaker, in her honest opinion, didn't have the proper the sound quality thus hampering Sutured's energetic headbanging rock vibe. Still she enjoyed the unique vocal style (by charismatic front man William) that wowed the ears with emotion and dynamic power (listen to The Leap and Trickster - he truly puts a lot of himself emotionally into these songs). The rawness heard deep inside his voice highlighted the realistic and personal sentiment within Sutured's lyrics. SouthSide also highly suggests listening to Kelso's Army and the wicked guitar riffs of Clarity. Start 2011 with a rockin' BANG as Sutured Psyche celebrates an anniversary on Jan 7 at Goose Island or Jan 29 at Elbo Room. Visit http://www.suturedpsyche.com or http://www.myspace.com/suturedpsyche for more information.

Moving into the other end of the rock spectrum, Beneath The Stares delighted this audience with a solid performance of dark hardcore poetry. Despite what SouthSide mentioned earlier in this review about the acoustics, she still enjoyed the thundering epic sound heard within this band's songs as well as haunting chanteuse-like voice by Lisa (though hearing more of the music than the vocals). BTS rocked the stage under an aura of fiery energy and passion not only in the guitar riffs but in the lyrics too, blogspot readers. After opening their set with Guilty Bystander, this band (finally) premiered their epic song triology known as Tropic of Cancer. Three different versions of the same song neither were sounding like the other lyrically and musically ...absolutely demonstrating how versatile this group can be. For instance, Part 1 played out as a hardcore metal piece full of wicked riffs and shape-shifting chords. Meanwhile Part 2 opened with a calming lull before blasting the audience with a headbanging rock sound. Lastly, Part 3 concluded this epic piece with a downtempo ballad though darker and more dynamic than the other two parts. After that breathtaking triology, BTS rocked out the audience with other songs that included new one, Foraging for a Plan and band theme Beneath the Stares. The highlight of this set was their cover of Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit - still having the drug-metaphor psychedelic 60s feel yet more epic with the BTS sound. This reviewer highly recommends getting familiar with the dark epic yet poetic rock of Beneath The Stares in 2011. Visit http://www.beneaththestares.com or http://www.myspace.com/beneaththestares for more information.


...Guess we're no longer in Kansas...


Hey, blogspot readers, SouthSide's now at Elbo Room just in time to check out the rockin' as well as eclectic music of Alice Sweet Alice (cool Brooke Shields movie reference for a band name). From Kansas City, this band brought its blend of "electro" (off the keyboard) and "postpunkadelic" (off the guitars and drums) sound for a late-night performance. This reviewer enjoyed the lively kick heard within the edgy rock sound ...the bursts of energy instantly grabbed her attention inside the epic feel within each Alice song. At times, there was a fiery essence wafting from the guitar riffs and Ali Kat's vocals sparking that energetic vibe and momentum. Yet during the other times, SouthSide felt the crisp chill of the haunting momentum and rhythmic groove when Scott (on bass) took lead on vocals. This also brought out the dark psychedelic side of Alice's music to light ...more vibrant with a steady heart-pounding metal chords. Enthralled by the band's darkness, SouthSide rocked to songs such as Legends and Ambola (off Alice's current CD). She also suggests checking out Flight of Tonight and set closer Weeping Lily (a rockin' BANG of hard hitting riffs and dynamic vocals by Ali). SouthSide was thoroughly impressed by Alice's Chicago debut even though having some minor technical difficulties, blogspot readers, and she hopes they make a return appearance (or more) again in 2011. Visit http://www.alicesweetalice.com or http://reverbnation.com/alicesweetalice for more information.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide