30 Apr 11

Hey, blogspot readers, tonight's adventure is one for the arts! SouthSide's rockin' the vibrant (and sometimes eclectic) local art scene deep in the heart of Wicker Park. She's at the Catawampus Art Gallery (3rd floor #340) located inside the historic Flat Iron Arts Building where art and music joined hand in hand. The art inside as well as outside (along the walls) featured an array of modern and abstract to naturalistic still-life photographs by such notables Myster Scottie Bee and Matt Luda. The music entertainment side of this gathering featured the soulfully dynamic voice of Mia LeBlon and DJ Huggies Supreme spinning a lively mix of classics (i.e. Roy Orbison's Pretty Woman).

Opening with the song, Blush (written about a certain someone but didn't reveal who) off her new CD - Looking Glass, Mia LeBlon took the entire standing-room only gallery breath away with her soulful yet heartfelt vocals and ultra cool pop/alternative sound. To say SouthSide was impressed would be a gross understatement ...this reviewer was excitedly blown away by this talented singer/songwriter. She was waiting for the walls to bleed each time Mia rocked the gallery with a mere taste of the fiery sould of her voice permeating throughout the songs performed. You simply had to be there to witness the calm stillness this artist brought to the room ...keeping everyone's attention on bated breath anxiously (and patiently) waiting for the next song to begin. And when Mia did, blogspot readers, SouthSide felt touched emotionally by this naturally dynamic vocalist even when she wasn't behind her piano/keyboard - the vocals truly garnered you immediate attention loud and clear. With a few friends helping Mia out on background music - Joe on upright bass, Mike on drums and Hector on acoustic (and sometimes backing vocals), they added an element of jazz to pop/alternative to her songs. They fit right at ease following as well as matching her vocal style especially during the title song, Looking Glass and This Is My Way (which took a lot of vocal power to emit such dynamicness to pop this particular song's lyrics to life). SouthSide also recommends listening to Fearless Radio requested song - Love Strikes Twice (more of a pop song yet can still hear the power of her dynamic voice) and Woman (soulful vocals that packed a powerful punch at the chorus). Blogspot readers can find these songs and more on Mia's CD - Looking Glass in which SouthSide highly recommends adding to your collection but it's WAY better seeing and experiencing this artist live - up close and personal. Visit http://www.mialeblon.com or http://www.myspace.com/mialeblon for more information about her and her music.


...battling a small gremlin... ~ Traverser

Since SouthSide's adventure ended a little earlier than expected, blogspot readers, she set off to discover more rockin' fun which took her to Elbo Room. Though missing Visionaire's performance, this reviewer overheard good things about it from their fans and promises to attended their next show for a full review. She also recommends checking out the good Doctor K of Doctor Kevorkian and the Volunteers now that they released a self-titled CD as well as the lively party boys known as Why So White. Plus this reviewer recommends checking out this Florida band - Traverser while they're currently on tour.

...that was badass as a squid...

Opening with a rockin' crescendo rise of guitar riffs with playback music, then POW! Traverser socked SouthSide's ears with an energetic blast of metal sound and hardcore vibe yet what made this band unique from other metal/hardcore bands was the high falsetto vocals heard amidst the twitterpating guitars. Don't think such vocals and sound were grossly mismatched, blogspot readers, this unique combination seemed to balance each other out. The high falsettos added an air of mystery to each of Traverser's songs while the metal-tastic sound provided the epic feeling to bring these songs to life thus creating plenty of head banging action amongst the late night audience. SouthSide thoroughly enjoyed the flowing chord changes and emotional angst both intricately woven together taking everyong from one of the spectrum to the other. And what a fantastical journey did this band take us, blogspot readers, especially during the opening song. This journey didn't merely stop there ...no, it was felt during Pacify (in which you could literally feel the guitar riffs vibrating from the stage ...not from the monitors played with such vigorous fervor before hearing the angst pumping through the lyrics) and the instrumental song playfully dubbed as The Giant Squid Song (this nonlyrical masterpiece totally rocked out Elbo Room full of twitterpating riffs and abrupt chord changes of kickarse metal sound ...plus listen out for the trippy sound effect incorporated within this song). SouthSide liked Traverser's idea of trying out some of their new stuff on its Chicago audience even though spending the last four months on tour to support the new album - Telemetry. She enjoyed one particular song that opened with an epic sounding intro immediately generating plenty of band-fan and vice versa excitement ...it even had Dr. K and a Volunteer feeling that vibe too as Traverser's sound melded both soft and natural vocals to emit such angst into the lyrics. You could say it was almost meditative within the metal sound. Besides rockin' the stage with EMD, this band did a metal-tasic version of Peter Gabriel's Digging In the Dirt (in which they say the artist influenced them) ...an excellent homage (and one of SouthSide's favorite Peter Gabriel songs too) loving how he emitted such anger and frustration into the words and the wicked guitar re-work to fit the hardcore/metal sound. SouthSide highly recommends checking out Traverser's next live show ...be prepared to be amazed, blogspot readers. Visit http://www.myspace.com/traverser or on Facebook for more details about this band.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide