19 Aug 11

Hey, blogspot readers, it's day two of the worldwind magical music scene tour! After a rockin' night of perfecting her nerdy polka/hiphop self at The Abbey, she now headed deep into enemy (baseball) territory - Wrigleyville to rock out two venues. First, she's at the popular Goose Island Brew Pub to hear a collection of horror stories and love songs by The Walking Shadows at their Not Pretty Poetry CD release show. Then a few blocks up North Clark Street, this reviewer ended her night rockin' out Metro with her longtime friends, Comasoft at their 10 Volt Video release show. Oh, what a night!

At Goose Island...
SouthSide highly suggests checking out the lovely but very personable singer/songwriter Lady Laura (also seen performing with friend, Matt Ryd) at her next performance. This reviewer enjoyed hearing the delightful personal tales behind each of her songs performed during the short set. True life experiences turned into song like Cobalt Blue (about the time when she tried to dye her wedding dress the color), Uh Oh, The Bully Song (written while having a stressful day at work but also incorporating bully stories received off her Twitter account) and The Day After Yesterday (finding strength and dignity after a life takes an unexpected turn). Despite saying she was sick, that didn't hinder Laura's vocals from dynamically popping throughout the set especially when covering her rendition of the Ottis Redding classic, Sittin' On The Dock of The Bay. It was one of the best covers SouthSide has ever heard as this artist made each word mean something personal to her. With Matt Ryd's production assistance on production, Lady Laura will be releasing her EP titled Jezebel in four parts (i.e. think fall, winter, spring and summer) which will feature the song July 9th (the date of what would have been her first wedding anniversary). For more information, you can find her on Facebook as Lady Laura Music.

Here's some math for you, blgospot readers. What's the sum when adding "horror stories" and "love songs" together? It equaled a dark symphonic-toned performance by the metal/rock band known as The Walking Shadows. Goth/Industrial fans will enjoy the moody orchestral tone off the epic-sounding synths/keyboards by Mark Winston (also lead guitarist/vocalist of Dead Superheroes Orchestra) while Metal fans will enjoy the hardcore tone from the guitar-side of Shadows. However when together, this reviewer was blown away by the haunting poetic drama of love, pain and horror wrapped inside the energized melodies and rhythmic tempos heard in songs like I Don't Know, Bullet Holes In Our Hearts, The Devil You Never Name (heard on their Facebook page) and Crusader. Yes, at times, blogspot readers, this band "screamed" such intense passion that the words inside the lyrics made the heart weep from fear and pain ...definitely not pretty poetry written by William Shakespeare . Also, SouthSide was wowed by the dynamic yet powerful vocal style of Craig Winston (guitarist/front man) in which during the set he emitted strength of emotionally raw falsettos (with his brother Mark on backing vocals). Even though staying briefly for The Walking Shadows' performance, you can count on SouthSide going back for more dark realistic horror-love songs by this local band at their next show. Darker than its brotherly companion, Dead Superheroes Orchestra, yet so dramatically beautiful within its symphonic-toned metal rock sound. For more information, visit http://www.thewalkingshadows.com or http://www.facebook.com/thewalkingshadows.

After a short walk from Goose Island Brew Pub to Metro, SouthSide arrived in time to rock out the final minutes of Panther Style's set in which she liked this band's hard-hitting guitar rock and raw feminine vocal power by guitarists Melissa and Jeanne. Blogspot readers, expect a full review on this local metal/rock band by SouthSide in the near future but in the meantime she highly suggests sinking your fangs into songs like Fingers Crossed, Seeing Not Just Believing and their Posies' cover of Blind Eyes Open. For more information, visit http://www.pantherstylemusic.com.

Before truly rockin' out Metro with their headlining set, Comasoft premiered the video to their newest hit, 10 Volt which will be featured in their upcoming album, Burn To Shine set for release in October. Fans can expect the video to be on the band's YouTube page some time this week. After energizing the audience with the video version of the song (which was performed later within the show), Jay and the band wowed and thrilled their fans with pop rock music, dazzling lighting effect and video images displayed on the screen to enhance everyone's Comasoft experience. SouthSide, though not seeing her friends in a long time, instantly such intense guitar energy from the band especially during their popular song about zombies. They popped all over the stage with such exuberant momentum even while rockin' some techno/synths sound within the band's modern twist of the 80s retro pop sound that featured (at times) guitar rock wonderfully matching Jay's angsty type vocals. Performing songs like One To One, All I Wanted and Lovesong (SouthSide's favorite), Comasoft pulled out a retro classic song by Sly Fox - Let's Go All The Way in which this reviewer enjoyed the tone and guitar rock sound than it's original carnation took the audience down a darker path of no return. Yet it wasn't all dark and moody with Comasoft, blogspot readers. They even channeled some retro 50s rock sound when performing another new song off the upcoming album (about living today during these apocalpytic times) - this reviewer liked how it was out of the band's "norm" popping the stage with an upbeat tempo and lively rock vibe before closing with a live version of 10 Volt. Make plans, New York blogspot readers, for October (date to be determined) when SouthSide's friend Comasoft invades your town. In the meanwhile check out the video for 10 Volt on YouTube and visit http://www.comasoft.com or http://www.facebook.com/comasoft for more information.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide