15 Oct 11

"...welcome to the City of Red ...and there's no turning back..."

Hey, blogspot readers, let's party! SouthSide's rockin' the hottests wildest party ever to happen in the Lakeview neighborhood area that featured the returned of a local band. At Elbo Room, fans packed the basement lounge to welcome back the one and only Wags and the guys of Red City with new bassist, Tim to the stage after a long year absence. Also rockin' the Room with them was SouthSide's other friends, Always The Villain who were having a little surprise party for birthday boy, Brian (drummer) before their set.

SouthSide recommends getting your "Villain" card stamped by this band's diverse sound of intense guitar rock coupled with some pop rhythms within its music. Always The Villain wowed their loyal fans with their villainy style of rock in which front man, Billy (guitar/synth) projected high dosage of raw expressiveness of emotions in his vocals. This dynamic vocalist truly was putting a lot of himself into each word throughout every ATV song especially during opening song, Way Out. It was so vocally intense that he had to take off his glasses, blogspot readers, just to continue singing in that momentous range. Fans were definitely feeling this electric charge of energy and fervor from both Billy and the band even while in a downtempo pace to spotlight how dynamic Billy's voice could get. Though the distortion (not from one instrument but from all side on stage) was a minor headache during ATV's rockin' set, the band premiered a few new songs which clearly demonstrated its gradual progression of various music directions. Yet one thing remained - ATV's desire to give their fans the best possible whether it was full guitar energy (but not as intense) as heard in Self Esteem Balloon or hardcore intensity of metal guitar rock (sans the pop rhythms) that had many experiencing fan frenzy as heard in The 4th Estate. SouthSide does recommend listening to the "serious" side to ATV (to a few fan's dismay who didn't get the subject matter) during Always The Same. This was the one song that had Billy emotionally pumping the raw feeling of hurt and frustration into the lyrics while the band had fun rockin' out the stage. To hear the funkified side of ATV, this reviewer suggests listening to My Complex Mind which featured a soulful vocal style on lyrics (projecting intense frustration) and high energy but on a slight downtempo pace. Visit http://www.alwaysthevillain.com or http://www.myspace.com/alwaysthevillain to hear other songs like Back To Here and Hard Princess.

"...I love Wags..." ~ Andrew Coate

They're back, blogspot readers! After a long absence from the local scene to record an album and search for a new bassist, Red City made a triumphant return to the stage yet sounding even better and wilder than ever before. Fans immediately lit up the basement lounge with frenzied screams as front man Wags and band welcomed everyone back to the City of Red during the infamous Intro song. Wasting no time, to keep the high energy and momentum going, this band moved quickly straight into rockin' the stage with fan favorites like Hollow Man and Tightrope. What truly made this show different from other past Red City shows - Wags was more animated ...jazzed up as front man while feeling that intense Zeppelin-esque sound of classic rock-n-roll wafting throughout the lounge. Nothing could contain the excitement he exhibited song after Red City song as he shimmied and shook ...and stood on top of stage monitors fueling more energy to the fans who responded back with more frenzy. How could one not feel such a thing? This band wonderfully honed in that era where twitterpating guitar riffs (especially Jimmy Page's Zeppelin riffs) drove people absolutely wild ...sometimes SouthSide sees a little of Robert Plant in Wags when he sings especially during her favorite song Crimson Exlir. Like Zeppelin's Kashmir, this song while in a bluesy downtempo pace gets very hot and steamy though the guitars are still pumping a steady flow of energy into the riffs (but needing to tone down the bass so Wags' vocals can pop more). This is where Red City's front man shined under the spotlight pumping such fierce sexiness (with some hip action for the ladies) over the mic that it was literally melting when releasing his raspy falsetto at the chorus. Ah, blogspot readers, it was the band at its best "get down and dirty" side as fans grooved and swayed to the electrifying vibrant music. The frenziness didn't stop there. Oh no ...it was simply the beginning with Red City. The entire front stage (and somewhere beyond that point) came to life during Are You Gonna Be My Girl? to which many wanted to be his "girl" all night long before wowing them with The Dead of Night (another chance for Wags to shine as front man amidst the gritty guitar sound but need to tone down bass a little here too). Wags and the band were certainly putting on a rock show no one will ever forget. And thanks to Brian (on sound) and lighting fx, everyone was basking under that rock "space cadet glow" experience especially during fan favorite Sandstorm. Overall, Red City's return to the local did thrill, excite, chill and a whole lot more that fans cried for one more song ...in fact they would rather have one more set with this rockin' band, blogspot readers. Check out Red's new website http://www.redcitychicago.com to find out when and where this hot revitalized band will be tearing up the stage again.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide