18 July 13

It's a hot and steamy night, blogspot readers! It's so hot that SouthSide's cooling off by rockin' to music performances during this special On The Town adventure. Tonight, she's hanging out at Wicker Park's hippest rock venue - Double Door for a pre-Pitchfork party featuring three amazing acts currently on tour presented by Conflict of Interest. Music fans crowded the main floor to see ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead and UME (both from Austin, Texas) with The Red Paintings (Australia) opening the show. 

This reviewer thoroughly enjoyed the sights and sounds of The Red Paintings which combined a rather semi-acoustic music set coupled with two artists creating art on stage with the duo musicians. What truly made this performance very interesting to review was the elaborate costumes worn on stage which was a bit shocking especially after a record-breaking temperatures. She wishes that she had pictures to show the anime-inspired wear complete with a Russian hat and coat and kimonos adorning the two. The opening act itself could be described as intense and eclectic while having a vibrant folk music amidst such beautiful melodic rhythms even when performing a song about young woman who committed suicide leaving behind a young child. The highlight of Red's show came at two points, blogspot readers. The first happened during a powerful rendition of a rarely covered Nirvana song You Know You're Right that demonstrated a fine display of vocal emotions on the lyrics not only popping in the ears but smacking the music right into your face with such intense acoustic sound. The second happened at the conclusion of Red's performance when the electric was tuned up at the beginning of The Revolution Is Never Coming in which was the most powerful display of fiery emotions and frustrations ever witnessed by SouthSide. She enjoyed the political overtones heard within the lyrics that everyone inside the Double Door could feel the venomous heat dripping from Trash's lips as he spewed "...your revolution is never coming..." Wow...so intense and so true, blogspot readers. SouthSide suggests checking out this band. For more information about The Red Paintings, visit http://www.theredpaintings.com for fall tour dates with  Mindless Self Indulgence.

Are you ready to rock, blogspot readers? SouthSide means ...are you REALLY ready to rock with this next band from Austin, TX? Are you ready to do more than headbang to wild, intense electric guitar-driven punk rock with this band known as UME? And wow - did this hardcore trio ever blow this reviewer's (and everyone else in the vicinity) ears away! They had this crowd feeling as well as reeling within the full blast of hard-hitting electric riffs throughout their performance full of that gritty Southern rock sound. Even while taking the energetic momentum down for a moment, UME still kept that intense electric charge going though it was also the moment when Lauren's (the band's female lead on guitar) microphone needed to be upped a little. This reviewer was totally grooving to the crazy floetry off the harsh chords that sometimes might be a bit jarring on the eardrums (if you don't have earplugs like this reviewer) but that's how this bands rocks, blogspot readers. Don't expect this band to slow down either. It got brutally rough ...and that was a good thing. Each song had that "in the your face wham bam thank you, ma'am" type of rock coupled with Lauren's vocals on lyrics. She might fool you with that soft voice however you'll be amazed on how raspy and dynamic as well as soulful she can be a lead vocalist adding lots of steamy sex appeal most times. Yet watch out, fellas, she can rock harder than most of you especially when she hits that moment within an instrumental bridge or jam - she really lets her hair fly all around while making her guitar "sing" and wail with such energy. Ending on a high note, UME was one of the most exciting rock bands SouthSide has seen so far and suggests checking out this band at their next show. For more information about UME, visit http://www.umemusic.com.

Now it was really time to rock out, blogspot readers! To the sound of joyous cheers and thunderous applause, Austin, Tx band And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead stepped onto the stage ready to blast us away with intense yet melodic guitar rock. One thing you can definitely say about this band (besides the long name which accompanies it) is its core sound was designed to be epic dazzling the senses with rhythmic chords and dramatic crescendoing buildup throughout the instrumental bridges before returning the song's original tempo. Yes, the music was almost like an orchestrated composition and very expressive to the bone which also highlighted the front man's vocals on lyrics. And believe it or not, blogspot readers, this was merely the prelude of more great things to come from And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. For this reviewer it was the melodic sound that instantly grabbed her attention. She enjoyed how each guitarist played the riffs with a vigorous fervor and such intensity while creating beautiful rock music in between the harsh floetry and tempo pace. To say, SouthSide awestruck would be a gross understatement and it would be somewhat difficult to describe the energetic momentum that flowed within this venue. Midway thru the performance,  And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead debuted songs newly recorded when they were in Hanover, Germany which demonstrated a stark contrast in music style than what was heard at the beginning of the performance. Instead of the melodic sound and rhythms, the new songs demonstrated the band's progression into hardcore rock intensity with gritty guitar riffs and raw vocal angst on the lyrics. Now this stage along with the crowd was totally on fire, blogspot readers! Fueled by the cheers, the intensity grew by the minute as show became wilder and crazier ...not one inch of the stage was left untouched though the crowd (especially where SouthSide stood) was somewhat restrained. Yet that doesn't mean they weren't enjoying the intense rock performance. And though the melodic side to this band was not really present within their hardcore side, you can still hear and feel the epic crescendoing rise and dramatic smack of sound was there to leave you breathless and wanting more. This was SouthSide's first time reviewing a band like And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead performing under such "grueling" pressure - which isn't a bad thing to do since it did keep the many fans attending this show very excited and caught up within the momentum. It was certainly the wow factor for them each time the guitars wailed to its gritty sound or the drums thundered out its rhythms until the end. Overall, blogspot readers, this reviewer recommends checking out this band live up close and personal at their next show and be prepared to have all five senses blown away when they're finished rockin' the stage. For more information about And You Know Us By The Trail of Dead, visit http://www.andyouwillknowusbythetrailofdead.bandpage.com.


Until next time, support your local scene,
SouthSide