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Live Music Review-A Static Lullaby, Vanna - Peabody's - 6.18.09
By kathleen Mallott
Published: June 20, 2009
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Many bands attempt the daunting feat of entering the classification of multi genre; many bands fail. These bands are not to be confused with the many more bands who SAY their sound is multi genre, next to the bands that say they sound like Coldplay or Zeppelin in a doomed-to-fail attempt to attract people to sample their pathetic music. But for the artists that actually write cross-genre music, narrow is the gate to success. However, the interesting mix of “emotive rock and perilous hardcore” known as
Vanna, is something for everyone to enjoy.
When the band took the stage at Peabody’s on Thursday, (6.18.09) one could gather from their looks that New England based Vanna is one kickass rock band. This theory is confirmed the moment the striking guitars riffs and bass line kick in. Frontman
Chris Preece starts screaming lyrics in his deep-throaty voice that could almost literally knock the feet out from anyone. It is mind boggling that a man who stands less than 5 ½ feet tall and weighs in at roughly 120lbs has such powerful pipes.
Kicking off the show with
“Into Hells Mouth We March”, not only is Preece’s voice prominent on this number, guitarists
Nick Lambert and
Evan Pharmakis provide backing vocals that blend perfectly together to complete the catchy melody. The crazy drumming of
Chris Campbell and hardcore guitar has the opening tune setting the bar high for the rest of the set. On this night, Vanna was up for the challenge.
While there is never a non-entertaining moment in Vanna’s set, their manic stage presence sometimes crosses the line between solid showmanship and unnecessary distractions from their music. At times, the stage happenings were a bit too chaotic. Bassist
Shawn Marquis along with Pharmakis and Lambert swung their instruments in the air between their parts and would not stop jumping around. While it added to the rock atmosphere, at times the spectacle overshadowed the music.
Preece once again showed off his vocal abilities on
“Safe to Say”, a track off of Vanna’s March 2009 release,
‘A New Hope’. This song defines the group’s signature sound, mixing the hardcore screamo with emo rock. By the time the set closer
“We Ate The Horse You Rode In On” came around, the mosh pit had become an unstoppable force. The time had come to give way to headliner
A Static Lullaby, leaving everyone hungry for the next time Vanna comes through town.
If one were to make list of tunes to pump up a hardcore metal act for the show, Billy Joel’s
“Only the Good Die Young” would more than likely be omitted. One person that would put that song on their list:
Joe Brown, screaming vocalist of A Static Lullaby. Pre-show, Brown was seen outside of Peabody’s rocking out to Billy’s classic hit. Odd. Very, odd.
Entering the dark venue to Jedi-esque music, A Static Lullaby took the stage with force, showing out of the gate that they are no average band. Hardcore riffs and backing vocals from guitarist
Dan Arnold and thumping bass laid down by
Dane Poppin anchored the band’s sound behind the screaming of Brown, whose vocals sound nearly identical to his recorded works.
The title track off of the band’s 2008 release,
‘Rattlesnake!’ allowed the backing vocals of Arnold and drum pounding of
Tyler Mahurin to shine; both enhanced the frontman’s screaming.
Proving their musical diversity, the somewhat slower tune
“The Shooting Star That Destroyed Us All” off of 2003’s
‘Don’t Forget to Breath’ was performed to perfection. Although the song moves at a slower pace, by no means did ASL turn soft with this number. The screaming is still there but it also has an infectious hook that anyone can find themselves singing along too.
One of the show’s highlights came unscripted when Mahurin beat his snare drum to death. Literally. Brown tried humoring the crowd while Mahurin scrambled to snag a replacement snare from one of the opening bands before Poppin busted out the theme song from Seinfeld in an attempt to keep the crowd engaged. Brown then asked the audience to pretend the band had left and returned to the stage before playing their encore.
Ending the show with one of the most recognizable songs of the evening, ASL covered Britney Spears’
“Toxic”. Not many bands can pull off a hardcore interpretation of a bouncy pop song, but the guys on stage were able to make this song their own. When announcing the song as a Spears cover, one concert goer screamed “who the hell is Britney Spears?” drawing laughter from Brown.
A Static Lullaby proved that they know what a hardcore show is all about. This band knows how to have their share of fun on stage without becoming obnoxious. The music showcased on stage stayed true to their recorder sound, which is more than one can say of most hardcore acts.
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