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“LIVE REVIEWS” By Jim Price This month’s writ begins with a little math contest…If I was celebrating a quarter-century of writing for Pennsylvania Musician last year at this time, and I say this month that I have been writing for the magazine for half of my life, what does that make my current age? The first two readers to come up to me in person this month and provide the correct answer each receive a Pennsylvania Musician ballcap. Good luck! (Staff members of the magazine, my bandmates and radio coworkers are not eligible to win.) But yes, this month does mark another year for my monthly ramblings about area music in Pennsylvania Musician; thanks again to Whitey and Robin for putting up with my novels over the years, and thanks to the state’s musicians and the readers for all the support and kind words! I never thought when I submitted my first article all those years ago that I would be devoting half my life so far to the cause of pimping the area and regional music scenes. It’s come to define my career and my purpose, I suppose; and every month provides new experiences, fun and adventures that continually convince me that I’m nowhere close to ending this ride yet! As I frequently tell bands and musicians, keep making the music, and I’ll keep writing about it! One of those fun adventures last month was attending the four-band concert at Pittsburgh’s Stage AE, featuring Bullet for My Valentine, Halestorm, Young Guns and Stars in Stereo. Kicking things off, Stars in Stereo quickly captured the crowd’s attention with their strong set of female-fronted hard modern rock, including a crunchy update of Aerosmith’s classic “Dream On.” Singer Bec Hollcraft demonstrated a potent, high-flying voice and energetic stage presence; expect to hear more about this group in the months ahead. Britain’s Young Guns then followed, hellbent on their mission of warming up the Pittsburgh crowd; they succeeded, triggering the first moshpit and crowd-surfing action of the night during several songs. Frontman Gustav Wood was nonstop energy as he bounded about the stage area and fired the crowd up; building the excitement up toward the anticipated set-ending climax, Young Guns’ current radio hit, “Bones,” to cap the set. Launching with their current hit “Freak Like Me,” Halestorm was incredible, doing their best-known songs from both albums including their Grammy-winner “Love Bites (So Do I),” “I Get Off,” “It’s Not You,” “Here’s To Us,” “I Miss the Misery” and more. Lzzy Hale’s voice was in top form, and she re-introduced the keyboard, singing a couple of songs from the piano including “Familiar Taste of Poison.” Arejay Hale displayed furious energy, even going airborne behind his drum kit; and he fired off his trademark drum solo, complete with oversized sticks. And it was cool to witness that Halestorm has achieved moshpit and crowd-surfing stature with fans as well! This all led up to the headliners, Bullet For My Valentine, who slammed an exclamation point on the concert with their total no-holdsbarred set of furious modern rock/metal. Within seconds from the opening chords of their first song “Breaking Point,” multiple moshpits came to life and a constant flow of bodies surfed over the crowd for the duration! The song succession of “Your Betrayal,” “Waking the Demon” and the single “Riot” intensified the crowd energy and craziness; I was happy just to hold my own ground between two moshpits and their frenzy! Highlights were plentiful, including guitarist Michael “Padge” Paget’s fluid solo display, and Lzzy Hale joining singer Matt Tuck and the group onstage to help sing “Dirty Little Secret.” Matt even took a moment to lead the crowd in a rendition of “Happy Birthday” and share a drink with Young Guns’ bassist Simon Mitchell. Audience highlights were memorable as well, including one nearby moshpit participant who slingshotted himself off the crowd and into the pit; his headfirst hit on his opponent would have made former Steelers linebacker James Harrison envious! Bullet For My Valentine’s performances were volatile and on the money, never relinquishing intensity for the duration; and when the crowd demanded an encore, the group slammed the lid on the night with “Alone” and “Tears Don’t Fall.” Closer to home, Penn State Altoona’s Office of Student Life presented American Idol Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips in concert in the Adler Athletic Complex in late April. Starting off the concert was Casey Weston, a 2011 finalist on NBC’s The Voice. Strumming acoustic guitar, she demonstrated her clear Continued on page 20... June, 2013
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