Rosie Metal Night #12 Review!!

Hey all, it's time for our latest concert review, as I was at The Roosevelt Hotel last night for the 12th metal night, and first under the new weekly schedule! In terms of bands, the show was largely similar to the last one I saw (9 of the 13 band members were the same), but there was lots of differences to make note of, so let's get this review underway!

Firstly, the new lights that promoter Rich Moreland purchased for Rosie concerts look really cool, and they add to the concert atmosphere! The color changing strip lightings make strange "lines" appear sometimes on videos, but hey, it comes with the territory. Also, the newly redesigned Roosevelt Hotel logo is now painted on the wall behind the stage, which helps make it look more custom like it did before it was painted black! The off-center placement is odd at first, but I think it's so that drumkits don't block part of it. Good stuff, and check my photo album from the concert to see the new stage in full use, and get some nice shots of the back wall in my photos of Matt Baic behind the drums!

The Bear Hunters opened the festivities last night with their brand of melodic death metal, and they delivered a great set! Nothing too different or shocking from the last few times I've seen them, but that's just a sign of their consistency and talent! Alongside originals like "Bloodthirst", "Dominate", and "Collapse The Sun", the band broke out into covers of everyone from Amon Amarth to Trivium, so even newcomers had some familiar sounds! The Bear Hunters had good energy and enthusiasm, and Mitch Sirie & Mike Vincent flow really well together on guitar! I did find that Nik Deubel's singing was more muted than I'm used to from older shows, though I'm not sure if that's his fault or not. His growling seemed very quiet and you couldn't make out too many words in between, but maybe that's just me. You can't complain too much for a band with this much chemistry, though I think "Squirrel Boy" would have been a nice addition. Solid hard hitting death metal from this talented quintet, and watch out for them next weekend at The Oddfellows Hall!

Following their set was Shit Liver, and their grimy brand of death metal also seemed to go over well, though the crowd numbers on the floor did recede. It's understandable given their "love 'em or hate 'em" sound, but you'd think the Bear Hunters' crowd would have stuck around! As far as Shit Liver shows go, this was just as good as their last one musically, partly because of their new instruments, which still really enhance their sound. A mix of originals like "Contribute of Perish", "Start the Violence", and "Friendly Old (Uncle Joe)" hit fans last night, along with covers of everyone from Dystopia to their old local punk band O.B.C.D.! They seem to be diversifying their sound ever so slightly too, which I welcome, and the collective growling talents of the three members never relented! The end of their set was hampered by one of Josh Penno's guitar strings breaking, resulting in a search for a replacement guitar, but luckily band members live near The Rosie! This was your standard Shit Liver set, but they delivered a good assault of crust and death metal, and if you came for that, you surely left happy!

And of course, your headliners were As It Stands, who definitely brought a high quality set to finish the night! Firstly, I should say that Justin Pregent sounded a lot better than at the last Rosie show, as his cold seemed to be gone. His voice was louder and more forceful, which added to each song! The band as a whole sounded as good as I've ever seen, and I will give credit to Albert Bourrier's guitar work, he seemed to turn it up an extra notch at the show! Fans went nuts on the floor with some decent pits, and thankfully I wasn't banged up like the last time around! With originals like "One Less Than Wayne Gretzky", "Rise Above", and "Conception" in store, the metalcore flowed all set long, but there were some surprises! The band covered Blink-182's "Stay Together For The Kids" again, and with no quality issues to hamper how it sounds, I can say that they effectively "As-It-Standed" it up! Lots of breakdowns and aggression, it almost sounded like a different song by the second verse! Also, they debuted a new song without a finalized title that sounded really promising as well, look out for it at future shows! As It Stands delivered an energetic and entertaining headlining set that fans of theirs will surely have hated to miss, but if you want more, check them out next weekend at The Oddfellows Hall!

This was another fun Rosie metal night, and the fun continues next weekend when three different bands take the stage! The new lighting adds to everything, and even though I saw a very similar show in musician-content three weeks ago, the metal we got was more than enough to entertain! Check the photo album linked above for my photos from last night, or visit the SMS' Facebook page to check them out! And here's my videos from last night, The Bear Hunters' original "Succumb To Eternity", two short Shit Liver songs ("Start The Violence" and O.B.C.D.'s "Speak Of Weak"), and As It Stands' untitled new song!







That's all for tonight, but stay tuned tomorrow for the latest SMS March Mayhem updates, a LOCAL CONCERT ALERT, and more! Thanks everyone!