#@amplyfi

[amplyfi]

Saturday May 28th @AMPLYFi: The Deadlies, Courtesy Call, The Scarlet Oh's, My Hearts Cry

We can sum up this concert in one sentence:  Worth The Wait.

We've been waiting a long time for this booking to come around... you know, this is rock and roll and, well, things happen.  But man, did the night not disappoint.  It was a damn excellent show on a great holiday weekend.

My Hearts Cry hails from Texas and they took the stage first.  More like-- took over first.  These guys rock Texas-big.  Fans poured in and we were off.  We're fans of the tight trio and we appreciate when three guys can rock but these guys had some tricks up their sleeve.  Like:  no bass guitar.  Texas trio with no bass?  Well, it worked.  The keyboard player covered the bass line with one of his three keyboards while bringing melody & backup vocal duties at the same time.  Works for us!  

Lead guitar and vocals delivered a very fan-friendly range of well-written originals and a rockin cover of an old favorite "I'm A Believer".  We always say if you're going to cover a song you have the tough duty of honoring the original and making it your own... we loved it.  With the talent these guys bring and the great songwriting, we're big fans of My Hearts Cry.

The Scarlet Ohs took over from there.  This is a pop/rock act fronted by the powerhouse vocals of Elizabeth Chamberlain.  Whoever gave this girl a mic is a friend of ours.  The Scarlet Ohs are a great show band and all talented musicians and we think a clip from their bio sums it up best: The sound is passionate, vibey, theatrical and combines indie, dance, funk, pop and rock.

Courtesy Call and AMPLYFi have been talking about getting them on our stage for what seems like years but its actually only been since early February.  Man have we been eagerly waiting for these guys to show up. 

Here's the thing about Courtesy Call:  you take a lot of things that are cool and different and special in their own right, you know-- those kinds of things that people tell you "don't mess with success" and then they mess with them.  Rock band with a rock goddess up front--  great, idea, don't mess with it.  Energy pouring off the stage and infecting the crowd-- love it.  Performers jumping and dancing like crazy-- all day long.  A lead vox who doesn't even use a mic stand cuz there's just no slowing her down-- pretty cool.  Zombie songs-- no way!  So put it all together and you are taking a big, BIG risk... energetic rock goddess zombie songs???  

Yeah, Courtesy Call pulls it off with a live show that has to be seen to be believed.  They take big risks and they deliver.  This is a special band and a very special performance and we're glad they made the trip from Reno!

The Deadlies are LA rock.  Hailing from Japan, Mexico, and the US, these guys ROCKED THE EFFIN HOUSE.  Four on the floor, straight up, clean rock.  Tight doesn't begin to describe how clean, strong, and PRESENT their sound is.  Listen for layers of amazing sounds in their songs... and you'll hear them all because these guys are four musicians making one kick-ass clean sound.  During sound check, the front man whipped out a saw and played it.  

The Deadlies live performance is emotional, intimate, loud, clean, fun, rockin' and as Southern California rock as you can get and we've had our share of rock come out of this town.  See these guys live any time, any chance, any way you can. See them now, because some day soon, the line is going to be waay too long.

[amplyfi]

Power Tribe, Something Hit, SYNN, Stars of Serafim on FRIDAY the 18th of March

You have to know we are big fans of live music at AMPLYFi.  Its not just what we do... it's special.  Without getting too preachy, we'll just say that live music has some unique benefits you can't get anywhere else, right?  Yes, a good show is social, and fun, and loud, and entertaining... but its also something that can't be ripped, encoded, and downloaded into your phone.

Live music is the "here and now" and if you miss it, it's gone.  It's special!

Start the night off with Power Tribe, a three-piece POWER TRIO.  We had been seeing the references to Darren Stroud as a "guitar god" so we were psyched to see him in action.  Quick, LOUD sound check, drums, bass, some licks, a little vocals... have to admit the DESTROYER or DESTRUCTION song in soundcheck... that was the beginning of us starting to realize how much power there was in POWER TRIBE.  They rocked the sound check like they were college kids in a rental car.

When they got rocking for their set, @freaknmissy and @darrenstroudfm and their drummer, Richie, (hey, we need to get your name, dude, anyone who can keep up with these two!!!) scorched through the licks, the solos, and, yes, the melodies and hooks!  We'd heard Missy Percifield referred to as a child prodigy and we believe it because she OWNED the bass.  Powertribe, your music and your performance at AMPLYFi is more proof that live music is special.

Next we welcomed Something Hit.  They are:  Dominic Mitrano - Rythm Guitar/Vocals, Joey Pierry - Bass/Vocals, Josh Mendez - Lead Guitar, Sandra Collister - Drums.  If you don't know Something Hit, we can give you a great idea who they are:  this is the band that can take real life, share it emotionally in a song, and make it catchy.  Lots of good bands play "real life" songs.  Lots of songwriters share their wins and losses.  But where Something Hit separates themselves is that they know the songs have to be good and the audience has to "get it"...  we do.  We also give Something hit a TON of credit for really stepping up and sharing with the AMPLYFi audience a new song that had never been performed in public before.  Talk about special... when a band this talented and polished and prepared is able to tap back into the excitement and energy of untested and blast that out to the audience... nice.  Proves our point about live music being special, doesn't it?

So now we get introduced to SYNN.  Singer: Melissa Jane  Bass: Mike Status  Drums: John Chominsky  Lead Guitar: Albert Ortega  Guitar: Angel Nevarez.  These guys are pro and they are exciting and they are fantastic.  (With a name like SYNN, you better be able to deliver, right?  Well, they do.)  They came into AMPLYFi and before they hit a note, we knew it was going to be a great show just by their swagger.  We have talked in the past about female vocalists and the complexities of their voices when they switch from little to big voices, especially with a HUGE rock sound... we'd put SYNN up against any of them when it comes to working with massive drums and guitars, tight timing, and working so well together as a group that when the beautiful vocal lead was quiet, we didn't miss a word and when she belted it out, the crowd literally screamed for more.  And when we say pro, we mean it... mishaps happen in live music and SYNN blasted through without missing a beat.  

Friday's headliner was STARS OF SERAPHIM.  If you do your homework you'll see them listed as Rock / Alternative / Pop Punk and you might think for a second-- "huh?"  but really... they are all that, and then some.  Jason, Nicole, Briana, and Davey, two guitars, a bass, and drums.  Nice, simple, straight forward, right?  NO.  These guys are the exact reason we say LIVE MUSIC IS SPECIAL.  Their stage show was great, the music was excellent, and they connected with the audience like we were all friends.  We were impressed with how easy it was for STARS to jump into a song and rock hard while delivering intelligently written songs such as Spirit Battle and The Clock In My Mind.  Nicole, a Daisy Rock endorsed artist, had some fantastic surprises that we won't spoil for you because we you need to experience it for yourself!

[amplyfi]

Time & Distance... and talent @AMPLYFi

Friday, March 4th, 2011 featured CHRISTOPHER CAPLAN, Kota Wade, and TIME AND DISTANCE.

When the original headliner, The Perfect Victim, had to reschedule due to their awesome success in a battle of the bands competition, we weren't sure what would happen to the night featuring a band from West Virgina who hadn't played Hollywood in years plus an AMPLYFi newcomer.

No worries, these guys are all pros!

CHRISTOPHER CAPLAN took the stage, one man, a guitar, and a nice little combo amp.  We've seen the "guy with a guitar" act a million times, but Chris is a special performer.  He started with a Jimi Hendrix cover, infused himself into it, then, impossibly, kept the energy up through a great set of covers and originals.  His vocal range was beautiful. If you can imagine someone from Jimi to Tom Waits and beyond, you've got Chris.  Perfectly balanced against his soulful vocals was guitarwork both delicate and forceful.  Chris, as a performer, knows the perfect recipe of strong and intimate vocals countering clean, soft, and dominating guitar and he used both to share with us his brilliant songwriting abilities.

As a secret weapon, Chris brought Nikki on stage to duet for a few songs, including cowritten works the audience loved.  Nikki's beautiful voice blended with Chris and the guitar, making a great performance amazing.  

KOTA WADE gave a very special performance of some original songs.  The songs were fun, pop and upbeat, so much so that the audience was singing along as if they'd heard them on the radio in heavy rotation.  Kota's got a fun, professional, and playful manner which gets the audience on her side whether she's rockin down the house, or taking the stage SOLO.  What makes this show special was that not only was this the debut appearance of her new Daisy Rock guitar, but Kota revealed to the audience that this was her first ever show playing guitar fro an audience.  Judging by how much the fans loved it, we're sure we'll see more of Kota and her guitar.

TIME AND DISTANCE is touring the US and had been scheduled to be the support band of the night.  When they arrived at AMPLYFi, they were offered the headliner spot to fill in for the original headliner.

T&D stepped up.  A four piece, taking the stage in front of a crowd of locals, most of whom had never seen them perform, T&D were as professional as you can get.  From their first song, we knew they meant business.  This is straight rock and roll... two guitars, a bass, and drums.  With a quick soundcheck, the levels perfect almost as if they lived on this stage, they hit the stage and hit it hard. 

If you were anywhere near LA, and you heard rock music you couldn't explain, it was probably the sound of T&D at AMPLYFi.  These guys were so clean and so tight... and so loud-- but a good loud.  Rock&Roll loud.  We are BIG fans of T&D.  The headliner spot was thrust upon them, and they delivered.  Song after song, the audience fell more and more in love with T&D.  

AMPLYFi has had some incredible acts hit our stage, and we're adding TIME & DISTANCE, all the way from West Virginia, to our list of greats.