Rock @ The Rev Room

Went to the Rev Room in Little Rock last night to check out a few bands, as the 4 band bill included Cites and Thrones, Dreading Sundown, Egypt Central and Machina.

Up first was Cities and Thrones, who are from Little Rock and are sort of hard to categorize I think. Maybe somewhere around the sound of Jimmy Eat World as they're very pop. They seem like good musicians and had some catchy tracks, but I was in the mood for a bit more of a harder edge sound and wasn't really digging them. The lead singer did have a sweater vest on though, and I think we all know how metal that is. Seriously though, they had a poppy sound with smart lyrics that I think a lot of people would dig... it's just not for me.

Next up was a "christian-metal hardcore" band from central Arkansas called Dreading Sundown. They put on a very energetic set that had big heavy riffs, big breaks and growled vocals, mixed with some cleaner vocals occasionally. I wasn't big on the vocal style personally, but they were a good live band. Their MySpace page says they "focus mainly on the love of God and reaching out to people" but I didn't get that from seeing them live. I don't know that I understood a single lyric actually. They mentioned it was their last show together, which is too bad really as they seemed pretty tight musically.

Egypt Central is a Memphis band that was one of the 2 bands on the bill that I wanted to see, but come their slot we were told they weren't going to play, which sucked because I didn't know beforehand. Rumor around the joint was that they brought some band with them they wanted on the bill, but Machina wasn't cool with a 5th band so they said if that band wasn't playing, they weren't and went back to Memphis. That seems like a pretty bad deal for their fans that came to see them, but who knows how it actually went down. Anyway, they're a good band so check out their MySpace site I linked above.

Headlining was the band I really wanted to see for the first time, Little Rock's Machina. They're comprised of members from the bands Future Leaders Of The World (vocalist - Phil Taylor) and Evanescence (guitarist - John LeCompt) and have a good melodic, post-grunge, nu-metal sort of thing going for them. Hard to stick a genre on their sound really, they're sort of versatile. I liked Phil's work in Future Leaders, the surest sign begin that 3 of their tracks are on my iPod (Let Me Out, House of Chains, Everyday). He's got a very "Kurt Cobain growl" that comes out very emotional. They covered Alice In Chain's song Would but kept it mostly to originals, which is a good thing as they tracks they've done together so far sound great I thought. Some are acoustic based at times, most of the tunes rock, and they lyrics seem heartfelt and are delivered that way. I think these guys are a great live band and I'll be seeing them every single time I get the chance. I picked up an EP so I'll know the songs next time and be a bit more prepared. Do yourself a favor and check these guys out, I highly recommend them.

Upcoming dates:

Nov 28 2007
The Snorty Horse Saloon in Springfield, Missouri

Nov 29 2007
Nutty’s North in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Nov 30 2007
The Rock in Maplewood, Minnesota

Dec 1 2007
The Venue in Boone, Iowa

Dec 4 2007
DOUBLE DOOR in Chicago, Illinois

Dec 5 2007
The Annex in Madison, Wisconsin

Dec 7 2007
The Whiskey Lounge in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Dec 8 2007
Motorheads Bar and Grill in Michigan Center, Michigan

Dec 11 2007
The Crocodile Rock in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Dec 12 2007
Lit Lounge in New York, New York

Dec 14 2007
The Monkey Bar in Huntington, West Virginia

Dec 15 2007
Phoenix Hill Tavern in Louisville, Kentucky

Dec 19 2007
French Quarter in Jacksonville, Florida

Dec 21 2007
Club Bourbon Street in New Port Richey, Florida