The Dead Masquerade Tour

The Dead Masquerade Tour 2011
Featuring: Escape the Fate, Alesana, Motionless In White, Get Scared & Drive A

Venue: The Rave
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Date: 2/19/2011
Stage: The Rave Hall
Capacity: 1500

Drive A
From: Los Angeles, CA

Bruno Mascolo -Vocals, Guitar
Jason Nott- Guitar, Vocals
Cody Root-Drums
Taylor Knowles-Bass Guitar

Drive A started off the night at the Rave. They succeeded at warming up the crowd for the night to come. The mosh pits started early and kept on going straight through the night. Drive A brings forth a raw and unpolished sound, and I can detect a hint of the Ramones in their music style. What you hear live is pretty similar to what you will hear on their upcoming debut album “Loss of Desire”. I was ultimately impressed with Drive A’s song ‘Can’t Sleep It Off’; catchy beat along with lyrics that you can easily sing along to. Everyone knows that there are days when saying (or in this case singing) fuck you just makes everything better. During the song “Take a Side”, Drive A successfully got Milwaukee to part sides, left and right… then once the song started everyone made a mad crazy dash to the center to mosh. It was impressive to see everyone willing to have a bit of fun with the opening act. After Drive A’s set you might have seen Bruno walking around greeting people and selling their 4 song EP titled “The Marked Man”.

Get Scared
From: Utah
Time: 6:50 PM – 7:25 PM

Nicholas Matthews (Vocals)
Johnny B (Guitar)
Bradley Lloyd Iverson (Guitar)
Dan Edwards - (Drums)

Get Scared is an infectiously catchy band. Nicholas Matthews has an alluring vocal range and incorporates a bit of screaming into the music. Get Scared announced the song “Fail” as a new song from an upcoming album titled “Best Kind of Mess” due out this year. The last song of the set “If She Only Knew Voodoo Like I Do” was ultimately a crowd favorite. Voodoo has an enticing sound & beat that draws one to move and dance. But don’t put aside the head banging, there is room for that too!

Set List:
-Deepest Cut
-Sarcasm
-You Are What You Are
-Fail
-Lock the Doors
-If Only She Knew Voodoo Like I Do

Motionless in White
From: Pennsylvania
Time: 7:45 PM – 8:10 PM

Christopher "Chris Motionless" Cerulli – Vocals
Joshua Balz – Keyboards/Programming
TJ Bell – Guitar/Vocals
Ricky "Horror" Olson – Bass
Angelo Parente – Drums
Ryan Sitkowski – guitar

The stage lights emitted a red color as Motionless in White took the stage. Chris stood on his platform, greeted Milwaukee and then screamed “What the Fuck?” thus beginning the first song of their set “Immaculate Misconception”. These boys get the best response for an onstage question. Chris asks the crowd who has seen the movie twilight and a there were a few hands & a few screams (to be honest the screams were mainly from girls). Chris continues saying fuck twilight and announces the 2nd song “We Only Come Out At Night”. Chris did say that someday he might not get a friendly response from saying that. Throughout the night Motionless in White interacted with the crowd and got a great response from them. Chris tried to get the Milwaukee crowd to do some circular pit action, but one should know that the infamous circular pits are famous in the Eagles Ballroom; the Rave Hall isn’t quite as spacious as the ballroom upstairs. For their final song of the night “Abigail” Chris stage dove into the crowd, which seemed to be the thing to do tonight.

Set List:
- Immaculate Misconception
- We Only Come Out At Night
- Creatures
- Ghost in the Mirror
-Puppets (the First Snow)
-Abigail

Alesana
From: Raleigh, NC
Time: 8:30 PM – 9:10PM

Jeremy Bryan – drums
Shane Crump – bass
Dennis Lee – vocals
Shawn Milke – rhythm guitar,Vocals
Patrick Thompson – lead guitar
Alex Torres – guitar

Alesana came out on stage wearing black suit jackets with white ties. The crowd greeted them with screams; obviously the crowd was anxiously awaiting these guys. By the end of Alesana’s first song, I could understand why; they were an energetic bunch with the stage movement and guitar flips. Alesana has an interesting sound that alternates melodic vocals and screaming. The stage presence of Alesana was excellent. Though they did have some technical difficulties throughout the set, primarily in the beginning with some sound and feedback issues, but they just went with it. As they tried to fix things they interacted with the crowd. I give props to singer Dennis Lee, I have never seen someone put a microphone in their mouth and still continue to scream and sing the lyrics of a song, I admit it was interesting, and Dennis kept up with the stage diving and jumped in the crowd too.

Set List:
- Curse of the Virgin Canvas
-The Artist
-The Murderer
-Hymn for the Shameless
-The Thespian
-Annabel

Escape the Fate
From Las Vegas, Nevada
Time: 9:45 PM – 10:45 PM

Craig Mabbitt – Lead Vocals
Max Green – Bass, backing vocals
Bryan Money – guitars, backing vocals, synthesizers, keys
Robert Ortiz – Drums

There was a 35 minute wait for Escape the Fate to take the stage. When Escape the Fate finally decided to take the stage technically their first song of the night was the 1st track “Choose Your Fate” off of their self-titled album “Escape the Fate”. The anticipation for the band to get on stage was increasing as the intro was a minute thirty seconds. The crowd started to chant along with the intro’s words “Choose your fate”. The stage lights flicker and flood the stage, finally this time, Escape the Fate is on stage and break into the song “The Massacre”. After the first song, Escape the Fate greeted Milwaukee, and told them that tonight filling in for Max is none other than TJ from Motionless in White. I applaud TJ for playing two sets tonight! The crowd was totally enamored with Escape the Fate, there were so many people singing along to the lyrics and moshing and jumping it was impressive. Craig announced the 4th song “Issues” by saying “Sing it loud, sing it proud…if you know the words”. The guitar solo was a favorite of mine during the song “Bad Blood”. The night ended with a two song encore.

Set List:
- Massacre
-10 Miles Wide
-The Flood
-Issues
-Something
-Bad Blood
-Day of Reckoning
-Zombie Dance
-You are so Beautiful
-Gorgeous Nightmare
-Situations
Encore:
-This War is Ours
-The Aftermath

The Night Out

There are definitely nights when going out the movie "The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human" come to mind.

1. The Initiation:

(this is where the couple says hello...the male tries to impress the female with his suave/charismatic moves, in return the female accepts the males initiation and dances with him, blowing off the guy she was just dancing with.)


2. The Dance:

(the initiation is over... which means don't hold back on the moves)


3. The Gift:

(this is the male's appreciation for the female dancing with him. extra bonus points because he made this out of a napkin... which she later accidentally drops in the snow)

Closure

How DO you say farewell to that thing in your life... and ultimately get closure?

Here’s to all of the New Years Resolutions!

We are into our third week of the New Year and so far all of the hype and panic behind these resolutions is slowly dwindling down.  Despite that all of the infomercials on TV right now are all for exercise products, except for one personal favorite infomercial of mine promoting the “Booty Pop”… the only product out there promoting that you add weight to your ass specifically.  I really don’t think I need to explain what the “Booty Pop” is but I will.  They are “panties” (why do even I giggle when I type that word?) that have padding attached to enhance the curves of your ass.  Seriously ladies, there had to have been someone who wanted or has purchased this product for it to make it on the infomercial scene!  If you are struggling with your resolutions or trying to loose a bit of weight in your... well ass, here is something that hopefully makes you rethink this... since ass padding is obviously the way to go.

Edisun - "Secrets" (Acoustic Live)

Edisun performing live at NYE WJJO's acoustic show.

I'm still blown away by this song.

Old Review

(found this really really old review I did) 4/12/04 Mushroom/Soil/Dope/Twisted Method
Sponsored by 94.1 WJJO 4-12-04  The Annex - Madison, WI Reviewed By Stacy D. Mushroomhead, Soil, Dope & Twisted Method The show started roughly around 7:30 p.m. Three JJO announcers tried to come onstage and announce the opening band, but the microphones weren’t turned on for them. They just stood there, waiting for acknowledgement. After a minute, with no success, they gave up and walked of stage. Honestly, they could have just shouted, The Annex really isn’t a very big place. Ten minutes later Twisted Method went on stage. I didn’t quite know what to expect with the band. It was the first time I have ever heard of them. However, the rest of the crowd was apparently one step ahead of me. There were quite a number of people singing and shouting along with the music. Overall, I was unimpressed with the mixing of the set.  The guitar was set so low I could barely hear it. This also made it tougher for me to get into the music. In addition, their set they played reminded me of being on a roller coaster, one minute fast and one minute slow. There were no smooth transitions throughout the set. Derrick Tribbett (Tripp), the lead singer, did quite well with the crowd though. During the second song, titled "Panic", he got a majority of the crowd to put their fists in the air. The crowd interaction continued during "Fled", when Tripp got the crowd to chant along with him. He screamed,  "Whenever I say ‘Where the F**k ya all at’ you answer ‘right here right now!’" The masses seemed happy to oblige. The most disappointing thing for me was what Tripp said when he tried to announce their last song, "This is our last song. It goes out especially for the ladies. Why? Cause I hate your f*cking guts!" The comment struck me as incredibly rude and I'm sure it served to alienate some of the other women in the audience as well. Next on stage was Dope. The lights turned off, there was a quite background music playing on the speakers and you could feel the anticipation in the air. Racci Shay got behind the drums and the rest of the Dope guys proceeded to follow. Armed with their instruments, Dope didn’t hesitate to start the show. They broke out into ‘Die MF Die’, a song from their second CD entitled “Life”. The energy of entire room was impressive. People started to mosh and sing along to the song. It was a great start. As the first song ended, Edsel Dope (lead singer) said, "Thanks for coming out on a Monday night everyone," then waves at the crowd as the band walks off stage. The fans looked around at each other kind of confused and then started to scream for Dope to come back on stage. Edsel Dope then came walking back on stage laughing, "You know, I just wanted to see what ya all would do." After laughing it off, Dope cranked out their next song "motivation". This was the second time I've seen Dope on tour promoting their latest CD 'Group Therapy'. Each time I see them, it is different, but the one constant is the amount of energy they put into the set. I love Dope’s presence on stage, especially Sloane Jentry (aka Mosey). Mosey is just all over the place playing on his bass, usually spinning in circles. They played an interesting set, including songs from all their albums, which impressed me. I always enjoy hearing the older material. Dope did play a few songs off their new album a well. The moment the crowd heard 'Bitch' people were singing along and moshing. Heads were banging and fists were in the air. WJJO DJ Susan Masino gave Soil a very warm welcome. She explained how WJJO was one of the first stations who played Soil, featuring them on  their “local stage hour.” This has been the second time Soil has been on the Annex's stage within a month. The band was greeted by a few people shouting "soil rocks" as they took the stage. This of course pleased the Soil guys. Ryan McComb responded to the shouts by referring to the crowd as a family. From the last time Soil was in town McComb's voice has had a chance to become back up to speed. Last show he was slowly trying to recover from the flu. By the fifth song... the band took a bit of a breather. Ryan McCombs stood on stage and addressed the crowd, "How many of women out there ever been lied to?" There was a slight scream from a few of the women in the crowd. "How many men out there have been lied to?" The guys in the audience just cheered. "Either way this song is for you. This is Love/Hate/Game."  They cranked out the song and had the entire room’s attention as many sang along. They played the latest radio single 'Redefine' and the crowd was moshing and a little pit was going. Even though I personally thought Soil was a bit out of place on this bill, they still put on a fantastic show. The other bands have a more industrial feel to their music, while Soil is more of a straight up rock band. At one point in the night, someone from the crowd was shouted for one of Soil's slower songs. McComb's replied back that there just wasn't room for slow songs tonight, it just didn't feel like a slow night. Mushroom head went on stage at 10:30 p.m. The anticipation in the entire room was remarkable. I had no idea what to expect from them. The smoke machines started belch out huge clouds of smoke the completely obscured the stage. All of a sudden, the stage lights went on and Mushroomhead started jamming into the first song 'Kill Tomorrow'. I was amazed on how much all of the guys tried to interact with the crowd. The keyboardist was generous with his waves the guitarists didn’t hold back with the high fives, handshakes and waves.  It looked like the Annex had extended the stage about four feet to try and accommodate the 8 musicians, but they still seemed pretty cramped. Jeffery Nothing had a platform he stood on pretty much all night. Reminded me of a centerpiece on a table. He had a spooky feeling on stage, and it suited him well. J. Mann moved around the stage freely, moving right to the edge and singing up close to people. He took every spare chance to high-five and shake hands. Bronson, one of the guitarists moved around the stage every so often. Gravy stayed to the left side of the stage, moving around in the little area that was designated for him. He seemed very friendly with people. He continued jamming out, even with people’s hands right in front of him, almost touching his guitar. He never moved back, he just stayed right there and fed off the crowd. When he had a chance to stop playing he would quickly shake hands or give people a nod.  Six of the eight members had custom made masks that were white with red lines on them around the eyes. Most of the masks were black light sensitive also. J. Mann's face was painted white with his eyes black... like 2 little black circles. Jeffery Nothing had his face painted like the masks, all white with red around the eyes and when the lights went out you could see the outlines of his red because of the glow in the dark makeup. They allwore white jumpsuits with black vests. Each vest was complete with the Mushroomhead smiley face and the band member’s name. Part way through the show, lead singer J. Mann, started to pick on Dope's drummer, Racci Shay, trying to get him to come on stage. Shay did make a brief appearance to throw something in the back of Mann's jumpsuit, before running off the stage. Mann replied by calling Shay a hermaphrodite. What a great way to start off a week, four exciting hours with four unbelievable bands.  These are four high-energy acts that you do not want to miss when they come crashing into your town! Twisted Method Set List 1.     The End 2.     Panic 3.     Reach 4.     Rot 5.     To Late 6.     Fled 7. Mannequin Dope Set List 1.     Die MF Die 2.    Motivation 3.     Bring It On 4.     Burn 5.     Bitch 6.     Fuck The Police 7. (?) Soil Set List 1. Breaking Me Down 2. Pride 3. Cross My Heart 4. My Own 5. Love/Hate/Game 6. Unreal 7. The One 8. Two Skins 9. Redefine 10. Halo Mushroomhead Set List 1. Kill Tomorrow 2. Km 3. Bwomp 4. Sun Doesn't Rise 5. Becoming Cold 6. Before I Die 7. Doves/Xeroxed 8. These Filthy Hands 9. Twinkle 10. Eternal 11. Pre-Mach/Born of Desire

94.1 WJJO – New Year’s Eve Show

94.1 WJJO – New Year’s Eve Show
By Ashley Jamez

Show started at 9:15 pm and ended 12:30 am

There is no better way to start off a new year than with Madison’s solid rock station WJJO; who never disappoints when they bring a show into town.  The New Year’s Eve show was a first for WJJO and their listeners, but hopefully tonight’s show has started a new tradition.  For all those fortunate to make it out to the Madison Marriott West, we were treated with quite the New Year’s Eve concert lineup; Edisun, Aranda and Nonpoint.  

The three bands are not unknown to Madison, they were just recently performing here in September over the Labor Day weekend at WJJO’s Taste of Madison.  

Edisun
http://edisunmusic.com/Home.html

The night started out with Edisun, a band from New York City, New York.  Edisun consists of Ethan Isaac (lead vocals), Jonathan Svec (guitar), Joel Kelley (guitar), James Cruz (Bass) and Todd Budich (drums).     Edisun’s lead singer is surprisingly a Wisconsin native, who had been raised in Madison, WI.  

Edisun started the acoustic evening with their first track called “Wide Awake” from their self-titled CD.  One would be quick to assume that an acoustic show would not have the feel or essence of a regular rock show, but tonight I beg to differ.   Despite the more “intimate” set up for a show; with the crowd and the band both sitting, Edisun delivered nothing less than a rock show.  Edisun’s energy poured out on the stage drawing in the crowd and presenting their music they sang with a dynamic force.    

The 3^rd song of the night for Edisun was a Beatles cover of “Helter Skelter”, which the band told a story about how they played that song for some servicemen overseas.  It was a rocking cover that impressed me.  I do enjoy most covers especially when a band brings in their own feel for the song.  I was ultimately blown away with the lyrics for their 4^th song “Ready to Believe”.  I think the words “You can’t change me” were touching to me with the looming & infamous new year’s eve coming up in the next few hours.   With New Years, it brings a change something that not everyone is comfortable with, this song’s lyrics definitely resonated with me.  

Edisun ended their set with their current radio single “Medicate”.  It was amusing to see Edisun having as much fun with the crowd as they could.  By the end of the song the crowd was singing along to the words “give it up now!”. If you ever get to see these guys you will enjoy the high energy and what they bring to the stage.

Edisun’s set list:
Wide Awake
To Die For
Helter Skelter (Beatles cover)
Ready to Believe
Secrets
Medicate

1. 

 

Aranda
http://www.myspace.com/aranda

Aranda was next on JJO’s acoustic stage.  The Aranda brothers Gabe & Dameon from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma brought forth the intimate feeling for the night.  Their travels to Madison, WI were not easy this trip around, the weather was a bit of a challenge with the foggy end of the year but the boys made it just in time!  And the brothers who were all smiles on stage said were happy to be back playing for Madison listeners.  

Aranda started off the night with “Superficial Girl”, a song they say that they seldom play on stage.  The night took a surprising turn by Aranda incorporating some classic remakes.  The crowd was singing along with the 1^st remake of the night “Talkin’ about Love” and the sing along continued right thru to the 2^nd  remake of Eagle Eye Cherry’s song “Save Tonight”, which the band commented on the crowds capabilities to sing along to this song making a Glee reference.  And let’s not forget the most charismatic remake of the night; the Michael Jackson rendition.  With the crowd singing along, I’ll admit I saw some foot action on stage during this remake and there was a mention to the upcoming rose bowl too.  

Throughout the night I was mesmerized by the harmony of the Aranda brothers vocal capabilities.  It is unexpected to hear a pair of vocals (despite being related or not) mesh so well together.  Dameon and Gabe were having fun on stage and including the crowd with that fun.  Between the brothers joking back and forth with each other or just smiling and laughing on stage. 

Aranda’s Set List:

1.     Superficial Girl

2.     Punish Me

3.     New Song

4.     New Song

5.     Talkin’ about Love (Van Halen remake)

6.     Save Tonight (Eagle Eye Cherry remake)

7.     Brown Eyed Girl

8.     Still in the Dark (1^st released single)

9.     Michael Jackson rendition:  Black or White, Billy Jean & Man in the Mirror

10.  Whyyawannabringmedown (Current radio single) 

Nonpoint
http://www.nonpoint.com/

The headliners of JJO’s Acoustic New Year’s Eve were none other than Nonpoint.  A band whom isn’t shy with playing in Madison, WI and is very welcomed by JJO’s listeners. 

Nonpoint who is from Fort Lauderdale, FL consists of Elias Soriano (vocals), Robb Rivera (drums), Ken MacMillan (bass guitar/vocals) and Zach Broderick (guitars).  Nonpoint has been around 10 plus years, and remarkably has three original members, which I find quite amazing.  It’s invigorating to see a band that has such a solid foundation and a passion in what they bring forth.

My ultimate favorite song of the night was “Frontlines”.  This song in the acoustic setting was breathtaking; the crowd was almost brought to a silence as the first lyrics were being sung.  It’s shocking to hear and see a crowd quiet down and I could feel the anticipation of each word and chord played.  By the time the chorus came around the crowd was singing along, the intensity and the emotion of the song brought chills to me. Maybe it is because of the meaning behind the song and just thinking of all of the servicemen and women serving for our country, it hits home for quite a few of us.

As midnight rolled around Nonpoint’s lead singer Elias Soriano kept a close eye on the clock.  They ended the 2010 year with their Phil Colins remake “In the Air Tonight”.  Elias Soriano counted down the new year for WJJO.  As the listeners & as the bands raised their beer, champagne, water or mixed drink in the air, we said good bye to 2010 and said Happy New Year 2011.  Now that midnight rolled around, the crowd was finally off their feet & this is how a Nonpoint show should be, acoustic or not!  Chairs got pushed aside and we were out of our seats rocking out in front of the stage.  The night ended with a Madison, WI favorite “Rabia”.  

Nonpoint’s Set List:

1.     What a day

2.     Victim

3.     Your sign

4.    Miracle

5.     March of War

6.     Frontlines

7.     In the Air Tonight

Midnight!!! (break)

8.     Billy Jean

9.     The Truth

10.  Alive & Kicking

11.  Bullet with A Name

12.  Rabia