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REVIEW: FUEL, RANDOM HERO, NAUTICAL MILE, & GANG FORWARD 2/23/2013
Gweedo
Grizzly Rock put on a good concert. The evening brought together Fuel, Random Hero, Nautical Mile, and Gang Forward. It was a great opportunity for the opening bands to get heard since a lot of people were going to turn out to see Fuel. Grizzly Rock is a fun place to see a band since it has multiple levels and nice viewing angles. However, it seems like the bartenders keep getting worse. I’m not much for complaining about an establishment, but my experience has gotten worse and worse each time at the bar. This go around, I was bothered by getting an already opened beer during one exchange. It made me question its freshness and if something could have fallen into it. Also, when I went to close out my tab at the end of the show, I received a snarky, “What do you want dude?” Maybe I’m over reacting, but it seems like the staff would be nicer when they are expecting me to tip them at that moment. Moving on.
Gweedo
Grizzly Rock put on a good concert. The evening brought together Fuel, Random Hero, Nautical Mile, and Gang Forward. It was a great opportunity for the opening bands to get heard since a lot of people were going to turn out to see Fuel. Grizzly Rock is a fun place to see a band since it has multiple levels and nice viewing angles. However, it seems like the bartenders keep getting worse. I’m not much for complaining about an establishment, but my experience has gotten worse and worse each time at the bar. This go around, I was bothered by getting an already opened beer during one exchange. It made me question its freshness and if something could have fallen into it. Also, when I went to close out my tab at the end of the show, I received a snarky, “What do you want dude?” Maybe I’m over reacting, but it seems like the staff would be nicer when they are expecting me to tip them at that moment. Moving on.
Aaron Cooley
The first band up was a tight, locally grown three-piece called Gang Forward. I’m not sure if they are normally a three-piece, but that’s what showed up. Their sound was alright. It was a mix of blues and hard rock. The bass and lead switched singing lead parts which was pretty cool. They were bold and didn’t hide behind the music, embracing silence with some a cappella and solo work. The lead guitarist, Aaron Cooley, was amazing. He had great riffs and blues-y solos. They had a variety of songs that were upbeat and slower. Also, there was a good dynamic within the songs that showed they knew more than just how to play loud. Their stage presence wasn’t the best. They seemed to just sit up there, jam, and didn’t have much crowd interaction or eye contact. Gang Forward started to loosen up about half way through the set, and I think that was aided by the crowd being more and more supportive. Their drums looked and sounded slick. They had quality harmonies in the vocals, and the guitar used some interesting effects. This and the solos literally brought the crowd in. Everyone started moving closer to the front of the stage and cheering the band the more they played. This was the first time I saw a band win the people with the music not their stage presence. If they were able to improve that aspect, they are well on their way to being a great band. At points, it was hard to hear the lyrics, but I think that was due to the sound board. There was also a lot of tuning before and during songs that really distracted from the set. They had a 45min set which was longer than some of the other bands. Afterwards, they hung out to meet fans.
Janaya Spink
Next up was Nautical Mile. These guys were a refreshing local band. They were fronted by a female lead singer which is rare in the industry and also in Denver. Janaya Spink has a strong soulful voice that really grabs your attention. Their sound is hard to pin, but it was a mix of blues, pop, rock, punk, and soul. They had a mix of upbeat rock songs and some slow soulful songs. The guitarist, Jake Putnicki, had some very interesting riffs. There were a couple guitar solos thrown in as well. They also used a drum pad alongside the drumset. Check out below to get a taste of what I’m trying to explain. The band didn’t acknowledge the crowd much, mostly looking at their instruments. Janaya did better by looking at the people in the crowd. For their set, more people made it out to the floor, but there still wasn’t a ton of people at the show yet. The bottom floor was maybe half full. Towards the end, the band seemed to get comfortable and started playing with more energy. Their last song was not the best choice in my opinion. It was a slower song that had some heavy points in it, but I felt like it winded down the audience when, as the opener, you should end on an extremely high point. They greeted their fans after the set as well.
Rob “Los” McDonough
Christian band, Random Hero, graced the stage after Nautical Mile. Also a local band, they’ve gone through a few lineup changes and a makeover since the last time I saw them. They seem to be gaining a lot of momentum that can be partly attributed to support from former Skillet guitarist, Ben Kasica. Their production was a lot bigger, and it seemed like too much on the small Grizzly Rock stage that also had all of Fuel’s gear on it. It seemed hard to get it all on the stage with how the venue is set up and took away from their performance time. Musically, they were slightly out of place since their music is heavier than the other bands. However, it got the people moving and energized for Fuel which was the main goal. Their rock simply couldn’t be delivered with your typical instrument. They needed more strings which brought on seven string guitars and a 5 string bass. Their stage presence was extremely better than the prior bands. They were at the edge and in your face rocking it. Lead singer Aaron Watkins got the crowd engaged by telling the crowd the catchy chorus beforehand so everyone knew what to sing. This got the crowd singing and dancing along more. It seemed like they had a lot more fans. I loved bassist Rob “Los” McDonough’s steam punk look. The room still only looked half full but more people filled in the spaces on the floor to be up front. McDonough had a good recovery when his plug stopped working. He fiddled with it for a brief period and was able to jump right back in without missing a beat. They also took a brief moment to thank God for the opportunity to bring rock to the masses. Their merch booth had quite a bit going on. There was a big back drop and numerous trinkets. It seems that they also learned that if you sign something, more people will buy it as they were offering signed and decorated drum heads.
Brett Scallions
Finally, Fuel made their appearance! Where have these guys been? Well, singer Brett Scallions answered that – recording music. I can’t wait to hear something new from them. Seeing them on Shiprocked 2012 was an amazing time. It was hard to beat that experience, but they still had a great spot-on performance at Grizzly Rock. The venue had filled in quite a bit and was probably around three quarters full. Scallions’ talent and charisma is just astounding. Scallions and guitarist Andy Andersson did an extended intro to “Sunburn” that was cool. Bassist Brad Stewart is a splendid addition to the band from Shinedown. He fits well with their good vibes mentality. They had great crowd interaction and would slap people’s hands. They had a humorous faux encore. Scallions had the crowd pretend that the band left the stage, and cheer as if they were anticipating an encore, and then continued on with the show. At the end of the encore, they came down the stage line shaking everyone’s hands, which was appreciated. While Fuel seemed to appreciate the fans quite a bit, I was disappointed that there wasn’t any merchandise and that they didn’t come out to meet and greet everyone.
Overall, this was a good show that had a lot of bang for your buck. There were four bands total, but nothing felt rushed. The opening bands got some great exposure and did a good job building up a climax to the headliner. Even though I’ve seen Fuel a couple times over the last few months, I still can’t wait for them to come back through – hopefully with some new music.
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