Friday, May 11, 2012

Adrenaline Mob and Kill Devil Hill Unleashes Fury in Cleveland

Mike Orlando
Cleveland, OH - 5/10/12 House of Blues
This was the much anticipated opening night of Adrenaline Mob and Kill Devil Hill's tour. As most hard rock/prog metal/metal fans know, both bands are considered Allstar or supergroups. Who cares, really? Can they write good songs, can the connect with each other and the crowd on stage? That's what matters most, not the pedigree. Both bands not only write heavy, catchy tunes, they both display great chemistry on stage.

Kill Devil Hill feature Rex Brown and Vinny Appice as the seasoned rhythm section, but guitarist Mark Zavon and especially Dewey Brag stole the show. Dewey evokes a Layne Staley meets Chris Cornell style, using his voice as an instrument weaving in and out of the music at times, wrapped in all the soul of the classic rockers of the 70s. KDH smoked through cuts off their upcoming cd, including standouts War Machine, Gates of Hell, Voodoo Doll and an intensely spirited Revenge. Unfortunately, they omitted my favorite track, Up in Flames, probably due to a short set. Great vibe, killer chemistry, strong material and a killer vocalist.
VirgoRockStar and Mike Portnoy

Alot of hype and press follow Adrenaline Mob, so there is much to live up too. These fellas live up to the hype. Mike Portnoy pulls back his playing and it really makes the material shine. Russell Allen commands the stage and can hit all the notes with ease. John Moyer holds it together so Mike Orlando can just go bananas. Not only is Orlando an incredible showman, he flat out shreds. Stealing the spotlight from Mike Portnoy is no easy feat, but Orlando did just that, not only because of his skill. You can tell these guys love playing together, but Orlando beamed ear to ear the whole set. Undaunted, Phsycosane, Indifferent, Down to the Floor, Believe Me were all spot on. Hell, every song was flawless. The one drawback was the sound was way too loud, at times making the mix very muddy. The encore if you will, included both bands ripping through Mob Rules, War Pigs, and Communication Breakdown. How often can you see former members of Pantera, Black Sabbath, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Disturbed all on stage together? Amazing.

VirgoRockStar A.K.A. Michael Strong
Editor

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