Blessthefall @ Starlight Ballroom

(photo taken by me)

Blessthefall returned to Philadelphia this past weekend to support August Burns Red's headlining tour along with Enter Shikari and Iwrestledabearonce. These guys totally killed it as they usually do and performed an amazing set to an adoring audience. They played fan favorites like "Rise Up" and "Guys Like You Make Us Look Bad" along with new tracks off of their new album to drop this fall, Witnesses.

To see all of my pictures from the show, visit my Flickr.

Charm City Devils Interview with John Allen

On July 19, Charm City Devils will be coming through the Philadelphia area at Crue Fest 2 at the Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden, NJ. I spoke with front man John Allen via phone from his Baltimore home to find out more about the band, how it feels to be going on tour with Motley Crue and what to expect if you have the chance to catch them live.

Charm City Devils (John Allen is center)

Behind The Barrier: I was doing some research on you guys and there really isn't that much out there yet. Could you give me a little background on how you guys started?

John Allen: I mean, we're a pretty new band and the line-up is only about two years old so that's probably why you couldn't find much info on us. I played drums in a signed act prior to this and the singer and myself built a little studio in the basement of my house. He had a place in LA and he would stay at my place when he was on the East Coast. On one of his trips back to Los Angeles, I went downstairs and was tinkering around in the studio and I was like, 'I better learn how to use this stuff,' and that's where I first recorded "Burn, Baby, Burn" and it was just a real rough demo with not much forethought put into it. That rough demo actually is what's on the recording. It's very kind of low-fi, like White Stripes-ey, kind of a real garage-ey type vibe and ya know, when I wrote that song I really just wanted to get it down to hear it. When I finished I thought, 'I think I may be onto something here, I'm not really sure what but I think I might be onto something.' So I played it for him when he got back and he was like, 'This is cool, we should do this,' and I said, 'No... I think I'm gonna keep this one, this is gonna be mine and I'm gonna build a band around it.' And basically that was the start for me to come out from behind the drum kit and start fronting a band. Ya know, that song turned into three, that turned into six and that turned into a whole record and I just kinda built from there.

BTB: So, the other guys that are in the band, did you know them? Were you friends with them? How did you put the band together?

JA: Everybody in the band has played with me one time or another except for the drummer because I was always the drummer. These guys I knew from around town and respected as players so yea, it's really cool. It's like a bunch of friends that I was able to get together and put a band together with after knowing them for years and playing on and off with them for years. It really, really works... I think that you've got with friends and a good mix of personalities, when you're touring... we just did a little run down south and we were all in the same van together in like 100 degree heat and so if we're gonna be smelling each other the whole summer, it's better to start off at least getting along. [laughs]

BTB: Yea, I would say that makes sense!

JA: Yea.

BTB: Where did the name "Charm City Devils" come from?

JA: We were kicking around names, we had like 500 different names. I was trying to come up with something that spoke to our origins, ya know being from Baltimore, and we were kicking around different names with Charm City in it. Nikki Sixx, the president of our label, actually came up with the name. And I was like, 'This is great, this is gonna work out.' It had just as many syllables as Silversun Pickups so that's why we chose it.

BTB: Well, speaking of Nikki Sixx, how does it feel to be the first band signed to his label?

JA: It's surreal, man. I've been reading The Dirt and the stuff that those guys have been through and lived to tell about it and ya know, to be under his wing and on his label is such an incredible honor for us. It's surreal at the same time, ya know, these are guys that we as kids looked up to and idolized. And then just two months ago, when we made the announcement for Crue Fest 2, that night I got up with Motley Crue at Madison Square Garden as did all of the other singers from Crue Fest - the guy from Godsmack, singer for Theory of a Deadman and the singer for Drowning Pool. We all jumped up on the song called "White Trash Circus" and I tell ya, for one to be on stage at Madison Square is an incredible event in my life. But to be up on stage with Motley Crue, I would never guess that would happen in a million years. I'm standing there next to Vince Neil, arm-in-arm, and I looked over at him and he looks at me and I just completely forgot where I was. [laughs] I stopped singing for a second I'm like, 'What is the song?' I completely lost my shit, ya know?

BTB: So, are you guys pretty excited to go on tour with Motley Crue and the rest of the bands on Crue Fest 2's roster?

JA: Oh, totally. It beats the hell out of playing a small, smokey club. That's for certain.

BTB: The kick-off date is actually in Camden, NJ this year - do you guys have anything special planned for the first show of the tour?

JA: I think I will try not to fall off the front of the stage. No, I mean, the show is just gonna be a blast. It's gonna be the first one so we're gonna be so amped up, ya know? We'll probably, our drummer will probably play everything 10 or 15 beats per minute faster than the record and he'll be finished before the rest of us even walk on stage to play the first song.

BTB: That's awesome. Well, I'm definitely going so I'm excited.

JA: Cool, very cool. I love Philly, man... ya know, as a kid I used to go up there with a friend of mine and run around South Street and Center City and stuff so I've always loved Philly.

BTB: Yea. I love it, too. I love being here. So, you guys are the opening band for Crue Fest with a 5 o'clock performance - for people who haven't had the chance to see you guys perform before, why should they make sure that they get to the venue to see you guys open up?

JA: Ya know, I think they should get in to see a new generation of dirty, high energy, gritty, blues-based rock along the lines of bands like Aerosmith, AC/DC, with a little bit of Iggy and the Stooges thrown and White Stripes thrown in there. And I also think they'll thoroughly enjoy the show. We've been turning crowds on I think throughout the beginning of our own tour here, since the record's been out, going down south. We've played to a lot of audiences that haven't seen us before and people have been really, really responsive and flipping out and it's great to see that. We played in Atlanta last week and no one even knew we were on the bill because we were added the week of the show. And people were singing the songs along with us and we were the only band out of a four band bill that had a pit going which is crazy because I don't know if we're really that kind of band. But some of the stuff is really high energy so you can definitely get your aggression out. But I think people really dig it.

BTB: You guys have a more old school, rock and roll sound - are there any specific bands that you guys are influenced by that led to that?

JA: Well, I mentioned two of them a couple minutes ago. Aerosmith, I'm a huge fan of AC/DC and a huge fan of Jack White and the White Stripes and old blues music. I mean, I'm a history geek so I've done my reading on who Led Zeppelin were influenced by and Eric Clapton, they all cited this blues man Robert Johnson. So I went back and checked him out and the story behind him and the story of Robert Johnson, he's the guy that apparently sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads. If you listen to his recordings, they're pretty amazing. I think they were recorded in 1938 and there are some places where it sounds like there are a few guys playing guitar instead of just one so I can see where people are influenced by this guy. He was like the Eddie Van Halen of his era and just blew peoples' minds. So all that stuff, I think that's really influenced me. All of the mysticism and that's the roots of rock and roll right there with Robert Johnson.

BTB: Well, that's all the questions I had but is there anything you want to add or think I should know?

JA: People, please hit us up at the show. We come out and say hello. We'll come out and meet friends and fans after every show. Hit us up on Myspace (www.myspace.com/charmcitydevils), we have Facebook and Twitter as well. Track us down at one of those places, we always answer.

BTB: That's awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to talk to me.

JA: No problem. Thank you, Ashley.

Don't miss Charm City Devils at this year's Crue Fest 2!

Silverstein Interview with Shane Told

On April 19, Silverstein brought their headlining tour through Philadelphia in support of their recently released album A Shipwreck In The Sand. A few hours before the show, I sat down with vocalist Shane Told in the Trocadero to get some more insight on the band's new album, their tour and their unexpected fan base in Peru.

Visit my Flickr to see more photographs from the show.
(all photographs taken by me)

Behind The Barrier: Your new album was just recently released - how would you compare it to your other albums?

Shane Told: Well, the approach we took recording and writing this album was completely different. The last three records we did, we did kind of the same way where we just got in a room and jammed out the songs and that was it. And I was in charge of writing the words so I did that and later on after, we decided what order it would be and stuff. And this record is a lot different because the first one that we did was like a story, and then a whole concept for the record kinda followed so then it went like: concept, idea and then the music kinda went around that and then the lyrics tie into the story. So it was a little bit backwards but it was also a lot more creative to do it that way and we planned it out a lot more. So in terms of sound, I don't think it's too far off. But when you write it as an album instead of just a collection of songs, if that makes any sense, it's just a different... I don't know it makes it sound different because you're focusing on this big long piece of music that's 40 minutes, not three and half minutes.

BTB: Did you like it better, having it all planned out?

ST: In some ways I did but it was a lot harder because when you're trying to follow a concept, it's like you're constantly going back and forth and being like, "OK, does this make sense to what I just said in this song?" It's a lot harder. I'm happy we did it, and I'm really happy with how it came out and I'm actually amazed at how well it came out. But I mean would I do it again with the next record? I'm not sure.

BTB: There were some bonus tracks - you guys covered The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Saves the Day and NOFX - what made you guys want to cover them?

ST: Well, we... generally when you do a record these days, you always do extra songs, like B-sides. But, we didn't want to do original songs because it was kind of weird to do a concept album and then have it be more songs that don't have to do with the concept and so we decided to do some cover songs. So everyone in the band picked three that they might want to do and then we went through them all and these ended up being the ones we've got.

BTB: I really like the Fleetwood Mac one. I was like, "Ah, this is so good!"

ST: I'm glad you like it.

BTB: Yea, I like them all a lot.

ST: And then the acoustic ones, I just did in like an hour or whatever. That was kind of my thing.

BTB: So, this tour has been... a couple weeks now? Or has it been longer?

ST: It's been longer. What's today?

BTB: Today's the 19th.

ST: The 19th? Yea, it's been... almost a month now.

BTB: How does this tour compare to other tours that you've done?

ST: It's kind of an average, pretty straight up tour. All of the bands are really nice. We're friends with the guys in blessthefall, so it's good to see them again. It's been pretty mellow, like there hasn't been any kind of... like we've had weird drama between bands and stuff like that. And this tour has just been really chill. It's been good, the shows have been good and everything has just gone super smoothly.

BTB: Would you say that your live performance has changed at all since you guys first started out up to now?

ST: I think the most obvious thing is that we've gotten a lot better. A lot better at playing our instruments and a lot better at putting on a live show. To like, convey that energy and everything that goes with it. Um, we play a lot more songs nowadays. We used to do... it's hard because you keep putting out albums, but you don't want to stop playing the old songs so you just add to it. So now we've been playing, some nights we've played like 20 songs. That's just long, ya know? So that's kinda changed. Other than that, I don't know. I just try to give a lot of energy and just enjoy it.

BTB: I just read your article in Alternative Press and I read that you had some pretty crazy fan experiences in South America. How does it feel to have that kind of fan base so far from home, especially in places like Peru?

ST: Yea, it's weird. Totally weird. The weirdest thing with that is that we don't even have records out there. It's all just like the internet and Myspace and kids downloading the record. It's so bizarre that that spread as far as it has. I remember even us just, our first tour like going out to California, being that far from where we live and just having people know the songs there. It was weird. And we go to Australia and Japan and it's crazy to have people know the words and be excited. But that was rad. We didn't know what to expect and when we got there it was just crazy. Complete craziness from the second we landed until the second we took off. Do you know what I'm talking about, Josh?

Josh Bradford: South America?

ST: Peru. Peru especially. It was like really weird. They put us in this bus to take us from the airport to the venue, but I don't know why they did it now. It was so sketchy, they like drove us around the city for an hour. And we thought we were getting kidnapped.

BTB: For no reason?

ST: Yea, for no reason. We thought maybe that the show wasn't ready so they were trying to stall, and they told us the highway was closed. It was really sketchy. The two drivers didn't speak English at all.

BTB: Do you guys have any big plans for this year?

ST: I think we'll just support the album now. The hardest part is done, it's out. People are really excited about it and that's great. And now we'll just keep touring. We're doing the Warped Tour this summer for two weeks, we're going to Europe again. And then probably later in the year we'll hit up some of the other countries I mentioned and it'll be fun.

BTB: Is there any country you like touring the best?

ST: Australia. It's amazing. It's the best country. It's the best of everything put into one place.

BTB: I was always ask this because I love Philly - what do you guys think of Philadelphia?

ST: I like Philly. What I like about it is that its got a lot of character. It's still nice and a pretty clean city. I don't know, I enjoy being here. People here are really awesome and passionate about music. And our shows here, every tour we do the best show is Philly. People just go crazy.

BTB: Well, that's all the questions I had but is there anything else you want to add or think I should know?

ST: I don't think so. I mean, we have a new record out and I just encourage people to check it out.

To read my review of the show, visit Campus Philly.

The bandaid herself.

Hi, I'm Ashley and I love music.
Scratch that - music is my life.

Explain? Gladly.

When I was 7 years old, my dad made me a cassette tape with Poison's "Unskinny Bop" on it. It was my favorite song at the time and I'd take the tape with me everywhere. Around that same time, my dad also starting taking my sister and I to concerts. Although they consisted of popular country artists of the time (like John Michael Montgomery, Brooks & Dunn, Little Texas and Travis Tritt), I was introduced to live music for the first time - and I absolutely loved it. I'm not particularly proud of the "country phase" that my dad went through and got me involved with (luckily that's all long gone), but I have to admit it was fun while it lasted.

My dad obviously played a huge role in developing my love for music and had me listening to bands like Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Van Halen and Poison since I was in diapers. As I've grown up, those bands have remained some of my favorites and I've been lucky enough to see a few of them live (again, thanks to my dad).

So what was the point of explaining all that? - I want to make music part of my career.

I'm a magazine journalism major in my senior year at Temple University in Philadelphia and my dream job is to work/write/photograph for Alternative Press magazine. They've been my favorite music publication for as long as I can remember and I've subscribed to them for the past 5 years. I love everything about the magazine and would move to Cleveland in a heartbeat if they ever offered me a job. Here's to hoping that someday happens! *fingers crossed*

So what's the point of this blog? - I want to share my photographs and writing involving music.

Since January, I've had the opportunity to attend a ridiculous amount of concerts thanks to my internship at Campus Philly. I was the entertainment editor from January through May and got the chance to review concerts, photograph them and even interview a few well-known bands. Although it was a lot of work on top of 5 classes, it only helped me realize even more that music journalism is exactly what I want to do with my life.

So here's to hoping that this blog helps me get my name out there and that it possibly becomes a place that people come to for concert coverage in the Philadelphia area. Spread the word! I'd really appreciate it. :)

Every Avenue - Take Action Tour 2009
(February 21, 2009 - Theatre of the Living Arts)