SHREDnews

By Jess Grenier

On October 30^th I was lucky enough to be invited to The Sad Café to review one of the venue’s shows.  This show featured local New England bands Falling Back Forward, The Sophomore Beat, My Last Flight, The Alibi District and Love Via Dance Machine. The Sad Café is a great place to display the local talent around the area; at this show there was plenty of talent in every band that played.

The show was a little slow at first; there was barely anyone there when the first band Falling Back Forward started playing. Falling Back Forward is a three-piece alternative punk band from Windham, Maine. This band has the hard rock sound of Blink-182 and the vocals of All Time Low. It was slightly awkward to watch them in the beginning but after the first few songs, the band gained their confidence and emitted a sense of control. As always happens with opening bands, more people came in near the end of the set.

The following band, The Sophomore Beat, turned up the volume and cranked up the intensity. TSB is an electro/indie/pop four-member band also from Maine that sounds similar to Every Avenue with a twist of electro-pop. The band made sure that everyone came up to the stage, even the other bands, since the venue wasn’t packed. The band’s interaction with the audience was impressive and their stage presence eluded an air of poise and professionalism. TSB’s set consisted of released songs from their EP titled For The Time Being… and new songs off their upcoming record, which is scheduled to come out sometime next year.

The next band in the Sad Café’s line-up was My Last Flight from western Massachusetts. I have to say, out of all the bands that played, My Last Flight band was the most memorable due to their futuristic progressive-rock sound. MLF can definitely rock out and get the crowd going, demonstrating their live act strength. During their set, the band took some time to talk about suicide, commenting on the notion that no matter what you are loved. At their merch table, the band offered informational pamphlets to help anyone in need. I’d have to say fans of Armor For Sleep would enjoy MLF’s EP titled You Are Loved, which was released this past August.

The second to last band to play was The Alibi District. This indie/pop band hails from Boston, Massachusetts. I was actually impressed with TAD and with everything they had to offer. Their impressive melodies and deep lyrics offered a mature sound not normally exhibited by local bands. The band has an EP out titled Light On White, which they played on their set. I later discovered that the band actually incorporated a Guitar Hero guitar into their performance by hooking it up to their laptop and actually playing it. The Alibi District is a unique band that I highly recommend to anyone.

The finishing band of the night was another band from Boston called Love Via Dance Machine. LVDM was the prefect band to end the night with because they are a mix between power-pop and electronic. The band consists of five members, all of whom know how to put on a fantastic show. Near the end of their set, LVDM played a cover of Miley Cyrus’ “Party In The USA,” which included their own spin-off lyrics. The band has an EP called All Is Fail In Love And Dance, which has five songs that will keep you dancing and partying all night long. I suggest everyone to check out this band, they’ll be playing a show in the Boston area during December with Jeffree Star at Harpers Ferry.

By the end of the show, I was completely blown away by all the bands that played. Each band also got a brand new fan, that fan being myself. Although the show did not draw an impressively large crowd, all the bands played as if it was sold out.  That kind of heart and drive is impressive and it just goes to show that a local band can carry itself with mainstream poise.

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