Ghosts Of Eden come packing heat.

If the headstock of a guitar were the barrel of a gun. Ghost of Eden's guitars would have been smoking tonight at O'Breins. Ghost of Eden came out to eastern LI to represent the NYC music scene. And by the reaction of the crowd they represented it well.
 This was my second time catching them live and they floor me every single time. Ghosts of Eden are the real deal. A winning combination of well crafted songs and a powerful live performance. What is surprising is you wouldn't expect the sound coming out of this band by just looking at them. They look like the could be selling you life insurance or doing your taxes. But once they start to play. They end up kicking your ass.
 Fronting GOE is Tom Pinto pulling double duty on lead vocals and guitar. Here is a frontman putting his heart, soul and sweat into every song. Oh how can you tell? Just take a look around a room while he's performing.
 Their collection of songs will have you moving, fist pumping and singing along. Its a convulsion you can't control. Stand out numbers would be In Motion, Heartbreak Crutch and K.M.A to name a few.
 I'm  also impressed by there strategy to sell their Cd's. There was no set price for the Cd's. As Tom put it. Give us what you can afford. Just go home with some of our music cause that's what it's all about.
 You can find Ghosts Of Eden on facebook, reverbnation and myspace. Pick up their Cd's Ignorance and Lies and Something Kinetic at itunes. Just a little fair warning playing these Cd's can become addicting.

Hello Jupiter do you hear my transmission?

Who would of thought? I found a last minute show to attend Friday night. And what I heard was a collision of sounds from a band calling themselves Hello Jupiter.

The three members making up this band are Eveni Lattcheni on guitars/vocals, Maxwell Rudkin bass/vocals and Jon O'Rourke. Are what I would call musical sponges. Creating a sound full of textures and styles that has a little bit for everyone.

Watching the crowd from the young to the older folks. Everyone was enjoying every note coming from these three men. I enjoyed the bass riffs of Maxwell and the rhythm stylings of Evgeni's guitar playing all held nicely by Jon's drumming. Bands like As Tall As Lions and Tera Melos come to mind while listening to Hello Jupiter. Their choice of time changes and playing style were refreshing to the ears.

As I type this review I'm listening to their Comprension EP. Click here to download it for free. And as I listen I find my thoughts drifting away on this cosmic soundtrack. Dare I say I'm having an out of body experience.

You can find Hello Jupiter on their FaceBook page. There you can find various links to learn more about them. And to keep up on when and were there playing next.

I Ignite lights the fuse.

I Ignite have come out of their corner swinging and have landed a one two punch . They have just played there first show on Dec 23rd at Mulcahys in Centereach. Then five days later to a packed house at O'Briens in Coram. As I pulled into O'Briens parking lot there was not one spot open. I then had to park down the road and across the street for this one. A minor inconvenience. But was nice to see an original show so well attended.

If you enjoy bands like A Day To Remember or Story of the Year then you'll enjoy I Ignite. They seem to have a gift for not only writing good songs but writing great rock anthems. That make you want to raise your fist in the air and chant along.

Fronting this band is Eddie Raccioppi. Some may know Eddie as being the guitar player for bands like A Farewell Fire and For The Taking. But for I Ignite he has laid down his guitar too be front and center handling lead vocals. He seems to have made the transition without flaw. He knows how to work the crowd and make you feel like part of the show. This is always a sign of a great frontman.

And lets not forget the talented musicians backing him up. You have Stefen Milana and Corey Grucci on guitars. Joe Meyer on bass and Chris Barreto on drums. All these guys together create I Ignite.

You can find I Ignite on their facebook page. There you can sample some music and keep track of upcoming shows.

I would highly recommend catching I Ignite live. Not only will you be seeing a great band. But you would be supporting the local music scene and your local businesses in this struggling economy.

Mudcat takes us back in time.

Its funny how things work out. I was going to cover another show tonight. But yesterday I got notice that the show had been moved to another venue ( I wasn't up to the added mileage). So I opted to see Mudcat at LuLu's Village Pub.

Thing is Mudcat has no web site. Only a facebook page that I could find. And there wasn't much information about them and no music to sample. So I was going into this show like a blind man with very little information as to my wereabouts.

I was trying to keep my reviews to original bands. But sometimes life's biggest surprises come unexpectedly. And one of those surprises came in the form of a band called Mudcat.

The audience at LuLu's were treated too a set filled with some classic rock tunes. Not your typical tunes that every other band on the island covers. But other gems that don't get there due on the cover scene. Mudcat kicked off the night with a smoking rendition of Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers (ZZ Top). Some of the highlights of their set included Last Child (Aerosmith),Hot Legs (Rod Stewart) and The Cowboy Song (Thin Lizzy). Oh yea they also covered Suicide by Thin Lizzy (Thin Lizzy is a favorite of mine). Can I ask for a request or two for future shows? Cold Sweat and Dancing in the Moonlight. And they did a killer version of Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac).

The band is fronted by John Golden on Vocals and guitars. I'm familiar with John from his work with Earth Eatz Dog. It's fitting too see John fronting a band. He has the look the chops and the voice. Also on guitar is Steve Culotta serving up some tasty guitar work. And holding down the low end is Jon Valente on bass. And serving up the big beat is Gary Worrel on drums. These four musicians injected new life into these classic songs (goes to show you somethings get better with age).

I gotta thank Mudcat for a couple of things. First just for a great night of music. And second I've spent so much time on my mission to support music. I've forgotten that all these great tunes they played tonight. Were original songs by those artists at one time. So thanks again for a great night of music.

So for the picture above this review. The included captions were either said by the band members or they were thinking those thoughts. If you don't believe me you should have been there. Keep a lookout for Mudcat. You won't be disappointed.