Bryon Mogul
BLOOZE BAR Review
12/02/2023
Last night, The Art Of Metal at The Blooze was a parade
of expert artists, band after band! The Last House Band, whom I had not heard of outside of good
references, absolutely killed it with their renditions of hits from the 70's an
80's mixed with originals. They jumped on stage 20 minutes early because the
room was already filling up, and played an extra-long set and every song was
dope. No kidding, I didn't realize the band had Francis Leon and Mark from Lawless Rocks
along with John the drummer. That singer-guitar combo defines excellence and
support for our music scene. These guys helped open the 44 before a stage
existed, played several of our quasi-quarantine era shows, participated in jams
and always delivered the goods. Their rhythm section was just as skilled, and
you'll see them again on my shows. Their library is infinite, they came first and
stayed till the end. And now the words out, you can expect to hear a lot more
about them. I'm so grateful to you guys.
Our headliner, Dawn Of The Rising, are some of the best friends I have in the music scene. They are
absolutely a polished original metal heavy hitter in this game. I like the vocalist-writer Ray Coon so much, he is the only vocalist to ever sing on an album with me since Joey from Anthrax. Ignacio Sarraff and Ray's son Justin Coon fire super-skilled solos at you from both sides of the stage Chris Keener is one of the most sought-after percussionists anywhere in the Valley. The bassist is a rock and cornerstone of deep melody. All night, faces I knew and didn't know told me they were captivated by this band. I count them as one of the top flagship metal bands in Arizona.
Frankenshred
should be in an arena, they're so top-shelf. I already expected a 40-minute
clinic on perfect metal guitar techniques and songs that you'd never expect to
hear done well done better than the original. And I'm serious. But then, Hunter Storm came up,
and some of us knew this was going to be off the scale! Coming on to the event
to replace a last-minute cancellation, I can't really remember a more powerful
performance. I mean Dio, and Sabbath, and a cascade of great anthems that had
fans hugging the stage. Johnny
Frankenshred II, Hunter
Storm, Rob Erwin,
and Tom Higgins.
Ankh-Alien
performed our Videodyssey show, with my all-original, heavy Neo-Classical
accompaniment to sci-fi and cult movies. Daniel Bueschel nailed
everything we did, with only a few hours of preparation. And I'm the kind of
player who does their best work when experts are present. I haven't checked the
livestream, but I
think it was a pretty good night. And every song was met with resounding
applause. It was sad to perform without Emily Rachel Calvis, who is sick and unable to sing. Our best
vibes and hopes for her speedy recovery.
It's a testament to our metal scene when four headliner
bands like this play a bill. And this was to help out The Blooze Bar, who had
a show cancel. It's my privilege and duty to step up when things like this
happen, and an honor to have these artists by my side to help.
The fans. It wasn't who was there, it was WHO was there. Jack McBride from 2 IN THE
CHEST, Amen Torso
from TORSO, Kenny
James, James
Beauchamp, Mike
Smith from The YETI RADIO, John Roland, Angela Black (who brought us The Last House Band), Melee Bee, and many
more of the highly supportive people who are the strongest base of our music
community.
No regrets for the 120 who people didn't miss this show.
Under the circumstances of little time to promote, competition from other
clubs, and pages of Christmas parties, we all did great. Jennifer Wharton made
street tacos, and we ate it all.
