Guest Blogger 2014 Year in Review #2

2014 Year in Review #2

So much great new music and shows in 2014, most of which is music that nobody has heard or seen because it’s not pop or hip-hop.  I have my share of pop and hip-hop favorites (I’m embarrassed to say that my most listened-to song by far of the last couple of months has been Selena Gomez’s “What the Heart Wants.” Please pray for me), but I love the metal scene.  No twerking for me.  Give me a mosh pit and some head banging, and I’m one happy dude!

Best Discovery- Dig the Kid

I only attended one festival in 2014, but they are the best way to discover new music. Guest blogger Dan noted that Dead Sara at Aftershock was his 2014 discovery. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to enjoy Dead Sara that day because the sweltering heat had forced me to retire under the shade of a tree. However, I did see them later that year in a smaller venue and they kicked ass.  I will always make it to their shows in the area. The best 2014 discovery for me was at Aftershock, and it was San Francisco Bay area trio Dig the Kid.  They have shades of metal, but not too heavy; they show signs of pop, but not sugary.  The bottom-line is that they rock and their sound crosses over and will make them successful.  They consist of songwriter and guitarist Cory Todd, bassist Ian Lasater, and drummer Lisa Mongelli. On stage they change instruments and don’t miss a beat, allowing them and the audience to keep the energy level high.  They are young, talented, attractive people with a great future ahead of them.  Their single “Love” is featured in the clothier Bebe commercial.  Due to a connection with Zoe Adler, I was able to see Bebe launch said commercial along with a Dig The Kid show.  There was a lot of LOVE in the room after the show, and Lisa even gave me a hug.  Yes, I will be DIGging THEse KIDs for a long time to come (read Zoe’s DoubleView on this website with Dig The Kid).

Best ReDiscovery- Rob Zombie

Rob Zombie at Aftershock blew me away. I didn’t expect to even be around for Rob Zombie, but their stage was next to Five Finger Death Punch and they started immediately after.  I got so into the Rob Zombie show; I was dancing like a mental patient, and I--like a mental patient-- didn’t care.  Head-banging, hard-driving muscle music and I even knew the lyrics.  I’m looking forward to seeing these old-school masters again (don’t forget to read Zoe’s interview with Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 on this website).

Best Local Band- Blackmore

Guest blogger Dan has been on the Blackmore band wagon since day one.  We saw them over a year ago, but they just didn’t do it for me.  However, I’ve seen them many times since that day, and the growth of their stage presence and musicianship has been phenomenal.  It has been an absolute pleasure to witness their rise, and I look forward to telling their future fans that I knew them when they were first starting out (check out this website for more Blackmore information).

Best Live Show- First Aid Kit

So many great shows at Aftershock: Black Stone Cherry, Seether, and Lacuna Coil were my top three of the festival. Jeremiah Red performed at the Constellation Room in Santa Ana; the music wasn’t that impressive, but what a fantastic show! There was a great mosh pit at a Rise Against San Diego show, and there was classic crowd surfing at a Menzingers show at the Roxy.  However, the best live show that I saw in 2014 was not from a rock or metal band. It was from a Swedish folk duo:  First Aid Kit.  They performed in November at the Observatory in Santa Ana.  First Aid Kit consists of the Soderberg sisters, Johanna (keyboard) and her younger sister Klara (guitar). They were backed by a drummer and a pedal steel guitarist.  To say that the sisters sing and harmonize would be a gross injustice.  You can look at a picture and see its beauty.  You can take in all the purity that a mountain top has to offer.  You can read a poem and allow it to touch your soul.  All of that is what the music of these sisters has done for me. If you can’t see them live, then listen to their records (Stay Gold is their latest and best).  Sometimes you need to come down from the explosiveness of metal.  These girls are my mountain top.

Best Album- AC/DC's Rock or Bust

How do you come up with a best album?  Black Stone Cherry’s Magic Mountain is today’s Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Affiance’s Blackout is the best metalcore album of their career.  Seether’s Isolate and Medicate is a masterpiece that demonstrates how a band can progress and still keep to their roots.  As you’ve read my Best Live Show piece, you know how I feel about First Aid Kit’s Stay Gold.  With all that, I’m going to go old school with my Best Album of 2014:  AC/DC’s Rock or Bust.  With AC/DC you know what you are going to get and they always deliver. There are no deep discussions about love and loss, or political agendas.  There are just simple “party hard” lyrics and power chord guitar riffs that bring head banging, fist pumping heavy metal to a peak, or right back to the early ‘80s.  This is and has always been my favorite metal band.  This album keeps them right there where they belong. RIGHT ON TOP.

Those are some of this guest blogger’s thoughts regarding the 2014 metal (and more) scene.  I am so looking forward to Aftershock 2015, and so many other shows to accompany new album releases by All That Remains, Halestorm, and 10 Years, just to name a few.

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Hank Lujan is awesome. End of story.