HARDDRIVE LIVE TOUR
Have you ever seen a concert where two or more of the bands performing were already some of your favorites?
That's where I was on that unusually warm November night at the "HardDrive Live Tour." I was already a huge fan of 10 Years and Anew Revolution, so I was very excited.
This concert was held at In The Venue, a small but very promising venue in downtown Salt Lake City. The headliner was Sevendust, a juggernaut of the music industry who released their eighth studio album, "Cold Day Memory," earlier this year. The venue is a relatively small indoor building, but that doesn't stop anyone from having a great concert experience, especially the bands.
Anew Revolution started the show with high-volume and adrenaline-pumping songs; near the end of their set, vocalist Joey Duenas actually crawled on top of the crowd! Normally that's not very impressive, but he was singing while crowd surfing.
The next band up was Aranda. To be honest, I didn't know they were going to be there and I had no idea who they even where, but when they started their set I was impressed. Both the lead vocalist and the guitarist had incredible range in their voices.
10 Years played songs from their recently released third studio album "Feeding the Wolves," such as "Now is the Time," "Shoot it Out," "The Wicked Ones," "Fix Me" and "Dead in the Water," along with their previously released and most popular song, "Wasteland." 10 Years, overall, was one of the best bands I've seen live; a few notes from lead vocalist Jesse Hasek were slightly out of tune, though, but you would have to give him credit, no vocalist is perfect.
The lights dimmed when Sevendust was preparing to come on. They hit the ground rolling opening with "Splinter" from "Cold Day Memory." They also played "Unraveling," "Forever," "Nowhere" and "Strong Arm Broken," also from this album.
The way they combined the strobe lights with Sevendust's guitar riffs seemed almost paralyzing. The band went on to play at least 10 songs, even including an encore.
During the show, I was able to talk to some members of Anew Revolution, Aranda and 10 Years. I asked Frank Salvaggio, who plays bass guitar for Anew Revolution, how he and the rest of the band stick together and avoid breakup.
"Um, really the best thing for anyone is to stand up for each other; you're on the road together, and all you've got is one another," he said.
Hasek, of 10 Years, talked about how the group got its name. He said that each member of the band had a decade of what he described to be the worst times of their life. Also, if you ever meet Hasek, don't be shocked -- he is a really short guy.
Overall it was a great concert although maybe not for everyone, considering the style of music that was in the air that night. Bands like Anew Revolution, 10 Years and Sevendust pump out a slighly heavier style of moden rock than most "mainstream bands." But don't be afraid if you find any of these groups coming to town and even remotely like their music. See them, you won't regret it.
Alex Esplin is a junior at Dorius Academy. He enjoys writing short stories and is working on a novel. He plays guitar and also sings for a local band. E-mail him at fish_head_07@comcast.net.
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