Reviews by Mark E. Waterbury

Queensryche - Tribe
Sanctuary Records
One thing that has always made Queensryche's particular brand of rock progressive is that they do manage to do something just a bit different on each album, while keeping their signature machine humming. The band's ninth effort "Tribe" pushes the envelope in more subtle ways. The more melodic and hooky qualities of "Empire" are laced with a sort of raw guitar fueled power with tantalizing twists and turns. "Open" is a perfect example of this, and proves right away that Geoff Tate still has one of rock's top throats. "Losing Myself" has a touch of electronica and a percussive pulse exploding into brash rock and "Falling Behind" has a slight Middle Eastern tinge to it. The title track and "Great Divide" are burbling rockers worthy of anything that has emanated from the Seattle area previously. The lyrics really go for the juggler on "Tribe"; you can tell Geoff and the boys had a lot on their minds and as usual are not afraid to speak about it. While this is not the hardest rocking Queensryche album, it is in a more ambient way one of the most intense. URL: http://www.queensryche.com

Dominic Gaudious - All Hopped Up
This is the fourth CD by Atlanta instrumental guitarist Dominic Gaudious, and he once again astounds listeners with the unique ways he finds to dance his fingers across the strings. "If You Knew Me" has a slight Spanish flavor augmented by tasty embellishments with the Native American flute and Australian didjeridoo. The title track has a haunting chord progression and the snappy "The Sheik of El Paso" brings a Spanish meets Middle East hybrid that is a pure delight. "It'll Be OK" shows a mellower side, with luscious picking and ambient dramatic bridges. With each new album, Dominic progresses and continues to hone his already considerable talent, finding new and wonderful but also comfortably familiar ways of expressing himself. URL: http://www.dominicgaudious.com

Big Radio Lovers - Turn it On
Sucker Punch Records
This foursome from Macon, Georgia funnels about every varied piece of intensity they can find through rock and roll. The title track has a bit of a melodic but progressive metal feel, while "And I Forget" liberally splashes punk and alt into a straight ahead rocker. "Sugar Coated Lies" kicks off like a power ballad and then explodes with a grunge intensity. Solid lyrics and the talent to take chances are weaved into the well-crafted songs creating gutsy music. URL: http://www.bigradiolovers.com E-mail: band@bigradiolovers.com

Erin Hobson - The Good Stuff
With all the ladies delving into singer/songwriter mode, L.A.'s Erin Hobson may have something special. She has a wonderfully emotive vocal timbre, somewhat reminiscent of Eddie Brickell and also proves to have talents in providing the acoustic guitar vehicle for her words. "Dreaming in Blue" tugs at your emotions as Erin turns the vocal power up a notch, and "Fish in the Sea" shows a more subtle facet to her vocal intensity. "Lust" has a more innocent appeal rather then a sultry approach as the title may suggest. Passionate and ear catching music. URL: http://www.erinhobson.com E-mail: erin@erinhobson.com

Broken Ness - ICU in Dandelions
Washington state's Broken Ness' rootsy influences seem to come more from Britain and other parts of the US than their native environs. Songs like "I Feel Bad" and "Junkie" take a definite Brit pop slant with a backdrop more the gritty burble of Mellencamp. "Selfish Sadness" has a bluesy feel with psychedelic flourishes, like Billy Bragg working with the Black Crowes. The songs have a kind of easygoing vibe but also enthrall you with stellar vocals and the way they utilize their retro passions. URL: http://www.brokennessonline.com E-mail: reganbrokennessonline.com

Divided Sky - Spectral
DS-101
The Pink Floyd feel of "Spectral 1," the lead track from the debut by Philly's Divided Sky explodes into the powerful "Grasp", you think of Tool and Korn, tempered by maybe a slight touch of Creed. "Missing Persons" acoustic interlude sucks you in before unleashing a furiously charged thundering animal. "Diminishing Persons" actually sticks more with the acoustic guitar edge and really showcases the dynamic vocals of Sean Crisden. Powerful, intricate and full of life this is great, inventive new heavy rock. URL: http://www.dividedskymusic.com E-mail: crisden@dividedskymusic.com

Irradio - Doctors Work
Tremor 10 - 34179364921
Hailing from the Chicago area, Irradio takes Radiohead style rock and fuels it with more electronica and syncopation. Consider "A Moment of Clarity" with the hypnotic pulsing beat a la Crystal Method and the almost dreamy but intense vocals of T.K. Atom. "A Few Mistakes" puts a more ethereal slant on music that seems to nod a bit towards Southern Culture on the Skids, and is one of the best songs here. A masterful concoction of alt, acoustic cyber punk and psychedelia makes for stunning music. URL: http://www.irradio.net E-mail: sohyoon@irradio.net

7 Days After - The Eventide Stories
The punkish fury of "Past Tense" makes you hungry for more from this Louisville foursome before you even get through the four tracks of this EP. Brash and played with headlong abandon but also a respect for trying to write something a bit different, the raw power here has a more roots punk feel rather then the polished angst of say Green Day. "A Thousand Pictures" is a bit more alt rock but is still hits you square in the jaw. This all too brief glimpse will make you look forward to a full length effort. URL: http://www.7daysafter.com E-mail: scottthemac@yahoo.com

Amberjack Rice - New Roots
ARR - ARR005
When you're a singer/songwriter from Austin you better have something special and unique going, and Amberjack Rice may just have that. The Creole flavored butt-kicker "Little Northeast" is followed by the alt country ditty "What I Deserve." "Big Fire Breathing Horse" turns up the rockabilly and "I'm Sorry Lord" is a tongue in cheek self loafing diatribe with a bluegrass feel. Great instrumentation and Amberjack's voice - a bit like Hank Jr. before he went Monday Night Football - puts a great stamp on his often whimsical observations. URL: http://www.amberjackrice.com E-mail: amberjackrice@yahoo.com

Concert Review: Kelly Keeling - Velvet Underground at Hard Rock Cafe - Atlanta, GA
by Mark Waterbury and Sandy Serge
If you ask most people what they know about Kelly Keeling, they will probably remember him from his days with hard rocking outfits such as Baton Rouge, Blue Murder, Guitar Zeus and MSG. But the crowd at Atlanta's Velvet Underground at Hard Rock Cafe on July 12th were more likely to recognize Kelly for his stunning vocal abilities, his prolific songwriting and his instrumental versatility. He introduced himself with a dramatic keyboard solo that kicked into the song "Beware the Vampires" which he recorded with keyboardist Erik Norlander. The song not only demonstrated his keyboard proficiency, but it showed the audience that Kelly still possesses one of the more powerful voices in rock, a great testament to how well Kelly's vocal renditions and songwriting segued so well into the acoustic environment, displaying emotional versions of newly-written material as well as nuggets from his previous bands. "Perfect Day", slated to be on his upcoming Mascot Records release, was a breathtaking piece that seems to feel a bit like Coldplay. "Peace With the World," a brand new song and one of several in which Kelly was joined on stage by local guitarist Dominic Gaudious and bassist Preston Ashworth, showed a passionate John Lennon-ish groove. Another original tune, "Mystified", once again featuring the threesome, took you back into the era of the Beatles sitar influenced music. Kelly's keyboard wizardry permeated again for "Ground Zero," also included on the upcoming album release and co-written by Kerry Livgren of Kansas. He even morphed into the song choice passages from that band's opus "Journey from Mariabronn". Kelly topped off the near ninety minute show with his renditions of the songs "Lilac Wine" and "Hallelujah", originally by the late Jeff Buckley. For the people at the show, Kelly's captivating voice dominated the event and was no doubt burned into their souls and memories. While at this time Kelly is more known as being a member of other musicians' projects or bands, the people who witnessed his live solo show realized his unbridled passion, talent and performance stand on their own. Being a part of the Kelly Keeling phenomenon is the opportune way for fans to experience a masterful combination of pure musical excellence and virtuostic vocal work in its highest form.
Web site: http://www.kellykeeling.net

Concert review: Queensryche, Dream Theater and Fates Warning at The Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA
by Mark Waterbury
You know that it's hard for some people to go to a concert by a veteran act to not say afterwards, "Hey, I wish they would have played this song or that song." That's what happens a lot when you get bands that have a huge amount of material to cull a ninety minute or so set from. When the co-headlining tour of Queensryche and Dream Theater was announced, you have to know that these two bands have about seventeen albums of material between them. You may not hear that song you want to, but with these two seriously talented acts, you know that you are going to hear incredible versions of whatever they do play.
Opening act Fates Warning has a lot of music in their library as well and they had only thirty minutes. They did the best they could and that was very very good, leaving a lasting impression on the fans who had already almost packed Atlanta's cathedral of music The Tabernacle. Their musical abilities were nothing short of amazing, and they bridged the gap between the two headliners, not quite as intricate as Dream Theater, or as conventional in their song structuring as Queensryche, but a solid mid-ground that got the festivities to a rocking good start.

On this night, Dream Theater was the next act on the bill. A Dream Theater show is always about precision, a more lively precision, and on this evening they seemed to be even more on their game if that is fathomable from this philharmonic of progressive rock bands. Playing mostly songs from their two most recent releases "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" and "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory," the crowd was in a frenzy for the entire ninety minutes. James LaBrie's soaring vocals, John Petrucci's frenetic guitar shredding, the monolithic keyboard work of Jordan Rudess, John Myung's intense bass plucking and the thunder of the gods drumming from Mike Portnoy was somehow more intense then normal. That's like saying you got a Rolls instead of a Bentley, but it rang true that night. The version of "Home" was nothing short of phenomenal, and "Pull Me Under," perhaps the best known Dream Theater song was spiced up when they sped up the second verse, leaving one in awe at the speed of Portnoy's drumming and Petrucci's fingers. It was probably enough of a music display to satisfy most people for an evening, but the night was just heating up.

Queensryche burst onto the stage, taking a risk by opening with the song "Open" from their new album "Tribe" which had not yet been released and was no doubt not known by most of the concert goers. The song is vintage Queensryche with the growling twin guitar attack of Michael Wilton and touring guitarist Mike Stone, and the furious rhythm pulse of bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield augmenting the gripping and mighty vocals of Geoff Tate. Where Dream Theater has a front man in James LaBrie but has so many other focal points in the band, Tate is perhaps one of heavy rock's greatest frontmen, possessing both graceful energy and power rock intensity. He lead the band and the crowd through a virtual history of Queensryche, mainly from the first five albums. The frantic energy of nuggets such as "Screaming in Digital," "NM 156" and the always crowd pleasing "Take Hold The Flame" were interspersed with the edgy but more streamlined MTV hits from their best selling LP "Empire." The mini "Operation: Mindcrime" set of three songs complete with the videos used in the original representations took the crowd way over the top, and as the band left the stage, the rumors that had been circulating during the concert kept everyone where they were for the ensuing spectacle.

All the members of Queensryche and Dream Theater returned to the stage to play together in the encore to surpass all encores. The rarely heard in concert Queensryche song "Real World" from the soundtrack of "Last Action Hero" was first, with the vocals handled mostly by James LaBrie. After a powerful version of that song and a brief bridging jam, the bands finished the night with an unbelievable version of the Dream Theater piece "The Spirit Carries On." Tate did most of the vocals for this one, and was joined by nearly twenty-five hundred already hoarse voices for this uplifting and moving song. There have been many double headliner shows in recent years, but I doubt many achieved the awesome musical displays by these bands and their generous gift to all of their fans by performing together. If there was any type of gulf between Queensryche and Dream Theater fans, it was erased that night, and if anyone was miffed because they didn't hear a particular song that they wanted to hear, then nothing could probably satisfy that individual.