IndyConcerts.com – Indianapolis Concert Calendar, Tickets, Reviews, and Interviews

The Max Allen Band has punched their ticket to the finals.  While they prepare to enter battle once more, it’s time to do it all again.  Three more bands are on the bill tonight to compete for the opportunity of a lifetime.  All three were chosen specifically for what they bring to the table, what they can do when they take the stage, and ultimately, that they have what it takes to send a band from Indianapolis to London

But as the Highlander series has put it, “there can be only one.”

Though it is a new night, some things remain the same: each band gets 30 minutes to impress a panel of local celebrity judges who hold the fate of each act in their hands.  The band with the most points by the end of the night (or maybe by morning, since the winner is announced on WTTS’ morning show) moves on to the finals.  Sound good?  Good, now let’s move on.  In contrast to the calm, cool evening outside, things are about to heat up.  Our emcee welcomes everyone and introduces our first act.  Time to get this started.

Up first, we got the guys from Shadeland taking the stage.  The last time I saw these guys, they were helping wrap up Round 1 at the Battle of Birdy’s.

“We almost squeaked by in 1st,” said guitarist Dayton Neely.  “We just couldn’t have been much closer.”

Unfortunately, they just missed out on advancing by all of two points.

“Just one vote away from winning,” he said.  “It was pretty sad.”

But that was then and this is now.  It’s a new night, and unlike last time, they’re going on first.  Now some might complain about having to go on first, but not these seasoned vets (roughly 12 years).  Actually, they embrace it.

Shadeland. Photo by Raymon Guajardo

“It’s nothing we’ve never done before,” Neely said.  “It’s actually nice sometimes because you don’t have to worry about the crowd leaving.  Lots of times the crowd will leave if you’re headlining.  A lot of people will get drunk and go home cause they’re too tired, but if you open, then they’re all right there, and everybody’s ready to lose their musical virginity for the night.  So to speak.”

If they had any nerves, they were probably caused more by the paparazzi-like photographers surrounding the stage than the overall atmosphere.  As for their performance, what impressed me then still impresses me now.  I hate using this term to describe rock bands, but in its simplest terms, they just rocked.  They don’t need a gimmick; they don’t need to destroy anything on stage; and they don’t need a long complicated name alluding to a shootout with a matriarchal mobster in Ocklawaha, Florida.  Just straight up rock n’ roll.  Though usually a high-tension atmosphere, there was something pretty cool about frontman Allen Kell taking time during the set to give a shoutout to his family.

Their thoughts?

“I think we did pretty good tonight,” Neely said.  “I had a good feeling.  I think everybody had a good feeling.  We had a good feeling before we actually started the set.  Like we just felt good where we were.  It felt like a good place.  So I think we finished the set with that same feeling.”

That feeling could be all they need to advance.  So how would it feel to make it to March 9?

“I’d be stoked, man,” said bassist Tony Vibbert.  “I know it’s an international contest, but I’ll be stoked to compete for (it) if they let us go.”

Though even with the added suspense of not knowing the outcome until the next morning:

“I’m not worried about it,” Neely said.  “I think I’ll sleep good tonight.  I don’t think I’m gonna lose any sleep over it at all.”

They looked confident and they looked poised, but do they look like someone that could represent Indianapolis in this global search?  We’ll find out soon enough.

Our crowd tonight is modest, but it’s still early.  It’s also a Wednesday night, but hey, it’s everyone else’s loss.  They can sit at home watching a glorified karaoke contest while the rest of us hang out downtown enjoying some of the best the Indy Music Scene has to offer.  As life moves on in the Hard Rock like it typically does any night of the week, our next act is setting up.  Already this looks promising with the long hair, the mohawks, the distorted guitars, and the lack of a drummer (and no, that last part isn’t a typo.  They utilize a person playing beats and samples throughout).

That being said, let’s welcome Sinnerfold.

Is it just me or did more people show up?  Perhaps my mind is just playing tricks on me and they were here the whole time, but

Sinnerfold. Photo by Raymon Guajardo

there’s something pretty cool to see people get up from the comfort of their table/booth to head toward the stage to show their support.  Currently, they remind me a little of the T4M crowd from last week.  You know, the kind of fans that throw their horns up like there’s no tomorrow and sing along like they were proclaiming something from a mountaintop.  Yet despite this, there was nothing that would compare to the image of a small child up towards the front of the stage cheering them on.

It took them about a year to get to this point–they just missed the cutoff date in last year’s battle–and now that they’re here, let’s see what we missed out on:

Some may call it strange.  Some may call it bizarre.  Some may call it creative.  Heck, some may write them off because they don’t understand what they’re trying to do.  As for the rest of us, we see it as something memorable.

The key to any battle is to distinguish yourself from everyone else.  Develop that persona that will stick with the judges when they’re awarding points.  Tonight, the band to do that was the one that had the eerie guitars, the catchy beats, and the charismatic frontman.  In other words, Trent Reznor would be proud.

So what did they think?

“We felt great,” said guitarist Chaos.  “I mean, we’re at the Hard Rock, we’re surrounded by every bit of iconic memorabilia in the world, we have some great fans, great food, great fun.  It was an honor to play in this battle and go at it, and it felt good.”

How good did it feel?

“It was great,” said frontman JaSin.  “Can’t go wrong at the Hard Rock.  Can’t go wrong.  We love playing here.  We felt we rocked it.”

And they should feel good.  People were moving (or at least as much as they could.  This is still a restaurant first and a venue second); and most importantly, most everyone was talking about them at the end of their set.  After a performance like this, of course they like their chances.

“Everybody’s got a chance,” Chaos said.  “Everybody that performs here tonight or any other qualifying round or national (round) has a chance of winning it, and it just comes down to…”best man wins” kind of thing and we think we got it.  We think we’ve got the energy and what people want to see.  We wanna bring more to it than what you saw tonight, and I know that we can and we have before.  So it’s just the fact of us getting out there and pumping.  I mean, this isn’t it.  Our schedule’s booked up.  We keep rollin’.  This is what we dream about.”

In other words:

“We’re pumped,” JaSin said.  “We’re ready for the finals.  We’re ready.”

It’s that kind of confidence that may make the difference between who moves on and who goes home.  For now, it’s time to move on to our next act.

Hero Jr. Photo by Raymon Guajardo

Oasis, 30 Seconds To Mars, Madina Lake, and now Hero Jr.

What do they all have in common?  Simple: They’re all bands of brothers.  In joining the ranks of people like the Gallaghers, the Letos, or the Leones, tonight we’ve got the Haugheys.  Evav and Matthew to be precise.  Though their crowd paled in comparison to our last act, they didn’t let that bother them.  They came here tonight to do one thing and one thing only:

Just to rock.  No more and no less.  Just rock the Hard Rock with their all original rock n’ roll.

And the few they did bring?  Well, we’ll paraphrase George Harrison: they were happy just to dance with them.  Of course, it wasn’t hard to get anyone to do that.  Their music was catchy enough had enough energy to get even some one of the waitresses on the floor moving (and yes, even me as I make an idiot of myself with that flailing around I call “dancing”).

So what did they think?

“I thought it went good, you know?” said frontman Evan Haughey.  “It’s a hard venue to play…just because the sound bounces around quite a bit, but I thought it went well.”

For those who may not know, the Hard Rock looks a lot like this: it’s big, it’s wooden, there’s a lot of glass, and not a lot of give.  However, they weren’t going to let something like this stop them.

“It was fun nonetheless,” he said.  “We had a really good time.”

Being in this battle offers more than just a chance to live a dream.

“It gives a lot of people an opportunity to get in front of people that wouldn’t normally see them,” he said, “so it’s a cross-pollination with fans.  People come to see a band they don’t normally come to see something like us and they get to hear us so it’s great.  It’s really great.”

And a trip to the finals?

“It would feel great, man,” he said.  “I mean, we’d love to do it.  That’s why we’re here.  We got a lot of shows going on.  We play all over out of state, in state and stuff like that.  So…we’d be really excited to be in the finals…but there’s a lot of good bands playing.”

And just like that, the night is over.  The winner will be announced in the morning.  Cleanup begins around the floor; bands exchange pleasantries and sit with anticipation for what the end result will be; and I look forward to a cold trip back to my car.  As I prepare to map out how I want this article to go, I too anxiously await to see who’s moving on.  You know it’s a good night at a battle of the bands when there’s no lock to win.  Obviously, local music is the true winner of this, but for the purposes of this post, we’ll just focus on who punched their ticket to join Max Allen and Co.

It’s Thursday morning, and somehow I’ve managed to sleep through all of my alarms.  Now I’ll be spending the day constantly checking my phone to see if the Hard Rock’s Facebook page will announce the winner.  Sure enough, they do post the winner.  The band moving on to the March 9 bill is none other than…

…the guys from Hero Jr.

Just like that, Night 2 is in the books, but this battle is far from over.  We still have one more spot and three more bands anxious to show they have what it takes to have Indianapolis send a band to London.  While we let the dust settle from another great night at the Hard Rock, I’ll leave you with the words of Sinnerfold giving a message to all of the Indy Music Scene.

“And all you other local bands, keep rockin’.”

See you all next week.

About the author