Live @ The Tattoo Rock Parlour
By: Fridae Mattas
Finally!! At last I was able to catch a full ‘Hail The Villain’ set! I may have only caught the last few songs at the Hideout and missed the whole performance at Uproar Fest. but Thursday October 7th I got my chance. I also managed an interview with Lead Vox Bryan Crouch prior to sound check…Bonus! The interview is PUBLISHED click the link! I have been hearing about this band for years, familiar with their tunes because they are that good! Hail The Villain are indisputably the most underrated band in Canada, refreshingly different from most bands yet still tenuously undiscovered.
HTV is probably the only band that I know of that has released their major début in conjunction with a comic book that relates to the music and videos for the movie with a videogame-esque interactive website…Do you follow? No worries my friends, Bryan explains it all in the interview. Those of you who already know about HTV, congratulations for knowing some spectacular music, group hug! To all who don’t know; if you are a serious rock fan this is a band you will never forget! The music grabs you immediately and if that doesn’t float your boat I am sure the live show will blow you away. Hail The Villain is from Oshawa, Ontario and is signed to Warner Canada/Roadrunner Records USA. June 04th 2010 they released their début record “Population Declining” and just wrapped the Rockstar Uproar Festival. Hail The Villain was to do a US tour with Disturbed joined by fellow Canadian band ‘Art Of Dying’ but that was recently canceled due to Disturbed lead singer David Draiman’s serious throat condition.
Don’t get me wrong I love his voice, the kid can definitely sing he has the talent, he can sing better than many a lead out there. Far too many lead singers can’t sing for shit, all they do is use vocal effects to mask how bad they really are. Yes, sadly it’s true, the sound person and singer can manipulate vocals live with today’s technology it is possible. That is why I like to film from the stage most of the time, to get the real vocals. The band was mostly tight I noticed lead guitar skillfully handling his axe and Drummer Boy smashing those cans with fervor. The crowd however had mixed feelings, some were getting into the band, others just stood there and stared. Bleeker Ridge’s music is different than Hail The Villain’s, they are more along the poppy Top 40 Rock opposed to HTV’s Alternative Rock Metal sound. Taylor did his job working the stage; you could tell he liked being there entertaining the cameras and the crowd. It did come off a little fake at times but there was some genuine emotion there. Other than the whine in his voice I like everything about the bands sound. The other members in the band had their moments too but at times seemed slightly timid. Either way this band will probably top the charts soon enough, they are already making some noise on Fridae TV’s North American charts. Check Bleeker Ridge out if you can they are hitting the road!
Onto the main event, you can tell I go to the Tattoo Rock Parlour a lot, very picky with who and what I cover and where, when it comes to FridaeTV. Just because an artist is popular on the mainstream music scene, played on all airwaves and will give me some amazing stats, does not mean I would ever put them on FridaeTV. Stats to me are fun to watch but they are not important otherwise. To be featured on Fridae TV the artists must catch my attention and keep it, think of it like an exclusive club, you have to entertain my eyes and ears to be featured here. Hail the Villain passed that test when I saw the last tune of their performance at the Rock N’ The Park festival in 2009. The band is: Bryan Crouch – Vocals, Joseph Stamp – Guitar, Chad Taylor – Bass and Flavio Cirillo on Drums.
They started the set with ‘Try Hating The World’, a punch in the face angst ridden tune that has a fast paced high energy feel, perfect track to kick off the set. Crouch has been known by others to over perform and yell rather than sing, what I was getting is a true performer who knows how to entertain his audience. Obviously he stands out from many leads when it comes to being comfortable with the stage and captivating a crowd. His vocals are interesting very rare for this style, I actually fully understood what he sang because he enunciated his words properly. Super daps for being able to pull off screams, sing melodically and keep the fans on their toes. Crouch owned the audience before Cirillo’s sticks hit those skins; all boring bands need to watch and learn how a real Front Larry breaks it down. For those that think he over performs, go listen to your Josh Grobin and take a nap because that is boring. My official opinion is that Crouch does not need to calm the fuck down! He needs to keep doing what he does, it is most definitely working to their advantage, the best way to get noticed is to give the people a show to remember!
These days playing a show is the only guaranteed revenue a band actually has to count on: you play, they pay. If your live show is a flop and you don’t draw a crowd nobody will book your band. Records don’t make money anymore unless you’re Eminem or Justin Beeblets (I know it’s spelled wrong, that is what I prefer to call him) even they are hurting. Major record labels won’t sign a band who doesn’t deliver a money making performance especially these days when they don’t have any money themselves to take those risks. Evidently, Hail The Villain was signed because they have the talent and can deliver a highly energetic set, every minute of the performance the crowd was ecstatically amused! Half of them have already seen the band live; the other half, had a whole new concert experience they will want to re-live again. The single ‘Runaway’ was played in the set, they just released the R-Rated video for the track and I must say it’s one fantastic video! Love the eyes so creepily fascinating. Every member in the band fits like a glove, I swear Bassist Chad Taylor reminded me so much of another Bassist whose name is also Chad, it’s like they are identical twins, so trippy. This Chad threw it down, totally feeling the music and vibing with the crowd. Lately I’ve seen some Bassists out Rock Guitarists, Axe shredders need to step up their game! Not HTV’s Guitarist Joseph Stamp, he absolutely embodied the music he played as Bryan sang those lyrics with conviction and Flavio destroyed those cans. The last song of the night was ‘Pyro’ wish I filmed it but I was trying to get some of my own shots but they didn’t turn out, thankfully my good friend Miss Jaylyn Todd who deserves a huge Thank You took some incredible stills. From the beginning to the end, I would definitely go see Hail The Villain live over and over again! You should go check them out the minute you hear they are in your town! Hail The Villain is heading out on the road this November and December new tour dates have been posted, you can finally have your chance, like I did.
Watch Videos from the set of both Hail The Villain and Bleeker Ridge plus hundreds of other great videos! FRIDAE TV
Hail The Villain – Videos From Tattoo Set:
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This waas lovely to read