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CONCERT REVIEW - THE ELECTRIC BOA
VENUE - THE ELECTRIC FACTORY
LOCATION - PHILADELPHIA, PA
DATE - MARCH 17th, 2012
GENRE / STYLE - ROCK
The Electric Factory is one of my favorite venues to see some great original national and international talent. This all age venue itself is historic and has been around longer that I have. Before it moved to it's current location, great original musical pioneers like Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Mothers of Invention, & The Muddy Waters Blues Band played at the old Electric Factory location. Back then the artists even played two complete shows a day. After The Electric Factory moved to it's current location, those 21 years of age or older can go upstairs to enjoy an adult beverage, while those who are younger stay down stairs. Everyone of the 2,500 - 3,000 capacity (depending on the stage size or layout) can experience the same live show by artists like The Black Keys, Sonic Youth, and more recently the current line up of Guns N' Roses (not to be confused with GN'R's other line up or the most famous G N' R line up ). A few years ago, Axl and the other - other Guns N' Roses line up, was a no show in Philly, so... it was my turn to be a no show, the other week. Sorry, Axl. Maybe next time you should bring Slash & Duff. I will pay to see that show.
Over the years, at the Electric Factory, I have enjoyed a bunch of good original independent or unsigned talent open up for national and international acts. I have been lucky to be back stage to see Abolish open for Iron Maiden, B Bar open for Pete Yorn, Blacken open up for Judas Priest, and this past Saturday night, The Electric Boa open up for Octane.
I first heard about The Electric Boa a few months ago when we received a CD titled Candy Coated Cyanide which was submitted for review. Truth be told, we never even listened to it because, at the time, it did not fall within our guidelines (go to the Top of the Home Page & click "How to submit" for more info). Then an old friend of mine said something about seeing them and then later that same week I had a another friend who happens to work at WMMR also mentioned the band during a causal conversation. Then their is the talk about a Movie Star named Jesse Jane who has been seen at two different Electric Boa shows over the past year, including their CD release party for Candy Coated Cyanide. Nobody seems to know if she is a Fan of the band or a Flame of one of the band members. Maybe she just "happened" to be there both times for business. The interesting part, is that their is a picture of her wearing one of The Electric Boa's concert shirts floating around on the net. I don't care much about gossip. Rock Stars & Movie Stars have always gone hand in hand. Who cares ? However, all of this buzz did get my attention. When I hear more than one person at different times talk about band, group, musician or singer I admit it, I get interested to check it out myself. I caught The Electric Boa buzz and now it is my turn to share it with you. |
| The Electric Boa 3/17/2012 at The Electric Factory Philadelphia, PA U.S.A. Left to Right: Greg, Morten, Higgsy, Joe, & Johnny Hit the Stage Hard |
NOT the average...
Last Saturday Night was St. Patrick's Day. I am not one to crawl from bar to bar drinking warm green beer. Bands NOT Booze is what I enjoy. I rather be out and about checking out new original music. A couple of weeks ago, I heard about this show with The Electric Boa playing at one of my favorite venues. Since the largest challenge for any original band is to play in front of a large audience who is hearing them for the first time, I had to see and hear for myself if this band is the real deal. I had to go.
When a newer band opens up for a national act, after the first few minutes one can tell what level of music performance maturity they own. If there is a break in the crowd's attention, you might as well here the audience think to themselves "ok, I saw the new band, I'm gonna talk to my friend now... let me know when the headliner hits the stage." One cause of this is what I call the “Tree Experience.” What is the Tree Experience ? When the audience EXPERIENCES a musician or singer standing there on stage like a TREE. No movement, no enthusiasm, no artistic expression. When an music artist does this, it causes the audience to LEAVE mentally and sometimes physically. Why do I bring this up ? When the average band gets the opportunity to open up on a large stage and in front of a large audience, some bands get caught in the spotlight and freeze like a statue or a tree. NOT The ELECTRIC BOA, on this night. They are not the average band and this was not an average show. This performance was more like a bolt of Lighting striking and splitting a tree. Powerful, Bright, Loud, and exciting to watch.
Last Saturday Night was St. Patrick's Day. I am not one to crawl from bar to bar drinking warm green beer. Bands NOT Booze is what I enjoy. I rather be out and about checking out new original music. A couple of weeks ago, I heard about this show with The Electric Boa playing at one of my favorite venues. Since the largest challenge for any original band is to play in front of a large audience who is hearing them for the first time, I had to see and hear for myself if this band is the real deal. I had to go.
When a newer band opens up for a national act, after the first few minutes one can tell what level of music performance maturity they own. If there is a break in the crowd's attention, you might as well here the audience think to themselves "ok, I saw the new band, I'm gonna talk to my friend now... let me know when the headliner hits the stage." One cause of this is what I call the “Tree Experience.” What is the Tree Experience ? When the audience EXPERIENCES a musician or singer standing there on stage like a TREE. No movement, no enthusiasm, no artistic expression. When an music artist does this, it causes the audience to LEAVE mentally and sometimes physically. Why do I bring this up ? When the average band gets the opportunity to open up on a large stage and in front of a large audience, some bands get caught in the spotlight and freeze like a statue or a tree. NOT The ELECTRIC BOA, on this night. They are not the average band and this was not an average show. This performance was more like a bolt of Lighting striking and splitting a tree. Powerful, Bright, Loud, and exciting to watch.
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| Joe in the spot light |
From the beginning, there was an energy in the building. Within the first few moments the crowd seemed to feel it too. I kept watching the band and watching the audience keep their eyes and ears on The Electric Boa. Many in the audience never heard of them before, but after this night, they sure know of them now.
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| Morten GP in your face |
Great showmanship by all members. They were so much fun to watch. Higgsy is Boa's vocalist. His movements are wild and artistic but not spastic or over done. Watching his flawless execution is like watching a talented skate boarder at the X-Games. He twists, he turns, and jumps. Thrilling to watch but should not be attempted by the average lead singer (I threw my back out just watching him). Both Morten & Joe have their own guitar style and stage presence. Greg was on point with his Bass playing. He was all business, tie and all. The Electric Boa line up also includes Veteran Drummer Johnny Dee. You may have seen or heard his skills before with the band DORO and other groups. Does this guy ever take a day off musically ? I guess that is why he is that good. The band as a whole showed why they were picked this night to warm up the crowd for Octane. They are good at what they do. They ROCK !
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| The boys step aside to let Jonny Dee murder a kit during ACE 1-3-5 |
Musically, Live, they use no special effects. No keyboard, no sequencer, no click track, no frills, or fillers. Just good old in your face guitar driven Rock. Straight for the gut, with toe tapping rhythms. A bunch of tunes caught my ear: "Tweekerville Blues," "Ace 1-3-5," and "Terror on the Reservation" stuck out as my favorites. What seemed to be a crowd favorite was the song "Cut Offs." A few in the audience seemed to know the words well. The lyrics include: "Cut Offs & Camel Toe..." "Down in the Valley Below..." "Oh Baby, give it to me." Pretty good original sexy lyrics, yet safe enough for Radio Play. Kind of racy in the way The Rolling Stones and others sometime push the censorship envelope. Yet, I did hear a good amount of female voices sing along.
The Electric Boa set list 3/17/2012
Horse
Tweekerville Blues
Ace 1-3-5 (w/drum solo)
Sayonara
Sayonara
Rotten Peach
Cut Offs
Take the energy of Buckcherry, the cool G N' R attitude, and add the musicianship of the Stone Temple Pilots… yes I will put The Electric Boa’s talented Live performance from this night in the same category as those bands without any hesitation. On stage they ruled the room. They could steal your girlfriend and convince you that it was ok for you to pay for dinner, drinks, and the hotel. They possess a ton of charisma and raw energy that could power one thousand major cities. It moved from the band, through the audience, and back to the band. One complete circuit. I could not tell who was having more fun, the band or the crowd. It was a good time by ALL.
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| All EYES & EARS are on The Electric Boa |
After their Performance, Cupcake and I were able to spend a few minutes with The Electric Boa's Vocalist Higgsy and Bassist Greg Cornwell in the venue's backstage lounge. An interesting observation about these guys: after they just killed a good set on stage, like a bunch of veteran Rock Stars, here they were backstage very approachable, gracious, & friendly. The Rock Star that is inside them, was left on the stage and was not out to show up the other band members or whoever else was around. Higgsy told me that as a band they have "no fights." If they can continue to master this talent, it will help them in their climb up their musical career ladder and avoid the pitfalls that have hurt many other bands like Guns N' Roses. I asked about the song "Cut Offs." Higgsy explained that people either "love it or hate it." I dare you to find someone who hates the song or anything else about this band. What is next for The Electric Boa ? The guys told me that their album CANDY COATED CYANIDE was just repackaged and reissued. They are currently writing for their next album. No title or release date as of the time of this blog post. This weekend they will be playing a benefit concert, next week the open for Skid Row & Kix, and in May they hit NYC (more concert info below).
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| Bassist Greg Cornwell & Lead Vocalist Higgsy of The Electric Boa |
Boggie, Duke, Axl, & Slash meet the guys from The Electric Boa.
-Alex & Cupcake
ORIGINAL MUSIC REVIEWS
www.OriginalMusicReviews.BlogSpot.com
HIGGSY - VOCALS
MORTEN G.P. - GUITAR
JOE FORTINO - GUITAR
JOHNNY DEE - DRUMS
GREG CORNWELL - BASS
A few highlighted up & coming Shows
Benefit Concert Sunday, March 25
@ Scottish Rite Theatre, Collingswood, NJ.
They go on at 8:15.
All info can be found at www.rockforhopenj.org.
Opening for Skid Row & Kix Friday, March 30
@ Havana, New Hope, PA TICKETS
The Electric Boa w/STAR II SUN Friday, April 6
@ Upstairs at Club Risque Philadelphia, PA
The Electric Boa Tuesday, May 8
@ The Bowery Electric, New York, NY TICKETS
**LIVE ELECTRIC BOA 12-22-12 VIDEO**