Egypt Central Review

 On Saturday, June 25^th, I had the chance to see Egypt Central perform at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs.  The Black Sheep is a small but well-established venue with the grunge feel of a punk rocker’s basement[b1] .  It was, unfortunately, not as full as it should have been considering the energy and sound of the artists it was hosting.  The crowd was mostly young and very enthusiastic; they were dressed in their rock concert best, black skinny jeans and pyramid stud belts.  They crowded around the front of the stage, giving the impression of a much fuller house than there truly was and several times during the course of the night, encouraged by the musicians, began loosely packed mosh pits.

            Three bands preceded Egypt Central’s performance.  All of them had similar, nu-metal sounds.  Aesthetic Delirium opened the show.  They’re a young local band and clearly have somewhat of a following.  Girls in the audience cheered loudly when drummer, Angel Perez, strolled onto the stage and stripped off his shirt before sitting down.  Aesthetic Delirium's guitarists, Nathon [b2] Otteson and Jaime Nelson, with Keith Kutach on bass[b3] , were brilliant.  They cranked out screeching guitar riffs with the ease; contorting their long, lanky bodies into the dramatic stances that make rock concerts so much fun[b4]  to watch.  The guitar performance was made all the more impressive by the fact that Otteson is missing two of the fingers on his left hand. Sydney Le, who does lead vocals, has a flexible voice that can croon melodically and growl raggedly.  Aesthetic Delirium was a fun band to watch and their sound, although clearly still developing, has a lot of potential.

            Candlelight Red, a new band of veteran musicians, followed Aesthetic Delirium.  Although none of the performances were particularly weak, I found Candlelight Red to be the least compelling band of the night.  Their music was good, it had powerful melodies and a strong, loud baseline, but thestage presence of the band members never seemed particularly in tune with each other.  Whereas Aesthetic Delirium’s guitarists and singer roved the stage, occasionally all coming to the edge to head bang in unison against the heavy beat of the drums, Candlelight Red’s musicians all stayed to their own specific part of the stage.  They jumped around a bit, particularly bassist Adam Zimmer and drummer Josh Hetrick, who played most of the set with a rather manic grin plastered on his face, but the performance somehow never felt particularly genuine[b5] .

            The night’s third act, Abused Romance, more than made up for Candlelight Red’s rather lackluster showing, despite some struggles lead singer and guitarist Meir Yaniv had with his mic and the beginning of the set.  Yaniv and second guitarist Amit Ofir played together with all the unspoken companionship that Candlelight Red lacked.  Abused Romance probably had the most melodic sound of the bands that performed.  Their guitars were a little lighter, their rhythms occasionally a little slower.,  Although with the amps cranked up and Roy Chen pounding on the drums like mad, their sound didn’t stray far from the chest rattling tone of the night[b6] .  Abused Romance’s songs seem to cover mostly, well, for lack of a better term, abused romance[b7] .  The songs they did, which were mostly from their new album, “Shine,” seem to involve tears, betrayal, and heartbreak.  It’s a theme that fits the band’s alternately hard and soft sound.

            When Egypt Central took the stage, the mosh pit that had been haphazardly starting and stopping took on new life.  Egypt Central’s sound is very listener friendly.  Its melodies are compelling without being overly catchy [b8] and the band’s lyrics have the sort of wistful rebellion that calls to mind bands like Social Distortion or Good Riddance. The title track of the band’s new album, “White Rabbit,” reads as a defiant stance against a more powerful and unjust world.  It’s a message that echoes throughout Egypt Central’s music and is further emphasized by front man John Falls’ stage presence.  Falls is a simultaneously aggressive and empathetic performer, and he has voice that ranges from tight and angry to ragged and idealistic.  Perhaps the best example of this can be seen can be seen in the contrast between two songs from the “White Rabbit.”  “Kick Ass,” which Egypt Central opened with, begins with the heavy drum line and guitar riffs almost reminiscent of a country song but quickly moved into a more heavy rock sound.  The song is a classic get on your feet and rock out anthem, with the lyrics “Stand up, get your hands up, are you ready to kick ass.”  The tone of “Kick Ass” contrasts strongly with the more world-weary, but sadly hopeful sadness of  “Dying to Leave,” which showcases Falls’ compelling voice as the song begs “It you’re dying to leave, and walk out on me, stand up and say it to my face.”

            Egypt Central combined the stage presence of rock stars with the intimacy of a small band.   There were moments when the stage seemed too big for the four person band.  Blake Allison, on the drums, set a gripping beat, but he was so far back on the stage that his performance was swallowed by the space between him and the rest of the band.  Guitarist Jeff James played the entire of the concert shirtless, leaping occasionally onto a table set at the back of the stage, but again, he sometimes seemed isolated.  The true standout was Joey Chicago, Egypt Central’s bassist.  Chicago had an incredibly charismatic stage presence and totally owned the space.  Maybe it was the pink mohawk

            Ultimately, though, Egypt Central’s performance was thrilling.  Their melodic, almost anthemic, hard rock style and their sympathetic lyrics are just plain good to listen to.  There’s nothing quite like a good rock concert.  Just the feel of it, when you can feel the vibration from the amps in your chest and see the sweat on a guitarist’s face, when the audience and the band are head banging in unison, that’s when you know it’s real rock concert.  Seriously, there’s really nothing like it and Egypt Central totally pulled it off.

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~Penelope Morgan