Away Team

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Photos by Marcy Royce

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD

Photos by Marcy Royce

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MY DARKEST DAYS
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Rams Head Live – Baltimore, MD

Photos by Marcy Royce.

Ever since their red-hot, feel good, systematic single, “Porn Star Dancing” was released last fall, MY DARKEST DAYS has intrigued me. I’ve been going back and forth on the cd with regards to lyrics, music and arrangement. Listening and analyzing. Then when their second single “Move Your Body” was released earlier this year, radio airplay made me take a better look at these Canadian rockers. I headed right to Best Buy and purchased my copy of their debut cd.

A favorite venue of mine that is always on my radar to watch for upcoming shows is Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore, MD. When I saw the announcement that MY DARKEST DAYS had been scheduled, I immediately felt the need to see these guys live for the first time. I needed to see if they were more than what I first imagined they would be. Read on to see just how I now feel.

The crowd was immense when I cruised  in to Ram’s Head. Already the main area was jam packed, revved up, and ready to rock out. And as I looked up and around to the second and third floors, they were also filled to the gills. Fans pressed their bodies up to the railings to be as close as they could to see rockers MY DARKEST DAYS and THREE DAYS GRACE. And for this girl, nothing gets me even more excited than knowing I’m going to receive some of that energy from the crowd as it passes to the stage and back to the crowd. A thrill, a rush, much like that first jolt from an energy drink.  I had begun to tingle with anticipation.

And off we went! MY DARKEST DAYS streamed onto the stage one by one to the almost deafening screams of the crowd. As I raised my camera to my eye, there he was filling every inch of my viewfinder, Matt Walst, lead vocals and rhythm guitarist. Holy shit, the set launched like a rocket with the first song of the night, “Save Me”. Those first chords of the bass set me up for what was to be a shocker. On the cd this song is melodic, rhythmic and a very good listen. However, live it is a totally different story. With the emotion of each member added to the lyrics and music, it just made this song skyrocket to a different level. I love this song live.

Next up was “Stutter” and “Every Lie”. Now “Every Lie” is a pop-riddled song peppered with rock riffs and licks. Not one of the best songs on the cd. However they pulled it off much better live than I expected. Bassist Brendan McMillian was in constant motion making it hard for me to capture his energy in a still photo. HA HA! Sal Costa is one of those lead guitarists that just makes you watch and not be able to look away. I was positioned in front of him for the latter half of “Every Lie”. I love his voice, his range and his presentation. He’s one of those guys I would love to interview some day. He just oozes with a feeling that makes me want to learn more about him and MY DARKEST DAYS.

The remainder of the setlist was: Jam, Move Your Body, Come Undone (Duran Duran cover), Fucked Up Situation and to the delight of all the fans, Porn Star Dancing.

“Move Your Body” is a lyrically weak song made for a sex set-up, but it is musically strong. Very foot-tapping, body-moving and a feeling good kinda mood song. I found myself bouncing around.  “Come Undone” was covered surprisingly well live. And many rockers in attendance who lived through the 80’s hair band days were singing along and enjoying the song. And of course, the only song they could close the set with would be “Porn Star Dancing”. Holy shit. The crowd went wild! And from where I was standing the crowd sing-a-long level was about equal to the stage level. Awesome! Gave me tingles.

As you can see the theme of the night for MY DARKEST DAYS was SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE. I wasn’t planning to be blown away, but they delivered the goods and made me take notice. They are most assuredly a band to see live before you discount them as unworthy. They are not the best of their genre, but I’m sure they will be rising through the ranks as time goes by and they release a few more cds. Their debut has its merits but it’s not earth shattering. I believe they have more in them that needs to come out. I think they played it safe on this release. I yearn to see more from them. Especially with having the likes of Chad Kroeger involved.

I will anxiously await the next cd, whenever that may be. In the meantime, go check out their site www.mydarkestdays.com for tour information, videos, photos and extras.

Special thanks and a shout out to Bonnie McGrew with Chief Music Management for making this opportunity happen for me and the Away-Team.