I like short songs, short sets, and a healthy dose of awesome as a cornerstone of my musical diet. For those on the same page, thrash masters Vektor, Iron Reagan, and Philly locals, Drones For Queens, broke off an ideal performance at the Kung Fu Necktie venue.
I arrived to hear some dense drum chops protruding through the PA speakers and was not surprised to find Evan Madden (Population Zero, Woe) ripping the skins in his new band Drones For Queens. Once again adjoined musically with his brother and shredding cohort, Shane Madden (Woe), this new addition to the Philly metal community shows a lot of potential. Solid mix of metal and punk with traditional elements combined with some emerging nuances. Will be fun to watch these guys progress.
Richmond’s rising hardcore thrash mongrels, Iron Reagan, who feature Tony Foresta (vocals) and Phil “LandPhil” Hall (guitar)of Municipal Waste and ex Darkest Hour members Paul Burnette (bass) and Ryan Parish (drums), hit the stage next. For this current tour with Vektor, Iron Reagan is borrowing Kicking Spit guitarist, Mark, who laid down the shred with the boys. We recently caught up with Tony and Ryan for an exclusive interview and track premiere of “Drop The Gun” from band’s forthcoming LP, Worse Than Dead, on A389 Recordings and Magic Bullet. Be sure to scope that if you are just tuning in. Not surprisingly the set was blistering and chock full on Tony’s patented satire including calling out some douche nozzle that was on his cell phone in the front of the audience for first half of IR’s set. No shortage of riffs and laughs as this 4-man wrecking crew plowed on through.
New to Philly by way of Arizona, Earache Records recording artists and sci-fi-worshipping riff monsters, Vektor hit the stage next. This was another curve-ball of a performance for BTS, as Vektor blasted into the opening number only to see drummer, Blake Anderson, annihilate his left double-kick pedal. With no other double-pedals in house, the heavily double-bass-reliant Vektor made the brave choice to push forward with a single pedal.
“That’s metal” Anderson remarked with a shrug and smile before improvising a solid rendition of the remaining songs. Fans were treated to a few rare and older picks due to the unique set of challenges. Things got even more interesting when an (over)enthusiastic fan up front managed to punch the top bass string and tuning peg right off of the bass in Frank Chin‘s hands. Such was part for the course as laughs were had and the shred continued again with as a new bass passed forward like a sacrificial lamb. We’ll be catching up with Vektor soon for an exclusive interview, so stop back soon. But before that-
Earache Records was kind enough to offer up a free copy of Vektor‘s 2009 release Black Future for lucky BTS readers.
Email info@blowthescene.com subject line “VEKTOR ME” with you name and address for a chance to win.
Winners will be notified via email on or before next Monday.
Without further ado, enjoy another set of exclusive galleries by BTS Senior Photographer, Dante Torrieri (Useless Rebel Imaging).
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