Pop Evil puts on a classic hard rock show at the Summit Music Hall

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Westminster, Colorado

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Pop Evil puts on a classic hard rock show at the Summit Music Hall

Posted on June 6, 2012

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Ever since I was first turned on to Pop Evil I’ve had a growing respect for them because of the way they handle themselves professionally and personally, and the way they put on a live show. I was familiar with Pop Evil the first time I saw them play at the Fillmore in Denver but I wouldn’t say I was smitten. By the end of their forty five minute set I was a full blown fan and knew that I would be seeing them again the next time they came through Denver.

When their record label emailed me and told me they were coming through Denver June 2nd I jumped at the chance to go check them out again. I was also able to interview Leigh again, and to be honest he treated me like a friend he hasn’t seen in months. All the guys in the band were very open and honest during the interview and I think that has a lot to do with the likeability of Pop Evil. They are a bunch of hard working guys that like to

By Tom Walsh

rock and have clawed their way through the music muck to get to where they are today. Pop Evil is the classic American rock band story and the guys seem to be very comfortable in their roles as American rock stars.

Anyway…..enough of my babble! On to the show review!

Last Saturday at the Summit Music Hall started off fairly slow with people trickling through the doors in groups of two and three at a time. There was a small crowd gathered at the stage by the time No 1 Left Standing started their set, but that small crowd grew and by the time Lola Black took the stage there was a full on crowd rockin’ at the Summit.

By the time Pop Evil was up the crowd had thinned somewhat but that didn’t stop Pop Evil from exploding on to the stage and dishing out some straight up rock n roll.

There is a definite energy when these guys get up in front of a crowd…..it’s almost like the audience is their drug and they get off on the audience as much as the audience gets off on them. You could really feel the bond that Pop Evil has with their fans and you could see the audience being drawn deeper and deeper into the music as the night went on.

Leigh’s voice was in fine form as he showed a fairly impressive vocal range belting out note after note. His vocal chords where standing out on his neck and beads of sweat started developing on his forehead, and just when you thought he couldn’t possibly get any more into the show he would ratchet it up a notch and go even harder. Leigh is a master at getting the crowd involved in the show and by the middle of the first song I’m pretty sure he had just about everyone there eating out of the palm of his hand, and it didn’t hurt that he was wearing a Rockies shirt either. This is rock music the way it was intended to be played and Leigh is the quintessential rock n roll front man.

While Leigh may be every bit of the rock star front man the rest of the band are no slouches either. Bassist Matt DiRito and drummer Chachi bring up the bottom end which is a big part of Pop Evil’s sound. They lay the bottom end on nice and thick, driving the songs with an almost reckless power as Matt runs around the stage, long ass hair going every which way, flashing his silver fangs every so often while Chachi beats those poor drums to death.

Dave Grahs and temp guitarist Nick Fuelling were spot on as well trading off licks and generally shredding on their guitars like their lives depended on it. Now, I know some people may have a problem with this since Tony Greve is no longer with the band. Everyone was saying that the band just wouldn’t sound the same because Tony was gone, and sad to say I bought into the hype. I went into that show thinking there was no way a temp guitarist could come close to pulling off Tony’s parts in the songs, but come to find out, nothing could be further from the truth. While Tony was an integral part of Pop Evil and a definite showman the fact of the matter is that if you weren’t looking at the stage you really couldn’t tell Tony was missing. I know…… sad right? Well I’m here to

tell you if you think Pop Evil is not going to sound like Pop Evil with Tony gone put your mind at ease. The show must go on as they say and Pop Evil didn’t skip a beat in getting someone in there that could do a great job at pulling off Tony’s guitar parts.

The songs that night were a mix of new and old. The crowd pulled out lighters for 'Monster You Made' and '100 in a 55' and moshed to most of the faster songs, and even moshed to a slow song. I could hear just a hint of a chuckle in Leigh’s voice as he said, “Where else but in Denver are you going to find people that will mosh to a slow song”. When the first notes of 'Bosses Daughter' rang out from the stage you could see the crowd tense for just a split second before everyone started bouncing on the soles of their feet and finally jumping to the beat before forming yet another mosh pit. Bosses Daughter is to Pop evil what Kick Start My Heart was to Motley Crue and the guys in Pop Evil seem to have a great time playing it.

The whole set went by in a flash and before we knew it Pop Evil was leaving the stage. That’s the way it goes when you’re having too much fun though, isn’t it……time just seems to fly.

Pop Evil sounds like they did five months ago and I’m sure they’ll only get better. This was a hard rock show plain and simple, with hard rock hooks and looks and a groove to make you move. In a world where rock stars are a thing of the past Pop Evil stands tall and shows us that rock stars do still exist.

For more info on Pop Evil visit:

popevil.com

www.facebook.com/popevil

www.myspace.com/popevil

twitter.com/#!/popevilmusic

http://www.youtube.com/user/PopEvilVEVO