I originally became aware of Tyler Bryan and the Shake Down back in December 2017 when I was assigned to write a review for the new album by another magazine (link at end.) I have to admit, it was not what I expected. This is because here in CT we have a Grateful Dead tribute band named Shakedown. Needless to say, I was more than pleasantly surprised! I had been wanting to see them live since first hearing, and falling in love with the album. One thing we need to clear up right now, if you are a rock fan you MUST see a TBSD show. Equally important, if you do, and are not blown away, we probably cant be friends. ok, glad we worked through that.
TBSD are currently on the road with Blackberry Smoke, and have just played several North East shows. I was finally able to catch two of them. The first show was at The Webster Underground in Hartford. This was a very unique show, TBSD were headlining and played to an unfortunately small crowd. The guys were not swayed buy this in the slightest. All it did was create for an extremely unique and entertaining show! throwing away their set list, and even going into the crowd at one point! Caleb has a stand alone tom that he brings to the front of the stage during their show, this night he took it all the way to the floor, Tyler even joined him! CLICK.
Not only are they killer musicians, but a great bunch of guys. They hung at the merch booth after the show and talked with their fans, that is always so cool. I had a great time talking with them and found out we had some mutual musician fans. (shout out to The Wild and Rick Dover of The Biters)
At this show I picked up the vinyl version of the new self titled album as well as CD’s of From the Sandcastle and Wayside. The biggest difference in my opinion to the latest album, and is true with Wild Child as well (which I picked up at the second show) is the production. It sounds incredible and is a great place to start if you are unfamiliar with TBSD. As with all their albums, there is an incredible mix of mellow and hard hitting songs. They all have that soulful blues feel. This come as no surprise as Tyler learned guitar at a young age from the late Roosevelt Twitty. It also sounds the least like they do live. The early albums are a tad bit more raw, but that said, you need to get all of them!
So a week later, back on with Blackberry Smoke, I get to see more more tradition TBSD show at College Street Music Hall in New Haven. I am so glad I got to see these two totally different show. The second was a legit stage, with great lighting, everything looked and sounded incredible. Im not going to go on and on about what incredible musicians and song writers they are, isn’t that kind of obvious? What I love is their interaction on stage. This is about the most fun I have ever seen band have on stage. The looks the guys give each other, Tylers GIANT smile, they ALL actually smile. You can see and feel the love for what they do, they are living in that moment. wether they are crushing a full blown rock song CLICK, or taking it down a bluesy notch CLICK they are giving it all they’ve got!
To me music, and life, is all about connections. We all want to feel connected, as music fans we connect with our music. TBSD makes it easy to connect, so much energy and emotion! The fact they remembered me (and other fans from last weeks show), referenced things we previously talked about and genuinely seemed happy we were they. That is how you make die hard life long fans. I wish these dudes Tons of success, hell, they have already toured with AC/DC and Guns and Roses!!!
Next time they come around you can bet I will be there! hopefully then I will be able to photograph and share photos of the show with you! Now go “LIKE” TBSD and everyone I mentioned in this article. And make sure you read my review and check out all my pages!
thanks,
Anthony!!!
frisketti.com <– My photo page!
theindustry.rocks <– The magazines page!
Hailing from Southern California formed in 2014 by vocalist Nick Reese, guitarist Blake Allard, bassist Greg Braccio, and drummer Robert Soda
At one point he jumped off the stage and ran through the entire arena, giving high-fives and doing flips!
You will not be sorry you did. Buddy Guy, Billy Cox, Joe Satriani, Johnny Lang, Dweezil Zappa, Doyle Bramhall II, Eric Johnson, Dug Pinnick, Mato Manji, Chris Layton, Calvin Cooke, Chuck Cambell, Kevin McCormick, Henri Brown.
They take Black Sabbath songs, which they play perfectly, and change the lyrics to warn us about the dangers of fast food. Such as “Sweet Leaf,” has become 
Their artwork and a little bit of the diversity of their sound reminded me of one of my favorite bands, 
I think Damn Your Eyes have the perfect line up of musicians to light up the hard rock metal world. My favorite part of “Low Road” is it’s hard core but not overdone. You can hear and understand every word, and the heavy riffs and beats have a quality melody that makes it all come together perfectly. This is a band I will be keeping an eye on and listening to in the future.
The band’s mission is to encourage those who have reached a point where life has lost its spark through driving, melodic, and hard-hitting music.
I have jammed to Cannibal Corpse for years, but until Monday night, I had never been able to see them live… they did not disappoint! Their presence was as invigorating as it was terrifying! The light show was great, and as a photographer, I wanted to kiss the feet of the sound/light technician running the show!
You want to talk about being true to your craft and heritage, these guys from Stockholm, Sweden nailed it hard on both points! I was watching in absolute awe at the show these men were putting on, and I found myself screaming in my head to get in gear due to the fact I was only allowed 3x songs to photograph and I can watch the rest of their set later! As I watched Johan Hegg (lead vocals) directing the crowd and riling them up in his gauntlet clad forearms and fists pumping into the air, I found myself wondering if we were going to all unite to pillage and plunder the city. Luckily, I remembered that that both Johan’s , Olavi, and Ted were doing an outstanding job of getting us ready for what was still to come. This meant that any pillaging and or plunder would have to wait until later in the night. As the set unfolded, and Johan was singing out to us in what I can only describe as a newly found Viking metal, he was all over the stage, he was on and off the boat, and I swear that it felt like he was inviting us all to voyage with him. I would like to think that for that time Amon Amarth played, we did just that.
The cheers were getting louder, and then Chris Adler took his seat at the drums and started pounding away, the screams and cheers louder still. Willie Adler walked out to the far side of the stage from me, and you saw the crowd rush the barrier. Then you saw Randy Blythe come out and running from one side stage to the other, and finally I saw Mark just a couple of feet from me. At this point, the crowd was deafening! These guys just tore the place apart! I was shocked that the energy of these fans and feared they would have no energy left for Slayer. Lamb of God is another band I have long listened to, and yet have never been able to see in person until now. I can say that I have watched videos, and I have imagined a show for many years, on this night these guys proved to me that their light show and sounds were not anything that you can imagine. The way that Randy was running and jumping, then watching the guys feeding off the energy of the crowd, the louder we got, the more pumped these guys were, and they returned that energy to us ten-fold through the speakers and visuals!
Still cooler, not
This is based on their look and sound. Then again, based on there look they kinda sound like what you think, but not really. Kinda NY hip, kinda Nashville twang? Upbeat, catchy, great vocals, and lots of fun! The drums are hard hitting for sure. Then out of nowhere one song has a Lap Steel! Then there is “Last Days” which has a Beatles vibe to it. Hmmm, maybe I’m completely wrong? The more I think about they ARE NY. I guess I’ll end with “refreshing.” So let’s recap, “unexpected & Refreshing.”
friskettiphoto.wordpress.com 