Last night I got the chance to hang with my fellow Q Crew members and watch Red Sun Rising rock the house at Lucky Strike Social! I'm posting about it a whole day later because it's basically taken me a day to process how phenomenal the show actually was.

Q103 presented a line up of four bands: Frank   Palangi, Moriah Formica, Badflower, and Red Sun Rising [headlining].  I've seen an absurd amount of live music in my life, let alone in the past year, but I have a hard time remembering the last time I felt 'blown away' by not just one or two acts, but by the whole line up. And that's exactly what happened.

I enjoyed the tunes of Frank Palangi, who warmed up a sold out crowd and got everyone in the mood to rock.  I caught this set from back of Lucky Strike by the sound board, and was able to watch them take command of the stage and the energy level of the crowd bump up a few notches.

Next came Moriah Formica, who I admittedly have never seen live.  I heard tons of buzz about her covering "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence during sound check- one of my favorite songs- so I was anxiously awaiting the set.  Of course that was the first song the band played, and Moriah came out singing possibly better than Amy Lee herself.  I am in no way exaggerating when I say my jaw hit the floor as Moriah began to sing, with her unwavering sound, her on point pitch, and her immense breath support.  I was not just in awe by her level of stage presence in comparison to her young age, but more-so at the fact that there was someone on stage who could really sing vocals comparable to female greats such as Amy Lee or the Wilson sisters [Heart].  And of course then Moriah went and covered Heart and I about lost my mind.

Following Moriah Formica was Badflower, a Los Angeles-based rock band reminiscent of modern rock acts such as Highly Suspect.  With a gritty rock sound that at times can also seem to cross into indie rock, they took over the crowd (and managed some monitor feedback in the most rock and roll way) with unique rhythms, melodies and screams, and tons of long flowing hair.  As they continued to play, the crowd got more and more sucked into their rock sound, and by the end of the set I'm sure they garnered tons of new fans (including me!).  They were such a change of pace from Moriah's set, but my mind was blown once again at the almost-perfect vocals, non-formulaic stand-out sound, and on-stage energy.

Last of the night of course were headliners Red Sun Rising, who brought their A-game to take over the show.  With yet another hometowner on stage [drummer Pat Gerasia being from Albany, NY] it was amazing to watch all of the rock and roll that has come from our Capital District.  The group played hits from "The Other Side" to "Amnesia," and took over the stage in such a casual but ridiculously energetic way. Mega props go to their stage tech also for running around in only boxer briefs managing the gear during the set.

Not that my faith in rock needed to be renewed, because there's so much good rock and roll right now, but I left the show with almost a sense of hope along with satisfaction.  I felt so revived with the genuine rock that I saw, and excited for the future of where these bands go.  To put it bluntly, my excitement and energy from the night of music alone basically was the equivalent of chugging 50 Red Bulls and doing a Polar plunge.

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Credit: Tatiana
Credit: Tatiana
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Credit: Tatiana
Credit: Tatiana
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Credit: Tatiana
Credit: Tatiana
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Credit: Tatiana
Credit: Tatiana
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