Now, we’ll get to this week’s countdown. We’re kind of late to the Stone Sour party, but the circumstances for the past few weeks based on our process to select the songs on the countdown just never presented themselves to debut “Absolute Zero”. However this week the song has an explosive debut at #5 this week. Also debuting this week is the new track from Sister Sin called “End of the Line”. Another interesting story is that Phillip Phillips makes his way into the top 10 for the first time ever with his debut song “Home”. Dead Sara makes news again this week too because they were able to hold off Coheed for the second straight week to claim the #1 spot. Enjoy!

Issue Date: 11/11/12

Hair and Makeup!

I spent this past Saturday having a Halloween Extravaganza!  I hosted the Halloween Hellraiser!  T

he radio station I work for, (best rock station around!) had an outdoor show, that included a 5k Zombie Dash, which is a 5k race at night, where zombies chase ya around; and a concert with Dead Sara as our headlining band!

I love Halloween and I tend to go a little over the top when it comes to costume time… In the past I have done everything from Wednesday Adams, to Pebbles from the Flinestones, this year I chose one of my personal favorites; Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride!

I had an extensive day of makeup to give my skin that wonderful blue hue you see Emily rocking in the movie.  My friend and makeup artist Erick Rodriguez did the makeup and he did FANTASTIC!  The dress, looks like it was something that either cost me a crap ton of money, or took me forever to make, but in actuality it was a breeze!

Listen to this; I took a white dress I had from a winter formal dance about 13 years ago in high school and I dyed the bottom of it blue!  I wasn’t all fancy about it either,  I took a pot of boiling water, dumped in some Rit Dye, and then just dipped the bottom in!  After that I threw the whole thing in the dryer and to my sheer luck it turned out fantastic!

I took the scissors to it, added some sweet rhinestones, made a veil and voila! I was Corpse Bride!  The night involved a kick ass show, followed by a fantastic time out with some great friends around down town Grand Rapids.

I had to share a few photos, since I am very proud of my craftiness here…

My fellow co worker, Dave Kim and I were broadcasting live from the show!

Dead Sara!

End of the night, we did a “cell phone photo shoot” outside my favorite bar, Stellas! They have this fantastic brick wall covered in skulls! LOVE IT!

Yes there is an old mattress covered in plastic outside the bar… and yes I modeled on it for a full length shot of my dress =)

Alright, until next time…

Issue Date: 10/28/12

The Gaslight Anthem has gained some serious speed since their conception back in 2007.  This is now their second stint on the Beatdown. Both times gaining the championship title. Tonight we’ll see if they can go over the hump to day 3 with their latest off ‘Handwritten’ “here Comes My Man”. Which by the way, features the easy to stare at Elisha Cuthbert!

Tonight they will face off against a band that probably has one of the best female vocalist going these days. Emily Armstrong, no relation to the cycling cheater! Who fronts the band Dead Sara out of L.A.

Will TGLA pass their best effort to date? Or will Dead Sara take the title into Redemption Friday tomorrow?

Issue Date: 10/21/12

That’s what happened to the band Dead Sara, who will be spending the beginning of 2013 playing a string of dates with British pomp-rockers Muse.

“I’m not sure how it all came about, but we’d heard their drummer talking about us in some interview,” explained Dead Sara’s singer Emily Armstrong to CBS Local regarding the Muse tour. “He lives in L.A. now and he heard ‘Weatherman’ on the radio and was talking about it. We just kind of freaked out and told our manager, with the idea if they ever toured that could be our way in, you know?”

It’s easy to understand why Muse drummer Dominic Howard would respond to “Weatherman,” from their independently released eponymous album from their 2012 debut album. The song has become Dead Sara’s calling card, a raw, blues-saturated stomp of jagged riffs and Armstrong’s stunning vocals, clear as a bell even when she’s screaming over a wall of guitars.

“We’re not going to practice in the 8 x 8 rehearsal room like the one we’re in now. We’ll practice on a bigger stage before heading out,” Armstrong mused about how the band is preparing for the Muse tour. “I mean, they are f***ing arena shows! It’s going to take some adjustments for sure.”

Not that Dead Sara is wanting for attention. Armstrong’s voice has been recognized by none less than Jefferson Airplane legend Grace Slick, she was once recruited by Courtney Love to sing backing vocals and the band just finished a slew of shows alongside the Offspring and Neon Trees, where they made an interesting (and resourceful) new circle of friends.

“For some reason, we were hanging out with the crew a lot,” laughed guitarist and Armstrong’s partner in rock, Siouxsie Medley. “Both the Offspring and Neon Trees had awesome crews, and we became really good friends with them. We have all their number and everything. Especially the Offspring’s crew,” she added. “They helped us with everything. Every single one of us had a guitar break on the road, and they just fixed it. By the time we hit L.A., we were bringing them friends’ guitars to fix. They were so nice.”

Dead Sara had a decidedly different experience on this summer’s Warped tour, which the band eventually had to pull out due to Medley literally rocking out entirely too hard.

“I fractured a rib,” Medley explained. “My guitar is a (Gibson) Led Paul, which are very heavy. After years and years of playing it and jumping around and bashing into things and whatever, it created a stress fracture from basically my ribs knocking together, creating tendonitis between them. It built up over time and hit me pretty hard.”

A much happier 2012 memory comes from this year’s Sunset Strip Music Festival, where not only did Dead Sara perform, but Armstrong has the opportunity to get onstage with the remaining members of the Doors for a rendition of “Soul Kitchen.”

“It was definitely something else. I literally felt like I was levitating as I walked onstage,” she explained of the moment. “I had one rehearsal with them, and when we got out there they just decided to change the arrangement. It was all so crazy. All I remember is the sensation of floating, and it being super fun. The next morning I woke up and kind of freaked out, like, ‘I did that last night? Really?’ I had to check tweets and Facebook just to make sure.”

Dead Sara hit the road with Muse starting February 22, 2013, at the Bank Atlantic Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, winding their way through the Midwest with shows in Detroit (March 2) and Minneapolis (March 7) before winding up in Tulsa, OK (March 10).

–Scott T. Sterling, CBS Local

That’s what happened to the band Dead Sara, who will be spending the beginning of 2013 playing a string of dates with British pomp-rockers Muse.

“I’m not sure how it all came about, but we’d heard their drummer talking about us in some interview,” explained Dead Sara’s singer Emily Armstrong to CBS Local regarding the Muse tour. “He lives in L.A. now and he heard ‘Weatherman’ on the radio and was talking about it. We just kind of freaked out and told our manager, with the idea if they ever toured that could be our way in, you know?”

It’s easy to understand why Muse drummer Dominic Howard would respond to “Weatherman,” from their independently released eponymous album from their 2012 debut album. The song has become Dead Sara’s calling card, a raw, blues-saturated stomp of jagged riffs and Armstrong’s stunning vocals, clear as a bell even when she’s screaming over a wall of guitars.

“We’re not going to practice in the 8 x 8 rehearsal room like the one we’re in now. We’ll practice on a bigger stage before heading out,” Armstrong mused about how the band is preparing for the Muse tour. “I mean, they are f***ing arena shows! It’s going to take some adjustments for sure.”

Not that Dead Sara is wanting for attention. Armstrong’s voice has been recognized by none less than Jefferson Airplane legend Grace Slick, she was once recruited by Courtney Love to sing backing vocals and the band just finished a slew of shows alongside the Offspring and Neon Trees, where they made an interesting (and resourceful) new circle of friends.

“For some reason, we were hanging out with the crew a lot,” laughed guitarist and Armstrong’s partner in rock, Siouxsie Medley. “Both the Offspring and Neon Trees had awesome crews, and we became really good friends with them. We have all their number and everything. Especially the Offspring’s crew,” she added. “They helped us with everything. Every single one of us had a guitar break on the road, and they just fixed it. By the time we hit L.A., we were bringing them friends’ guitars to fix. They were so nice.”

Dead Sara had a decidedly different experience on this summer’s Warped tour, which the band eventually had to pull out due to Medley literally rocking out entirely too hard.

“I fractured a rib,” Medley explained. “My guitar is a (Gibson) Led Paul, which are very heavy. After years and years of playing it and jumping around and bashing into things and whatever, it created a stress fracture from basically my ribs knocking together, creating tendonitis between them. It built up over time and hit me pretty hard.”

A much happier 2012 memory comes from this year’s Sunset Strip Music Festival, where not only did Dead Sara perform, but Armstrong has the opportunity to get onstage with the remaining members of the Doors for a rendition of “Soul Kitchen.”

“It was definitely something else. I literally felt like I was levitating as I walked onstage,” she explained of the moment. “I had one rehearsal with them, and when we got out there they just decided to change the arrangement. It was all so crazy. All I remember is the sensation of floating, and it being super fun. The next morning I woke up and kind of freaked out, like, ‘I did that last night? Really?’ I had to check tweets and Facebook just to make sure.”

Dead Sara hit the road with Muse starting February 22, 2013, at the Bank Atlantic Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, winding their way through the Midwest with shows in Detroit (March 2) and Minneapolis (March 7) before winding up in Tulsa, OK (March 10).

–Scott T. Sterling, CBS Local

That’s what happened to the band Dead Sara, who will be spending the beginning of 2013 playing a string of dates with British pomp-rockers Muse.

“I’m not sure how it all came about, but we’d heard their drummer talking about us in some interview,” explained Dead Sara’s singer Emily Armstrong to CBS Local regarding the Muse tour. “He lives in L.A. now and he heard ‘Weatherman’ on the radio and was talking about it. We just kind of freaked out and told our manager, with the idea if they ever toured that could be our way in, you know?”

It’s easy to understand why Muse drummer Dominic Howard would respond to “Weatherman,” from their independently released eponymous album from their 2012 debut album. The song has become Dead Sara’s calling card, a raw, blues-saturated stomp of jagged riffs and Armstrong’s stunning vocals, clear as a bell even when she’s screaming over a wall of guitars.

“We’re not going to practice in the 8 x 8 rehearsal room like the one we’re in now. We’ll practice on a bigger stage before heading out,” Armstrong mused about how the band is preparing for the Muse tour. “I mean, they are f***ing arena shows! It’s going to take some adjustments for sure.”

Not that Dead Sara is wanting for attention. Armstrong’s voice has been recognized by none less than Jefferson Airplane legend Grace Slick, she was once recruited by Courtney Love to sing backing vocals and the band just finished a slew of shows alongside the Offspring and Neon Trees, where they made an interesting (and resourceful) new circle of friends.

“For some reason, we were hanging out with the crew a lot,” laughed guitarist and Armstrong’s partner in rock, Siouxsie Medley. “Both the Offspring and Neon Trees had awesome crews, and we became really good friends with them. We have all their number and everything. Especially the Offspring’s crew,” she added. “They helped us with everything. Every single one of us had a guitar break on the road, and they just fixed it. By the time we hit L.A., we were bringing them friends’ guitars to fix. They were so nice.”

Dead Sara had a decidedly different experience on this summer’s Warped tour, which the band eventually had to pull out due to Medley literally rocking out entirely too hard.

“I fractured a rib,” Medley explained. “My guitar is a (Gibson) Led Paul, which are very heavy. After years and years of playing it and jumping around and bashing into things and whatever, it created a stress fracture from basically my ribs knocking together, creating tendonitis between them. It built up over time and hit me pretty hard.”

A much happier 2012 memory comes from this year’s Sunset Strip Music Festival, where not only did Dead Sara perform, but Armstrong has the opportunity to get onstage with the remaining members of the Doors for a rendition of “Soul Kitchen.”

“It was definitely something else. I literally felt like I was levitating as I walked onstage,” she explained of the moment. “I had one rehearsal with them, and when we got out there they just decided to change the arrangement. It was all so crazy. All I remember is the sensation of floating, and it being super fun. The next morning I woke up and kind of freaked out, like, ‘I did that last night? Really?’ I had to check tweets and Facebook just to make sure.”

Dead Sara hit the road with Muse starting February 22, 2013, at the Bank Atlantic Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, winding their way through the Midwest with shows in Detroit (March 2) and Minneapolis (March 7) before winding up in Tulsa, OK (March 10).

–Scott T. Sterling, CBS Local

That’s what happened to the band Dead Sara, who will be spending the beginning of 2013 playing a string of dates with British pomp-rockers Muse.

“I’m not sure how it all came about, but we’d heard their drummer talking about us in some interview,” explained Dead Sara’s singer Emily Armstrong to CBS Local regarding the Muse tour. “He lives in L.A. now and he heard ‘Weatherman’ on the radio and was talking about it. We just kind of freaked out and told our manager, with the idea if they ever toured that could be our way in, you know?”

It’s easy to understand why Muse drummer Dominic Howard would respond to “Weatherman,” from their independently released eponymous album from their 2012 debut album. The song has become Dead Sara’s calling card, a raw, blues-saturated stomp of jagged riffs and Armstrong’s stunning vocals, clear as a bell even when she’s screaming over a wall of guitars.

“We’re not going to practice in the 8 x 8 rehearsal room like the one we’re in now. We’ll practice on a bigger stage before heading out,” Armstrong mused about how the band is preparing for the Muse tour. “I mean, they are f***ing arena shows! It’s going to take some adjustments for sure.”

Not that Dead Sara is wanting for attention. Armstrong’s voice has been recognized by none less than Jefferson Airplane legend Grace Slick, she was once recruited by Courtney Love to sing backing vocals and the band just finished a slew of shows alongside the Offspring and Neon Trees, where they made an interesting (and resourceful) new circle of friends.

“For some reason, we were hanging out with the crew a lot,” laughed guitarist and Armstrong’s partner in rock, Siouxsie Medley. “Both the Offspring and Neon Trees had awesome crews, and we became really good friends with them. We have all their number and everything. Especially the Offspring’s crew,” she added. “They helped us with everything. Every single one of us had a guitar break on the road, and they just fixed it. By the time we hit L.A., we were bringing them friends’ guitars to fix. They were so nice.”

Dead Sara had a decidedly different experience on this summer’s Warped tour, which the band eventually had to pull out due to Medley literally rocking out entirely too hard.

“I fractured a rib,” Medley explained. “My guitar is a (Gibson) Led Paul, which are very heavy. After years and years of playing it and jumping around and bashing into things and whatever, it created a stress fracture from basically my ribs knocking together, creating tendonitis between them. It built up over time and hit me pretty hard.”

A much happier 2012 memory comes from this year’s Sunset Strip Music Festival, where not only did Dead Sara perform, but Armstrong has the opportunity to get onstage with the remaining members of the Doors for a rendition of “Soul Kitchen.”

“It was definitely something else. I literally felt like I was levitating as I walked onstage,” she explained of the moment. “I had one rehearsal with them, and when we got out there they just decided to change the arrangement. It was all so crazy. All I remember is the sensation of floating, and it being super fun. The next morning I woke up and kind of freaked out, like, ‘I did that last night? Really?’ I had to check tweets and Facebook just to make sure.”

Dead Sara hit the road with Muse starting February 22, 2013, at the Bank Atlantic Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, winding their way through the Midwest with shows in Detroit (March 2) and Minneapolis (March 7) before winding up in Tulsa, OK (March 10).

–Scott T. Sterling, CBS Local

Issue Date: 10/14/12

“mikethought · 2,129 like this

12 minutes ago ·
I liken gun laws to abortion.
No one likes the fact that people shoot people and no one likes the fact that people use abortion as contraception.
The same way gun laws don’t stop gun violence…pro-life laws won’t stop abortions.

In both cases, I think the answer is the same…we have to give people the choice and hope they do the right thing.

You can’t be in favor of protecting the 2nd Amendment and be pro-life. It’s contradictory…it’s the same game with a different name.“

I could not agree more.  He has pre-empted my tirade on this topic so simply, and adroitly, that I cannot really add more to the argument.

Think about it, and tell me what you think.

MJ

PS the Facebook link to his original post “should” be http://www.facebook.com/mikethoughtpage/posts/10151043929167624

PS

Well, hey kid

You got the right

But the choice to kill

No, Son of Sam

Will let you in to turn against

- Dead Sara “The Weatherman” off their eponymous debut album

MJ

It’s been too long since I’ve written in this blog, mostly because the daily responsibilities often interfere with the more enjoyable activities. But now I have time between brushing my teeth and shutting off the light to give you a taste of what travels I’ve been up to. Maybe you’ll be inspired to make some plans of your own. Or maybe you’ll just skim through to the pictures. I won’t judge.

I just got back from New York and fell in love all over again. The best thing, the BEST thing about this trip, was the lack of plans. I stayed with a best friend, in his upper west side (how posh of us) studio, and did not do a single touristy thing. We walked thirty miles over the course of a week, drank a lot of cute coffee from cute coffee shops, saw a movie, went to a concert (The Offspring/Dead Sara/Neon Trees), drank a lot of cute alcoholic drinks from cute bars, and talked. I loved every second of my time there, and discovered something very important about traveling. Well, three things…

1. Travel to Visit Friends. Every time I have traveled to another state or even another country over the past ten years, with the exception of Italy, I traveled to visit friends. And there are so many benefits to going away to reunite with old pals. Free room and board. Free company. Free tour guide. So go out there and make friends, keep in touch, and travel to see them often.

2. Don’t Make Plans. Packing your journey into a crazy nonsensical schedule is really, well, stupid. It’s exhausting and will make you miss home. Make a few plans here and there, but see where the location takes you.

3. Always Be Thinking About Your Next Trip. Who can you visit next? Where will you go? Save up, and make the time. Make it happen before life gets in the way and it becomes too long (too long, too long) before you get to travel again.

If you must know, my next travel plan is to go to Northern California to visit another best from college. I try to follow my own advice.

And now…pictures of New York…

Bring Back ROCK AND ROLL!

Issue Date: 10/7/12

Dead Sara has released a new tour video featuring personal fan submitted photos alongside live footage of the band for the song “We Are What You Say” (Fan Edition), from their self-titled debut album.  the video, directed by Jared Sagal of Rockerazzi Films, also includes never-before-seen live concert and behind-the-scenes footage of the band, all taken from recent tours with Chevelle, The Used, The Vans Warped Tour, and the Sunset Strip Music Festival.  Dead Sara is currently on the road with The Offspring and Neon Trees in the U.S., before heading overseas to Europe for a U. K. tour with Twin Atlantic and the Vans Warped Tour show in London.  Additional tour dates will be announced.  Check out the new music video below as well as the confirmed tour dates!!!

Don’t forget to check them out on tour!!!

DEAD SARA CONFIRMED TOUR DATES:

DATE                      VENUE                                    CITY/STATE

October 2                San Jose Civic Auditorium          San Jose, CA w/The Offspring, Neon Trees

October 5                Hollywood Palladium                   Los Angeles, CA w/The Offspring, Neon Trees

October 6                Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion   Houston, TX

(BuzzFest with The Toadies, Three Days Grace, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Silversun Pickups and more)

October 7                 KDGE show @ Trees                   Dallas, TX

October 24               The Midland by AMC                    Kansas City, MO

October 27                WGRD Halloween Hellraiser         Grand Rapids, MI

November 1               O2 Academy Newcastle              Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK w/Twin Atlantic

November 3            O2 Academy Birmingham                Birmingham, UK w/Twin Atlantic

November 6            O2 Academy Bristol                        Bristol, UK w/Twin Atlantic

November 7            Southampton Guildhall                     Southampton, UK w/Twin Atlantic

November 8            O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire            London, UK w/Twin Atlantic

November 10           London Alexandra Palace                London, UK w/Vans Warped Tour

November 27            Shiprocked Concert Cruise              Ft. Lauderdale, FL (with Godsmack, Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, P.O.D., Sevendust, Filter, Fuel, and many more) * Additional dates TBA

Revolver says “the buzz around LA-based hard-rock outfit Dead Sara is reaching fever pitch” and indeed it is. The group has been earning accolades from radio and critics alike, while winning over fans coast-to-coast. Rolling Stone recalled the band “blending blues, hard rock and punk into a whirling energy,” with The Village Voice going on to illustrate them as a “sort of twisted-blues hard rock that feels like the product of people really enjoying playing the shit out of their instruments,” adding “If there’s any justice, especially in this year when the word ‘rock’ signifies a genre that is in flux enough so as to be anyone’s game, Dead Sara will stake their claim as a new kind of standard-bearer.”

Dead Sara’s 11-track self-titled debut, produced by Noah Shain (Atreyu, As Tall As Lions, Sonny Moore/Skrillex), is driven by the dynamic duo of two talented young women, singer Emily Armstrong and guitarist Siouxsie Medley. The band is rounded out by bassist Chris Null and drummer Sean Friday, creating an electrifying four-piece rock band whose supercharged music is propelled by Medley’s exhilarating, monster guitar riffs and Armstrong’s powerful, wailing vocals. Praised for their blazing impassioned rock and catchy guitar melodies, Dead Sara embody everything you want from a young, hungry, unpredictable and enigmatic rock band.
DEAD SARA CONFIRMED TOUR DATES:

DATE VENUE CITY/STATE
October 2 San Jose Civic Auditorium San Jose, CA w/The Offspring, Neon Trees
October 5 Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, CA w/The Offspring, Neon Trees
October 6 Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Houston, TX
(BuzzFest with The Toadies, Three Days Grace, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Silversun Pickups and more)
October 7 KDGE show @ Trees Dallas, TX
October 24 The Midland by AMC Kansas City, MO
October 27 WGRD Halloween Hellraiser Grand Rapids, MI
November 1 O2 Academy Newcastle Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK w/Twin Atlantic
November 3 O2 Academy Birmingham Birmingham, UK w/Twin Atlantic
November 6 O2 Academy Bristol Bristol, UK w/Twin Atlantic
November 7 Southampton Guildhall Southampton, UK w/Twin Atlantic
November 8 O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire London, UK w/Twin Atlantic
November 10 London Alexandra Palace London, UK w/Vans Warped Tour
November 27 Shiprocked Concert Cruise Ft. Lauderdale, FL
(with Godsmack, Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, P.O.D., Sevendust, Filter, Fuel, and many more)
* Additional dates TBA

Of the debuts, Youngblood Hawke and The Heavy are both making their first appearance ever on the countdown. Neon Trees find themselves back in the top 10 with their new track, and former #1′s Flyleaf and Dead Sara both reemerge again as well.

Among all of the madness though, Metric scored their first #1 song on our countdown with “Breathing Underwater”. That is quite a feat considering the competition this week presented. Enjoy!

Issue Date: 9/30/12

The line-up boasted a diverse array of tough-toned rockers including up-and-coming bands on the Monster Stage like Hyro Da Hero, Beware of Darkness, Crash Kings, Escape the Fate, and Hollywood Undead and bigger bands on the main stage Dead Sara, Chevelle, Scars on Broadway, Bush, and rock legends, Stone Temple Pilots.

In a rare festival feat, one of the best performances of the day occurred during one of the hardest slots. Houston, Texas export, Hyro Da Hero or Hyron Fenton, blasted onto the stage at 12:30p.m., the mid-day sun beating down on his brow and he never faltered. Fenton gave his rhymes a vicious bite with a heady, inventive combo of rock à la Rage Against the Machine, dirty south rap, and old school punk rock.

Fenton eased the crowd by pointing out the audience must be saying “that’s one crazy black muthaf**ka out there” and then, with a grin, instructed them to turn to the person next to them and say “f*** you.”

With middle fingers in the air and his DGAF mentality, Fenton was able to make a hundred sweaty faces turn into a mini mosh pit of people happily turning their angry energy into a big screw you to the world.

Operating on a whole different plane, black-clad Beware of Darkness were a moody affair, churning out muddy psychedelic-blues rock akin to Led Zeppelin and literate lyrics that made them more poetic than pitiless. For some, looking to bust some heads, that sent them off on search of beer.

Those who stuck around got to witness a band go from zero to sixty through the power of their well-written music and the sense of humor of their frontman Kyle Nicolaides. After playing a few chords and announcing, “that is our set. Now I go into the part where I read French poetry for twenty minutes,” technical issues sent Beware of Darkness down a path where they were consistently trying to redeem themselves. Instead of just giving up, the band plowed through, bluesing out with a rare indian summer breeze sliding past.

The audience stood by enjoying regardless, recognizing the talent of the boys without the perfect sound and when Nicolaides started grinding and pummeling his guitar on the floor, people ran over totally captivated. ”This is going to be an exciting show because none of my sh*t works,” joked Nicolaides. “I hope none of your shirt works so we can all be in this together.”

Bonus points go out to the boys for standing up for their sound guy.

We’d heard good things about Stone Temple Pilots’ tour mates, Crash Kings, especially the innovative keyboard/whammy bar combination that frontman Tony Beliveau employs. Also, Beliveau’s voice is just gorgeous, mixing classic rock grittiness and that Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin emotionalism with something dark, theatrical, and even Cabaret-ish.

With Crash Kings’ sultry tunes and attentive female fans, their cult following could turn into mainstream success any day now.

Escape the Fate loves to party and it showed when lead singer Craig Mabbitt asked the audience, “Show of hands; how many people have had a beer? How many people have had two beers? How many people have had four beers?”

When the audience admitted to their intoxication, Mabbitt called himself an “alcoholic” and them the “perfect crowd.”  The band then lead the audience into a frenzy with a high-energy set of songs like “10 Miles Wide,” “The Flood,” “This War is Ours,” and a new song called “Live Fast, Die Beautiful.”

If you’re a Hollywood Undead fan, you know why you love them. The masked mad men are provocateurs and they don’t care what anyone thinks. No matter what seemingly offensive thing came out of their mouths during their show at Epicenter yesterday, Hollywood Undead are entertainers, drawing in crowds with their loud, raucous musical style as much as with their expletive-strewn statements against their haters to “eat sh*t and die.”

Eventually peeling off their masks, the group drew the largest daytime crowd, playing songs like “Tendencies,” “Been To Hell,” and “City.”

“It’s good to be home. You guys aren’t drunk yet, are you? OK, I take that back. I’m sorry.” Lead singer of Dead Sara, Emily Armstrong, soon learned that the fun at Epicenter 2012 had started hours ago and the party feeling was infectious. Armstrong, wearing skinny jeans and a navy blue t-shirt, but she swung her mic and shrieked like a veteran rockstar.

Dead Sara is a tough-rocking band, but Armstrong has a beautiful, multifaceted voice, channeling Janis Joplin, Stevie Nicks, and a little bit of country twang, while also sounding like she could belt out some opera while she was at it with her sublime vibrato.

The Los Angeles-based band looked totally comfortable on stage playing songs like “I Said You Were Lucky,” “We Are What You Say,” and the amazing “Weatherman.”

Alternative metal band Chevelle gets the award for coolest stage prop of the night–a giant black bull. Perched on a gold stand and surrounded by their gold musical gear, the bull was representative of Chevelle’s latest album, Hats Off To The Bull, but also was a good visual indication of what their music sounded like: refined, but massive. Driving, but graceful. Chevelle is metal for the more discerning musical palate.

The band emphasized this with spoken word interludes between songs, violin sounds brining them onto stage with fanfare, and their polished stage presence. The also blew out some eardrums–the good way–with songs like “Sleep Apnea,” “Pinata,” “The Meddler,” “I Get It,” and “The Red.”

One of the bands that created the biggest audience buzz was Scars on Broadway, the side project of System of a Down’s Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan. People in the audience who weren’t familiar with Scars were telling their friends, “they sound nothing like System,” which was true to an extent in that Scars is more straight-forward, but there are definitely System sounding moments like Malakian’s warbled choruses and the socio-political content of some of the lyrics.

Playing songs like “World Long Gone,” “Sickening Wars,” and “Dictator,” the biggest hit of the night for Scars on Broadway was their naughty song “Chemicals.”

“We’re going to get a little vulgar with you Epicenter,” said Malakian. “Are you read my for us to get a little vulgar?” Indeed, they got vulgar, but they should have seen the audience up close. That was definitely some kind of babymaking song.

Bush played all the hits and they played them well. “Glycerine” made the girls gurgle, some even jumped through the aisles to get closer to the stage to touch Gavin Rossdale. “Everything Zen” made the whole audience start chanting in unison. “Machinehead,” the song they started off their set with, nearly caused a riot.

Then there was Rossdale’s stripping throughout the performance.

Going from a combat jacket and pony tail and ending up in a gun-flaunting silver-bedazzled muscle tank and his hair wild and free, Rossdale is the epitome of a rock star. Bush could have just stuck to that, setting the stage to a char and readying it for the mind-crushing melodies of the Deftones, but Rossdale had to one-up just about every other rock star we’ve seen perform.

Rossdale jumped off stage into the pit, but instead of just leaving his foray into the crowd at that, the singer ran up the aisle through the orchestra into the loge, throughout different sections of the loge, up near the grass and around the whole perimeter of the giant amphitheater while still singing in full control of his breath.

A few songs later, Rossdale made it back on stage effortlessly and covered in blood. “Blood and rock shows go together,” said the humble-sounding rock star without a tick and with a nod to the people up top that looked out for him.”But at least it’s my blood.”

Dudes loves the Deftones. While girls were ready to get naked for Rossdale, the California-born Deftones were making normally stoic bros in the audience yell out things like, “Yo, Chino. My man.” Whatever Chino Moreno has, the common man identifies with it. Maybe it’s because the friendly-looking lead singer looks totally cool and approachable.

Even when scorching the air with Deftones songs, Moreno seems completely relaxed. His entreaty of “oh, sh*t. What’s up?” seemed casual and relaxed–like he’s just some friend hanging out playing video games with you. Instead, he’s singing songs like “Rocket Skates,” “Diamond Eyes,” and “Digital Bath.”

And according to a hardcore Deftones fan right next to me, their performance of “Leathers” was the first time that’s ever been performed live. A perfect way for fans to get “faded and x-rated,” as Moreno said.

Grunge girl fantasies came true last night as Scott Weiland took the stage looking healthy gaunt and donning some psychedelic floral wonder blouse and a black vest. Stone Temple Pilots tried to play some bluesy oscurities or riff a little, but the crowd wanted their hits like “Vaseline,” “Meat Plow,” “Big Empty,” “Between the Lines,” “Plush,” “Big Bang Baby,” and  ”Interstate Love Song,” which Weiland explained grew to be at the now closed Cole Rehearsal studios in Hollywood.

In fact, we would have loved to just hear Weiland tell his life stories. Our personal favorite? How he said he saw the Smiths at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater when he was in college.

“It changed my life. For better or for worse,” joked Weiland. “Like a marriage.” And sort of like Stone Temple Pilots. We’re really glad they could kiss and rock out.

–Nadia Noir, KROQ Los Angeles