As the weather beings to heat up in the Northeast so do the rock shows coming down the highway. One of the touring bills that should be highlighted to check out is the combination of veteran rock band Bobaflex and young talents Romantic Rebel. On a sleepy Sunday afternoon, June 22nd, the tour buses rolled into Rockville Centre, NY to prepare for an evening of music and fun at Vibe Lounge.
After a series of local hard rock acts including Buried December, Revel 9, and The Hard Way warmed up the stage early, Chicago, IL band Romantic Rebel were ready to go. Coming together in 2012 when siblings KT Paige (vocals) and Alex Vincent (guitars) set out to form a gritty, no frills rock band, things fell into place rapidly. Recruiting Danny D (bass) and Marcus Lee (drums), the band took shape and began to burn the flame; playing loads of live shows, honing their skills, and raising attention. Recently re-launched Pavement Entertainment began to take notice of the band and wasted no time to sign them to their expanding roster of some of hard rock’s best bands. Now on the heels of releasing their debut self-titled studio album in April, the band takes to the road for their first ever national tour in support of Bobaflex.
Anxious to perform in New York for the very first time, after a quick sound check, Paige and her bandmates walked onto the stage to an unsuspecting crowd. Opening up with a blazing riff on the song “Nothing Left to Say”, Romantic Rebel turned heads immediately. With a sound of rock bands of yesteryear, their set moved on through more of their debuts from their album including “Disappear”, “Lie”, and “Believe”. Each song was equally as heavy, catchy, and powerful as the next. Paige has the voice of a classic female rock singer with passion and intensity in her delivery that not only reflects in the music but her stage presence. Moving about the stage, Paige showed composure and did not seem intimidated with this being the band’s first national tour. Do not let this budding vocalists petite frame fool you, she sings aggressively and forceful. It was not before long those hanging out in the back by the bar were all gathered in front of the stage grooving to the unbelievable guitar playing by Vincent. With clarity, precision, and soul, his chunky rhythms and vivid solos shined bright on tracks like “New Way to Sin” and “Alive”. With so many killer original songs up their sleeve, they even mixed in a flawless rendition of Skid Row’s “Youth Gone Wild” into the set which had many singing along and impressed with Paige’s range on the microphone. Romantic Rebel is blessed with raw ability to mix anthem like choruses, razor sharp vocals, and guitar grooves so irresistible that they are bound to explode to a new level soon. Rock fans rejoice, a new band is in town, and they will blow you away.
After some time to unwind a little and have a few drinks, faithful fans awaited Bobaflex. Hailing from West Virginia, Bobaflex is a band with an interesting and heartbreaking story. Formed sixteen years ago by brothers Shaun and Marty McCoy, within a few years of performing and writing music were signed by mega independent label TVT Records. Finding themselves as the face of the label kick-starting their rock image again, they were featured on the original Gigantour in 2005 and developed a buzz in rock. Then suddenly, as they were set to release their album Tales From Dirt Town, in 2007 TVT Records went bankrupt leaving the band in legal purgatory. Left for dead by the music industry, Bobaflex was unwilling to give up on their rock-n-roll aspirations and picked themselves up and regrouped stronger than ever. Now controlling their own destiny, the band released their powerful new album Charlatan’s Web in 2013 and tour religiously, spreading the word that they are here to stay. Bringing with them a dedicated following to Vibe Lounge, one fan even brought the band a beautiful custom made cake with their name on it.
Starting off with Shaun on vocals, the party erupted with “Chemical”, “Lowlife”, and “Rise”. Right in the face of the audience, Shaun blasted through each tune with ease in his distinctive rough rock tone as Marty jammed on guitar behind him with bassist Jerod Mankin and new guitarist Dave Tipple beside him. Long-time drummer Tommy Johnson crashed on the skins consistently and added the backbeat every great rock band needs. Providing strong performances with spot on playing and enthusiasm, next to follow were new songs “Strangle You” and “Pretty Little Things”. Receiving a warm welcome from the room of followers, it was time for Marty to take center stage for “Never Coming Back”, “Vampire”, “Slave”, the unmistakable “Bad Man”, and “Home”. Showing the grace of a classic frontman, Marty pointed at the crowd, sang with authority, and kept the rock flowing. Showing the brothers are equally talented yet different, the combination of the two feeding off each other and balancing songs made for one hell of an entertaining show. It is not too often a band can pull off two frontmen as easily as Bobaflex, and their ability to do so should set a standard for others in rock.
Moving right along and keeping the adrenaline pumping next was another new song “Losing My Mind” followed by a show stopper of Tipple taking the lead on vocals for the beautiful Beatles classic “Blackbird” and a harmonized band haunting Vibe Lounge with Simon and Garfunkel classic “Sound of Silence”. Daring to be different, the interjection of these ballads captured the attention of the audience and added an extra emotion and depth to the set. Clearly passionate about rock-n-roll history, their homage would make the original artists smile. Going back into their own archives, to fans delight they then played their older track “Guns A Blazin” before closing with their current radio hit “I’m Glad You’re Dead”.
Bobaflex have lived to tell the story countless others may have experienced, the only difference is they are still standing tall. Their music is rock-n-roll in its purist form and each performance feels more like a family gathering between themselves and fans. Catch the band as they continue to tour throughout the summer and see what so many others are talking about.
No comment