Those who live in New York, or visit the great state, for Halloween could have been doing a multitude of things on the fun Fall holiday in 2014. They could either have attended the Halloween Day Parade in the West Village of Manhattan, a yearly tradition since 1974, possibly stay home for trick or treaters, or make the lucky decision to come out to Bowery Electric in East Village to see fellow New York Rock band The Raskins.
The twins Raskin, Logan and Roger, began their career in the Rock-n-Roll world in 2011. Working hard on the scene, they did not release their first full-length album until earlier this year in May, just prior to being chosen as the opening act for the biggest tour of the summer with Alice Cooper and Motley Crue. Joining the brothers along their musical journey are White Lion drummer and Rockett Drum Works endorser, Troy Patrick Farrell, and Bassist Johnny Martin, who has played for the Chelsea Smiles, Jesse Malin, along with many others. Finalizing the line-up is “new-comer” on lead guitar, the Australian import, the young Ronnie Simmons, who has played with Rose Tattoo along with his own band LUST. Keeping up with the spirit theme of Halloween, Martin did fantastic make-up job that would make one think it was Alice Cooper on bass. Then the creative personality Simmons came out dressed as what looked like a Goth Daisy Dukes with pigtails and fishnets, and a good one for sure!
Coming out on to the stage at about 10:15 PM complemented by intro music from Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) playing throughout the club, Bowery Electric was filling up quickly with many excited spectators. Once the intro died down, they blasted straight into “Save Me Now” from the self-titled album. Continuing along, full of energy, the songs consisted of “One More Try,” “Wasted Time,” and a highly vibrant cover of Greg Kihn 1981 “Breakup Song.” Rolling forward, the show went on and everyone in the audience were with the band as they played, giving off every single ounce of effort they had, without a soul wanting this evening to end. It was a fun-filled and extremely entertaining; exactly what a Rock show should be. Mixing in other songs heard live on the Crue/Cooper tour such as “What About Us,” their Billboard single, “On the Radio,” “Kiss You One More Time,” “Find My Way Home,” lead album single “We Had It All,” and finalizing their performance, a killer rendition of Iggy Pop’s “Search and Destroy.”
Being the opening act on such a major tour, The Raskins are only given twenty-five to thirty minutes each night to make an impression on a pretty rough crowd, more than likely, anxiously waiting to see Cooper and then Motley Crue. On this Friday Halloween evening, with no time restrictions, they were able to play a full blown set. Those who may have attended the Madison Square Garden show a few days earlier on the 28th, only caught a glimpse of what the Raskins have to offer. If they intrigued a crowd at Madison Square Garden, where names are made or broken, then The Raskins positively obtained new fans by the time they finished their Bowery Electric show that was full on energy and fun rocking tunes.
No comment