Wow! Did we have fun this weekend!!! In Like Lions rock! They put on a high energy show with a lot of drive and color. Say mix Kings of Leon with Staind and U2 and you can picture what we heard this past Friday. From a production view, it was an easy show. They have a very basic sound and although the guitarist James Bridges pedal board looked as if NASA had assembled it, it didn’t require much from us to get the In Like Lions message across. Chris Bro of NEXT Music runs by the motto of “Finding you your next favorite”. He may have succeeded at this show for many people. Looking forward to working with this crew again.
Previously we gave you a quick review of the April 21st show. Now we will give you a taste of what you missed. To me, The Modern Electric were an upbeat mixing of today’s alternative rock with 1 part 1970’s Billy Joel and 1 part 1970’s Elton John. They just have a familiar funky groove with a modern flow. You really should check out their material. And go see them live!
During the summer of 2011 we got the chance to work with Cynthia Sandola at JB’s Of Wilton as they put on a biker bash to bring back the old Marcus Dairy days. For non-CT people, Marcus Dairy was a restaurant/dairy in Danbury, CT where bikers would gather through out the summer with bands and vendors. It was closed a few years ago and turned into Audi/Porsche of Danbury. Cynthia and the JB’s crew wanted to bring back that magic and hired BNK Productions to help them put on the musical side. Cynthia had an immediate and strong effect on us. She was beautiful and caring, with a child like excitement and a sweet laugh. We enjoyed working with her, sharing laughs all summer long. On the tenth anniversary of 9-11 we worked together to raise money for Tuesday’s Children. Preparing for this you could really see her caring nature. To meet her you would just feel in your heart that you just met a genuinely sweet person. Sadly, we received word last night that Cynthia had succumbed to her battle with cancer. Our hearts are heavy and broken today. We’ll truly miss you and your smile. It was always fun to sit and talk with you after the shows and share laughs. To leave us so young is truly stunning. Thank you for those wondeful moments.
“B”, Nick, & Keith
An Unexpected Pic of Nick with Cynthia Sandola
The last show we did with Cynthia included The Matt O’Ree Band and this song is very fitting.
Once a month we work with Chris Bro of NEXT (a new music show/podcast www.allthingsnext.com ) at his charity concert series. These shows are the greatest experience for us. We meet and work with different musicians and musical styles on a monthly basis. This is incredibly fun for us as it brings us new things to work with while we enjoy music we might not have found on our own. That’s what NEXT is! That’s what Chris does! He introduces you to something you may not have known you would like.
The last show was April 21st. A Saturday. This isn’t the normal time for The NEXT Charity Concert series as they’re usually scheduled on the second Friday of every month. Performing on the 21st were two amazing bands, one, The Attic Ends, we knew would be amazing. The other, The Modern Electric? A pleasant surprise. The night was opened by the lovely Lily Arnell who with her acoustic guitar started the night elegantly.
The Modern Electric had such a great energy seemingly pulling 70’s pop rock vibes into a tight show. The show started with Where I Belong which has the strength to be played on any of pop music radio stations.
The highlight of the show arguably may have been their song David Bowie (Save Us All). It seemed from the position of the production desk, looking around, people really caught the groove here.
Really looking forward to them coming back to headline a NEXT show in the near future.
Headlining the night was The Attic Ends. This was a great bunch of musicians to work with. The setup of three keyboards, a guitar, and drum set was simple and achieving a clean sound was easy. Musically they were a different trip from The Modern Electric as they have a rather ethereal sound with Indian/Asian influences. Samantha Rex’s beautiful and soulful voice seemed to linger over a bed rolling tones from the rest of the band.
They moved through nearly 50 minutes of changing emotions. Personal highlight was listening to Samantha sing Manic Moon. Which hopefully I can post soon!
May’s show is just over a week away featuring a Boston band this time, In Like Lions. Having looked at some of their stuff, it appears this is going to be another fun show. This show returns us to the Friday norm! These shows are really fun and they support 2 charities. If you like watching live music these shows are a must see!
