The Carolina Theatre in Greensboro, NC recently played host to a good old fashioned rock and roll party. The new travelling rock show consisting of Kopek, my Darkest Days, Saving Abel and headliner Hinder pulled into town on January 27. Their agenda was simple: to thaw out the frozen town and to keep rock and roll alive in the Carolinas.
Kopek kicked off the show right on time to a half full house. The ones who were there got treated to a solid thirty minute set from this Irish band. Lead singer Daniel Jordan has a very unique voice and is a worthy front man. Low on style, but heavy on substance, they slowly warmed the crowd over. “Cocaine Chest Pains” and “Love is Dead” got the loudest crowd responses.
My Darkest Days were up next and the floor quickly filled up when they hit their cue. Discovered by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, this band has developed a very strong and loyal following in a short amount of time. Their set really got the crowd fired up! It included a great cover of Duran Duran’s “Come Undone”. It was true to the original, but with an added rock edge to it. The set ended with their huge lead-off single “Porn Star Dancing” and everyone in the building was on their feet for this one. Lead singer Matt Walst is great fronting this band and his voice was top notch. The ladies did seem to be very taken to their shirtless, mohawk sporting guitarist Sal Costa.
Saving Abel took the stage next and kept the crowd pumped up. Touring in support of their latest CD “Miss America”, the bands energy may have been just a step down from My Darkest Days, but they did sound awesome. Lead singer Jared Weeks interacted a lot with the crowd and even dedicated a song to the troops serving overseas. “Addicted”, off of their first CD, got the crowd rocking as well as their latest hit “The Sex Is Good”.
It was finally time for Hinder to hit the stage and at that point, the crowd was hot and ready for them. In a time when most bands depend on a lot of flash and props to make up for a lack of actual talent, Hinder proved that they were not in that category. Lead singer Austin Winkler was definitely schooled in the eighties front man genre. He strutted around the stage enticing screams out of the women while at the same time encouraging the men to band their heads! He had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. The band was there to have fun and wanted the crowd to forget about their nine to five troubles for ninety minutes and enjoy this rock and roll party.
The set was a good mix of tracks off of their new CD “All American Nightmare” and their previous two releases. The band is all about partying, but they have also found a niche amongst their fans with their eighties inspired power ballads. “Better Than Me” and their huge hit “Lips Of An Angel” got two of the biggest sing along that night.
The band was tight and proved themselves worthy of headlining this bill. All bands did a meet and greet after their sets that night and met fans and signed autographs. The music industry is truly struggling with the issue of illegal downloading. When acts like these allow the fans to get one on one contact with them, it is a great marketing tool that needs to be utilized by more bands.
It was a fun night full of great rock and roll. Hats off to the beautiful Carolina Theatre for bringing such a great event to their venue. It is a small, intimate theatre complete with an upper balcony and the acoustics in the place were incredible. The theatre is a classy place with a top notch staff. Here’s hoping that many more great acts will make at a stop at this wonderful venue.
