Taproot, Silence Is Broken, Vintage Burning and 2211 – Saturday, November 5th, 2011 at The Back Bar in Janesville, WI
Saturday night’s show at The Back Bar in Janesville, WI started out with Janesville-area band 2211. They have been together for about 16 years and have opened for large national bands around the northern Midwest. 2211 got the evening off to a great start, energizing the crowd that was slowly filling up the venue in preparation for the headlining acts. They had a good sound and a decent stage presence along with catchy original music that the crowd seemed to enjoy.
Following 2211, a band from Beloit, WI came on as the crowd got even bigger. Vintage Burning, with amazing singer Amy Kroning, came blazing onto stage with so much energy that it could be felt throughout the entire venue. I have seen Vintage Burning on one other occasion, but must not have been paying attention because this show blew me away. During my personal favorite song, Hypocrite, the band really engaged the crowd in the music, which I believe is one of the most important aspects of a live show in smaller venues like The Back Bar. As someone who usually does not enjoy rock or metal bands with female lead singers, I surprise myself by highly recommending this band to anyone looking for a great high energy show.
Third in the lineup was Silence Is Broken, a band from Rockford, IL that has been around since 2005. As usual, Silence is Broken had a fairly large following of fans packing the bar tight. They played many of their well-known songs that much of the crowd obviously knew. Having seen this band many times, I usually know what to expect, but the energy level was higher than average at this particular show. All of the band members, especially vocalist Aaron Fishel and guitarists Jamison Parker and Mike Friese, seemed to be on their game. Of all of the songs Silence Is Broken played at this show, One Bullet Away got the best crowd reaction and was executed stunningly. This was definitely one of their top performances in my experience.  |
| Photo from Taproot's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/theband 2211/232727120543?sk=info#!/photo.php?fbid=101 50310705295788&set=a.1015031027442578 8.562660.30785450787&type=3&theater |
It was tough to follow a great act like Silence Is Broken, but if anyone could have done it at this show, its Taproot. Taproot is from Ann Arbor, MI and has been (according to their Facebook page) “melting faces and mending hearts since 1997”. After all of the build-up from the preceding bands, Taproot did not disappoint. Front man Stephen Richards drew in a huge crowd and delivered a high intensity, animated performance that lives up to their reputation as a hard rock band. Taproot played many great songs, including fan favorite “Poem,” which had the entire venue singing along. In addition to their performance, their charming demeanor won over the hearts of all in attendance. From silly faces, to fun banter with the crowd and the sound person, to taking people’s cameras and cell phones and filming for them from onstage, Richards definitely knows how to work a crowd. Likability and charm are sometimes more important than pure talent, but Taproot is lucky enough to have been blessed with all three.
Although this show was a forty-five minute drive from Madison, it was definitely worth it. I don’t think anyone left disappointed, including myself. There was a band and a style for everyone.
Vintage Burning's bass player had awesome enegry!!
ReplyDeleteNicely written! Your passion really shows! More exclamation points! !!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this review, we really appreciate it Jody!! Much love from Ames of Vintage Burning!
ReplyDeleteNicki wrote the review, but I totally agree with her :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't see her name at the bottom, just your name on the post on the facebook page. Thank you both Nicki and Jody for the blog!
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