Saving Abel This Weekend

It was a fun time this weekend at the Saving Abel show!  VIA, from Minneapolis opened the show at the start of the night.  VIA has only been together as a group since April of 2013, but the drummer & bass player have played together for 7 years.  One thing I noted when they were on stage was how locked those two were with each other. They have an EP, 'Acid,' that they released in July of 2013.

J is their singer and rhythm guitarist, Evo, the lead guitar, and Ben is on drums.  After the band played their very energetic set for the night, they visited with fans over at the merch table.   Such energy to their performance, I dug it!  The band got signed to a record label and opened for the group 'Smile Empty Soul,' and really, for only being the band they are for under a year, have some massive accomplishments.   I ran into a couple of people who came to the show specifically to see that band VIA, not just for Saving Abel, which is saying something.

Three Years Hollow posted online that Rochester was moving & unforgettable!  Looks like they plan on coming back, but that often happens, doesn't it?  WE ROCK ROCHESTER! Seriously, look at how awesome we are here!  I love this photo the band snapped from onstage.

One of the guys from 'Three Years Hollow' ended up hanging out right by me for most of the evening, so I had a chance to chat with him for a little bit.   The guys had been on the road with Saving Abel for a while, even before the new singer joined the band.   They had a lot of fun performing during their show, and all of the band hung out at the merch table for quite some time talking to those at the show and taking pictures after they got off the stage.

'Three Years Hollow' is: Jose Urquiza: Lead Vocals; Tony Reeves: Guitar; Neil Kuhlman: Guitar/Vocals; Dex Digga: Bass Guitar/Vocals; & Chris Cushman: Drums.  They came from the Quad Cities, Iowa, so not to far from home.

The Wicked Moose was seriously packed for most of the night, in a perfect way, not too packed, not empty.   It seems that everyone pretty much arrived right away for the opening band which was nice, I like it when people don't arrive just before the headliner, because you really could miss out on some great music!   I liked all of the opening bands personally, and I'dve been bummed to miss any of them!   It looked like almost everybody caught the entire show this time too!  Premier Artist Productions, who provided this full house photo, [below], cited it was a 'Nearly Sold-Out Show'!

Blacklite District added an element of electronic sound to the evening. That band hails from South Dakota.  They were pretty awesome.   I have made it pretty well known to most everyone who will listen to me ramble about how much I love Nine Inch Nails, which is very heavily electronic and such, so this band was right up my alley.   Take a listen, [below], to their hit from early last year, 'Take Me To The Grave.'

Here is another one I really liked: [Warning - NSFW Language]

The evening wrapped with Saving Abel of course.  I know what everyone is wondering. How was the new singer?  Well, first off, they had a new singer and a new drummer.  This is their lineup:

Scotty Austin - Vocals
Jason Null - Guitars
Scott Bartlett - Guitars
Eric Taylor - Bass
Steven Pulley - Drums

Saving Abel has been here before, and yeah, they rocked! I was reading quite a few reviews prior to the show about this new configuration, and the reviews all seemed pretty good.  Even Jared Weeks himself recommended Scotty Austin.  He gave him the gig!   I can only imagine how hard that is to step into somebody else's role, but he did it.  He mentioned a few times on stage that he was a fan and has sang the songs before they elected him singer of this band, and he wanted to make sure that everyone knew that he wanted to do the best he could for us all.   Was he Jared?  No.   He had a different element, but I really did like the way he related to the crowd and he obviously wanted to do the best he could.   I think he did pretty darn good!  The crowd seemed to dig him from what I saw.  I'd love to hear your comments! Please feel free to comment below.

The drummer, Steven Pulley was also from the same band that the new singer, Scotty Austin came from, 'Thrash The Band'.  Check out this video of the two playing together in Nashville before from their other gig.

[Warning-NSFW Language]

During the show here in Rochester, Scotty Austin mentioned that this drummer Steven Pulley was actually born deaf, and he had some sort of operation, and here he is drumming! I love to hear stories like that of people who have overcome incredible odds.   He was very good, just ON! all evening.  I think that when you are faced with a challenge like that, you work really hard to overcome it, and maybe it makes you less prone to taking things for granted.

[Warning-NSFW Language]

I had fun!   How about you?