Review by Jenna Hughes. Photos by Ken Lackner.
Revolver’s Hottest Chicks in Rock Tour rolled through Atlanta on Friday, February 21 at The Masquerade. The line-up featured the best of today’s hardcore scene, including Sick Puppies, Lacuna Coil, Eyes Set To Kill and Cilver.
Cilver, a rock quintet out of New York, took the stage first, riling up the crowd with their infectious energy. The hard hitting single “In My Head,” featuring Bumblefoot of Guns N’ Roses, was the highlight of the short but sweet set. The band’s debut EP In My Head recently dropped on February 20.
Eyes Set To Kill was up next as the crowd continued to grow and push closer to the stage. This female-driven post hardcore trio out of Phoenix, Arizona recently released its fifth studio album, 2013’s Masks, which is something of a revelation in the band’s career. Vocalist Alexia Rodriguez has said, “I felt like we were wearing a bunch of masks to impress people. We have gone through so many changes over the years, but it wasn’t about anybody else. It was about us and we’ve really found the band’s face at this point. We aren’t wearing masks anymore.” The album’s title track opened the band’s set, followed by “Killing In Your Name,” also from Masks. The rest of the set was primarily new material, with the exception of “Where I Want To Be,” from 2011’s White Lotus.
The crowd was pumped and ready for Lacuna Coil as they hit the stage next, launching into “Trip the Darkness,” from 2012’s critically acclaimed Dark Adrenaline. Co-vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro worked the crowd effortlessly as they continued with “Kill the Light” and “Intoxicated” from the same album. The band recently completed its seventh studio album, Broken Crown Halo, set to drop on April 1st. The band said of the new material, “We set the bar pretty high with Dark Adrenaline and it hasn’t been easy bringing our sound to the next level; but we have lived, learned and grown through a year full of personal issues and changes. We learned to be strong and get stronger. And we felt an inner vibe in this band that we haven’t felt before.” The new songs seem to return to Lacuna Coil’s roots; they’re raw and emotional while still bringing the hard hitting rock the band is known for. New song and current radio single “Die and Rise” features both vocalists playing off one another in a way only they can and “Nothing Stands In Our Way” has the potential to be one of the greatest rock songs of 2014.
Sick Puppies was the final act of the night, launching into “Die To Save You,” from 2013’s Connect. Front man Shim Moore was a nonstop energy, keeping the crowd on their feet and fist pumping through every song. “Cancer” and “Pitiful” from 2007’s Dressed Up As Life satisfied the band’s old school fans and new songs “There’s No Going Back” and current single “Gunfight” kept the set going. Bassist Emma Anzai, the band’s resident “hot chick,” is featured on vocals in many of the new songs and her vocal compatibility with Moore brings a new element to the live show, best done in the song “Walking Away.” The set also featured plenty of songs from 2009’s Tri-Polar (arguably the band’s best effort to date) such as “Riptide,” “Maybe” and “War.” Fan favorite and massive radio hit “You’re Going Down” closed out a great night of hard hitting rock at The Masquerade.
Full Photo Gallery of Sick Puppies
Full Photo Gallery of Lacuna Coil
Full Photo Gallery of Eyes Set to Kill
Full Photo Gallery Cilver
