A Friend of FallacY Hears Anvil Ring in Houston

Photos and Review by Carox

John Escamilla of Jetspeed Entertainment is a professional, straight-up businessman intent on bringing fresh, live, dynamic music to Houston. Last year I saw performances ranging from Lita Ford to Testament. A list of all his shows would take up a page by itself. John works with local bands, too, to give them a share of the limelight so the events are usually well-attended and diverse. This night was no different. I drove up and the sight of several tour buses/trucks made me salivate as always. I parked in the convenient backstage parking and walked to the ticket booth, ready to immerse myself in the usual Warehouse busy buzz.

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Tonight I am VIP guest for FallacY, a band I have been following since 2010 with my camera and intrepid Kia. The neatly organised venue is divided into two areas. Tonight’s show is in the more intimate studio. There is always great security and staff; for the ladies this is a big plus. The staff “have your back” which, in Houston, is an important thing, much appreciated by a music fan. As I enter, I can already hear Shelby Schwem (photo at right) giving his full rock yell to his close-up audience. FallacY are a very hard-working and popular band. They market themselves and their sharp image very well. They like to describe themselves as a “Heavy Blues Groove Tech Death Metal” band, and their music can be found on ReverbNation.

The current band members are: Alvaro Lopez on Bass, Kerry Rice and Thomas Ebers on Guitars, Marc Tabet on Drums, and Shelby Schwem on Vocals.

For those who did not venture out, the set list was: Beyond Blood & Dreams, Without A Face, Self Driven Power, The Haunted Truth, 1,000 Lies. The lyrics and delivery of Without a Face was my own favorite. It got the audience powered up nicely and the sweat flowing.

The next two bands were Metavenge and Rotting Corpse.

I first saw Metavenge a few years ago when not one of them had graduated school. The line-up has changed since then, but if you want to hear some good old thrash metal in the 80s style coming from this very young band of talented musicians, check them out on the web.

With Rotting Corpse a step further was taken into shredderdom: insistent drum beats, glib guitarists. The singer delivered. This was my first Rotting Corpse moment, so they are getting an honorable mention until I have seen them several time, and delved into their history and give them appropriate props. Needless to say, they nicely warmed up the front ranks for the headliner, Anvil.

I first met Anvil in Rocklahoma 2009, though I missed the showing of “Anvil! The Story Of Anvil” that had just been released on DVD (2008). The movie is a fascinating and ironic look into this band’s history. It also managed, as a testament to Anvils’ struggles, to throw this band exactly where I think it needs to be: living their dream with much more certainty and contentment. However, their talent is its own catapult.

The band now consists of Steve “Lips” Kudlow (lead vocals, lead guitar), Robb Reiner (drums), and Sal Italiano (bass, backing vocals) but I did miss Glenn Gyorffy’s face and cannot disrespect him by not noting that here!

This seasoned band has played with my favorites, Saxon and Alice Cooper, for example. To date they have 14 albums to their name.

The Set List (Note, this was handwritten for me by Lips): Included a variety of old and recent: March of The Crabs, 666, School Love, Juggernaut of Justice, Winged Assassins, On Fire, This is Thirteen, Mothra, Thumb Hang, Swing Thing, Fuken Eh, New Orleans VooDoo, Metal on Metal – Encores - Forged in Fire and Running.

Of course, I always think of This is Thirteen as their signature song. If you have followed and enjoyed a band over a period of time, it is always a pleasure to be able to “get close” to the stage – this time I was graciously allowed in, despite of a good strong crowd up front. “Lips” never fails to charm the audience; he is a personable, humorous performer and always engages everyone in front of him almost straight away. On his wrist(band) was a Canadian symbol, reminding me that National bands need their fans to show out when they come a great distance and are on tour with their 14th opus.

Underneath the flawless bohemerie of this band exists serious and talented musicians. Rob Reiner, with his hallmark leather skull cap, is so comfortable with his drum set that they are one rhythm-bound animal. The immediate impression is that these guys 1) are rock stars 2) enjoy performing immensely.

The new bassist, Sal, will have to wait a few times until I can fairly assimilate transitions, but smooth and seasoned, are the adjectives for him at this time. In the weekday crowd, Anvil shirts wherever you looked. This band is highly approachable and come to meet everyone. They had a long line of fans gathered and were among instant friends from that point on. Thanks to Shelby Schwem and his lady, we managed to scoot backstage for a VIP moment. As you will soon learn from my reviews, Carox loves anything “VIP.”

When I asked Robb Reiner how it was all going he said, “We are having fun, doing what we like to do.” You can’t beat that now, can you? Look out for them in California, heard they are on their way!