On Saturday, August 6, 2011, Horns Up Rocks took over New York City's Mercury Lounge for the Mahavatar CD Release show. Also performing that epic night were Lies Beneath from Long Island and No Remission from Sleepy Hollow, New York. Additionally, the event was hosted and DJed by our founder Jo Schüftan. Here is what went down!
When we arrived at the venue around 4 PM, most of the bands were already at the venue awaiting the grueling process of sound-check. The first band up was Mahavatar who made the concert room groove out of control as soon as they plugged in their instruments, this is when we all looked at each other and realized that it was going to be a great night of Heavy Music. After Lies Beneath and No Remission completed their sound-checks, we all headed out for some food and drinks. If there is something Horns Up Rocks is very proud of, is the relationships we have with all the bands that we work with. We truly believe that the only way to build a community of like-minded artists is to unite forces both on and off stage.
At 9 PM, Jo Schüftan kicked off the show by cranking some loud and obnoxiously Heavy Music into the PA, this is when the crowd started pouring into the room like a hungry pack of wolves. Shortly after 9:30 PM, he introduced the multi-talented band No Remission. The band performed almost every song from their new album titled "Through Blackened Skies". These guys don't play around when it comes to delivering a meal of technical Metal with all the trimmings, accompanied by an energetic performance that gets the crowd moving from the get-go. While they might have been seen as the opening band, the truth is that all three bands that performed could have headlined this historical show. One of the highlights of the night is when No Remission got the party into fifth gear by covering Iron Maiden's "The Trooper"!
Then it was time for Lies Beneath to melt the faces out of the audience members. As we have mentioned before, these guys performed at Hixonfest 2010 (the very first Horns Up Rocks event about a year ago) and they have come a long way since then. After the release of their new album "Death Of The American Dream", Lies Beneath has been injected with a lethal dose of adrenaline and they keep sounding better and better. The crowd could definitely tell that these guys are working hard on their craft and have excellent chemistry while on stage. The highlight of their set is when they did a flawless cover of Mastodon's "Blood and Thunder".
Headlining the show and presenting to the masses their new album titled "Rise From Betrayal", was New York City's Mahavatar! In times in which it is hard to find a band that possesses a signature sound, Mahavatar hits the scene with an air of freshness and lots of attitude. Lead by the very charismatic Lizza De Mauro, Mahavatar is a group of veteran musicians that know how to keep any crowd on their toes. Since they were celebrating the release of their new album, they even brought some dancers on stage which made the crowd go wild. For many that was the highlight of their well polished set. With Mahavatar you can always expect the unexpected!
All in all, it was a great night for the New York City Heavy Music scene. A night that will go down in history. Oh, but lets not forget the after-party at Idle Hands Bar! How often is the after-party for a show a block away from the venue? And how often do all the guests of the after-party get free drinks? Well, the guys at Idle Hands Bar have been huge supporters of Horns Up Rocks and vice-versa.
Guess what? We are ready to do it all over again, this Saturday, August 13th, at D'Antigua Lounge in Jackson Heights, Queens! Are you ready?
Photo credit:
Steve Lars from Creative Ventures International &
Steve Lars on Facebook
Related links:
Mahavatar
Lies Beneath
No Remission
Mercury Lounge
Idle Hands Bar
