The Octane Accelerator Tour, presented by Sirius XM’s Octane channel was absolutely a fantastic show! The tour will have this line up playing 20 shows across the US. I attended the show in San Diego at the House of Blues . The scheduled line up was Afterlife, Royal Tusk and the headliner “Like A Storm.” Due to an illness in the band, Canadian rockers Royal Tusk, were unable to perform. A post on their Face Book page promises they will make it up to us. I do hope they keep that promise!
Like A Storm are siblings Chris (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar and Didgeridoo), Kent (Bass Guitar) and Matt (Lead Guitar, Vocals) Brooks along with Zach Wood (Drums/Percussion). They are a Hard Rock band from Auckland, New Zealand, formed in 2005, bringing with them the unique baritone sound of the Didgeridoo to rock music. The Brooks brothers are all talented musicians and play a wide range of instruments. Check out the album “Worlds Collide: Live from the Ends of the Earth” from 2013. Their acoustic song, Southern Skies, is my favorite song. The studio version is on the” Awaken the Fire” album.
I first saw Like A Storm perform as a supporting act for the band Hellyeah at the Knitting Factory in Boise Idaho; touring for their 2015 album “Awaken the Fire”. In contrast to the Boise show, I was excited to see them play in the intimate setting of the Voodoo Room! All in attendance appeared to feel the same, enjoying the opportunity to be so up close and personal with the band(s). The set included: Pure Evil, Catacombs, Solitary, Until the Day I Die, The Bitterness, Complicated, and the Devil Inside from the current album “Catacombs” released in June of 2018. From the 2009 album “End of the Beginning” we heard: Alone, Enemy and their first hit single Chemical Infatuation. Of course, they played the two hits from the 2015 album “Awaken the Fire”: Wish you Hell and Love the Way you Hate Me-number one on XM’s Octane channel for several weeks; plus the well known cover of Coolios’ Gangsta’s Paradise. This cover is also on the EP Chaos Theory of 2012. I thought the drum and Bass guitar solos were top notch! Chris came into the crowd to sing during their closing song, and the audience loved it. I really thought this was an outstanding show; the band is very down to earth and fan friendly. I look forward to seeing them again on the next tour.
Afterlife
Afterlife is a hard rock/metal band from West Palm Beach, Florida. Members include: Tyler Levenson – Vocals; Andrew McGuire- Guitar; Luke Walkinshaw – Drums and Tristan Edwards- Bass, since 2016. The bands first full-length album “Breaking Point” was just released on January 11th. I heard their music to be in the same genre of bands like Papa Roach or perhaps Thousand Foot Crutch…a sort of heavy rock/rap. I enjoyed their show and I even had a chance to chat with Luke after their performance. He said they are stoked the single “Throat” is getting a lot of airplay on XM’s Octane channel, and went number one about three weeks ago. Andrew thanked us for taking photos and covering the event. I was surprised, but impressed to see that Tyler was busy selling their merchandise personally! He even took time to sign several autographs for the fans. The set list included: Sacrifice, PSA, Throat, Holding On and Giving Back the Pain from their new release; as well as Vicious Cycle and Pain & Pleasure from their 2017 EP. They are fun, friendly and give a high energy performance. This is an up and coming band that I am sure we will see much more of.
By: Roxie / BackStage360
Images: Taci Thompson / BackStage360
