Reviews
Potion #9 and AEthyrus Show Review
By: Mark
(Forgive me in advance for the lack of detail in this review; I had a pretty awful view of the stage and couldn’t hear much between songs.)
I attended one of my first live shows on the Island on October 22, when the headliner Augustine played before a crowd of metal heads at Charlie’s Bar and Grill in Kea’au. I didn’t stick around for Augustine, because it was one of their opening acts, AEthyrus, that I came to see. The band’s lead singer and guitarist, AErynn, is a former URH exec and longtime friend. I knew the band had been working hard for a long time and this was their first gig, so I was excited to see them.
Before AEthyrus took the stage, however, another local act, Potion #9 played. Their style was somewhere in the alt rock category. Their music was good and surprisingly danceable, including an energetic song called Get Out. One old fellow who looked a bit like a local Tony Soprano really dug their music and spent a lot of time on the dance floor. At times their music tended toward harder rock, but the lead singer kept his screaming in check (something other small bands could take notice of) and didn’t sound overzealous. Ultimately, though, their songs had the same pattern: 2-3 minutes of music with a good beat and great singing, followed by a minute or so of down-tempo when you thought the song was ending, and then a rise back up for a minute or so. Every song followed this template, and that got old after a while. Yet, for a local band that I’ve not really heard of, the music and (especially) the vocals were enjoyable, and I give them a 3.5 out of 5.
After a pretty short break came AEthyrus, which is (obviously?) a made-up name. Although I knew the band members, I wasn’t sure what kind of music they played. After an hour-long set, I still can’t tell you. Based on the band’s physical appearance, one would have guessed metal or hard rock. They proved capable of that toward the end, and especially during their encore. But they started their set with softer songs that reflected AErynn’s folk and blues roots, but they could have easily been opening for Dave Matthews or Ani DiFranco with their particular style. Eventually they moved into a style more alternative, before tuning it down a bit. It was hard to catch song names over the quite loud applause between songs, but AEthyrus’ best song was Black and White. AErynn’s vocals and Anthonwy’s bass were a perfect match. That soung sounded like solid radio material.
I don’t think most of the audience realized that this was AEthryus’ first show. They did nothing to indicate that they were newbies. The jitters seemed to melt away quickly and the crowd was into it immediately, and the dance floor was full. I had to get out before Augustine came – as Anthonwy put it in his introduction, they were going to slap us in the face with some serious metal – but I sure did enjoy the show. AEthyrus’ lineup is on their myspace page, so be sure to check them out. My score: a generous, but well deserved, 4.5 out of 5.