Jet Black Stare
Another band was added to the Royal Bliss lineup at Backwaters Monday and they were there to ROCK!
Originally area band Antidote was the only band that was supposed to perform, but Royal Bliss convinced their tour mate Jet Black Stare to venture to a place they had never played.
As of Monday around noon, there were about 500 tickets sold and an hour before the show was to start, there was a line forming all the way around the back of the building.
Concert-goers were dressed to impress and the excitement in the air was palpable.
Pittsfield’s Antidote started the night off to a growing crowd with its usual laid back rock. The crowd seemed to enjoy the band and some were surprised the band choose this big chance to perform some modern rock covers, instead of singing all originals.
Next up, glam rockers Jet Black Stare, decked out in all red, black and white, started performing and an attendee next to me stated, “they obviously brought their own sound guy.” I had to agree, they sounded incredible and the biggest surprise was the great back up vocalist, who was also the drummer.
At first it seemed like the lead singer was using a recording as backup, because it was so good, then I realized that the drummer was belting out those notes while drumming like crazy.
As the crowd started getting more into the show, Jet Black Stare announced that “Royal Bliss was right about Quincy” and the crowd cheered.
Best of the night was of course when Royal Bliss performed. They came on stage and truly showed their appreciation for Quincy’s unfaltering devotion. Lead singer Neal Middleton seems to effortlessly control the crowd and sounds as good as he does on the band’s latest CD “Life In-Between.”
He had the crowd singing along during “We Did Nothing Wrong” and kept everyone’s attention focused on the stage through the entire show. Everyone in Backwaters moved from the back and the bar area toward the stage and focused solely on the music.
It was a great show and if you missed it, then rest assured, Royal Bliss vows to continue to come back and even hinted at wanting to help organize a Summer Fest-style music event in Quincy.
I would personally like to thank them for detouring through our river town and say that I appreciate everyone who went out on a Monday night and celebrated live music.
Jessica Martin
jmartin@whig.com
[...] Royal Bliss from Utah is returning yet again to Quincy to rock Backwaters Oct. 17. This time they are bringing two tour mates, Resident Hero and Divide the Day from California. [...]