Backbooth was the hot spot this weekend for some great unsigned, local bands. Deep in the heart of downtown Orlando. Backbooth sees some really great bands, and this weekend was no exception. Friday, April 20th Friday night saw seven bands take the stage, with Breaking Tides setting the bar high with an exceptional set of modern rock. The range on the lead vocalist was astounding, and the stage presence from the whole band was awesome. The drummer shined with not only great skills on the kit, but vocals as well. These guys are definite contenders! Remynder hit it next, showing some real shine on vocals. He took the mike and owned it, with great vibrato and pitch control. This band is rock solid! Drunk and Disorderly stepped up to the stage with a really full sound for a three-piece. It was as outstanding original set. Mansions of Thought was next on the night, and threw out a set full of powerful vocals and aggressive alternative rock. The bass and guitar rocked the crowd at Backbooth. Outer Body Inner Experience (O.B.I.E.) followed, and was heavy but retained the musicality, giving balls to the night of melodic sounds. The next band, Vision Quest, showed great stage presence and a very strong set of original hard rock. The vocals were tight and the band was stellar. Our final band of the night, Plagued by Unrest, dropped the hammer and hit the nail on the head with some powerful deep rock. Saturday, April 21st Saturday’s show was fired off by For Fear of Falling, with an emo/indie cross sound reminiscent of 30 Seconds to Mars, but yet had an original niche unique to themselves. Massive Head Wound’s set was loaded with diversity. With the name, you’d expect hard core metal all night, but they ran the gamut from punk to metal to modern rock. The vocalist jumped around as much as the music, with a “hobbit with a mohawk” look that drove the women wild… or something. At any rate, this band rocked! Mirror Pal followed, with a trippy indie sound in the vein of A Pocketful of Deng. These guys have a lot of potential! Jon the Liar broke out a power rock set, and despite some technical issues, did a great job of entertaining the crowd at Backbooth. Sacred Ground’s band was tight, and the singer had great stage presence. Wes Wesson & The Jam Underground stirred the dancing souls at Backbooth and threw out some tasty funky white boy acoustic rock. Definitely diggin’ on this… Our first rap band of the weekend, M.E.S.S., hit me in the chest and got me on my feet. This is bad-ass rock-infused hip-hop. The MC’s had great stage presence and were very tight, vocally. Excellent job! We closed the weekend with Voodoo En Korective Shues. This is one funky, soulful band with a Dirty South flavor along the lines of Outkast. This music needs to be served up with some fried catfish and collared greens! Awesome band! Thanks to all that came out and supported the bands in Orlando this weekend. Best of luck to all that made it to the final and I’ll see you down the road! One Love,