The Lonely Moon, a new solo project from Rafael Pimentel, former guitarist and backing vocalist for Scranton post-hardcore band Silhouette Lies, rose last Thursday, April 13 at The Other Side in Wilkes-Barre, surrounded by friends and former bandmates who joined him for the project’s debut live performance.
Another new alternative rock band from Scranton, Permanence, opened the show, followed by Pittsburgh’s Amplifiers, who were out on tour, before The Lonely Moon took the stage, bathed in colorful projections playing in the background.
University Drive, another Scranton-based rock act that recently appeared on Episode 2 of the new live streaming NEPA Scene Podcast to promote their new album, “On/Off: Reset,” was next, and Wilkes-Barre alt rock trio Rosary Guild, who released their cinematic music video for “Crocodiles” last month, closed the night with their beautiful, captivating sound.
Pimentel shared the stage with members of his previous band as he introduced his new endeavor, which he said is influenced by bands like Thrice, Brand New, Thursday, The Receiving End of Sirens, The Dear Hunter, Circa Survive, Coheed and Cambria, Alexisonfire, Russian Circles, Cave In, and Into It Over It. He released his first Lonely Moon single, “Harvest,” in January, which can be streamed or downloaded below:
“I started this project in order to have an outlet for my music, stuff that would maybe share some unavoidable similarities to SL, but would also tread new waters and allow me to focus more on creating/recording music and write some more personal songs,” Pimentel explained in a recent Facebook post.
“Four bands with different but equally inspiring sounds [gave] it their all to a pretty packed place on a Thursday night. I could go on forever about what I love about each band.”
He is planning for a full CD release this summer.
