Talking bands, business, venues, and life on the road with the merch guy

Full disclosure, Bob Russamano and I go back a ways. I first met Bob in 1994, when we were both incoming freshmen at King’s College. The Lehigh Valley native/current Philadelphia resident and I shared a deep love of music – something we’re still both pursuing today. As a couple of Mass Communications majors, we had […]
None heavier – or friendlier – than ‘Riff Lord’ Kirk Windstein and Crowbar

Heavy metal groundbreakers bring 'Doom' to Philadelphia and Brooklyn June 28-29
here’s often an interesting, unexpected turn of events when you interview a band while they’re out touring. Kirk Windstein from Crowbar was one such example. While the phone call NEPA Scene had set with him to coincide pre-show for the band’s recent gig in Minneapolis was confirmed several days in advance, the hectic pace of […]
New tour and album, ‘Rivals,’ gets Coal Chamber burning again

Nu-metal band reunites and performs across the tri-state area April 2-6
Even though they’ve regrouped sporadically to play live since a “permanent” disbandment announcement in 2005, notably in the form of high-profile gigs at Australia’s Soundwave Festival in 2012 and a 2013 European festival run (Download, Graspop, Nova Rock, etc.), Coal Chamber hasn’t released a studio album since 2002’s “Dark Days.” This 13-year dry streak will […]
Young Lehighton rockers A.D.D. are garnering attention with big shows and an even bigger sound

Dakota McGeehan knows what he wants in a great rock song. “I like the heavy guitar riffs that you can’t get out of your head and the catchy lyrics that will have you humming for the rest of the week,” says the vocalist/guitarist of the Lehighton quartet A.D.D. – his enthusiasm for the power of […]
Extreme vocalist Gary Cherone recalls the lasting legacy and ‘magic’ of ‘Pornograffitti’ on 25th anniversary tour

Boston rockers perform album in its entirety tonight in Jim Thorpe and Saturday in New York
t’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the release of Extreme’s seminal hard rock opus, “Extreme II: Pornograffitti.” The record, which sold in excess of two million copies and spawned a pair of Billboard Top 5 singles – the acoustic stomper “Hole Hearted” and the sparse, lip-quivering duet “More Than Words” (the latter […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Fireball, Phyllis Hopkins Electric Trio, and The Russello Project raise the bar for NEPA musicianship

Three of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s most prominent guitarists, all currently leading very different, yet dynamically musical ensembles, combined for one of the most volatile axe-slinging evenings in recent memory at Diane’s Deli in Pittston on Saturday, Dec. 20. The heavy British blues-inspired Fireball, anchored by longtime NEPA six-string stalwart Butch Frable; the smarmy Chicago blues-infused Phyllis […]
After years of hard work, Kore Rozzik is a ‘Rockstar’ of his own making
The band rocks Ole Tyme Charley’s in Plains on Friday
“It was a lot of trial and error,” says Queens, New York-based vocalist Kore Rozzik of the stage persona that has become the identifiable face of his band bearing the same name. “Kore Rozzik has been an idea for many years. As I found myself through my young adult years, the character developed.” Rozzik and […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Slayer ‘still reigning’ with brutal Bethlehem performance

Several inches of snow and somewhat dicey road conditions in the Lehigh Valley couldn’t stop the metal faithful from amassing a near-capacity army at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 26. The triple attack of Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, and Slayer made for a trampled-under-flying-bodies good time, and the crowd was anything but […]