It was a long night at Lupo’s this past Friday, but for those of us that stuck around until the end, it was well worth every minute. Penrose headlined the show, accompanied by 2008 Rock Hunt semifinalists The Coming Weak, as well as Fordoes Me Quite, Acadia, & Aston. When I arrived at the show it was already more crowded than any local show I’ve seen, and more people streamed in the front door every few minutes. However, the large audience did not ruin the intimacy of the show - everyone seemed to know half of the people there, and were more than excited to meet the rest. Even the bands were incredibly social, hanging out at the back of the venue with fans and friends alike, contributing to the incredibly local feel.

Aston was the first band to take the stage, and they did so with profound energy. The put on a solid, fun set that got us all interested to hear more. Although the experience may not have been there - vocals we sometimes a little messy and the band didn’t quite know how to work the crowd - each member seemed to truly put his heart into the performance, and it certainly will be a good experience for their next big performance.

Acadia was up next. They also had a few mistakes, and at times the screaming turned from exciting and charismatic to redundant and tiresome, but they made up for all of it with the highest energy of the night. Members moved rapidly and fluidly across the stage and through their music, getting us thoroughly pumped up for their performance and for the rest of the night. Read More

Penrose and The Coming Weak both stopped by WBRU this week - Penrose during Home BRU’d Wednesday night, and The Coming Weak this afternoon. Both were very pumped for their show at Lupo’s tonight. The podcasts of the interviews will be online in not too long, and a review of the show will be up soon after the show. Click here for more photos.

I made the trek down to Club Hell this past Tuesday to catch Penrose and Rock Hunt winners It Was the Best of Times play. They were joined by Virginia natives Love & Reverie and by Lansdowne, who were down from Boston. After a brief acoustic set by a friend of Lansdowne, Penrose took the stage and played a solid set with a lot of songs off their new album Azimuth. Love & Reverie played second, bringing with them their own lights and a powerful and melodic sound. Lansdowne played next, with an energizing and exciting set and clear musical talent. It Was the Best of Times closed the night with their normal five-song set; playing only five songs allows the set to play through strong without allowing the audience to get bored or distracted, explained guitarist Bob Jack. I beg to differ; their set was not only impressive, with skilled dynamics and adept musical talent, but I would have eagerly stood through several more songs.

Although Love & Reverie and Lansdowne are back on tour, you can catch It Was the Best of Times at The Living Room with Pink Spiders on June 12th, and Penrose will be at St. Martha’s Church in Riverside, RI on June 27th.

Click here to see more pictures from the show.

The Bravery plays a show not to be missed. If you are one of those lazy “chumps” who didn’t get down to Lupo’s Thursday night, you should have and (you can quote me on this) that is exactly what you are. I don’t care if you had work Friday morning, and apparently neither did the crowd that packed Lupo’s.

I made sure to get there early to see local groups Penrose and Senior Discount. Going indoors at six sucks. Hugely. I know. But that’s the price we pay during the spring/summer, and it’s definitely worth it for the music. Moving into the summer, and in the interest of still seeing the best shows around, we would do best to keep that in mind.

I had Penrose in the studio last week for an interview on HomeBRU’d, so having gotten to know the guys, I was glad to see that they didn’t disappoint in concert. “Slight of Hand”, the almost-overwhelming opener for their recently released album Azimuth, went off without a hitch, but it was “Angels and Monikers” that I found most impressive. If you get to one of Penrose’s shows (and you should), instead of being that arse in the audience that keeps shouting “Freebiiiird!” (and gets punched in the face by the lead guitarist), I suggest you request “Angels and Monikers”. Like Penrose, the song performed live has teeth. Read More

This past week, Penrose dropped by the station to select the songs for Home Bru’d, answer caller’s questions, and joke around with DJ Shepherd. They discussed their song choices, their concert last night, where they opened for The Bravery at Lupo’s, their marketing strategies, and the making of their song “Slight of Hand.” They were also, in the words of DJ Shepherd, “out of control.” Penrose claimed to be one of the world’s tallest bands, talked about playing Guitar Hero songs at a recent concert, held a moment of silence for Elisha Cuthbert, and challenged DJ Shepherd to a fight.

Click on the link to listen to this highly entertaining interview!

Click here to listen