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Review
Sunday, October 05, 2008
By Mark Bialczak
Staff writer
Joe Sweet knew he was stepping onto some special turf Saturday night at the Palace Theatre.
The singer from Utica was fronting his first show in his new band's hometown. For the first time since Sweet replaced front man Joe Altier in January, Brand New Sin took the stage in Syracuse.
"You've heard of us," Sweet told the wildly enthusiastic crowd of about 250 pushing toward the stage in the Eastwood theater. "You've heard of them. Brand New Sin. I'm very thankful that they allow me to play with them, with such a level of professionalism."
Sweet-for-Altier worked just fine, thank you.
At first it was a bit jarring to see guitarists Kenny Dunham and Kris Weichmann, bassist Chuck Kahl and drummer Kevin Dean playing behind a skinny guy wearing glasses instead of a burly guy wearing a bandana.
But as soon as Sweet got into the first song, "Freight Train," it was obvious that the transformation worked. He's got the voice and the attitude to keep the sizzle in Brand New Sin's hard rock.
Sweet's deep history in Utica's rock scene - Dunham and Dean invited him to take over the front-man role because they remembered his work with Utica band Nine Ball - carried through in a big way. He worked the crowd with energy and style, trading stares, gestures and lyrics back and forth with the most enthusiastic fans in the front.
Dunham and Weichmann, meanwhile, carried on with their sizzling guitar ways, and the rhythm section of Kahl and Dean pummeled the ears with power and thrash.
The crowd responded to the chemistry by chanting "Brand New Sin, Brand New Sin, Brand New Sin" until Sweet stepped forward to thank them.
They dug their favorite songs from the last half-decade, including "Arrived," "Brown Street Betty," "Old" and "Repo Man." They let Sweet dip into his past for a wild and fun ride on his song, "Question."
And they unveiled a ripping new Brand New Sin song, which sounded like it was introduced by Sweet with the title of "Fly." It showed a bright future of songs written with Sweet, too. That's good, because an Eastern tour is here right now, with October stops for Brand New Sin in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia and North Carolina as well as downstate, in Yonkers.
The Brand New Sin guys tried to make it a night of fun at the Palace.
For openers, they enlisted Madame Trixie and Her Dolls Burlesque. The four dancers teased with vaudevillelike bumps and grinds. Their speech said they were out of the 1920s, but some of the soundtrack they danced to and many of their moves were from the here-and-now. The finale, to Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher," let them all display their wiliest ways.
Then came Ithaca band Bone Jar, for a pleasing set of metal that certainly warmed up those that chose to stay in the theater instead of preparing for Brand New Sin's set by drinking and socializing in the lobby.
Mark Bialczak can be reached at 470-2175 or mbialczak@syracuse.com. His Listen Up blog is at
blog.syracuse.com/listenup
