By an anonymous reviewer you can choose to refer to as “that guy”:

This review was a first response reaction to their live performance in the matter of stage presence as well as musicianship.

Credit goes to BravoArtist for promoting the show and to both Ryan Getz and BravoArtist for making this review possible.

I was mainly there to see ’68, a 2 piece formed by Josh Scogin, formerly a guitarist from the Chariot and drummer Michael McClellan.

Disclaimer: The reactions to the performances were as a first time listener, unfamiliar with the tunes.

Prize the Doubt:

The first band of the night was Prize The Doubt.

I was impressed with their sound, it was obvious that these guys had experience. It was cut and clean, as a 2 piece they were “together” – no sloppiness like in a typical opening band. One unique feature was that the guitarist used a delayed ambience between a few songs to set the atmospheric tone. The vocals were a yell mixed with a scream dynamixed with off the mic screams and selective emotional spoken words during sustained chords and relaxed drum beats.

Tone: very mid range as the guitarist was playing a telecaster.

The guitarist and drummer were syncopated to a T, with complex rhythm changes on point.

This was not just noise from an opening band, these guys have potential, and honestly I would have liked to see them higher In the bill.

Creature Comforts:

Not to be harsh, but this will be my most brutal review of the night.

Young looking band. It showed with a lack of experience with the higher pitched vocals that included a yelling melody. Or as friend of mine termed it, “emo screams.”

But not all is lost! They had a very talented lead electric guitar player that stole their show.
I enjoyed some of the cute/complex lead riffs from the LTD guitar. He used the Wah pedal for majority of his leads. Maybe he got carried away with it.

The lead was very clear and cut, piercing through the rest of the band. (Great for solos! Not so much when it is complimentary to the vocals and rest of the band, it overpowered the rest of the band) I blame the sound guy or his pedal gain. A majority of parts were up in the upper octave past the 12th fret, by the 4th song one could have had a headache due to the constant high leads. Granted there were some leads in the mid range…but let’s have more variety and less off a headache by the end of the set.

They had 2 main vocalists. One would take the higher melody and harmony while the other would fill in the rest. It could have been an off night, or  the monitor mix or whatever, but the vox were not on point.
The drummer was off beat a few times but they pulled it out. As any band would. They tried to drive crowd engagement too much.

I the Mighty (San Fransisco):

They were good. They seemed well rehearsed with lots of experience together. Arguably it was the best performance of the night. They provided great leads as well as solid rhythm,  and softened up riffs with delay and reverb.

Quite often would drop with just bass drums and vocals. Works for dynamic…adding in guitar on pre chorus. I dug the delay/reverb of the lead guitarist. The bassist provided humor on stage. Looked a bit like Chris Pratt.

It could have been cool to put reverb on the vocals. During one drop, maybe.

Tried to force the crowd into participation way too much.

The drummer was solid.

Good leads added to the dynamics, feel and tone to the each song. Would drop to rhythm for a solid hit or break down. Vocals were the higher pitched yells,  timed with melody.

A Lot Like Birds:

Unique due to designated 2 vocalists.
Drums determine the energy of the song.
Vocals – yelling screams a few melodic lines. But rarely
Very similar to the Chariot.

’68:

A ’68 show is not a typical show. They play maybe 3 or 4 songs off of their album., and the rest is a jam session, playing just whatever the heck they feel like playing. It’s a 2 piece so Josh (the guitarist) was having a little fun with his pedals, and loop. He even sent the drummer off stage a time or two between songs. It was a very light-hearted set, all about having a good time. They are both excellent musicians and their experience shows. When they did play a song off their album, it was very southern rock hardcore. Similar to a Maylene and the Sons of Disaster sound but heavier.