I tried to look for you man, but didn't see anyone wearing what you said you were wearing. We were all the way in the back, center, in front of the soundboard. I had my family with me, and we don't let my daughter get in the throngs of GA shows.
Simply put, The Warning blew this old fogey away. These gals did bands like King's X and Rush proud as a power trio. Energetic set, tight, the sound was amazing, some good charisma from the guitarist/vocalist (Dany) really made the whole performance pop. But the most important thing? They were live. Both The Warning and Plush were totally live, except for a slight effects track running for The Warning, that wasn't really noticeable except for the performance of a new song called "More." I'll get to Plush shortly, but man, yeah, The Warning just smoked it.
While young, you can tell they've been playing for over 10 years, and have multiple albums and tours under their belts. They were absolutely dialed in, and all three sisters support one another musically in their songs. It was a legit powerhouse performance.
As a singer who lives with two ACTUAL singers, including one who is professionally trained and has a handful of original songs published, I always key on the vocals. Dany's voice (the guitarist) has the most character to it. Pau, the drummer, has the most range, and does the high harmonies. And Ale, the bassist, has some spot lead lines, but mostly does background. At some point, they will bust out a King's X-like three-part harmony, as their songwriting improves. Which isn't to say their songwriting is bad, FAR from it. Their current album, ERROR, is absolutely outstanding, and as a big test for me as a fan, I want a band whose album I like to be performed to close to the same quality on stage - and The Warning nailed it. In fact, the older songs from previous records came off BETTER live, which prompted me to go get the CD versions of those, since I had only had those early albums digitally.
Overall, they got on at 8:50, and played until 10:10, I believe. So a solid 80 minutes and 17 songs.
The only thing "critical" that I'd say is this: They may want to re-think putting "EVOLVE," the encore song, into the main set and moving something like "CHOKE" down there. Go with something memorable and catchy. "EVOLVE" is great, and maybe it has higher streaming numbers or whatever they use to figure all that out. But I felt a more catchy tune should have closed the evening. But the crowd really didn't care (nor did I, when it was happening).
A huge, huge thumbs up, and as I said to my girls on the ride home (and they agree), I'll never miss The Warning when they are playing even remotely in my neck of the woods. (Unless it is a festival, I don't do festivals.) We had a chance after Aftershock last year to go see The Warning in the Monterey area (that's about a 3.5 hour drive) do a one-off headline show, and we passed because it was in the middle of the week, the long drive, etc. That happens again, we'll take a day off and do it. They were that good.
For me, The Warning checks a lot of boxes. Great energy, thoughtful lyrics that are a bit mature for their years (which this old fogey loves) and makes you think, some progressive tendencies, killer vocals, and heavy riffing. The musicianship all around is top notch. I think Pau, the drummer, is the most accomplished of the three, but Dany and Ale play great too. Only going to get better.
Regarding merch - everything on their website is available at the tables. The main tour shirt (the colorful pic of them on the front and the dates on the back) sold out of S, M, L, very quickly. I snagged a large (luckily) of that, the girls got the secondary one (the black and white band pic on front and the dates on the back). I also picked up the green hat (love that thing), and the previously mentioned other two CDs that I didn't have on physical media. The other shirt I wanted to buy was just the simple black T with their logo on the front. They had ZERO larges available, and we were on line probably a half hour after doors opened. So just FYI.
Anyway, if The Warning are playing by you, and you like the qualities I mentioned above (the things that "check the boxes" for me), do yourselves a favor and go.
Regarding the openers:
Family and I are big fans of Plush, which features Moriah Formica on vocals (TSO, The Voice contestant). Man, girl can fucking WAIL. Saw her with TSO last year, and she did a beautiful rendition of Savatage's "Not What You See" which is one of my favorites. And she has YouTube vids of her singing (just her and a guitar) a ton of cool stuff from the 80s and 90s (she did a great cover of "Someone Else?" by Queensryche). Anyway, Moriah did NOT disappoint in the vocal category. As mentioned above, she sang a killer cover of "Barracuda" by Heart, and another cover of "Heaven's on Fire" by KISS (I'll get to those shortly), but for me, her vocals on "Athena," my favorite tune from them (has an Alter Bridge vibe), were mind blowing. She just has range (and CHARACTER) to her voice for days. Just a total powerhouse. Absolutely the finest singer in the house last night from all three bands.
Musically, Moriah is also the lead guitarist, and she had some pedal board issues most of the night, so sadly, a couple songs sounded weird. Her guitar cut out a lot. But still had a blast. It returned toward the end of the show. As for the rest of the band, solid players. Not spectacular, but will get better. The most seasoned of the bunch is Ashley Suppa, who is the bassist and primary background vox singer. She has great feel. Bella Perron is classically trained at Berkeley, but she mostly plays rhythm (she does some spot lead runs in songs, but Moriah typically does the featured solo). I think she'll blossom as she gets older. And drummer Faith Powell, is literally right out of high school (graduated last year). Really talented, but still a bit green.
And "green" is how I'd label their set construction. They saved a new song, that really no one knows (it's out, but not a lot of traction so far) for their last song. They should have put their big single, "Hate" or the song I love the most "Athena" in that closing spot, to leave people with a crusher and more memorable tune. And what I mentioned above about covers - yes, they were well done, but I really wished Plush would have filled those spots with two of their originals. They only get 35 minutes, and those two covers...just not needed. Showcase your own tunes.
That said, I felt they were a good opener, unfortunately that had some technical difficulties, but they have a lot of promise. And remember the name Moriah Formica. That woman, all 4'10" of her, is...she is a VOICE.
After The Warning, the opening bands went upstairs to The Fillmore's poster room (for those who aren't from the Bay, The Fillmore does a special poster for every headliner who sells out, right on sight, the night of the show. They hand those out to people who are at those shows - sadly, The Warning did not sell out, my guess was about 550 people in attendance and capacity is 825, I think - and then frame one and put it in the venue somewhere). Well, both Plush and Holy Wars (I'll get to the latter in a second) went up there after the show for meet and greets. Totally free, really casual. We went up there (my daughter LOVES Moriah, we all do, really, but she's really someone that my daughter looks up to vocally). Now, being an old fogey, I felt weird. These gals could be my kids. So I told my wife "no way I go solo to take a pic, it's gotta be both of us, because I'm not being a dirty old man." She laughed, and wanted the pic anyway, so cool. Anyway, so my daughter goes up solo, and all four of them gush at her, making her night. Hugs, talking about school, the fact my daughter sings, the drummer (again, just out of high school) asked about choir, told her about her experience in marching band, etc.) Just took care of her. Took a great pic. Then my wife goes, "hey, can we grab a pic too, we're her parents." The Plush gals enthusiastically beckoned us over with huge smiles and we talked. Turns out Moriah and Ashley (bassist) are both from NY, and Ashley spends a lot of time in a town on Long Island (Setauket) nearby where I grew up. So the three of us did some NY bonding, we thanked them for a great set (and I put in some kudos for that TSO performance of "Not What You See" by Savatage, which was greatly appreciated), and then we left. Great evening.
Now, that band Holy Wars...how can I say this. They are a working band, I give them credit, but not my thing. The guitar player (as I think Paul mentioned in his post) was not as good as he tried to make himself out to be. And the singer...she was more into shaking her ass at the crowd. Not sure how well they really came off to the crowd (the singer was begging for energy early, and had some more eyes after shaking her butt more toward the end of the set), but I came away with the opinion that their music just isn't for me. And...the worst part...they were piping in bass, they had no bass player.
I mean, come on man. Just hire someone. The bass lines of your material aren't that hard. Just do it live. I know costs and everything, but come on. Anyway, not our thing at all.
But we had a great time, The Warning absolutely SLAYED
and we got some cool memories of Plush (and The Warning, obviously). Great night overall.
p.s. never eat Burger King from Emeryville, CA at 11 p.m. You'll pay for it at 3 a.m. Just word of caution, fellow NorCal folks.
Topic: THE WARNING: New 3-piece Hard Rock Band of Sisters v "Keep Me Fed" 6/28/24 (Read 13654 times)