By Brent Michael, Rock At Night Tampa Correspondent
Venue: Transitions Art Gallery/Inside Tampa Skatepark, Tampa, Florida–July 13, 2017
Many touring bands look for local support regionally when they tour, and Letters to Part hooked up with three other bands to help kick off their “A Human Curse” tour.
Orion
The night began with Orion, a “Sad/Mellow-Math-Like-Experimental-Post-Rock-That-Is-Exactly-Your-Cup-Of-Tea” band from St. Petersburg. Dakota Moon Tyo (Guitarist/Vocalist), Donald Strouble (Drummer), and Sean F. Wallace (Bassist/Guitarist) all knew each other since high school , Dakota Tyo met Sean Wallace through a classical guitar program, and quickly bonded over their love for Avenged Sevenfold. Dakota had already been involved in the Florida music scene while playing in other bands, which is where he first met and also bonded quickly with Donald Strouble. Their set started off mellow and mild, but ended up a rocking preview for…
SEEK WELL
SEEK WELL, who hit the stage like a hurricane, a fusion of Motorhead and Five Finger Death Punch with some Dead Kennedys and Gwar thrown in for fun. Alternating shriek/growl vocals from Sam Hutson (Vocals/Guitar) and Cody Rains (Drums, Vocals) assaulted your ears while Tyler Balkcom (Bass) kept the rhythm and your blood pumping. Their credo, story, excuse list is a blueprint for death/thrash metal:
We pledge allegiance to Seek Well until our fearful trip is done.
Death to lonelyness.
Death to child abuse.
Death to slavery.
Death to pornography.
Death to suicide.
Death to self mutilation.
Death to sexism.
Death to human trafficking.
Death to pedantry.
Death to bigotry.
Death to racism.
Death to Homophobia.
Death to hatred.
Death to terrorism.
Death to addiction.
Death to ego.
Death to fear.
Death to bullying.
Death to prejudice.
Death to self & may we die daily.
I’d say that pretty much sums it up. Growing up in Zephyrhills will do that to you!
NorthStreet
Next up was NorthStreet, a big band with big guys and a big sound. Seriously, I thought the bass player (6’5″? 300?) was the bouncer until he got up on stage and showed he could rock with the best of them! This Emo Pop/Rock group out of Moore Haven (that’s in the middle of nowhere, central Florida) consists of William Mercer (Rhythm Guitar/Lead Vocals), Aaron Mercer (Drums/Vocals), and Josh Miller (Guitar). The aforementioned bass player isn’t pictured on their Facebook page and it took a phone call to find out he was a fill-in named David Mercer – Will & Aaron’s father! Obviously, music runs in the family, and anyone fortunate enough to be present at their performance got to see the “old man” rocking alongside his sons! Talk about having a cool dad!
Find out what they sound like via the following links, I’m sure there is something to fit any rocker’s taste!
NorthStreet https://youtu.be/hHWs0At0dHo
SEEK WELL http://seekwell.bandcamp.com/
Orion BAND https://orion727.bandcamp.com/
When not in custody, I've been involved with music, photography, and writing my entire life. Ever since I was a young boy and played those silver tunes, I've had the beat, but being a drummer didn't suit me so I became a lead singer, which lasted a few years. Settling down, sort of, I translated my knowledge of audio and glib tongue into mobile emcee work, and my training as a photographer and videographer into a living in the wedding, party, bar/bat mitzvah, and entertainment industry. During this time I also managed to bamboozle my way into a master's degree in writing, worked for a couple of magazines (yes, I took photos for a nudist magazine!), have photographed hotels, done commercial work (shot the cover of Tablet and Capsule magazine), published a few articles, hosted some public access shows (a couple times in drag, but that's another story), and generally made a nuisance of myself until I landed here.
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