Music

The Big New Year's Show

House of Rock slates mix of genres, plus two new bands

Trevor Kupfer |

Cadence looks down on you.
 
Cadence looks down on you.

When everyone’s looking for a place to gather and ring in the new year, the best thing a venue can do is bring in variety – a mixture of acts that can appeal to a big cross-section of our music-loving public. That’s exactly what House of Rock did for this show, and in wildly eclectic fashion. Cadence will dish out their catchy bubble gum pop, while The Gentle Guest delivers their signature high-energy foot-stompin folk-blues-country-rock, and Electrolyte Empire brings the riff-driven alt rock. But the names that float to the forefront are brand spanking new, though they have familiar faces involved. Besides having the most ridiculously awesome name since Ronald Raygun, The Ever-Expanding Hippo Brigade involves three horn players, two guitarists, and a drummer playing what member Noel Hanson calls “ska-Motörhead.” This new venture (for both the band and the area) sounds like it’s on the thin line between train wreck and genius. Either way, we can wait to catch their debut performance. The same goes for The Perennials, a brand new project with Brent K on guitar, Eric Lee on drums, Jason West (aka Spindle) on bass, and Pete Dietrick on guitar. “The best way I can describe it is if you took Badfinger, Guided by Voices, The Psychadelic Furs, and The Police and mashed them all together,” Brent K said. Should be a good teaser for the new bands in store for 2011.

New Year’s Show w/ The Gentle Guest + Cadence + Electrolyte Empire + The Ever-Expanding Hippo Brigade + The Perennials • Dec. 31 • House of Rock, 422 Water St. • 10pm • FREE • ages 21+ • www.house-of-rock.com