Concert Report by Steve No Sky Today at The Futbol Rocks Spring Fest 2011, Columbus, OH, .May 15, 2011. (Continued)

I was looking forward to seeing NST live to hear Paul's vocals live, he has such an awesome, expressive voice. The band was a four-piece with Wayne, Paul Jones (vocals), Joe Viers (bass) and Brad Dettmer (drums). The songs were stripped down to accommodate a live four-piece band and really nailed the raw power and essence of each tune. Some songs had to be changed/re-arranged, most notably the excellent 'Into the Sun' which had some new parts to help create that 'frantic' element towards the end, and 'Intermezzo' which evolved into a cool guitar/bass jam that Wayne, Joe and Brad seemed to have alot of fun with.

The show started with a cool atmospheric intro leading into 'She's on Fire'. They played the whole album in order after the first couple songs to a rather small Sunday night crowd, and the 'hometown' fans (Paul & Joe are from Columbus) really showed they knew and liked the songs. Even though Brad was hired just a couple weeks before the show he really drove the songs with a great groove and power. There was also a team there shooting video for 'Final Hour', so we got that song twice in the set, which I sure liked. 'Escape' and 'Pieces' were brilliant live with their dynamics.

Another highlight was 'Break Up' which Wayne really attacked, playing it faster and just wailing the solo like a man possessed. They also threw in a surprise Led Zeppelin medley of Heartbreaker - Communication Breakdown - Living Loving Maid - Heartbreaker near the end. 'Gear Grinder' closed the set with much energy and the band did a meet&greet after.

Overall it was a very entertaining show with killer high energy songs and awesome talent from a group of really great guys. Check them out on tour if you get a chance!

Check out a clip of 'Into The Sun' at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ3AvZTCQlg