[Jim Price]

WEDNESDAY 12/11: With seemingly the rest of the civilized world closed down due to the ice storm that glazed over our area this day, Saucemonster and Pneumatic proceeded with their Wednesday all-ager at Peter C's. As I arrived during the start of Saucemonster's set, attendance was off due to the weather, but there were at least some folks there. Celebrating the official release of their debut CD, "Waiting On Life," Da Sauce mixed tunes from the album with heavy-hitting rock from Staind, Disturbed, Godsmack, Tool, System of a Down, Mudvayne and more. Saucemonster again were powerful and high energy, with frontmen Floyd and Dig constantly rallying cheers and headbanging from the stagefront fans. Highlights of this night included Matt from Xpendable joining Dig onstage for a version of Pantera's "Walk," and at the end of the night, the encore featuring Matt, Jay and Lerch of Xpendable with Rob from Saucemonster, finishing the night with Pantera's "This Love." Another impressive Saucemonster show, and it was good to see at least some crowd at Peter C's this night, given the weather!

Saucemonster unleashing the beast at Peter C's.

Rob Bonsell of Saucemonster.

The Xpendable-monster finale at Peter C's.

Xpendable's Matt Watson unleashing some beast of his own.

THURSDAY NIGHT 12/12: I returned to Peter C's to take in the Banditos, performing unplugged this night. Although attendance was light, there were at least a few fans in the house. Now slimmed to a four-piece following the departure of guitarist Darrell Ruzzi, the Banditos mixed a diverse range of current and classic favorites, everything from Hootie & the Blowfish to John Prine to Don MacLean to the Beatles, Nickelback, Three Dog Night, Badfinger, the Refreshments' "Banditos" and a whole lot more. The group welcomed a number of musical guests onstage this night, providing for some interesting highlights. Not Them Guys' Jim High and an unidentified female got up and sang Sammy Johns' "Chevy Van." (Jim had this thing going on with plastic toy soldiers this night.) Lerch from Xpendable lent some guitarwork on the Doors' "Roadhouse Blues," and towards night's end, Randy "Jackson" Rutherford stood in on bass during James Taylor's "Fire & Rain." The intermission between sets became a jam night of sorts, with Scott Russell of Broken Neck and Jerry Naugle of Not Them Guys joining D'Drummer Kevin Bandito onstage for a few songs. Humorous lowlight was Kevin attempting to hit the high notes on ZZ Top's "Tush" (somewhere in the wind, you could hear the faint sound of Felix from the Hurricanes weeping in the distance, lol!). After the show, Big Jim, Wally and Billy Bandito did some impromptu serenading to remaining audience members seated at the tables. It was a good, laid-back fun night.

Banditos at Peter C's

Billy Bandito of Banditos

Big Jim and Wally Bandito of Banditos

Honorary Bandito of the night, Bandit - Excellent doggie, but bad, bad violinist

FRIDAY NIGHT 12/13: With the sudden burst of rush-hour wintry weather turning many area roads into skating rinks, I figured it would be a dead night on the area music scene - especially considering that the scheduled bands at Peter C's and 4D's were driving in from the Poconos, and Aldo's scheduled band was driving in from State College. As I passed Peter C's, I noticed Xpendable on the marquee, so I figured Brok*n cancelled due to the roads. I don't know if Papercut made it in to the 4D's. I made my way over to Aldo's to catch Judgement, who did make it in. Feight was onstage as I arrived. This was the first I had seen Feight since Jeremiah Shafer took over guitar duties. The group was drilling out a powerful version of Megadeth's "Symphony of Destruction" as I entered; it sounded impressive! I saw four more songs from Feight, and it's apparent that Jeremiah was the missing link from this band, this was the strongest I've seen from this band thus far. The group sounded fairly tight and together, and even had a few fans jamming along at stagefront. (And despite the weather, Aldo's actually had a respectable crowd this night, including members of Saucemonster.) Jason from Choking Faith made a cameo appearance to help Rob bark the vocals on Staind's "Mudshovel" and Drowning Pool's "Bodies." It appears that after almost a year of trying to get Feight off the ground, Rob Carolus has found the right pieces of the puzzle - good things should be ahead for Feight, based on this set. This was my first time witnessing State College's Judgement, watch out for these guys! Judgement mixes old- and new-school metal and hard rock from Alice In Chains, STP, UPO, Pearl Jam, Anthrax, Godsmack, Megadeth, Danzig, original songs too! Singer Dom has a powerful voice and good range, the man can belt! Highlights for me included versions of Anthrax's "Only," Alice In Chains' "Rooster," originals from their debut EP and more. It took me a while to catch up with this band, but I'm glad I finally did. Judgement is already gaining a fan base locally, they should be a force on area stages in 2003!

Rob Carolus of Feight with guest Jason of Choking Faith

Jeremiah Shafer of Feight

Dave Walker of Feight

Mike Jellen of Judgement

Dominic Valenti of Judgement

Brandon Stefanic of Judgement

Dominic and Brandon of Judgement

SATURDAY NIGHT 12/14: With all the discussion on the Rockpage message board regarding lack of crowds and other things competing with live music, I must confess to you that I was late arriving for my live music duties this night because I hooked myself into watching that ESPN movie about legendary college football coach Bear Bryant, "The Junction Boys," and couldn't pull myself away from the tube (it actually WAS a good movie).So yes, it can happen to me, too.Anyway, I did arrive at City Limits with two songs to go in openers 4Saken's set. It wasn't much, but what I heard - their version of the Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right to Party" and an original song - sounded good. 4Saken appeared to have some good energy going onstage, and actually had some folks on the dance floor. And playing through a good sound system, 4Saken sounded better this night than the first time I heard them several months back at the G-Man. Hopefully I'll get to catch another full set from this band soon. Stept On then drilled two sets of heavy modern rock originals and favorites, including tunes from the "Lonely" CD and several new songs. The new song "I Bleed" particularly caught my attention this night, it's aggressive and in-your-face but has a good hook. Other new songs Stept On performed this night included "Easy" and "Can't Take Another Day." Other highlights included Stept On versions of Pantera's "This Love" (always kicks ass), Living Colour's "Cult of Personality" (Matt Day's guitar solo was insane, and frontman Chuck going full Chuck on Rage's "Killing in the Name." Disappointing crowd by Stept On standards this night; still a good number of people (other bands would kill for this size crowd at City Limits), but lower than the usual jam-packed house. Yes, the lower attendances at shows is affecting everyone...

Josh Hetrick of Stept On

Adam Zimmer of Stept On

Chuck Budzina of Stept On

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun; Brandi and friends at City Limits

SUNDAY AFTERNOON 12/15: Okay, it's not musical, but a gang of friends and I, led by the Right Honorable Guv'nor Jesse, took in the new Star Trek flick, "Star Trek: Nemesis." I liked it. I won't give up too much about the movie, except it is essentially "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" take on the second Star Trek movie, "The Wrath of Khan." Similar plot, similar outcome, and an important "Next Generation" cast member buys the farm in the end. There's a lot of good action scenes, starship battles, a wedding, some off-road 4-wheeling, and a bizarre sex scene. And things get blown up. If you're a Star Trek fan, especially "The Next Generation," you'll like "Nemesis." If you don't like Star Trek, you won't.

SUNDAY NIGHT 12/15: I concluded my weekend checking out Seven Souls at Pellegrine's. This band impresses me more every time I see them. A change in the sax position this night, Terry Owen (ex-Queen Bee) was wailing sax for Seven Souls (not sure if that is temporary or permanent), and he and trumpet man Jeremy Joseph were lighting it up! I haven't seen this type of brass fireworks since the U.S. House Band! I liked the song selection this night, too, including funk-geared tunes from Dave Matthews (Seven Souls always seems to kick off their sets with DMB), Bob Marley's "Smoke Two Joints," Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" and "Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard," Sublime, Skynyrd, original tunes and more. Seven Souls are excellent players who mix it up, keep it exciting, upbeat and bright. Again, not a whole lotta people in the house this night, this band deserves to be SEEN! If you haven't witnessed Seven Souls for yourself yet, catch them at the 4D's Jan. 10!