Top 5 Local Bands

It's time I give those much needed and deserved props to the greatness of Dallas area music. For those reading out of town, I would highly recommend linking to these bands' webpages or My Space pages and take a good listen. The following bands are good, wholesome rock and seem to have never forgotten what true Rock & Roll is about. IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER... Here we go:





- Millicent Friendly

Millicent is compromised of frontman Chris Machart, Kenny Eakin on lead guitar, Peter Wilkins on bass and John Solis on skins. This is a fantastic quartet, usually labeled in the power pop genre, that can hook anyone in their audience. Believe me peeps, I am hard to hook (wow, where is this going?),and I have been hooked since day one. These are a great group of guys who deserve to go a very long way. Go check 'em out!
www.millicentfriendly.com
www.myspace.com/millicentfriendly






- Phantom X

Another quartet, this time bringing true grit heavy metal back to the scene. Fronted by Omen singer, Kevin Goocher, these guys remind all of us the way it was in the 80's, and add a lot of today's touch to their music. FANTASTIC music for all of you rock fans, I highly recommend you check these guys out. Eric Knudson plays the guitar and makes it look extremely easy! Awesome guitarist, and I don't know anyone who can duplicate his licks. Glenn Malicki takes the Bass duties, and also makes it look very easy! I am sick and tired of bass guitarists who have no originality, and just play the basic 4 chord rhythm so the drummer wont fall off time. NOT GLENN! This bass player makes it look like he's playing lead guitar, and sounds just as good. From one drummer to another, I have to tell you that Danny White is very impressive. He played a song on the CD for me a while before it was released, and he had a double bass segment in there that lasted close to a minute. Folks, I cant even do that for 10 seconds without rushing a beat, and he was perfect on his timing! I am a hard critic of drummers, and this man here never falls out of time, at least when I am around! Excellent drummer! And Kevin Goocher.... What do you say about a man who has sang heavy metal for over 20 years??!! Just click on the link below and take a listen. If you could imagine a vocal infusion between Ronnie James Dio and Rob Halford... You get Kevin Goocher! Excellent band, excellent fan for Beak I am.
www.phantom-x.net
www.myspace.com/phantomxmetal





- Lowside

Another quartet, this time bringing progressive hard core rock back to the surface of Dallas. Another band with members very well experienced in the music scene, both locally and world wide. Lowside is headed up by Ron Taylor, former singer of Lillian Axe. Other of his credits include (but not limited to) Velvet Pokerdogs, and local cover band The Daze. He is joined by long time partner Darrin Delatte on lead guitars, also of Lillian Axe fame, and also with The Daze. Bass player Keith Long and drummer Michael "Ferg" Ferguson also share a long musical history, playing music together for over seventeen years. Ron Taylor has the kind of vocals that could either make a girl sWET (I've seen it happen) or shatter glass (haven't seen that happen, but my glasses almost broke at a show one time). Darrin has the licks of some of the better guitar players I have ever heard, and that goes for bass guitar as well. He plays guitar in Lowside, bass in Lillian, to name a couple. He still has the uncanny ability to look down a chicks shirt without them knowing!
www.lowside.net
www.myspace.com/lowside747







- Proofed

I have only seen Proofed one time at O'Riley's in Dallas, and I am hooked. Another band whose music brings you back to the days that you could rock out with your friends and just sit around all day and night partying your sac off. These guys kick your ass with tunes like 'Last Rites' and 'Beyond Detonation'. You should really go take a listen and see for yourself. Proofed is made up of frontman Bradford, guitar player Kirk, Chris plays bass and Eric beats skins. I would love to tell you their last names, but I don't know them that well yet. I can tell you, however, it is some of the best music, local or otherwise, that I have heard in a long time. Go see for yourself:
www.proofed.net
www.myspace.com/proofed2






- Poison Cherry

OK, I normally would not put a cover band in this kind of rating box, however, Poison Cherry puts on one of the best shows I have ever seen! These guys play the part, act the part, and play the music as if they had written it. This is definitely a band worth checking out. Lets start with the drummer, Jakk Wylde (of course, I know their real names, but you will have to get those on your own!). From one drummer, about another, this man is hella impressive. He does him drum solos better than Tommy Lee ever has (ok Jakk, you come real damn close!). If you were to listen to him during a solo, and turned your back, you would think there were 2 drummers, or Jakk had eleven limbs. The rest of the group is pretty damn impressive as well: Lead singer Nikki Lixx, Guitarist D.D. Semans, guitarist Thrash and Bassist Rikki Slambora. These guys all play their parts really well, play their music really well, and entertain very well! The names fit the profile friends, a tribute to the best 80's music out there, Poison Cherry is a MUST SEE.


Other bands in the area I would love to recommend to you as well: Back In Black (ACDC tribute), Swan Song (Zeppelin tribute), The Daze, Back In The Day, Zenabi, Hillbilly Orchestra.

I know I have been slacking, and I owe you about three more top 5 lists, so I will play catch up this week. I will do the 'Joe Dye Top 5 Cowbell Songs' list next.