On a snowy Saturday night on a distant back road in quiet West Chicago rock fans gathered in force for what turned out to be a night of partying and mayhem as Winter Fest 2009 tore the roof off Boondocks, a music venue seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Dark Star Records, who put the event together, highlighted two incredible artists from their label in Supermercado and House of Holland, featuring Tommy Holland former frontman of Holland.
Getting right to the point of the matter, Supermercado kicked things off with “Out of Time”, a new track from their upcoming release Chupacabra that again shows the band’s seemingly endless ability to reach out and grab you by the throat. After immediately kicking in the crowd’s face with such a heavy, marching track, they then went into more new material “Sweet Baby J” and their raging version of Living Color’s “Cult of Personality” before digging into songs from their last release Scary Baby. Matt Mercado and Cliff Hunt were nothing short of dynamic as they went back and forth with lead vocals often harmonizing in what can only be described as the truly unique sound of Supermercado. Both Hunt and Mercado’s stage presence, combined with Supermercado’s big crunching sound, would be much better suited in a larger venue, making this an unusually special, more intimate experience for the band’s fans and Boondocks patrons.
Their set was tight, concise and to the point, but also so much more. Ripping guitars, walloping bass progressions and pounding tommy gun-like drums created a forceful bevy of cohesive sound enabling Mercado and Hunt, aka Killacat, to stick in the final dagger – and twist it. The band also surprised everyone with their final number when they went old school by playing the punk-driven “Segue” from Mercado’s former band Mind Bomb.
Following Supermercado’s power set, Dark Star Record’s own sexy public relations director, Heather Ledger, took the stage and introduced House of Holland to the packed, howling house. Mixing up their set with newly written songs and classics like “Gotta Run” and the ever-riotous “Wake Up the Neighborhood”, singer Tommy Holland led the way with his fun-loving charm, patented vocal style and stage antics. Holland’s new band look consisting of Vernon Voss, Bobby Fields, and Eddie Morris provide a true rock and roll spirit that falls in suit with the classic hard rock scene but supplies it’s own cutting edge. Basically, the music is loud and fun. Also impressive was the band’s near two-hour set of original material. Just a ten-minute break separated the fluidity of wall-to-wall, hard-hitting rock.
The vibe was right and the music delivered.
