Shadows Lie Rocks Central PA

If last night was any indication of what 2008 is going to be like for me, then I am going to have one helluva rockin' New Year!

Prior to meeting up with Shadows Lie, my day was filled with the anticipation of meeting them. I can honestly say that I felt like a 15 year old school boy getting ready for his first date. I have met band members before and some well known celebrities and wasn't the slight bit nervous. I think it had more to do with me knowing that Shadows Lie is going to be big one day, real big, and that I am working to help get their music out there for the world to hear. Either way, my speed stick was working overtime.

I met up with Shadows Lie around 6:45pm at their hotel room, where we exchanged pleasantries as I handed them "ILike2Rock! T-Shirts." Then we moved to the lobby, as Kira Leigh (Vocalist) wanted to get her voice warmed up before we left. We chatted a bit about Lancaster County, band promotions and music before heading over to Bob Evans for a bite to eat before the show.

Sitting between CT (Bassist) and Frank (Guitarist), with Kira directly across from me, and Marco (Drummer) to Kiras's left, while they ate, I got a real sense from the band that they are more than just band members; they are a family. Knowing that Shadows Lie is going to be around for a long time, I am glad to see they ate healthy (must be the dad in me). The conversation drifted from one subject (Lawnmower Rabbits) to (Wormy Cheese) another and if it wasn't for them having to get to the gig, I know I could have sat and chatted with them all night long. The band members are really a good bunch of people, down to earth, hard working professionals with good heads on their shoulders.

Arriving at the Tourist Inn in Hellam PA around 8:45pm, I helped Shadows Lie unload some of their equipment (ok, so I carried in the fog machine) before finding a spot for myself and my friends to watch the show. Shadows Lie did a quick sound check before opening up with the cut "Invited". One of the things I like to do when I am at shows is watch the people in the audience to see their reactions to the music. To my surprise, I had to move from my spot, as a lot of people moved to stand in front of the stage while they performed. As I drifted around and through the crowd taking pictures, I was seeing heads bobbing and body's rocking to the beat and to me, this is a total involuntary reaction, much like breathing. Seeing this, I knew that Shadows Lie had just captured their audience.

Another added surprise was Shadows Lie's cover of Journey's song "Separate Ways." I personally was never was a big Journey fan, as most of their songs are what I deem to be "mushy." Normally when a band performs a cover tune, you can usually pick out the song within the first few bars of the song. Not the case with Shadows Lie, they took over the song and made it their own, Neil Schon and Steve Perry would have been proud.

Ending their set with the song "Dead End," Kira's searing vocals were adeptly backed by the high energy performance of the band and had someone in the crowd shouting out "Play that song again!" All in all, Shadows Lie's set was unflawed perfection and left the crowd wanting more.

After their set, I continued to watch from a distance and found that there was no shortage of new fans picking up a copy of their CD "Echoes." It was gratifying to see the band's members taking the time to sign the CD's and talking with anyone that approached them.

When Worlds End hit the stage and opened up with "Them Bones by Alice in Chains," I lost sight of Kira as she worked her way through the crowd to get to the front of the stage. The rest of Shadows Lie were either talking with fans, signing autographs or rocking out somewhere in the crowd. I even found myself snapping my neck as they played, especially when they played "Walk by Pantera." At times, people were jumping on stage and rocking out while Worlds End performed, and they seemed to feed off it and just played that much harder.

I know that on Feb 15, I will be at Fat Daddy's in York, PA to see Shadows Lie and Worlds End play together again, as these two bands put on solid performances and compliment each other very well.

Shadows Lie will be featured on iLike2Rock.net Radio from Feb 10-15, including a live call in show on NowLive.com
(See iLike2Rock.net for more details)

To find out more about Shadows Lie please visit
Official Website: www.ShadowsLie.com
On MySpace: www.myspace.com/WhereTheShadowsLie

To find out more about Worlds End
On MySpace: www.myspace.com/WorldsEndBand

You can download pictures from the show by Clicking Here!