After attending Made of Metal III this past Monday, I looked forward to something different than watching cover bands playing Lamb Of God, System Of A Down, Metallica, Metalcore and Extreme Metal. The idea behind Sroud 3a Broud was to go to Nova pub and “chill” while enjoying some standup comedy, a couple of Rock bands and jams that featured 5 bassists, 2 guitarists and 3 drummers.
Too bad stand-up comedian Anthony Hamawi couldn’t make it to the event, we were looking forward to his set. Anyway, the first band on-stage was “Sroud“, a 3-piece acoustic band with 2 guitarists and a violinist. They played covers of Ray Charles’ “Hit The Road Jack”, Radiohead’s “Creep”, Guns N’ Roses “Sweet Child ‘O Mine” among others. The female vocalist had a nice soothing voice and violinist Rudy Fares (also one of the drummers of the night) helped making this band suitable for background music for dinner pubs and indoor restaurants, something that the band should definitely aim for (tip: try performing at that restaurant just next to Nova pub – it so happens that I noticed a pianist and female vocalist performing live music there that night).
Second band on stage was “Eruption“, a Rock band which played some classic hits from the 80’s and 90’s along with some originals. Armed with nice riffs and good ol’ Hard Rock, the band put on a good show that night. The only slightly awkward demeanor was the vocalist trying to communicate and pump some life into a crowd that came to chill out, not to party like there’s no tomorrow. Their originals were spot on with the Hard Rock feel and the vocalist had good potential in his vocals, which he later demonstrated in a high pitch demonstration, but the only two things he has to figure out is the type of songs which fit his voice and how not to get overexcited when performing.
The surprise of the night was when a beatboxer went on stage and improvised some crazy vocal beats, which clearly showed great talent – now that wasn’t something you normally get to see at Nova.
Certainly the night’s main acts, 3 bassists whose main influences are Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller and Jaco Pastorius showcased their skills with an extended jam in which they exchanged funky double thumb rhythms with interesting licks with 3 drummers (one at a time). Unsurprisingly, the jam had some good as well as some messy parts, largely due to the lack of communication between the musicians involved. Sometimes a bassist would keep soloing on his own, taking up the spotlight and not letting room for others to present ideas, while the drummers’ performances ranged from ‘playing it safe’ to ‘overplaying the other musicians’ – nothing that more jams wouldn’t fix, along with considering some tricks and skills that I think are vital for any jam, like switching tempos from fast/slow and vice versa, changing musical keys and knowing when to properly end a song (not by abruptly stop playing all together).
Another jam featured guitarist Fadi Yabroudi who played Jazz Fusion licks which I found to be very interesting, especially when accompanied by a decent drummer and a bassist who knows his Jazz. I encourage Fadi to pursue a Jazz Fusion project, I bet he’d make some people very interested.
Finally, bassist Roy Nawfal went on stage with guitarist Fadi Bou Khalil and drummer Simon Khoury and played a nifty progression that turned out a bit experimental from Fadi’s side with interesting pedal effects and layers.
Overall, Sroud 3a Broud was less or so a good event, different from the usual Metal events we’ve been seeing at Nova. Perhaps the jams weren’t so tight, but the musicians performed well, and I’ll be waiting for similar events in the future – it’s the best way to spot talented musicians in the local scene.
