Editor’s Note: It was a pretty surreal night at Spicoli’s Rockade. As a native Iowan, I get giddy when something gets mentioned out of our state in national media. Happened to tune into the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and they were poking fun at President Donald Trump about using a GoFundMe page to build the wall on the border of United States and Mexico, then Colbert mentioned Flaw and how they needed a touring vehicle for their band to go to Spicoli’s Rockade in Waterloo, Iowa. Here, I will post the video interview and a review of the show featuring Flaw, CO-OP, and The Crowned!
At Spicoli’s Rockade, Flaw headlined the show with special guests CO-OP and The Crowned!
Out of Texas, The Crowned was the first band to take the stage. The Crowned is composed of Marc Coronado on vocals and drums, Johnny Damien on bass, Shane Ellis on lead guitar, and Eric Salinas on rhythm guitar. They brought an absolutely intense show especially watching Coronado scream on the vocals and slay on the drums. Singing/screaming drummers never cease to amaze me because of the memory that you have to possess while doing that. You have to remember the time signatures of the songs and what you’re singing. The bass that Damien possesses is the glue that holds the puzzle together for The Crowned. I enjoyed their banter with the crowd, showcased that they had an awesome sense of humor and the songs “Hate” and “Murder” were appropo for their killer and hateful(in a loving way) set. I’m looking forward to learning more about this band as they certainly warmed up the crowd for the evening. Find The Crowned on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheCrownedOfficial
CO-OP was the next band to take the stage. This band is led by the vocalist named Dash Cooper, who is the son of Alice Cooper, along with Jeremy Tabor on guitars, Justin Swartzentruber on bass, and Nick Spann on drums. In June, CO-OP will be release their full-length debut album via EMP Label Group, which is ran by David Ellefson of Megadeth. I was immediately taken back in a profound way by the stage presence that CO-OP possesses, not to mention Dash’s killer mic stand. This band is chocked full of gifted musicians as they incorporated a mix of bluesy rock with a Godsmack type of feel to their sound with it chocked full of classic rock elements, the kind of rock that causes your fist to go in the air, nod your head, and just move along in a trance-like state to the music. Dash Cooper has such a nice grovelly voice that blends in succinctly with the bass of Swartzentruber, and Jeremy Tabor absolutely owns it on the guitar to go along with his energetic stage presence and watching Nick Spann fly through the time signatures and have such seamless timing on the drums could make CO-OP the band to watch out for in 2018. Soon, we will be posting our interview with Dash Cooper of CO-OP. In the meantime, find CO-OP on Facebook at www.facebook.com/coopband
Lastly, Flaw was there to own the night! Flaw definitely made their core fan base happy by playing a mix of old and new material along with some stuff from Chris Volz’s side project Five Bolt Main. Chris Volz paid a really nice tribute to the veterans and a message about how we need to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps and take care of business in our personal lives before breaking into the song “Only The Strong Survive”. Flaw had their core fanbase singing along to every word and the fans could tell that they were in for a special night given the national media attention that this was given. Mother Nature did keep some fans home but Flaw delivered for the roughly 100-125 people that were there at Spicoli’s. The crowd really got moving for “Payback” as well and Chris Volz sounds as strong as ever!
Fans can find Flaw on Facebook at www.facebook.com/flawband
Friday, April 6th- The Playhouse in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Saturday, April 7th- The Back Bar in Janesville, Wisconsin
Tuesday, April 10th- The Riffhouse Pub in Chesapeake, Virginia
Friday, April 13th- Vault in Hickory, North Carolina
Saturday, April 14th- The Drunk Horse Pub in Fayetteville, North Carolina
For tickets and further information on any show dates pertaining to Flaw with special guests CO-OP and The Crowned, click here!
