OC Bands Battle for Best Of
by Valerie Oxford
posted 2007-03-14
With Julie being the Hurricane, The Aftermath consists of three other members of the band. Guitarist Erik Paulson is grounded in the blues, his guitar solos are reminiscent of those classic blues sounds yet he adds his own rockin' style to make them fit into the speed and energy of the songs they were playing. Bassist Terry Law originally from Ireland, grew up in New York and came to California just in time to experience the Northridge earthquake, and he still decided to stay! He's performed with more than 50 bands during his musical career and is the newest addition to Hurricane Julie and the Aftermath. Drummer, Steve Lunn, whom Julie calls the "Beat Master" is definitely worthy of the moniker. The performance by Hurricane Julie and the Aftermath can only be described as pure rock and roll.
Photo Courtesy of Jeff Hartwick
Second to perform was Eve & The Worldly Essence, a band from LA, entered in the Best Out of OC category. Vocalist Janelle Barreto has a smooth, sexy, sultry voice and although not as energetic on stage, she more than makes up for it with her powerful and expressive vocal style. Janelle, also singing since a very young age has been playing with this band in one composition or another for the last 10 years. She writes most of the songs in collaboration with the other members of the band and her writing stems how the music makes her feel, emotionally and spiritually. Their set tonight had an almost alternative rock feel with some indie rock sound thrown in for good measure and that mixture came off sounding really good.
Lead guitarist, Johnny Kempt performed some great solos, but he was turned up almost too loud. I love loud so don't get me wrong, but there were times when it was difficult to hear the lyrics Janelle was singing and I couldn't hear the acoustic guitar played by band member John Vestano. Lefty bass player Sam Correra played his bass upside down (meaning the strings are strung in the reverse order for anyone who doesn't know), but it made no difference because the bass sounded great and with the drums played by John Medina, they filled it out and rocked the house. This band did very well tonight also.
I would personally find it difficult, or even impossible to be a judge in this competition. Both live bands put on wonderful performances and I liked them both quite a bit. Each had very different elements that made them fun and entertaining to watch and to listen. I have to give credit to the judges who have the challenging task of deciding who the winners will be. I can't wait to find out if either of the performing bands I saw will win the categories they entered. I wish them the best of...well, to break a leg!
