Scarlet Symphony got on stage and faced a frigidly cold crowd. Around 8 o’clock Belly Up Tavern was less than halfway full and most of the people there were more concerned about hoarding their seats than they were about the music. The guitarist, Aaron Swanton, began riving up his machine with lightning fast strums, leading the way for drummer Joshua Wheeler to break in with rapacious beats, while his twin brother, Zachary musingly plucked his bass.  Their tempo had a fast-pace, exciting element that slowly worked at defrosting the venue. As the intro faded into the body of the song, vocalist Gary Hankins used his rich, perfectly pitched voice to release the pent up energy, resulting in lots of curly notes, beginning as whines and twisting into full blown screams. Scarlet Symphony has an exhilarating technique of beginning a song with catchy cadences that build up to an electric pressure exploding into electrifying melodies and thrilling rhythms. Their shell is hard rock, but once cracked open, seductive pop tunes and harmonic blues gush out, resulting in a symphonic fusion of a totally rad sound.

Not only was their music captivating but the boys of Scarlet Symphony know how to put on a show. The jam sessions were enhanced by the guitarist profusely sweating as he ran back and forth across the stage, dancing and jumping as he massaged his chords into smithereens, the bassist and drummer constantly slamming their heads in unison, and the vocalist groovashiously contorting his entire body to the beat. Chorus vocals included the entire band, and while the music played I found myself singing along to songs I’d never heard before that moment – they’re that catchy, that instantaneously memorable.

Lyrically artistic too, the band’s message was both abstract and specific. I could easily identify with any of the songs, but so could anyone else. There’s absolutely nothing to dislike about this band. Within every element they produce there’s a melody, a riff, a sentence, a maneuver that encapsulates a form of quality everyone and anyone can find quite pleasing. By the end of the show, the crowd had completely closed in on the band and the front row had a number of eager dancers trying to spiritually find that heaven Scarlet Symphony had open the gates for.

I recommend you see a Scarlet Symphony show as soon as possible before their ticket prices triple.