Pop Evil bring the house down at Louisville’s Mercury Ballroom with Playe Royal and Black Map
Things are going fantastic for Grand Rapids, Michigan based rockers Pop Evil. They are celebrating their 10-year anniversary in this year, currently on the Music Over Words Tour, which is serving as the official kickoff for their recently announced all-new, self-titled LP, and on the heels of the band’s fifth #1 single “Waking Lions”, their previous four #1 singles being “Footsteps,” (2015) “Torn to Pieces,” (2014) “Deal With the Devil,” (2013) and “Trenches,” (2013). There is no stopping Pop Evil in 2018
A huge Good Friday crowd came in droves for a chance to see and support Pop Evil tonight in Louisville, many standing in line well before the doors opened in hopes of being close to the stage. Perched high above the stage is Hayley’s stunning white SJC Drums kit ruling the stage. As the house lights drop, Leigh and the guys bound onto the stage with energy and swagger, immediately launching into “Ways To Get High,” “Boss’s Daughter,” and “Torn To Pieces” and the night is off to a fast start.
With the crowd now well warmed up, Pop Evil keeps the party going with their newest #1 single, “Waking Lions” where it seems the whole venue is trying to out-sing Leigh during the chorus. The evening progresses with a mix of old and new tracks including “Ex Machina,” “Deal With the Devil,” “Hero,” and “Art of War. The band’s stage presence is electric and exciting to watch, Kakaty‘s strong vocals mixed with the occasional billowing smoke rising from the front of the stage added to the energy in the room.
Standing center stage Leigh announces, “We are proud to bring our ‘Music over Words’ tour to one of our favorite venues in one of our favorite cities in the whole country. How many old school Pop Evil fans are in the room?” When he asks the crowd to help them sing “Monster You Made”, the crowd responded with a huge roar. Pop Evil close out their main set with nothing but energy as they play “Silence & Scars”, the melodic “Be Legendary”. and the hard rocking “Take It All”.
Pop Evil finish up the night with a three-song encore starting with the oldest song in their catalog, “100 in a 55” from the album Lipstick on the Mirror followed by “Foot Steps” from the album Up and “Trenches” from the Onyx album, closing out a brilliant evening of real, honest to goodness Rock and Roll.
Pop Evil are: vocals: Leigh Kakaty, guitar; Davey Grahs & Nick Fuelling, bass; Matt DiRito and Hayley Cramer on drums.
Providing the main support this evening is Sumerian Records recording artists Palaye Royale. As the house lights drop, there is a deafening noise from the crowd, including the band’s loyal fan following known as Soldiers of the Royal Council who are well represented tonight. Vocalist Remington Leith, guitarist Sebastian Danzig, and drummer Emerson Barrett explode onto the Mercury Ballroom Stage as Palaye Royale begin their set. Their self-proclaimed “Fashion-Art Rock”, is best described as fast-paced dirty, straight-laced rock ‘n’ roll and soon has the entire venue jumping as the guys roll through fan favorites “Don’t Feel Quite Right,” “Masochist,” “Mr. Doctor Man,” “Wasted” and” Get Higher”. It is great to see the guys interact with the fans during and after the show. There were flowers given to a young fan at the barrier after the set and the guys were taking pictures, signing autographs and talking to anyone who asked.
Opening the evening is San Francisco based post-hardcore/hard rockers Black Map. Returning to Louisville for the first time since performing at the Louder Than Life festval last fall, Black Map roll through a rock-solid set opening with “Code” and “Heavy Waves”. The trio, featuring bassist and lead singer Ben Flanagan, guitarist Mark Engles and drummer Chris Robyn are touring in support of their newest EP, Trace The Path, released on February 9th. Black Map close out their set in a powerful way with “I’m Just the Driver,” “Ruin,” and a song featured on Sirius XM’s Octane, the popular “Run Rabbit Run”.
