Speed Rocking @ CMJ — Punchland.com
This is an amusing review of Alexz’s Brooklyn show at CMJ. It’s hard to describe what it is, so just give it a read. Alexz is one of the many acts featured in this article so I’ve put the intro and her part for brevity.
Praise the lords of rock.
This past week I had the privilege of attending the Big Picture Media’s 6th Annual Showcase at The Living Room as part of the CMJ Music Marathon in lovely Brooklyn, NY. The Living Room is a tiny place where one would think a fight club would make its home. It is complete with a bar upstairs that did not have its liquor license yet, c’mon now… However, they were offering up some samplings of whisky for the lucky guests. Oh, thank goodness! As one enters the music arena, speakers dangle from the ceiling by chains as the various rockers come on to do their thing. Drinks were free with special guest tickets and there was a GIF photo booth by the bar to keep things classy, courtesy of FoxTales! As luck would have it, yours truly had a chance to chat with not one, not two, but five different bands at the venue. Each group was as fascinating as the last. I had a real pleasure meeting with these awesome people. Below are some of the brief highlights from each, enjoy!
4.) Alexz Johnson:
Homebase:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Members:
Alexz Johnson (Singer/Songwriter)
Links:
OfficialOh my God, you guys. Out of everyone at this CMJ gathering, Alexz was by far the most surprising. I had listened to this crooning seductress earlier in the week to prepare myself for this night. All I can say is that the studio recordings do not do her voice justice at all. As great as they are, her soulful and amazingly powerful voice blew me away as she began to sing on stage live. She had the entire crowd captivated and in awe. Ladies were whooping and hollering after each song and the gentlemen were all immediately in love. Now, I am a taken man, but my goodness, I may have gotten lost in her singing as she held the microphone stand close and made lovely motions that gave us the chills. Her band is an amazing compliment to her voice; all of the men were rocking away and were following her lead. At one point in the performance, there was an abrupt pause where she gave us all a dramatic lingering in which she then immediately graced us again with her voice. It was fascinating to see the band react as they held their gaze upon her in that moment to make sure they were completely in tune. Her bassist had a huge grin on his face as she sang that final note. It was almost as if she had succeeded in making music magic right then and there. I believe she did. As I walked to meet with her after the set, I noticed all the bands in the crowd were just marveling over the performance they had just witnessed. It was astoundingly awesome to see their jaws still dropped.
Alexz is lovely to chat with. Her smile made me feel welcome and we hit it off right away. She was most proud of her attire that evening which was a stunning black dress with an open back; fellas were turning their heads left and right as she walked on by. We chatted mostly about her performance and then moved onto how lucky she feels to have such a great band to support her. “These guys are just amazing, I can’t believe that I get to perform with not only amazing musicians, but great friends,” says Alexz, “its great to have a group a people that you can spend so much time with.” Examples included sharing the same beds, traveling on the road all the time and eating random foods wherever it could be found. Fair enough, that seems like quite an adventure in itself. We continued on chatting about her love for NYC and the thrills of finding new things all the time here. As our talk ended, she complimented me on my beard, in which I blushed and as cool as I possibly could, thanked her for the time. Man up, Myles!
