It’s been a ‘Cruel Summer’ Tour in Tampa, FL At The Legendary Brass Mug

By on August 16, 2019
Dead Girls Academy (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

8AUG19

Clio Cadence, Alive In Barcelona, Felicity, & The Dead Girls Academy

You can’t get much more Tampa than swamp land, Hispanic grocery stores & bakeries, with high humidity engulfing the air. These businesses welcome you to the plaza that Brass Mug calls home. Grabbing a few pastries, we stood around the back of my truck while the bands finished loading in. Despite the flier saying they would start at 7, Clio Cadence wouldn’t really take the stage till about 7:30.

Clio Cadence (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Starting off with the traditional ‘check…check…check’ that goes along with many small club’s audio problems, Clio Cadence took these problems like seasoned pros and worked through them. Jamming along for a short 5 song set, they had the unfortunate luck of suffering from poor sound quality, especially for frontwoman Clio’s vocals. While she has great energy, her closing song featuring a drum duet with her drummer that proved that she brings more than just a pretty smile and some energy to the stage.

Felicity (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Up next (and only from the 8AUG-11AUG tour dates) was Felicity. The sound gremlins followed them on to the stage as well about a minute into their set. Like any seasoned band they powered through and kept the energy building through the audience.

Felicity (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

With some of the first mosh pits of the night starting with a few guys in front of the low stage, they were definitely getting the people to put down the pool cues and come to the stage. Having continuous sound issues, they kept the energy rocking from their Orange Cabs on a whole other level. The house sound problems were simply overshadowed by this energy, and dispite an incredibly small gathering, they kept it jamming out for a solid set of about 7 songs.

Felicity (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Alive In Barcelona Is a whole other animal. Their stage show was easily the best of the night. They also had a brand-new sound gremlin for their second song; no background music from their onstage laptop. This lead to their guitarist throwing up his arms toward the venue sound tech in frustration. Once this got going though, their set continued on without many more hitches.

Alive in Barcelona (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Giving thanks to those in attendance, AIB performed a decently longer set, and featured their recent single ‘Zombies’; a track that really should be in greater rotation on radio airwaves, and as between bands ‘filler’ at concerts. Honestly if their sound is this on point and their rhythm this tight with so many sound issues…I cannot imagine how jaw droppingly impressive they can be with a solid setup.

Alive in Barcelona (Photo-Jordan Raiff)
Alive in Barcelona (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Ending the night was the appropriately named Dead Girls Academy. With a metal twist on boy band style looks and theatrics, this name just fits. Unfortunately, their vocals just kept cutting out, and really was a disservice for those rocking out to their sound. Even up right in front of the stage, when the mic was cut out, the band just over-powered his voice, but the passion was painted on his face.

Dead Girls Academy (Photo-Jordan Raiff)
Dead Girls Academy (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Despite being a Hollywood based band, they really seem like they could be from anywhere, and their sound is very catchy and resonated well with the fan in attendance. It’s honestly a shame they didn’t draw as many people as they did on other dates. You can really see their level of performance is more at home on a bigger stage, to more people, and with cleaner sound. 

Dead Girls Academy (Photo-Jordan Raiff)

Don’t let the sound issues scare you off here though. Each band has its own energy, sound, and message to get out. Their delivery to the fans are different also, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t show up on time, in your face, and with real genuine passion. While the “Cruel Summer” tour is coming to the end, each of these bands has more tour dates slated to come up this year. Details for each band’s dates can be found on their perspective FB pages!!

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