(editors note: no brass poles were harmed during Matt's review - videos and photos at the bottom of this page)

The Plaza Hotel played host to the first and hopefully many concerts to come on Sunday evening. Two local bands and one out of town band played on Sunday night. The local bands were Sum Thin Ugly and Mellonhead and Counterfit Fifty made the trek from Brighton to play. I missed the first time Sum Thing Ugly and MellonHead played at the Plaza so I didn’t know really what to expect from the sound. For some reason I already knew my way around in the place and had a good idea how the stage was going to be set up. This was the first time that I saw the poles being people’s way on stage. The odd time someone would back up into one or whack their guitar off of the pole. I must say the turnout wasn’t all that bad considering where it was and it was a Sunday night and there were for some reason many other events going on around town also. 

Up first onto the stage was Counterfit Fifty. After hearing a few of their tracks being played on Powercast Radio and reading the feedback on the songs after they were played I was looking forward to seeing what their live act was going to be like. Counterfit Fifty members are Brent Alvey on backing vocals and lead guitar, Keith Thompson on drums, Brandon Scott on lead vocals, rhythm guitar and Drew Ditmars on bass and backing vocals. I was left impressed at the end of their set. From the first to the last song that they played they put out a lot of energy and they got the well deserved feedback back from the crowd during their performance as well. The guys also slowed it down a bit and what I though was a nice mix to their set; lead singer Brandon Scott played an acoustic song with the drummer Keith Thompson playing quietly in the background. Lead guitarist Brent Alvey I think was out to out show the rest of the band. There wasn’t any second where he wasn’t showing why Counterfit Fifty is not, not going places. There were a couple of parts in different songs where he was able to shred it up a little bit. The band was playing songs off of their self titled EP. It is hard to pick between which songs were my favourite but I would have to say it was their last song of the night “I Can Tell”. It’s the opening guitar riff that Brent plays that I like the most out of the song and the fact that it is nothing less then a pure kickass rock song. The loudest fan in the place was also awarded by grabbing a t-shirt that Brandon threw out, so next time your at a show make sure you’re the loudest fan in the building. 
Set List 
1. Anytime I Want To 
2. Waiting 
3. Hate Tomorrow 
4. Never Return 
5. Heal 
6. Red House 
7. More Time 
8. Far From Home 
9. Breathe 
10. Break The Day 
11. The Note 
12. I Can Tell 

The lineup switch that Mellonhead and Sum Thin Ugly Did I was surprised at, I figured Sum Thin Ugly was going to go on last but they came onto the stage second. The transition between the bands were done what I find is the best way to do it. Sum Thin Ugly already had all of their gear at the back of the stage. To me it shows a lot of professionalism when it comes to putting on a show; because you don’t have to wait for each member to tune up their instruments and having the two bands collide with each other bringing their gear on and off of the stage. 

Surprisingly this was only the second time that I have seen Sum Thin Ugly live. I should mention kudos to the band for getting this night together and hopefully more to come before I go on about their rockin’ performance. Sum Thin Ugly covered songs from their first album release and soon to be new album. The way they played the new track you could tell that it just wasn’t penned the night before and they thought that they would try it out. During their set they slowed it down a little bit also to play their blues track Freedom, which I didn’t mind that they slowed it down because you get to watch randy rip it up on his guitar. Randy was also sporting his brand new shirt, (you will have to look at the pics or had to be there to look at the shirt). Yet no matter where they play Eddie was still brave enough to walk around bare foot throughout their set and part of the night (He has me beat by doing that). Randy also pulled out the moves and tricks with his guitar by coming to the front of the stage and playing the guitar behind his head. Steve used the space between the Eddie and Dean to his advantage, he never really stopped moving around until the end of their set. I also noticed that Dean has picked up the moves with his drumsticks. It is still his drum kit and the fact that he knows how to use it all that I am impressed about. Where some band have a large drum kit mostly for show but you never see the drummer use half of the kit for most of their songs. At the end of their set Sum Thin Ugly showed that they are still actively doing their part to add the truth behind the rumor of “Rock 'n' roll ain't pretty”.(sentence stolen from their homepage). 

Mellonhead I think was out to show the other bands how it was done. Playing their own brand of 80’s, 90’s metal. Each member of the band has different influences but they all come together to make one distinct sound. Now there is their recorded music and their live music. I would put my money forth to see the live performance any day. Like any band they bring more energy to the stage which make their sound even more of a in your face experience. When I started to look at Ken and Jed playing their guitars I noticed that their music is just not bar and chord but each song has both of their hands constantly moving up and down and their fingers are doing a mile a minute. “I Feel” was by far my favourite song of the night that they played. The opening to the song catches the ear every time. Everything that each member of the band plays and does in the song goes together perfectly. When Kenny yells “Yeah” after the opening riff of the song it really sets the tone for the song. The drum cymbals are hit just at the right time to finish off a few of the lines in the song. Crunchmeister proved that he doesn’t have a collection of guitars for nothing by joining the band on stage for a couple of songs. At the end of their set it almost felt empty in a way for me because they didn’t leave a path of destruction at the end of their set, they left with all of their instruments still intact, and till this day their bass is forever bolted to the Time To Laugh Comedy Club entrance and Exit. But by the way John was hitting his bass (which was making an awesome sound out of the speakers) at the end of a couple of their songs it won’t be long before they get to smash up another one. 

www.myspace.com/mellonheadband
www.sumthinugly.com
www.myspace.com/counterfitfifty