Photos and Review by Tom Bogus
Galleries: Dope, Ill Niño, (hed) p.e.
Dope’s Monster High Tour made it’s way to the Fete Music Hall in Providence, Rhode Island. This show was being advertised as the “Night of the Dead Halloween Show,” featuring 10 local acts sharing two stages in addition to the three bands on the Monster High Tour. The music hall’s doors opened at 4:00 pm and the first local band was on the stage at 4:15. As the bands played, their sets were getting cut shorter and shorter so everybody could play before the main event. It seemed the set up and breakdown times were longer than anticipated. The last band finished playing at 8:00 pm and everybody moved into the main room to see the see the rest of the show.
(hed)p.e. hit the stage and delivered a raw set of songs ranging from Rap to Reggee to metal to punk. Their music is known or referred to as “G-punk” which is mix of punk rock and gangsta rap, but their set was so much more than that. After performing for over 23 years, Jared’s voice still sounds incredible. It doesn’t matter if he’s rapping or screaming, he still hits every note every time. They effortlessly pumped out fan favorites like “Raise Hell”, “Killing Time”, “Bartender” and “Renegade.”
Second on the roster was Nu Metal/Latin Metal band Ill Niño. Ill Niño opens their set with the hard hitting “God Save Us” driving the crowd crazy. Wasting no time, they plowed through “If You Still Hate Me”, “Unreal”, “Nothing’s Clear” and “What Comes Around“, all from the 2001 debut release “Revolution Revolucion.” A majority of the songs in the set were from this album. The current line up is Christian Machado (vocals), Dave Chavarri (drums), Laz Pina (bass), Ahrue Luster (lead guitar), Diego Verduzco (rhythm Guitar) and Oscar Santiago (percussion). Surprisingly this was my first time seeing Ill Niño and I was not disappointed.
Dope hits the stage with full force, opening with “Vio-lence” and the whole place erupted. Left to right and front to back, the whole floor was moving. This is my third time seeing Dope this year and every show has been nothing but pure energy and loud rocking music. Edsel Dope (guitar & vocals), Virus (guitar), Nikk Dibs (bass guitar) and Chrissy Warner (drums) always bring their “A” game. Next they played “Blood Money” off their recent release “Blood Money pt. 1”. This new song is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Edsel loves to interact with the audience between songs and express his gratitude to the fans that make it possible for him to do what he loves. They continued through their 14 song set, playing songs from all their earlier releases. They played two cover songs “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record), a “Dead or Alive” cover, and “Rebel Yell”, a “Billy Idol” cover. They ended the night with “Bitch.” Edsel is not a fan of the encore. He would rather just give you that extra song right away. So Dope never does them.
It was a fun night of heavy music and it was great seeing (hed) p.e. and Ill Niño for the first time. I will definitely see them again. Dope always puts on a great show. Every show of their I’ve seen has exceeded my expectations.
Dope
Ill Niño
(hed) p.e.
Dope setlist
- X-hale
- Violence
- Blood Money
- 6-6-Sick
- Bring it on
- No way out
- Debonair
- Now or never
- Stop
- Addiction
- You spin me right round (like a record)
- Rebel yell
- Die, Boom, Bang, Burn, Fuck
- Bitch
Ill Niño setlist
- God Save Us
- If You Still Hate Me
- Unreal
- Nothings’s Clear
- What Comes Around
- Liar
- Rumba
- Predisposed
- No Murder
- Rip Out Your Eyes
- Revolution/ Revolución
(hed) p.e. setlist
- Sunshine
- Peer Pressure
- Killing Time
- Waste of Time
- Let’s Ride
- Blackout
- Sophia
- Comeova2nite
- Raise Hell
- Bartender
- Renegade
- No Woman, No Cry
- Peer Pressure