Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown showcased the raw, rambunctious factor they bring to the musical sphere in providing us with a taste of their take on modern rock & roll.
This past Tuesday the legendary Zakk Wylde and his current band, Black Label Society, raided the one and only Webster Hall to put on a solid performance for old and new fans alike. Opening for them were Tyler Bryant and the Shakedown, a rising rock and roll band that hails from Nashville, Tennessee who have toured with the likes of Guns N’ Roses, Jeff Beck, ZZ Top, and Aerosmith.
When 8 p.m. rolled in, the band took over the stage to warm the crowd up for a a night full of serious head-banging. Founder and frontman Tyler Bryant was joined by drummer Caleb Crosby, bassist Noah Denney, and guitarist Graham Whitford to perform a series of their songs for the wide-eyed crowd. Upon first glance, the band members collectively resembled your standard modern rock band – shoulder-length hair, killer style, and devilish smiles. When Bryant led them into their first number, “Weak & Weepin,” he did a phenomenal job at emulating a gritty, weeping sound that held true to the record’s title.
They kept the energy high and the crowd happy with lengthy songs that had an incredibly raw, bluesy feel to them. Bryant’s voice was outstanding – the most vivid way to describe it would be to envision a young Axl Rose‘s vocals with a southern roots twinge. One of the many highlights of their performance was when they covered Ann Cole‘s “Got My Mojo Working” and Bryant stepped down to deliver a spectacular solo. He delivered the whole shebang: intense shredding and heavy percussion with a side of glorious hair-whipping.
The band segued into one of my personal favorites of theirs, “Aftershock”, and treated the audience to a brief acoustic interlude of the record before turning up the volume on the amp and slowing it down with “Lipstick Wonder Woman”. There was a moment of anticipation after it drew to a close because Crosby randomly decided to leave the stage, prompting the audience to question what the rockers were going to do next. They did a great job with keeping us on our toes. Upon his return, the band announced that they only had a couple of songs left and dove into “Poor Man’s Dream”, a song from their 2013 album Wild Child. The light shined bright on drummer, Crosby, when he whipped out a mind-blowing solo on his kit. If there was anyone in the audience w had yet to unleash their inner rocker, this moment ensured that there was not a soul in the room holding back from letting loose and giving in to the music.
Tyler breaking it down.
They closed with “House That Jack Built”, during which the band cleverly alternated between building up the pace and slowing it down, giving the audience a moment to catch their breath between the guitar solos that Bryant kept bringing to the table. After seeing their talent unfold in real time, I’m confident in saying that they’re going places. Their twist on the modern bluesy rock sound is refreshing and certainly unique. They haven’t opened for some of history’s iconic rock bands for nothing, after all.
