Toledo’s Saturnine Hello headlined Frankie’s last night, with opening sets by Toledo’s Sugarboxx and Curbside Beauty from Detroit. Saturnine Hello, active on the Toledo original music scene for more than a decade, is a power trio featuring Robby Nine on lead vocals and lead guitar, Jonny Trash on drums and Mighty Mike on bass. In addition to rhythm section duties, Jonny and Mike also lay down solid backing vocals.
The band’s music is a meaty stew of various influences, most obviously punk, 80’s hair metal and glam, and 90’s (think Smashing Pumpkins). The most impressive aspect of Saturnine Hello’s sound is their ability to project the best features of their influences while shedding the flaws of each genre. Though heavily influenced by punk, frontman Robby Nine’s guitar work goes far beyond chugging powerchords, incorporating interesting chord voicings, ambient sounds and pitch-shifting effects, at times reminiscent of Tom Morello. Bassist Mighty Mike, rather than simply drone away on root notes, plays cool lines without overplaying or sacrificing a solid groove. Likewise, Jonny Trash eschews excess in favor of maintaining a tight, formidable rhythm section.
A highlight of Saturnine’s set was their intense performance of “Born Dead” from the “Sometimes Galore” LP. This band is more than ready to open for national acts, or headline mid-size venues. It’s troubling that Toledo can’t manage to fill up a small venue like Frankie’s to support a band of this caliber.
Saturnine Hello:
Mighty Mike:
Robby Nine:
The opening acts also brought their A-game. Sugarboxx, fronted by Kevin Mandraken, delivered a high-energy set of 80’s influenced hard rock. Another high point of the evening was Curbside Beauty’s kick-ass set. These guys sound like Buckcherry, if Buckcherry wrote better songs. Don’t miss these guys the next time they’re in town…they’re well worth checking out!
