Finals Set For Share The Stage Contest
The finals are set for the Share The Stage Contest sponsored by TNT’s, 89X, & Live Nation where the winner will open for a national act at one of the area’s large concert venues of their choice. After weeks of Preliminary rounds, the first Semi-Final was held September 4th which saw Lies Unknown, SyPher, Reality Drift, The Barefoot Girls, and Tiny Lightning go at it head to head for 2 of the 4 coveted spots in the finals, while this past Thursday we saw Maceri, Lithium, The Big Black Pink, & Chaos Theory battling it out for the final 2 spots in the Finals to be held 
this Thurday October 2nd over at TNT’s Bar & Grill. DetroitRockReview.com was there for both nights and must say the support of the bands by their fans has been nothing short of spectacular. The first semi-final on the 4th had Sypher leading off the night with an exceptional crowd that appeared to give new energy to the guys, chalking up one of their best performances to date, propelling them into a second place finish and advancing them into the Finals! Looks like they guys in SyPher have been busy themselves as we’ve been told they are nearing completion of their debut CD and expect to
release it before year’s end. Reality Drift had to travel a bit for tonight’s contest and always seems to bring in a crowd, due in part to Jordan Trovillion’s (vox) on stage personality that inevitably draws you into their performance, but it wasn’t enough tonight as they fell from the competition. Barefoot Girls hit the stage next, literally igniting the crowd with their foot stomping good time 
music that fringes on the insane. A relatively new band on the scene, we first caught them out of the blue up at the Premier Concert Theater a month or so ago. Surprisingly they brought quite the crowd themselves who were certainly into their music, but again falling short and will not be moving onto the finals. In the nights fourth position was none other than Lies Unknown, a band who has recently exploded onto the Detroit scene, releasing their self titled full length album earlier this year, since turning ears where ever they play. This young group has one of the largest followings around, scoring big points when ever they step up one stage, delivering an excruciating set that leaves you wondering why they’re still on the small stage. That may all change soon as Lies Unknown won tonight’s gathering by squashing all competitors with an overwhelming door vote that was second to none. Finishing out the first semi-final was Tiny Lightning, a female fronted cover band that brings a fresh voice to the scene with Jessica Kropog. Alas, tonight was not their night as the crowd dispersed quickly after Lies Unknown had left.
Fast forward 2 weeks to September 18th and we’re back at TNT’s for the second Semi-Final of the contest to determine the remaining 2 finalist. First, and most certainly not least, is a rather unique group called The Big Pink Black. Not too sure the meaning behind the moniker, but this energetic group is fronted by one the most phenomenal female voices in the city, Tiffany Marie. Having recently joined this group, Tiffany Marie stands out as the driving force behind the otherwise all male group, her vocals rising above all during their more maistream songs, while losing her edge during the groups more ferocious approach to straight out punk. The Big Pink Black drew in quite a large rambunctious crowd, but with tonight’s turnout wasn’t enough to move them on. Barring a complete change, a few tweaks to their song list may just be enough to propel this singer straight to the top of the area’s best! The hard hitting heavy metal Chaos Theory came out next, plastering TNT’s with what was an amazingly strong set, turning this smoky club into Hardcore Metal Heaven. Having only seen these guys once quite awhile back in an opening slot over at the Emerald, Dr2 was totally impressed with the
melodic tone to their gut wrenching sound which actually had some of our crew up in arms, ready to declare Chaos Theory the winner of the night, bringing in a solid crowd for themselves, yet again fell short in terms of door votes. Look for Chaos Theory to head up a EP Release show over at The Ritz this Saturday Night, October 4th in support of their long awaited debut offering. Dr2 had never seen the next band up, Maceri, live before, all though we did have half the group perform during our Dr2 Open Jam Pool Party back in July, so we didn’t really know what to expect with the full group. We can tell you one thing for sure, and that is that we never 
imagined we’d see what we did from this group, whose recordings teeter on the more mild side. Instead what we got was a bevy of angst driven determined rock & roll, as front man Ryan Maceri tasted victory, holding absolutely nothing back, and for good reason. In what may be the biggest upset of any Battle here at TNT’s, Maceri filled the rock room with a huge crowd that was just enough to give them an ever so slight margin of victory over one of the biggest drawing bands ever to enter these contests, Lithium. Bringing in their own extreme crowd, Lithium proceeded to pound every last drip of energy that remained inside TNT’s for the night’s final performance. In who may be (ok he is) the hardest working self promoting (as in his band) lead singers in town, Pauly again delivered one of his top notch, over the top performances, complete with his newly acquired (or was it wired) flashing gizmo that gave him one eerie glow! One thing seemed to be missing from tonight’s performance, their exceptional cover of the Eurythmic’s, This Emotion, hopefully they’ll bring it on for the finals.
With a major show waiting in the wings for the winner of 89X’s Share The Stage Contest this Thursday October 2nd, expect nothing less than one amazing night of high octane rock & roll. Plan on getting there early as Dr2 expects the 4 finalist, Lies Unknown, Maceri, SyPher, and Lithium to bring their entire stables with them in what is gearing up to be one of the Hottest Thursday nights around town since this past summer, especially since there ahs been one wild card act added to the final in Koniption Fit. With all 5 bands capable of bringing down the house, tomorrow night is one not to be missed nor will it be repeated any time soon! So come on Detroit, get out there and iSupport Local Music, and while you’re at it, throw a vote at the door for your favorite band! Remember, you can find photos from these events inside the Dr2 Photo Gallery right here at Detroit Rock Review-The Only Place For Local Music News & Reviews!