An Endless Sporadic's Music Comes to the Roxy Theater
(ShackMan | Posted 2010-07-14)
“A wild progressive sonic ride,” in the words of Jordan Rudess, doesn’t even begin to cover exactly what California-based Fusion/Progressive Rock group An Endless Sporadic conjures up musically. All the work on compositions and tightening the group’s sound may just be paying off now; the group is set to play the legendary Roxy Theatre this Friday, July 16th, 2010, an all ages show. After finding moderate success with their 2008 EP Ameliorate, and gaining notoriety through song features on video games like Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero World Tour, the band’s Roxy date only serves to prove that An Endless Sporadic is just getting warmed up for the ride in store.
Listening to the band’s instrumental insanity through the nine tracks on their November 2009 self-titled debut, I can’t help but think that the band’s name is a particularly appropriate description. Perhaps it should be no surprise to me, considering that the album is produced by prog-rock mastermind Roine Stolt (of Mike Portnoy’s solo group Transatlantic) and engineered by bassist Jonas Reingold, both of the original legendary Flower Kings. Naturally, the music moves when and how you least expect, powerfully and cleverly melding an aural tapestry that left my ears “on the edge” waiting for the what was coming next, trying to be ready.
But that’s the beauty of An Endless Sporadic. You can’t be ready. Still, primary songwriter and guitarist/keyboardist Zach Kamins is very evidently aware of building themes throughout each song. Each piece has a very coherent progression, a view into the mind that spawned all this madness. The work is nothing shy of a brilliant opener for the young star’s career. While he makes each individual song into a ride of its own on their 2009 album, I’d really like to see Zach Kamins create a more unified masterpiece on his next albums, taking the same themes and molding them and twisting them into different songs to show a much larger and more complex arc. Not that I’m complaining about what he’s doing now. As far as I’m concerned, that would only be the cherry on top of an ice cream cake already covered in chocolate ganache and plenty of whipped cream.
An Endless Sporadic’s Roxy Theatre performance comes on the heels of the band’s debut performance in June at the Viper Room, where they performed to a near capacity crowd of captivated fans. For the highly anticipated all ages Roxy Theatre performance, An Endless Sporadic is offering tickets through their website, www.anendlesssporadic.com, at only $12.00 each and ‘Fan Appreciation Swag Packs’, starting at only $18, which include one Roxy Theatre admission ticket, An Endless Sporadic’s “Octamaraca” or classic “S Logo” tee-shirt, and an autographed copy of the band’s hit debut EP, Ameliorate. Ticket and ‘Fan Appreciation Swag Packs’ prices will increase as the Roxy Theatre concert day draws near.
Leading Progressive Rock news site, SeaofTranquility.org states, “It's too bad I didn't hear this one in 2009, as it easily would have made my 'Best of the Year' list." Music Connection Magazine gives An Endless Sporadic a rare high-score of 8.4 out of 10, calling the band’s music, “altogether cinematic and dynamic, deftly recorded, performed with touch and agility and with plenty of imaginative bending of time signatures,” and Sputnik Music states, "...arguably the most progressive…show the world has ever seen." But it’s hard to box An Endless Sporadic’s musical range into just the progressive category. They are a musical tour-de-force whose compositions know no boundaries, and that is not a compliment I would ever give lightly.
An Endless Sporadic consists of guitarist/keyboardist and primary songwriter Zach Kamins, drummer Andy Gentile, bassist Kfir Melamed, formerly of the Red Elvises, and Berklee-trained guitarist Tony Solis.
Information on the Roxy Theatre show:
• Where: The Roxy, 9009 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA, 90069, tel: (310) 278-9457, website: http://theroxyonsunset.com
• When: Friday, July 16, 2010. Doors: 7 p.m. An Endless Sporadic stage time is at 9:40 p.m.
• Cost: Advance ticket purchases are recommended at $12 at http://www.anendlesssporadic.net as this performance is expected to sell out. Tickets – if available – will be $12 at the door.
Visit http://www.anendlesssporadic.com for band news, music downloads, and upcoming show information.
James Rushin is a bassist, keyboardist, writer, and composer living and working in the Greater Pittsburgh area. He has performed with Selmer artist Tim Price, Curtis Johnson, guitarists Ken Karsh and Joe Negri, and his compositions have been featured at West Virginia University and Valley Forge Christian College. His contest winning essays and short stories have seen publication in and around the Tri-State area.
Feel free to e-mail James with comments, questions, concerns, at james.rushin@musicgearreview.com.
