Red Sky Mary have been on a roll these past few years. After releasing three CDs, the Portsmouth, New Hampshire based-band has been touring the country. At one stop, they ran out of copies of their latest album, River Child, and had their record company send another batch to their next hotel. Last Saturday night’s show at The Village Trestle was a good display of their musical prowess. While it was a cover song gig, Red Sky Mary did a fine job making other people’s music come to three dimensional life while occasionally injecting some of their catchy original material.
The boys rocked the Goffstown, New Hampshire venue for an almost solid four hour show. The band was constantly drawing people, mostly female, onto the dance floor. Opening with Nazareth’s “Hair Of The Dog,” Red Sky Mary delivered ferocious energy and fevered guitar phrasing. Backed by a thumping rhythm section, RKM had the muscular authority to hold up their challenging classic rock selections.
The rhythm section, bassist Gary Boisse and drummer Barrett Goeman, made the audience feel the power of their well timed stomp during Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean.” Meanwhile, guitarist Tom Boisse and vocalist Sam Vlasich carried the message with high-pitched beauty, keeping it nice and clean. A nice surprise came when the band launched Kiss’s “Shout It Out Loud” into an exciting anthem complete with an Ace Frehley guitar solo and Gene and Paul inspired backing vocals.
Red Sky Mary went on to totally rock Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen,” managing the task of building up the tune’s huge, boisterous sound. Their original number and latest hit single, “All Hell’s Breaking Loose” was even stronger than their cover songs. It was marked by a hooky chorus and rocking rhythmic energy. Later, RSM went into some Aerosmith covers. They nailed “Lord Of Your Thighs” with flinty slide guitar work over a pulpy bass line. They also handled the vocal harmony opening to “Sweet Emotion” along with its rhythm guitar muscle.
Another Red Sky Mary original, “Payback,” was a snappy, punchy hard rocker that could make one bang one’s head or move one’s feet. Catchy with some nice rhythmic twists, bass man Boisse worked his five stringer into a pleasantly knobby thick low end line. The boys next covered “Hard To Handle” with speedy riffs, driving rhythms, and a racing guitar line, sparking an energy level that inspired many in the crowd to sing along.
Red Sky Mary’s third single off of River Child, “Gone,” was marked by a hearty rhythmic thrust that pulled everyone’s attention right into the song. From there, each band member delivered fine touches. Another original, “South Of The City,” was a catchy, solid chucky of rock and roll with smoothly sculpted backing vocals. Their original “I Will Wait For You” played out like a nice rock ballad with very expressive instrumental work in its middle section.
The four piece began their second set with a startling smooth delivery of The Door’s “LA Woman.” They maintained The Doors’ vibrant twists and turns in the song’s structure. They then went into their original “Too Much” with drums and bass bringing it to three dimensional life.
Musically flexible, Red Sky Mary have an uncanny way of shifting from hard rock classics to classic R&B gems. “Sign, Sealed, Delivered,” “I Feel Good,” “Heard It Through The Grapevine,” “Beat It,” and others changed the vibe of the show, if only briefly, into a dance party. Even more interesting, they made Aretha’s “Respect” ultra funky and hard rocking.
RSM’s original, “Drag Me Down,” from their 2012 release Red Witch jumped out of the gate with a monster guitar phrase and a bossy groove.
Red Sky Mary didn’t allow for one dull moment last Saturday night. They inspired the cover band fans with their detailed delivery of the classics and they likely impressed all of the original scene people with their original material. In either case, all fun was breaking loose all night long.
https://www.facebook.com/redskymary?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Village-Trestle/274427413863?fref=ts
