SIXX:AM and Apocalyptica rock The Bomb Factory

The Deep Ellum Arts District in downtown Dallas is known for it’s music scene, and has had many amazing music venues over the years. Recently one of those historic venues, The Bomb Factory, reopened and what could be a better way to show they intend to inject some major energy into the Dallas music scene then by bringing in SIXX:AM and Apocalyptica.

Despite the threat of major storms on Friday night, the line to get into The Bomb Factory wrapped around the building. Three bands were scheduled to hit the stage – VAMPS (a Japanese rock duo formed in 2008), the Finnish cello gods,Apocalyptica, and SIXX:AM, the side project of Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx. While last two bands I knew well, I had never heard of VAMPS and wasn’t sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised. These guys knew how to rock and really got the ever growing crowd energized. It’s no secret I love bands with a bit of a goth rock vibe, and VAMPSdelivered on that score. Getting a little “Sex Blood Rock n’ Roll”- to start the night off was the perfect way to go and I know the band had many more fans by the time they left the stage.

Apocalyptica has been around for twenty years, and though they are from Finland they have a strong fan base here in the States. And those fans were out in force Friday night to welcome the Finns back to Dallas. For the few in attendance who had never seen Apocalyptica, it was a surprise. It’s not often you see a rock band with nothing but three cellists, a drummer, and a guest vocalist but that’s what you get with these guys. And they proved once again that they can rival any rock band out there. Think you can’t head bang while playing a cello? Apocalyptica will prove you wrong. This time around they did things a little different. On previous albums the band has brought in several well known guest vocalists to contribute and then hired someone to do vocals on tour, but with their new album, Shadowmaker, they hired Franky Perez to not only do vocals for the entire album but to go on tour as well. His sound compliments the band perfectly and with Franky working closely with Eicca, Perttu, and Paavo even before recording began, Shadowmaker is perhaps the tightest album I’ve heard from this band. They killed it on stage as well, working the fans up and doing things on cellos you’ve only ever seen with guitars. They were quick to point out that they will be back later in the year when they do their headlining tour for Shadowmakerand it’s a show you won’t want to miss.

SIXX:AM started out with Nikki Sixx, DJ Ashba and James Michael writing a soundtrack of sorts to Nikki’s book The Heroin Diaries. From there the fans took over, demanding songs like Life Is Beautiful be played on the radio and clamoring for more music. As Nikki said Friday night, SIXX:AM is here because the fans made it so and while he thought he was about to retire (from Mötley Crüe), SIXX:AM is just getting started. And rightly so. This was their first ever headlining tour (promoting the album Modern Vintage) and with seasoned performers like this you know you’re getting something amazing right out of the gate. They owned the stage and brought the house down in what was truly a special night for both the fans who had been waiting for this for a long time and the band that still seemed to be happily amazed it was happening.

It’s been a while since I’ve gone to a show where I truly enjoyed every band on stage and was greatly pleased with the venue (lights, sound, staff) as well. That these bands were great and that the venue let them truly shine just made the night as a whole one I’ll definitely remember. If you get a chance to see this show in another city, don’t miss it.

SIXX:AM

Apocalyptica

VAMPS