Article and Photos by: Tamara Silber
Daytona and Sanford, FL – The Southern Sanctuary Tour had bands traveling and performing in the southern east coast. One of the concerts was hosted in The Joint venue in Daytona, Florida. This day time show featured local central Florida bands as well as some national bands. Central Florida’s Forever and Ever band kicked off the show with an acoustic set. Troii Peak’s vocals and Kei Bland on the guitar made a perfect duo and started off the show on a great note.
Next up was the punk/hard rock band from Orlando, StereoType. Lead singer Vincent Victor Oath performed a solo acoustic set, doing vocals and guitar. Representing the whole band, Victor played their songs “Opinions,” “Insomniac,” and “Look”. Before playing his last song, Vincent reached out to the crowd and asked if they preferred for him to “sing it or scream it”. The crowd went wild and started chanting, “yell it, yell it!”, showing support for the band. Vincent sang the song the way the crowd asked for and finished his set on a superb note, getting the crowd hyped up for the next upcoming artists.
Central Florida’s Dark Summer took the stage next with the full four-piece band. This rock/alternative metal band plugged in their amps to play a killer set. Lead singer, Troii Peak was all over the stage singing band original songs like “Cry Wolf,” “Poison,” and “Done My Time.” Guitarist Zakk Varnum and bassist Wilson Bembry were strumming away throughout the set, hair-flipping and jumping off of the platforms.
The Knowing Within, an alternative post-hardcore/progressive band also from Orlando performed next. Lead singer Tim Rardon called up the guests to crowd up in front of the stage for a more personal, face-to-face feel. Rardon not only sang, but he singled out people in the crowd and interacted with them during their set. This was a hilarious and unique performance from The Knowing Within that had the crowd engaged and wanting to hear more!
Daytona welcomed Baltimore’s Megosh for their first time performing in the town. Their performance was recorded and live streamed all over the world through their website. Once on stage, guitarist Finch Flores started running around and jumping over the stage, literally. There was no stopping him and his energy showed throughout their performance. Their progressive/beast style of music was evident in the songs “Spanish Fly” and “Monsters”.
Headlining the show, Orlando’s local, Meka Nism band played the final set. Lead singer Meka Kyoto not only sang beautifully, but also said inspiring heartwarming quotes in between songs. Taking over the stage, she went up to each band member to sing together. Mika Nism finished off the Daytona show on a great note.
The night after, The West End Trading Co. concert bar in Sanford, Florida hosted the next stop for the tour. Having some of the same bands as the night before, The Knowing Within and Megosh performed again. The Knowing Within performed songs “The Path of My Calling,” Dairy of the Broken,” “Hope for the Despaired” and more. During one of their songs, Silversyde’s Zach Cullins and Nate Fairbotham joined them on stage to perform a verse together. Megosh took the stage again for their second time ever playing in Sanford. They performed their new song which they are in the process of filming a music video for, be sure to keep an eye out for that! In addition to them, Sliversyde and Murderfly were in the lineup.
Silversyde, a four piece female fronted hard rock band from Toledo, Ohio played their meaningful songs. Lead singer, Laura Juliano shared some personal stories with the crowd. Silversyde is a talented band that writes music about their life struggles and experiences. They played “Memories of You” which is a song dedicated to anyone who has ever lost someone due to whatever causes. Introducing some of Silversyde’s songs, Juliano explained that her mother passed away and she dedicated a song to her by including a voicemail that she left her daughter before the tragic loss. Before closing their set, Juliano said some heartwarming thoughts: “we do what we do, we write specific songs for the broken because that’s who we were and that’s where we came from … I don’t know if tonight someone needs a broken heart mended but I know I’m the product of being saved by grace.” These beautiful words made a wonderful connection between the band and the crowd.
Hardcore metal band from Central Florida, Murderfly headlined the show. They took the stage and performed some of their songs which included “Reflect,” “The Red Takes Over” and debuted their new song “Another Needle”. Lead singer, Bo Dinkins and the rest of the five-piece band sure did a lot of head-banging while playing their songs, with their iconic long hair. Giving out a free band shirt to a lucky guy in the crowd and singing “jump, jump,” had everyone literally jumping for this band.
This tour brought some amazing bands together that compliment each other with their own unique style of music. Be sure to catch these bands on tour together; tour ends in April 21.
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Tamara, the pictures that you take express the passion that you have for music. Having said that, you have mastered the art of capturing the essence of what the artist wants to convey. Congratulations on your amazing work. The sky is the limit.