The Recipe for a great music showcase is simple: first you take a great band, with original tunes, and the chops to play the shit out of ‘em; add a really dope venue, packed with equal parts eastside hipsters and industry decision makers, stir with a generous helping of cheap drinks, and voila!  So it’s no surprise that Civil Twilight’s coming out party last night @ the Bootleg was such a big success!

The band has a full-length release due out in March of this year on Wind-up Records.  For those who are familiar with the Wind-up roster, don’t expect the modern rock sound, they’ve become synonymous with – Civil Twilight is at any given time, rockin’ poppy, psychedelic, heavy, progressive, melodic, and lots more adjectives.

** LIKE Civil Twilight on Facebook! | FOLLOW Civil Twilight on Twitter! **

Last night the trio–turned-quartet from South Africa wove through their 80 minute set pretty flawlessly. I think the key to their versatility in sound and genre, is their versatility as players.  First off, the guitar player, Andrew Mckellar: this dude made a lot of noise for one guy!  With a very modest arsenal of pedals and guitars, Andrew created sounds that were dirty, melodic, and ambient, and truly had the skills to fill up the spaces of a band without a ton of members.  Drummer, Richard Wouters, was tight without being stiff and creative without being esoteric.  He was pretty masterful on the high hats and stayed away from conventional rock beats, but never made the listener work too hard.   Front man, Steven Mckellar, played the role well.  He was engaged, funny, self-aware, but most importantly, talented.  It’s very nice to hear vocals sung perfectly in key @ a live performance!  It’s also very nice to watch a lead singer anchor the band with some pretty serious chops on the bass.  The band, last night, was also fortunate enough to play with a new member on keys, who had two decks and some tracks going, while deftly performing background vocals and taking over on bass, when Steven tried his hand at piano, or acoustic guitar.

** LISTEN To Civil Twilight’s “Soldier” on Earbits Radio! **

In short – I’m a fan.  I’m very stoked for this release and excited to see what sort of success the band may have in the future.  Their label certainly got them off to a great start, showcasing them to a room jam-packed with music supervisors, coordinators, publishers and fans.  Kudos to Wind-up for dabbling with this alternative to their standards (the label has had huge successes with Creed, Seether, Evanescense & O.A.R.)  Check out some of the band’s previous tunes, here on Earbits, and be sure to check the new record in March – SEE THEM LIVE, TOO – THEY KILLED IT!

- Scott Feldman, Artist Relations Manager, Earbits, Inc.

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