“Weapons of Anew”
September 19, 2017
Santander Performing Arts Center Reading, PA
By Josie Janci
I was a lucky music lover on Tuesday night, when I got to meet the band Weapons of Anew before the show and stick around for opening night of their tour with Tesla. The interview was fast and fun, just like the subjects of that interview- front man and vocalist, Ray West, and guitarist, Freddy Ordine. I spoke with them briefly before sound check and they expressed their excitement about their new CD release “The collision between love and hate” and their upcoming tour schedule. Things are happening for these guys and I was thrilled to be able to spend the evening with them before they became unreachable superstars!
After the interview the band went right out to the stage for their sound check. You could sense the excitement in the air and that wasn’t just from me! The band was exuberant in everything they did…from Ray’s comedic mic checks to Reno’s stage posing and by the time Freddy and Kris starting dueling on the guitars I was more than excited for the show to begin.
When the show started, I instantly knew we were in for a treat. The opening was an operatic piano solo which I wonder if it wasn’t planned specifically for the venue. The Santander Performing Arts Center is similar to The Tower Theatre in Philadelphia with plush velvet seating and orchestra boxes on the upper level. The piano chords made the intro seem cinematic and rich. The explosion of lights and sound lead the way for Ray’s clear and specific instruction for the audience to “Get Up” and enjoy the show!
Enjoying the show was easy, staying in my seat was not. The band exudes this contagious energy that you just want to be a part of. Weapons of Anew was not a familiar name to most of the audience so it took a song or two to get everyone into the music but by the time they played “Killshot” their recently released single, there was no doubt everyone was digging what the boys were doing.
