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Sentinal: Augustana’s opening act plays to crowd’s taste at Roxy Theater |
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Written by Adrienne Cloud, KSU Sentinal
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Friday, 30 March 2007 |
What do you get when you mix two conflicting Irishmen, one New Zealander and a Canadian? One word: Vega4. Suffering from the “yellow paint” [pollen] of Atlanta, Johnny McDaid sat down outside Johnny Rockets to introduce his rock quartet.
The London based band started six to seven years ago and is still going strong. The band consists of McDaid on vocals and guitar, Gavin Fox on bass, Bruce Gainsford on guitar and Bryan McLellan on drums.
 Their US promotional tour with Augustana is set to end April 15, followed by the filming of a music video for their hit “Life is Beautiful.”
The song was written about two years ago in McDaid’s apartment bedroom with an acoustic guitar. The song, according to McDaid, is “gorgeous chaos.”
He did not want to comment on the idea behind the song because he feels that each individual fan gets his or her own emotional idea from listening to the song.
“I write as a catharsis. I don’t write songs to impress people,” McDaid said. “I write songs to express an idea.”
With the possibility of the US album release of “You and Others” in May, Vega4 made a huge impact on the audience the night of Fri. March 30 at the Roxy Theater in Buckhead.
“Vega4 was stunning, they stole the show,” said fan and audience member Josh Brundage. “The lead singer walked way out into the audience still singing, then climbed the speakers and dangled precariously over the crowd. They were amazing.”
The show itself was astonishing. McDaid said touring in the United States was “very different” than in Europe.
“America brings a positive feeling to each show, and England brings a form of cynicism where you feel as though you have to prove something to them,” McDaid said.
The only complaint he had while touring the US was how flat and cold Salt Lake City, Utah is and our ridiculously loud fire trucks [one of which happened to be passing by during the interview].
“The fire engines in New York are named after their ladder number,” McDaid said in a blog on MySpace, remembering his first experience with a fire truck in New York. “‘Ladder 24’ scared the frozen pants off me last week when it blew on 14th Street. It blew, it blew and it blew. There is no onomatopoeia for the sound of it. The beast of a machine with a hose strapped to its back looked capable of quieting the most recalcitrant flame.”
The audience at the Roxy ate Vega4 up and took in every song they performed. The band has already toured in over 40 states, and their album is available on HMV and iTunes. The album took over nine months to produce, and now the band’s hard work is paying off.
Vega4 has been touring with Augustana across the United States, and the tour will finish up April 15. Lead siniger and guitarist Johnny McDaid said touring in the US is quote different from in the band’s native UK. “America brings a positive feeling to each show,” he said.
from www.ksusentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=805&Itemid=58 |
