The solar systems aligned for a single night on May 29, 2011 as two separate tours collided for one explosive show at The Phoenix Lounge in Harrisburg, South Dakota. The Sunday night show smack in the middle of the Memorial Weekend was a unique experience for the energetic crowd at the 250 capacity club located in the upper plains as the U.S. tours for both the East Coast rockers ONE; based out of Montreal, Canada and West Coast heavy modern rockers GEMINI SYNDROME from Hollywood intersected for this one gig (all for a $5 cover, are you kidding me). This particular show caught ONE working its’ way eastward having played recent shows in CA, NV, and CO while GEMINI SYNDROME was headed west with its’ last shows taking place in IL, ND, MN, before making the band’s way out to MO, CO, UT, and back to CA.

ONE hit the stage and immediately had the crowd in the palms of it hands as it burst into the opener “Dirty Valentine”. The band reminded many of the fans in attendance of a great melodic version of GODSMACK meets DAUGHTRY depending on the song. Singer Danny Rossi posses the charisma of many of the great front men currently gracing much larger venues leaving this concert reviewer wondering what the major labels are waiting for on this band? ONE is a complete package as it has the chops and licks of the heavy bands and the ballads to woe the females which are typically a home run combination. The 45-minute set included a happy balance of rockers and mid-tempo numbers from both of the band’s “Dirty Valentine” and “Never Say Never” releases. The highlight of the show were the live version current radio single “Sorry” and the heavy hitting set closer “High” which featured the killer extended guitar solo of Chris Staniforth. The set came to an end way too quick.

GEMINI SYNDROME had a tough act to follow, but showed it was all business with their professional backdrops and stage props in conjunction with their eerie intro soundtrack and heavy smoke machine usage. The smoke machine did play some havoc on the ability to shoot pictures as on this particular stormy/humid night at the club the smoke effect(s) kept the club’s ventilation system working overtime. J

GEMINI SYNDROME’s 60-minute set-list consisted on all 6 songs from their EP1 release as well as 5 songs off their up-coming EP. Set highlights included current radio single “Basement” as well as the hard driving, yet catchy number “Syndrome”. For anyone who hasn’t seen GEMINI SYNDROME live they are worth the effort to catch if they are in your area as good as their recorded music is, they take it to another level with their live visual performance. 

*** Local Sioux Falls, SD hard hitting act HELL HORSE warmed up the enthusiastic crowd in support for the show that got under way at 9 PM. HELL HORSE played a 30 minute set consisting of several original tunes in the vein on 80’s metal meets current heavy rock radio variety.