Heating Up With COLD [Review]

This past Friday, the boys from COLD were in the studio for an on-air interview before their show at Northern Lights with bands The Lost Sons, Oceans Divide, Kopek and Egypt Central. The night was filled with laughs, pictures, awesome music and fans rocking out to their favorite bands.

COLD arrived at the studio for their interview a little late, but we all got to find out a lot about the quintet who hail from Jacksonville, Florida. After many member changes over the years, the band is now made up of Scooter (vocals), Zach (guitar), Jeremy (bass), Sam (drums) and their newest member and guitarist, Drew, who joined the band last year. They all have very different looks- Scooter is bald, Sam has huge sideburns and short blue hair with black spots, and the other three have longer hair, one of whom is blonde with a very long chin dread lock.

COLD were formed in 1996, and were originally a grunge band called Grundig. However, if they wanted to keep the

 name and use it publicly, they would've had to pay a considerable amount to the stero company of the same name in order to have permission to use it.

Later that year, while trying to come up with a different band name, friend Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit suggested the name COLD. He said it would be funny and ironic since the band is from Florida. Scooter agreed, thought the name was fitting and perfect, and so COLD was born.

Drew Mueller, a guitar and saxaphone player from Oklahoma, is COLD's newest member, and has been welcomed, respected and well-received by all. The boys had nothing but good things to say about Drew, who was formerly a guitarist for the band Midnight to Twelve. While he was still with the band, he heard COLD had an opening, so he tried out, and that was that. When Mueller auditioned (his audition was playing COLD's last show of a tour), he used a black and silver guitar, which matched COLD's drums perfectly. They all knew it was a match made in rock n' roll Heaven.

Friday's show in Clifton Park was the third stop on the 'A Tour of the American Dream' schedule, so the bands were just getting into the routine again and figuring out how to work together and get along. Everything went very smoothly and everyone sounded great. It was however the quietest, most mellow show I've ever been to. It wasn't nearly as packed as shows usually are, but that didn't stop the bands from performing as if they were playing for a packed stadium. It's not quantity that matters to bands, it's quality.

Local band The Lost Sons from Stuyvesant, New York opened up the show. The quartet have played with numerous well-known bands, such as Hinder, Saving Abel and Smile Empty Soul. They played a handful of songs, including "57" and "Winner at a Losing Game," and got the crowd ready for the night.

Bands Oceans Divide and Kopek followed. This was the second time I've seen Irish band Kopek, and they were better this time around I think because I was more familiar with them. Before they sang each song they told the crowd what the song's name was. I love when bands I'm not familiar do this, so I can better identify them after the show. They played "Fever," "Love Sick Blues," "Easy Way," "White Collar Lies" and "Love is Dead," to name a few.

Memphis, Tennessee band Egypt Central performed right before COLD. Drummer Blake Allison stood out to me, as he

 took the stage wearing a t-shirt, basketball shorts and running sneakers, while the other three members wore all black. Vocalist John Falls reminded me so much of Disturbed frontman David Draimen. He's bald, has a soul patch, and was donned in black cargo pants, a black vest with pockets all around, and black combat boots, all items similar to those that Draimen frequently performs in. He had a good stage prescence as well and got the crowd involved and hyped up. Songs sang include "You Make me Sick."

Grunge-turned-rock band COLD finally went on around 11 pm. We only stayed for the first three songs, one of which was their hit single "Stupid Girl." They were dressed quite nice for a band who were only going to get hot and sweaty, but it just showed their character. Scooter's voice was right on track and sounded great. It's funny because during the interview earlier that day at the station, Mrozek pointed out how soft and mellow his voice was for a frontman, and he was right. On stage, however, it sounds appropriate and goes well with the rest of the band and their music. COLD themselves are a more mellow band than most we sponsor, but it was nice to have a change of pace.

The COLD show was a great ending to a crazy-but-awesome week full of shows and fun excitement. Were you at last weeks shows? Which one was your favorite?

See all pictures from the COLD show here.

Watch an exclusive interview with Egypt Central and Q103 here.