Virginia rockers…

Alley Katz featured the musical talents of central Virginia’s Supercomp and Copper Sails Friday night, as well as Virginia Beach’s Lucky Town. The show itself was much better than the low crowd turnout and comatose reaction might lead one to believe.

The entertainment started with Supercomp. Lead vocalist Josh Scolaro did what he could to bring up the crowd energy and had a good audience rapport, but no one was quite there yet. Bassist Bryan Stell knocked over a fan (the air-circulation type, not the audience-member type) onstage but didn’t stop playing, to his credit.

Lucky Town came on after Supercomp. The group had a more pop-oriented sound than Supercomp, with catchiness being the order of the day. Evidence of this can be found in the group’s song “Better,” which borrows from the equally catchy Led Zeppelin song “Ramble On.” It’s enough that one notices it straight away, but not so much as to be the same song at all.

The band had put some thought into their look and some effort into their stage movements and interactions. However, vocalist Courtney Criswell looked a little postured and it took her a few songs to look natural on stage. This may have been partially due to a photographer taking shots from various angles, as she occasionally posed for him during songs. It didn’t take away from the show that much, though, and Criswell did look immediately at home behind her guitar, whose sparkle-covered front caused some fun reflecting light effects. During the last number, the photographer stood behind the railing of the mezzanine and flailed his arms, trying to get the crowd below to move around a little. One or two took notice, but all in all the audience was more into listening than dancing.

Copper Sails rounded out the show. Their opening piece featured some show, with lighting tricks centered around the drummer. It’s not a bad idea, but with a stage that small and close to the audience it doesn’t come off as well as it might.

The technical problems continued for the band throughout the show, as guitarist and vocalist Jonathan Crawley had problems with his monitor. Additionally, the group had one or two bad feedback moments.

Despite these things, Copper Sails had an impressive sound. It was full without being over-the-top, Creed-style full. This could be heard particularly in the group’s fourth song of the night, “Sink or Swim.”

Certainly their music itself is more imaginative than many rock groups. Songs like “Loud and Clear” and “Rid of You” featured interesting chord progressions, the latter showed that bassist and vocalist Boomer Muth isn’t afraid to use his falsetto voice. That’s a good thing, by the way. “Silo,” earlier in their set, was a highly charged piece in 7/8ths time, something like a waltz with a hiccup.

Still, the crowd never got too excited. Muth said he hoped to get the crowd’s energy up by playing something they knew. To this end, Copper Sails played the Pink Floyd song “Run Like Hell.” Unfortunately, 1979 may have been too long ago for this crowd to remember. Copper Sails didn’t have any of the elaborate voice effects or other trademarks of Pink Floyd, but this cover proves the song works well on its own merits.

These three groups have all the potential in the world. Given time, any one of them could break into a long-term contract. One could almost say that Copper Sails, in particular, is ready for prime time. They’ve artfully managed to walk the fine line between refined and slick, and hopefully will continue to do so.