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Westport Meltdown. Thursday, July 3, at the Beaumont Club.
When the Westport Meltdown first invaded midtown, in 2003, it was a three-club crawl, each venue stocked with profanely aggressive nu-metal bands. The 2008 installation takes place exclusively at the Beaumont Club (on two stages) and showcases mostly radio-ready hard stuff. Canvas, the only group on this bill that predates the inaugural Meltdown, has survived incarnations as a rap-rock act and a commercially ambitious anthem factory. These days, the quartet sounds like a more melodic Megadeth. A few newer outfits recently underwent massive transformations: Changing Faith added singer Kara Taylor, and Karma Effect revised both its name (previously Underground) and its sound (formerly grunge, now alt-heavy). Hardcore dervish the Dollhouse Rumor provides the Meltdown with air-raid riffs, the pop-leaning Woo Band donates a wah-wah-wrapped George Michael cover, and Black Oxygen ranges from swaggering classic rock ("Black Leather Renegade") to broad modern ballads ("Cherish Her Eyes"). For the full lineup, see banzaimagazine.net. - The Pitch
Discography
ALL I EVER WANTED - 2003
STYLE - 2006
HEAVY - 2007
HEAVY was created and released in late 2007 and since has increasingly become one of the most popular albums requested on streaming stations like www.kccast.com, bigdumbfunshow.com, rizingbandzradio.com, Doogz.net, newmusicradio.net, K94 (www.k94rocks.com), KWTF (www.kwtfworldwide.com), and dubradio.net just to name a few. Radio stations like KKFI (Kansas City) and k94 (Wichita) have taken on HEAVY and WOO Band has been aired on television station KSHB Channel 41 (Kansas City).
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Bio
Comprised of intense emotions and raw energy, WOO was created with one goal in mind: “…feel what you hear”. The alternative modern rock sounds of bassist/vocal Damien WOO Salazar, drummer/vocal Dana Scott, and guitarist Aaron Stockwell, make up the intensely charged music. This 3-piece band sounds rich and full and gives the impression that you are listening to a larger band. WOO Band is honest, from-the-soul music. WOO Band incites the adrenal glands with ripping slide bass solos, monstrous guitar, powerful drumming, and dynamic vocals. This three-piece band drives its fans with songs that they can truly experience. Live or recorded, WOO Band gives a powerful performance and delivers a octane charged rock and roll show that you will never forget.
“Music is my vice and my love. If I didn’t have it, I don’t know what I would do. I need it. I want it. And when I create it, my whole body resonates with a tone that I can only think of as a spiritual connection. I suppose I dig it with my entire being. Nothing wrong with that, I guess. We all have to have a purpose in life, mine just happens to be what I do. Music.”
WOO Band’s latest album titled HEAVY examines life from the perspective of the head writer, WOO, about love, life and tragedy. In turn, there is always a message of hope and greatness by overcoming life’s obstacles by persistence and belief in one self. The sound is intense, the vocal lines are reminiscing of sweet and salty flavor, and aggressive power lines from the instruments.
"Sad," starts with a ripping bass line then added with an intense slide bass solo, the vocals rest in cadence with the beat of the drums and the guitar accents the song like a jagged piece of glass rapped in velvet. The song hammers out the dynamics with incredible control. Guitarist Aaron Stockwell provides ethereal noises that link the emotions. Dana E. Scott drops the beats like a bomb in a small room, starting the heart of the song to beat faster. “Heavy” reveals the bands ability to insert a different sound to something that has been long awaited for in rock and roll. There is an essence of hard rock, punk, and reggae. "Find My Home" expresses the drop key B on the bass and thumps like a car stereo and "Believe Again" is a melodic overture into a political connection to humanity.
WOO Band infuses a positive “light at the end of the tunnel” as WOO has felt through his struggles while growing up. "My mother was my rock," he explains. "Even though she was a single mom in a small town, she always found a way to make sure we were all safe, fed, and happy. She is my true inspiration and my hero.”
"I know that being a mama’s boy is something that is not looked on socially as being cool, or hip," he continues, "but when your mom is someone that would take a bat and beat the hell out of the neighbor because his son beat the hell out of me, I think my role model is at least a ass kicker! I have no problem saying I’m a mama’s boy.”
For WOO, writing songs about love and life helped him find the truth of the mysterious feeling. "I had to try my hand at this thing called love so many times, it amazes me why I still try it. But I know I am not alone. Others are just like me. Looking." he says. "If my music connects with anyone out there, understands what that feeling is, then my music is for them."
Two years ago, 2006, WOO started playing music with drummer Dana E. Scott. The two joined up with Aaron Stockwell, and then WOO Band was formed, again. "I had my band in Los Angeles for a few years, until I had to move back to the mid-west to take care of a family issue," WOO says. "When I got back home, I was lost without my music. I found Dana at an audition with another band and knew she was the one that would fit WOO Band. Aaron added the last piece of this band and makes it so that we are not so abrasive. He is smooth. It is incredible."
WOO Band played anywhere they could and fastly increased their fan base, playing along side of great acts like Red Line Chemistry, Psychostick, and Madison & State. Eventually they landed shows at Minneapolis’ legendary FIRST AVE in 2006 and 2007 showcasing for BODOG MUSIC for the reality television show BODOG BATTLE OF THE BANDS.
At this time WOO Band does not have a record deal. However, they are tireless when it comes to selling music and merchandise. Every show has been a sale and this has the interest of other labels.
In early 2007 the band's titled debut LP - produced by WOO and Jason - was released and listeners got a taste of the band's high octane tracks like, “Sad”, Heavy”, and “Find My Home”. To support the LP, WOO Band is planning a tour across the states.
"We started gaining a lot of momentum with the crowds and knew that no matter where we went, that people came out to hear what the WOO sound was all about. Really, it is cool, because you always want to be loved, it just feels kick ass when it actually happens."
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