3-piece hard rock band Xpeld kicked off September—and Labor Day Weekend—with an energetic headlining spot at Paladino’s.

The show’s ads had promised the band would be joined onstage by guests, and they weren’t kidding. I’ve seen a lot of bands, and I’ve never seen that many pedal boards and stomp boxes on one stage. With so much talent on stage and in the wings, organizing everyone could have been a logistical nightmare. Instead, the set was impressively smooth and professional.

Special guest Carina Alfie, who was in L.A. from Argentina to record at Steve Vai’s studio The Mothership, opened the set with 2 solo songs over backing tracks. Alfie’s petite frame seemed dwarfed by her guitar, but her blistering speed and confidence brought the crowd right up to the stage.

Then Xpeld had Carina stay on stage to play a song with them, “Wish,” on which she played co-lead guitar. Guitarist/vocalist Jeff Lenhart, drummer Scott Karr, and bassist Andy Sheer spent a year and a half writing songs with numerous guest musicians and putting their 2006 CD “Xpeld” together, and “Wish” was tailor-made for Alfie.

The set was a well-planned mix of songs from their current CD and previous CD “Just Don’t Stop Me.” For several songs, guest musicians were all ready to go and just hopped up on stage as their songs were announced, plugged into an amp or grabbed a microphone, and cranked out the tunes like they’d been playing with the band forever.

While the Xpeld trio kept the set solid and hard-driving, Duayne Howard enthusiastically sang backup vocals. Adam G. Lovechild (Lovechild) added strong co-lead vocals on “You Are,” Tony Depetro (Ravens Cry) laid down cool melodies and solos on “Inside,” and Bob Spears (Forewarned) contributed lightning-fast guitar solos and harmonies to “After Midnite.” Hard-rockin’ Kurt brought a partial drum kit on stage to join Karr’s full kit to create a stereo drum sound for “Hold Me.”

“Change Your Name” brought world-renowned drummer Krigger (Giuffria, Tina Turner) up onstage for some fancy stickwork before hitting the road with Ike Turner. Xpeld’s producer John Prpich (Cover This) showed his fancy fingerwork playing co-lead guitar on “Talk the Talk,” then Duayne Howard picked up a guitar and Lenhart, Prpich, and Howard made “Got to Leave” a fast 3-guitar song.

It was refreshing to hear a good long (13-song) set from Xpeld, and the different styles and skills of all the guest musicians made things even more interesting. The band, their music, their guests, and the entire set were tight and dead-on—like clockwork. Afterwards, Lenhart said without hesitation, “I’m ready to do it all again!” Find their latest news and upcoming gig info at http://www.Xpeld.com.