The Players: Steven Redstone, lead vocals and keyboard; Zack Hall, guitar and vocals; Mac Hadar, bass and vocals; Mike Nussbaum, drums.
A warm and balmy Saturday night gives way to a lively and excited crowd categorically suggesting a Gossip Girl / Entourage pairing at Los Angeles's famed Irish pub Molly Malone's to hear Redstone Hall.
The four members of Redstone Hall exhibit quality musicianship and deliver melodic, danceable, fun contemporary songs in a similarly distinguishable 98.7 sound. And with a little tweaking the songs might have some distance in them. All four members are integral to the band's music but the two standouts are Redstone on vocals and Hall on guitar, the band's two namesakes. Blessed with a top notch voice, charisma, and plenty of energy, Redstone is a capable front man. His counterpart, Hall, on guitar, mixes a blend of varying old school rock, modern contemporary rock, and a smidgen of up-tempo lounge jazz.
However, where potential lives the destructive nail in the coffin lies in wait. And the Achilles heel for this band lies with Redstone himself. When the band began setting up, a cloud of apprehension and horror materialized as a Yamaha keyboard
was given a front row seat dead center on stage. Had this show been related to a singer/songwriter heavily relying on keyboards and all the Yamaha's bells and whistles, it'd be easy to overlook this life-sucking force, but because this is a 4 piece rock band the obvious is white out thick - keyboards front and center manned by the lead singer create a black hole responsible for devouring any and all charisma and energy a normal lead vocalist would provide. Maybe my position within the club limited any detectable need for keyboards within the songs, or maybe it was the quality mix by Molly Malone's sound engineer, but the songs appeared to stand up well without the need for the Yamaha.
For Redstone Hall to further succeed and realize their musical potential live, a disconnect from the keyboard will need to be administered. Redstone as a vocalist is talented, but it wasn't until the encore song, when he ventured out from behind the keyboard taking up residency at the edge of the stage and started to showcase his front man ability. An ability and energy which sent the females up close into a lustful tizzy. But waiting until the last song to let the front man animal loose won't endear your music to many people other than your friends and family.
Check out Redstone Hall at www.myspace.com/redstonehall or contact the band at redstonehall@gmail.com
