Gambit Disciples rock the rap at Strand Theatre

                Two regional bands rocked, rolled and rapped Friday night at the Strand Theatre in a concert loaded with energy that threatened to musically and physically burst from the stage.             
                Opening act, “Nuclear After Party”, a five -piece band, made its Shelbyville debut and “Gambit Disciples,” closed out the evening in a high energy encore performance on the Strand’s stage.

                Driven, and at times it seemed led, by drummer Warner Swopes, “Nuclear After Party” is a band filled with a youthful enthusiasm. Their performance has elements that are really good, in particular, the bass lines of Heather Kinney, the keyboards of Tiffany Swopes and the guitar playing of lead singer Brett Hiatt. The entire band, however, often seemed to lose musical focus and drift through songs, especially with theatrics that distract from the music.

                 Instrumentally, this is very sound band that should and will grow stronger as they continue to perform live and hone their evident skills. Vocally, Hiatt seemed to sing better when he shouldered his guitar and concentrated on his voice. Similarly, Tiffany Swopes’ hauntingly Cranberry-esque voice reached spellbinding proportions when she stepped away from her keyboards. Both of the singers have fine voices that merely need to be stylistically refined in further performances.

                Musically, “Nuclear After Party” peaked Friday night as Steve O. Suits, of Gambit Disciples joined them on stage as his natural intensity seemed to enliven the band, who in their last song did achieve a full, driving sound.

                All the band members, should in fact, study the stage performance of “Gambit Disciples,” a band with a strong stage presence exuding a raw energy while singing and playing within music designed and written to assault.

                Fronted and centered upon the creative intensity of Suits, “Gambit Disciples,” is a talented quartet of finely honed musicians who play with an unbridled energy and full, fat riotous sound.

As a group, guitarist John Graves, bassist Steve Webb, keyboardist Charity Osborne and drummer Montez Thomas played with a furious tempo that made one want to hop about, skank  and slam dance up and down the aisles. This is a very skilled, highly honed band that performs with a hard-core musicality which gleams and glitters like sharp edge of finely – tooled samurai sword.

Vocally, Suits sings, growls and raps out his original lyrics with a natural poetic cadence and an infectious intensity in a tight, controlled fury.

 Even the slower melodies of “Gambit Disciples” are played with a rough, primal fury that seemed poised to explode off the stage. Musically, the band fused heavy metal, rap, jazzy folk riffs and funky beats with a vocal bravado that recalls hard-core poetry slams. Repeatedly the musicians rolled out instrumental barrages like an audio army written and performed to enhance the emotional carousel that is the music of the “Gambit Disciples.”

 From the opening song until the final number, the “Gambit Disciples,” set of frenetic musical mayhem was a tight, controlled storm of sound that would have made James Brown proud. Even the audience was sweating under the sheer musical intensity, vocal bravado and pure infectious, yet hard-edged joy this band brought to its live and lively performance.

“Gambit Disciples” is a band with an attitude: one earned through creative passion and the ridiculously hard work of live music. They do not shirk either responsibility and should and do flaunt a well-earned Punk-poet swagger in the grand surly tradition of Sid Vicious.