08/25/2023
A Thursday night show ain’t for the faint of heart. And I am a clinically certified faint of heart, as of earlier this year, so why would I dare to make the 40 minute drive to The Maverick and catch Empiires. Several reasons. First, ever since catching wind of their videos and specially their recent Wrapped Around Your Finger single, I have been wanting to see them live. Second, having recently attended the debut performance of Zep Unplugged at The Maverick, I know I will be returning there many times, since their new stage and table arrangement is phenomenal. I sat at the Texas shaped table and couldn’t help but feel special with a great viewing angle despite being in one of the farthest tables from the stage. Third, Mr. Bishop Booker has kindly agreed to be on my podcast to talk about music, life, and live music so I needed to conduct my due diligence and see what the band was all about, in person.
The set started with two songs I never cared to hear in concert, and wasn’t expecting at their show. I arrived assuming Empiires was an original band that performs covers. Or maybe a cover band that performs originals. However, there was nothing wrong with those two opening tracks, it is just that 1. They are not songs I care for even by the original artist, and 2. They sounded too much like the record, which is something I want at a tribute show, not a cover show. However, any complaints I had prepared for the national department of cover bands were literally set on fire when the band began their third song. I knew I never knew every word to the song, but I knew I had sung it dozens of time, in the car, at home, alone, with kids, but I couldn’t remember the name, and then it hit me! This was Adele’s Set Fire To The Rain covered in hard rock fashion with outstanding melodic gusto. Booker’s vocals truly shone to the forefront, and the guitar work of Darren Wise simply mesmerized me, as with only one instrument, his wise magic guitar he pulled all the stops to rock the track that defined one of the last Diamond albums in existence. All the while Matthew Gene delivered a thumping bass line that only his virtuosity could keep delivering both as anchor to a pop song and texture to a heavy rock performance. All sounds timed together in demonic fashion by the fourth virtuoso in the band, Philip Bradley PB, who hit every cymbal with rage and held every beat with care, the one that makes the heart beat and the fist pump way up high. Maybe he was trying to match the height's that Bishop Booker sometimes reaches when he stands on tables to get the crowd going, or compete with the attention his bandmates capture on stage.
For the next half dozen songs, Empiires performed a blazing hard rock set that not only set fire to my expectations, dug a supermassive black hole in my bias against covers, and dared me to not show up, not come back, or join in a rebel yell along the uptown funk. It was just what I needed. Yes, their range of covers included the aforementioned (or suggested) worldwide hits by Muse, Dua-Lipa, Billy Idol, Bruno Mars, The Cars. Then came their original Through The Flames, which simply sounded like another hit, given how carefully crafted the verses and chorus structure sounded. I began googling the lyrics just to sing along later, only to be learn this is an original by Empiires, and thankfully, available on streaming platforms too!
This is a band, however, that must be seen LIVE! In concert, to be fully experienced. The songs on streaming platforms are masterfully produced, and the videos are visually compelling, yes. However, for all the energy that their producer might have captured in the studio, Booker is a beast on stage, a friggin' beast!! A frontman with massive stage presence and committed to getting the crowd going and celebrating the music, all the while the band has this look of seasoned pros, who might or might not be dressing for the occasion, but totally look GREAT on stage and sound just as you would want every band to sound. Again, when my main reason to NOT be interested in cover bands is that most of the songs sound ok, and the band looks like the just changed into jeans and a t-shirt, Empires does live up to the expectation of putting up a show, that sounds so hard it kicks you in the gut, and looks so good they put you in starstruck concert mood!
Again their setlist delivered a one-two punch that left me breathless. One, they do choose famous songs that cover bands do not regularly play. These are hard songs to pull off, worldwide multilayered pop hits. Empires uses the required backing track to create enough ambience for those needed distinguishable aspects of the song, but the core of their delivery is not reproducing them for a bar feel, but reengineered for a live concert experience, anchored in heavy hard rock, guitar, bass and drums, that take pop songs and make them heavy, yeah, really HARD and HEAVY songs on which Booker brings the party down!
After two hour sets, and with four children to prepare for school the next morning, I had to miss their final third set. But worry not, I will be back to see this band wherever they play and hope to see you there. Empiires is constantly performing. I highly recommend you follow their page (and YouTube channel too!) to keep track of their schedule to catch them soon. After a phenomenal Thursday concert, I left knowing that Empiires could be called an original band that performs covers, in true hard rock mode, or a cover band that performs originally, AND performs their covers originally! WHO CARES?! what the label is, there is only one that I care about after seeing them live… Empiires rocks, and rocks hard, with songs you thought you had wrapped around your finger but that they have carefully deconstructed, only to put them back together and melt our faces to alabaster, when we find, the songs are the servant, and Empiires is their hard rock master.
