By Brenda Lorenz, photos by Jeffrey Moellering
“ROCK ON AND ROCK HARD”
The crowd was primed and ready to rock! The fiery red hair and shimmering multi-colored outfit of the lead vocalist, Melody, grabbed your attention as she made her vocal ability known immediately! The notes she hits will blow you away! They opened by making a statement with an original song, “Not Afraid”. Connecting with the audience with demanding stage presence, they took the night by storm! The second song was one everyone knows – “Crazy Train”- and the bold 20-year-old had the Ozzy laugh at the beginning of this song nailed! This incredible show consisted of twirling mic stands, “smoke” on the stage, and one of the most masterful guitar solos I’ve ever heard – performed by lead guitarist, Samuel. If you ever have the opportunity to see Liliac live, do it! There are many qualities that make Liliac a unique band. One is that they are all siblings ranging in age from 14-23. Another is how professionally and skillfully they perform together!
They have produced two albums of original music so far with additional original singles. Lilac consists of: Melody 20 – lead vocal Samuel 23 – lead guitar Abigail 22 – drummer Ethan 15 – bassist Justin 14 – keyboardist.
Here’s a partial set list:
Not Afraid (Album-Chain of Thorns)
Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne cover)
We Are the Children (Album- Queen of Hearts)
Enter Sandman (Metallica cover)
We Fight We Fall (Album-Queen of Hearts)
Holy Diver (original single)
Sail Away (Album-Queen of Hearts)
Mars (Album-Chain of Thorns)
Dancing in the Dark (Album-Chain of Thorns)
Symphony of Destruction (cover-Megadeth)
Dear Father (Album- Queen of Hearts)
———–Encore————
Rainbow in the Dark (original single)
TAMPA BAY MUSIC NEWS’ “EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW”gives some insight on how five-member family rock band, Liliac, came to be. Having grown up around music all their lives and having a music engineer dad, Liliac has grown and is heading for an unstoppable career! In the beginning, they attracted crowds on the Santa Monica pier so large that the police had to come out at times to help control the crowd. After a few years of performing on the pier, they were contacted by an agent to be on the TV show called, “The World’s Best” in season one in 2019. The following year, “America’s Got Talent” also called them but that got interrupted during the pandemic shutdown in 2020. The show tried to continue by having acts perform online but as Melody explained, “you can’t really do that with a a big, live band – through a computer – that just doesn’t have the same effect as being live on stage because you can’t really get the full effect.”I asked the band if there was any debating or disagreements on who would play what instrument in the beginning. “Our dad actually chose them for us and just knew who would do best with what instrument.” The only decision that had to be made was between the keys and bass guitar but Ethan and Justin sorted that out pretty easily.
Having asked if it was hard to learn how to play the instrument in the beginning, Sam admitted it was a little hard at first. He talked about taking lessons and learning as much as he could then put the lessons on hold in order to progress on his own. Abigail added that learning the instruments definitely took some getting used to, but once they did that, they had the foundations to build on.
Their first ticketed show was the day after Melody’s 17th birthday in Mammoth Mountain in Mammoth Lakes, CA in a small bar. The biggest venue they have played was in 2021 at Rocklahoma, a 3-day rock music festival in Pryor, Oklahoma. Their stage area packed approximately 10,000 fans! I asked them if that was intimidating, and the answer was a resounding YES – but once you start playing the nerves fade quickly. They were very gracious in doing this interview and very grateful and appreciative to be playing at the OCC Road House. https://www.liliacband.com/
– WITH SPECIAL GUESTS SHOVELHED
ShovelHed (yes, it’s “hed”) has been performing from Daytona to Fort Lauderdale to the Tampa Bay area and many points in between bringing music from past decades up to this decade to fans from all decades. These guys are taking over Florida as the hottest classic rock cover band in the state! Each member has a unique background in music that makes them veterans in the field. They got things going Saturday night (5/28/22) at the OCC Roadhouse with “Show Me the Way” (Peter Frampton). ShovelHed band members are: Warren Von Kruck – lead vocal and guitar Erik Stone – bass Patrick Johansson – drums Mig Santos – lead guitar.
You will want to keep your eyes and ears on Shovelhed here https://shovelhedband.com/band!
OCC ROADHOUSE
A little bit about the OCC Roadhouse –The motorcycle-themed restaurant/museum and bar/live music venue located in Clearwater, Florida is a fantastic place! Owner, Keith Overton and vice president, Chris “Surf” Surfustini have partnered with none other than Paul Teutul, Sr, owner of Orange County Choppers (OCC) https://orangecountychoppers.com/. Orange County Choppers has been the center of the hit TV series, “American Chopper” since 2002. Come check out the OCC Roadhouse for the motorcycle museum, the food, the drinks, the camaraderie, the music or all the above! https://www.occroadhouse.com/.
