Reviews - Rock Event Reviews

Bob Suehs

"An Interview with John Allen"

Blues based rock n roll will never die....trends come & go, but what always stays true is the genuine, original feel....the sound, the look, the vibe, the entire essence of popular music is based after Rock N Roll and you can trace that back as far as you want to go; my point is, pure, simple, honest & real music will always be alive as long as you have a band of musicians who are willing to pour their blood, sweat, & tears into the music that they make.

Baltimore's own, Charm City Devils make music that's both dirty & soulful...it's a rare mix in rock music these days & the band spent all Summer touring with Motley Crue, Godsmack & Theory of a Deadman on Crue-Fest 2, spreading their rock n roll disease all over the US. Charm City Devils music is a joyous reminder of what Rock N Roll is all about...it's reckless, care free, & the bands debut single, "Let's Rock N Roll" sums up the bands overall vibe pretty damn well! I won't build the band up anymore, I tend to believe that a bands music can speak for itself, & there's no need for me to hype the band, their music is out there, if you haven't heard it, check it out & judge for yourself!

Charm City Devils are playing November 28th, 2009 at Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore & I had a chance to chat with John about all things Charm City Devils recently:

On when the next Charm City Devils tour starts:

"Right now we are looking for the next thing, but I wanna say after the first of the year. We are happy to be home & have some time off...our guitar player, Vic, his wife just had a baby like a week after we got home & so the timing was perfect...he had a little girl & it gave us all time to be home with family & stuff."

On Crue Fest:

"It was awesome man! It was really...I can't express in words how much fun we had, we really had a blast, we met alot of great people & it was a good time everyday...we had a blast & we met so many cool people, made new friends & had a great time...we hung with each other too because we're all such good friends & we have such a good personality dynamic..it was important to me when putting together the line up together that we could all be able to get along in close quarters. I didn't even know that we'd be in such close quarters, I had no idea we'd be in a 12 passenger van all Summer, & in that instance, you better start out liking each other because it could make for a long 2 & 1/2 months. That was the bands first touring experience as this group & I think that it helped us all out...it helped me the most because I'm the really amateur guy out there as far as my instrument...I'm the lead singer & frontman, so there's still miles that I have to go to become the best singer & frontman that I can be & I think this Summer's tour definitely helped that out."

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Will there be a Crue Fest 2009 dvd:

"There is something in the works..we had to sign off on something so I believe it's part of the Motley Crue greatest hits package that's going to be out any time now, sometime before Christmas, and as a bonus with the Greatest Hits package, they are putting in a Crue Fest 2 dvd & we had to sign releases, so I guess we are on it somewhere. (laughs)

Was there any jamming between bands on Crue Fest 2?

"No, there really wasn't any jamming stuff going on...on the days that we were off, alot of the bands were doing their own shows & side gigs...one off's as you call them, so there were not days off where we could get together & then like Godsmack, they had a jam room, but they were working on their new record the whole time they were out, like, if the venue had an extra room that they could set up a jam room in, they were in there working on material.

New Charm City Devil's music:

"I was just working on a tune right before I called you. It's sounding good & I had a handful of ideas prior to leaving for the tour & then this is one that I came up with while we were on the tour, & luckily my phone has a little tape recorder thing & I've got probably 50 ideas & riffs & a ton of Victor just plugging in & working on his guitar sound & just jamming & killer riffs, & Nick's the same way...I'm always like, "Play that again!" & he's like, "What?" (laughs)

Will there be a change in the C.C.D. sound on the next record?

"I don't know, I mean whatever comes out is probably gonna come out...I think what always bring back the sound comparison to AC/DC is my vocals & that probably won't change too much, the stuff is simplistic...we're not going to break out any kinda Rush deal on you or anything like that, or like Metallica time changes...I can't see that happening, but it'll be blues based, riff rock. I am reading a Led Zeppelin book that I just got from the last show tour...they had these free artist swag kinda things & I picked up this great book on Jimmy Page & this book about Led Zeppelin is actually Jason's & it's really interesting & makes me just want to grab a bunch of old Zeppelin records & listen to them while I'm reading it! I don't know though, I'm hoping that this record will be a little more adventurous to a degree, the first record was mostly my guitar riffs & my playing to a large extent & I'm hoping that the band members, who weren't in place till after most of that stuff was already written & some of it was already recorded, I did get to guys to record on some of it, but not all of it, so this record I hope we put the flavor on it & make it a real original record.

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I'd like to thank John for taking a few minutes out of his busy day to chat with me, & make sure to pick up Charm City Devil's "Let's Rock N Roll" cd, check out the bands site at www.myspace.com/charmcitydevils & the band is playing Ram's Head Live on November 28th, 2009!

Find and Buy Tickets for CHARM CITY DEVILS at Ticketmaster (American)