AlterEgo is a musical ensemble that just kicks ass! They have an ability to keep an audience in seats watching every move they make. Their show at Tiger O’Stylies (6300 W. Ogden Ave. Berwyn, Illinois) just rocked all the way through the show. They were fantastic.
The band AlterEgo sounded great all night long on Saturday. The sweet sound system at Tiger O’Stylies might be oversized for the room, but it rivals the PA at most clubs twice this size. With a mix and matched set of cabinets from JBL to Yorkville, they fill the room with a crisp clean sound.
Mark Berry on lead vocals has a great range and hits notes with perfection. His vocal ability proved that he isn’t just a guy who could sing karaoke and joined a band. The quality of his vocals was superb throughout everything he sang. His stage presence was strong as he talked in between songs and danced as if no one was looking. Occasionally he was looking out of the corner of his eyes at the audience to see if they were enjoying the show and they were.
Vern Cranor is a hard hitting drummer that kept the clock going throughout every beat of each and every song. This professional player hit the skins on his kit with dynamics. He has skills that show within the snare rolls that rang out. He had some good hand over hand techniques as well that were comparable to Max Weinberg. He had just a small kit and he didn’t need anything fancy. This guy could’ve played pots and pans and made them sound good.
The low end was provided by Rik Menconi and his awesome bass rig. Playing through an Eden bass amp and his sweet Musicman bass, his tone was superb. The amazing feeling of oomph came from the stage in sweet ways that were almost stealth like. You didn’t just hear him play, you felt him shake the club. His fingers flew around the neck of the bass and held everything together as he locked with the drummer.
Larry Roberts played his guitar and nailed everything he did. The man is a walking juke box from the 80’s. He pulled off great songs like it was second nature to him. Not a lot of bands have a show with such a wide range of songs from the pop era of the 80’s and this man seemed to be leading the show. He played through a Line6 amp with an ESP/LTD guitar and he was great. The band at one point left the stage for a few minutes and he played some of Van Halen’s guitar licks including “Eruption.”
AlterEgo is entertaining from the start of their show until the finish. The band clearly knows how to set the tone for a party and keep the crowd drinking at all times. Within every note that they played they rocked the house until well after 2:00 a.m.
The songs they covered were great selections to choose. The song “Safety Dance” (Men Without Hats) may have been the highlight of the evening. No other band is doing this song and they did it so well. They also performed “Beat It” (Michael Jackson), “Jenny” (Tommy Tutone), “Your Love” (The Outfield), “Let’s Go” (Prince) and “Hungry Like the Wolf” (Duran Duran).
Another highlight of the night was when they did “Sexy and I Know it” (LMFAO). The song had the girls in the crowd dancing and shaking their money makers. The lyric ran through the little club, “Girl look at that body.” It was definitely not the normal song for a cover band to do. It was a lot of fun. They played songs from Cheap Trick and Buck Cherry as well. The never ending source of music just didn’t seem like it was ever going to stop.
During a break for the band AlterEgo the guitarist brought another band up on stage with him that does music with cookie monster style vocals. As it was musically entertaining, it was not what the concert goers wanted to hear or came to hear. During their two song performance people had enough of that music and the bar thinned out. It is amazing how a band can lose a crowd by making a huge mistake like playing heavy metal at a pop rock show.
Overall the night was a great night for music and AlterEgo really knows how to entertain a crowd. As they finished up their final song you could see in their eyes they were exhausted. They had poured their heart and soul into their performance. It was felt within every amazing second of the show. They know how to rock!
