First off, before I get too critical, there is a difference between cover bands and tribute bands.  Say what you will but in its most general sense, cover bands play songs straightforward as the artists did and tribute bands play songs from the artists but with a “touch of something” that still gives them identity of their own.  Think of all those tribute albums that come out when the music industry has a dull day.  Unfortunately for fans, it sometimes hard to not compare the two--and unfortunately for Guerilla Radio, I ended up doing the same.

They had the sound, they had the fans.  When Guerilla Radio step out on stage, most of the band wore bandanas covering their faces like banditos—a very Rage-ish thing to do.  The vocalist then emerged wearing a Chairman Mao hat and star armband, which I thought was a little gimmicky but he definitely had the crowd ready.  They broke out with “Guerilla Radio.”  This was my only issue: I do understand that Rage was birthed out of the rap-rock scene.  But because of their political views and more serious undertones, Rage didn’t end up in that crappy Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock arena (thank god!).  However, even though the music still had the same hard edge, it was the vocal stylings that made me look for Zach De La Roche.  De La Roche was explosive and rough, just like rock music.  However, the vocalist for Guerilla radio I found more like a rap artist—even down to the Eminem handchop.  The sound engineer must have turned up the bass in “Testify” because I swear Atmosphere was going to take the stage.  But despite my gripes, they owned the crowd.  The guitarist worked it like Tom Morello was standing backstage with a smile on his face.  He rocked it.  He was the best thing up there.  And although it seems like I’m giving a whole lot of shit to the Guerilla vocalist, he did an awesome job with the audience.

Rage was in-your-face music and they played to make a statement.  That is a hard act to cover.  But Guerilla Radio had the balls to do it.  Credit where credit is due.