Balance Between

Friday night I saw Ippazzi perform at The Bitter End. I'd seen them perform before but Friday night was a special night because it was also their much anticipated album release party. As usual, the performance was great. They have a really good energy. Lead singer Greg Petronzi has a great voice - reminiscent of Dave Matthews I would say - and rapper/freestyler Akil Davis adds something different to what would otherwise be a somewhat typical singer/songwriter alt-rock band. Even if you don't like rap, you have still got to respect the ability to freestyle. When Akil is rapping on stage, it is often times freestyle, which means it is different at each performance. The amount of talent it takes to think up rhymes on the spot like that and the speed at which he does it... You have to respect that. He is very talented.

One more great thing about seeing Ippazzi perform is that you feel like you're all just hanging out. Maybe that's because the audience was largely filled with their friends this time around (since it was their album release party and all), but it's nice to feel like you're a part of something, instead of just an anonymous member of the audience.

A new addition to the show was the bass player (unfortunately I forget his name... I'm terrible with names). It was his first show with Ippazzi, and I hope not his last. He seemed like he was having a blast and he added a little funk to the music, diversifying their sound even further.

And as for their album, "Balance Between," I have been looking forward to that coming out for a while now and it definitely lives up to my expectations. Each song is really quite beautiful and the album sounds great. I know they've put a lot of work into it. I would have to say my favorite tracks are the bittersweet "Stay with Me" and the slightly funky "All I Need."


More pictures from the show:






And some samples for those of you unfamiliar with Ippazzi:

All I Need [mp3]
Stay With Me [mp3]

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