RYAN ROSS HERNANDEZ;
LIVE @ BOY TOY STADIUM / 20TH IMAs After Hayley Williams and Lewis Maison announce Ryan Ross Hernandez, the lights dim down and a curtain is shown covering the side of the stage where the performance is about to begin. The curtain is draped white and a limelight shines behind it, just enough for the audience to be able and see a shadow standing behind it. The crowd begins to applaud and cheer a little louder anxiety anticipating the performance of one of their favorite performers. Heavy breathing is heard through the PA system as the lights start to flicker all around Boy Toy stadium, sounds of sirens, gunshots and bombs are now being heard over the heavy breathing. A loud, thundering guitar riff is now heard, and seen being played by the figure behind the curtain. That changes the temple of the noises heard, now turning into chatting and murmurs heard through the loud speakers, in between it a deep voice starts to speak, where although it is a bit different than his regular voice, it is still recognizable to hear that it is Hernandez.
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "
This is a moment where nice works anymore. And you gotta get, you gotta what you want through anger and jealousy. To make sure, that, that person you need stays with you. This is the language of hurt, where a relationship starts to go wrong. You take that trip, that trip down heartbreak."
As soon as that last word comes out of his mouth, the curtain rises up revealing Ryan Ross Hernandez with his Fender guitar hanging from his back and the rest of his band with their respective instruments and microphone stands. Ryan turns his back to the crowd and places the guitar appropriately in front of him, he nods at the rest of the band, giving them the cue to start their performance. He turns back around to his microphone and starts to play a soft guitar riff with each time being played, he pulls the wah-wah pedal, customarily placed on his guitar. The band slowly follow up behind him. The groove drums speed it up a bit, which feels like a slow train carrying the song on top of it. Soon after Ryan starts to sing his famous falsetto voice range that sends the women in the crowd in a swoon, most of which sing-along to him. By the chorus a chugging bass line joins in the laid back rock performance. Since the lyrical meaning of the track deals with how explosive relationships can be, it is only appropriate that the background screen is decorated with war battlefield imagery being displayed. Now can one relate a relationship to be as bad as World War III? Apparently, Hernandez can. But that really doesn't seem to bother the audience in hand. Ryan plays a guitar solo towards the end of the song but it is barely audible since it was quick and heavily layered by the other instruments. The end of the song is closely resembled to the intro with the wah-wah pedal echoing guitar coming into play again.
The opening track is received with a hugely positive reaction, as the audience showers the soft rocker with cheers and applause. Hernandez seems to have this strategy where he makes sure to get the audience he is playing to in his hand with the opening song so with the rest of the performance he can basically do whatever he wants to.
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "
Ah..... LA, LA, LA. My unofficial hometown. Goddamn, I love this fucking city. Especially, this little place I know. It is the place I live in right now. Anyone here know about this little, tiny city called Hollywood. You know the city I'm talking about, right? That city that is made up of famous, rich people and paparazzi's. Well, I've never really liked paparazzi's 'cause they just can't let a person live their life. You know? I can't go out with a pretty lady, without being chased by camera flashes and questions. That's why, I don't think Hollywood is an appropriate name for that stardom city. I got a better name for it. I will propose this idea to Governor Schwarzenegger, whenever I get a chance to meet that dude or better whenever I get to actually understand that Terminator dude. My proposed name for Hollywood, is Vultures. This is my new single, 'City Made of Vultures,' and this is the very first time I actually play it live. And it feels great to actually play a song where it was wrote and where the tune is about. So, enjoy Los Angeles."
Like most of Hernandez's songs live, he turns them from laidback guitar licks to earnest thundering guitar playing. Hernandez counts the band down as they get the intro of 'City Made of Vultures,' down perfectly, with the slick jazzy drums leading the way. As soon as the full band joined and set the course for the groovy jam, it got the audience clapping along to the snappy drums or moving to the earnest guitars led by Ryan. Like the currently heard single radio version, at the chorus point Hernandez pitches his vocals up to go with the mood of the song, which are a bit off tone but still keeps it sounding well. By midpoint, most of the audience was singing along and moving to the only song composed by Ryan that is capable to do so. The strong gang-vocals outro isn't conducted in the live version, although his two female backing singers do sing it along and the audience as well. Most of the focus of the audience is at the instrumental jam led by Hernandez's guitar solo that sends the song off. This performance receives even a bigger praise from the crowd than the opener.
Without any pause, Hernandez started to play a quick string of melodies of some of his older songs, solely with his electric guitar, which he tones a little to try and make it sound like an acoustic guitar. For much of the night, Hernandez went whammy-bar crazy, playing off the exceptional skill of his handpicked stagemates: a collection of top-notch musicians including Steve Jordan on drums and Robbie Macintosh and David Ryan Harris on guitars. While rom-com schmaltz from his debut solo album,
Matters of the Heart, “Your Arms Feel Like Home” and “Let Me Be Myself,” reminded us of the sappy Hernandez we have all wanted to sucker punch, jazzy ripper “Good Love Is Right Around the Corner” and aimed-at-the-heart, soft rock tune “Love Is Really Nothing But a Dream” brought to mind the image of a 23-year-old blues prodigy with the god-given talent Robert Johnson once sold his soul to possess.
With just a few minutes left before his fifteen minutes of performance time left, Ryan decided not to put the crowd through one of his banters instead wanting to head starlight forward to the point of the final song of the night for him. A strange sounding musical effect that sounds like a drum cymbal meets a 808-TR drum machine, is heard through the PA system with Hernandez beginning to talk over it.
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "
Every night. Every Friday and Saturday night. One, two, three, four, five in the morning, their creeping. Their creeping, along Hollywood Hills, where all those, all those famous starlets live. This song is a warning to all the women out there. And this is a lesson to all the womanizer out there. This is about my late-night, early-morning, weekend job. As an uncover assassin. This is my debriefing. I just gotta let it out before I'm incognito again."
(opening verse)
"
I work in the dead of night
When the roads are quiet
No one is around
To track my moves
Race in the end of lights
To find the gate is open
She's waiting in the room
I just slip on through"
Hernandez grabs the microphone and lets his guitar hang from his back. The stage starts to raise platforms as his band starts to play behind him, although through the PA system, sirens and screams are heard. For the first time in his performance, the large back screen is used, showing different scenes where, depending on what notes Ryan hits and his band plays behind him it changes. Ryan starts to walk around the rising platforms, where instead of standing behind his stand and also playing his soulful guitar riffs, he only has to focus on singing. At the chorus point, Ryan's backing female vocalist sing along with him, seemingly to hide any fault Ryan could have with the difficult chorus although he doesn't go very much higher than his regular vocals of the rest of the song. By the breakdown of the song, Hernandez seems to notice that he has to finish off the song strong, with every note from the breakdown forward get a higher added pitch without any auto-tune or pitch-tuning nor do the backing vocalist join in. Ryan seems right on key tonight as his high-pitch vocals might even be sending goosebumps to the crowd in attendance. At that point is when Hernandez finally seems really into the song adding a bit of a guitar solo to the acoustic performance with so intensity that it was a miracle he didn't break-off a few strings off his guitar. Ryan finishes off the song with a monster guitar solo that sends the whole stadium on a fringe. It sounded like Jimi Hendrix meets Robert Johnson meets Eric Clapton meets Ryan Ross Hernandez. Hernandez seems to want people to recognize more of Ryan Hernandez the guitar player and less of the entertainer. The almost three minute guitar solo, ends with Hernandez tossing his guitar on the ground and adding a little Jimi Hendrix feel as he plays the guitar, crouched down on his knees.
Ryan might be regretting doing his set in a suit as the final shoot of him on camera is him dripping with sweat, that evens covers his guitar that he continues to play on the cold stage floor. Hernandez quickly stops the solo with a thug heard through the PA, he still on his knees looks up at the audience and flashes them a smile as the curtains start to close in front of him.
Even more cheers are heard by the audience as the cameras fade to a commercial break.
Set listA Never-Ending Trip to HeartbreakCity Made of VulturesElectric Solo Melody -
Your Arms Feel Like Home /
Let Me Be Myself /
Love Is Really Nothing But a DreamLate Night Job; Undercover Assassin(
OOC]:
Don't see myself going through the next round since this was very quickly, but wanted to get at least something up)