I’ve mentioned before that Cleveland has a pretty hot local music scene, and I’ve recently started engaging with it more. A few months ago one of my friends invited me to see a band she really liked, so I gladly bought a ticket and invited another friend.
It was the wrong band. Instead of seeing the band now formerly known as Glendale (currently rocking out as the Dive Bombs), we ended up seeing The Skies Above Us that night, and it was a fantastic mistake.
It was so good that I’d been waiting for an opportune time to see them again, and it finally came two weeks ago when they did an album release show.
When I first heard them (and as I’ve listened to them on Apple Music since and at the second show), I immediately found them to be a familiar but exciting sound. They really remind of Walk the Moon, which is an awesome band to sound like, in my opinion.
And the best part about this band? They’re a bunch of super cool down-to-earth guys– and half of them play in the other band we were supposed to see. Their drummer, Zach, has great taste in music (we discussed various bands such as Queen and Pink Floyd after the first show) and provided earplugs at the second show because… well, The Foundry in Lakewood is a very LOUD venue. Nick, the bass player, is a good judge of local pizza. And their singer, Henry– well, I only talked to him the second time we saw them briefly, before the show, but he’s definitely a sweetheart with a great voice. I regrettably have not had a conversation with the guitar player, Alex, but I can tell you he has some skills.
The other thing that I really love about them is that they support other local artists. Each time we’ve seen them, they always have decent opening acts (more about them in a minute), but when you talk to the guys from Skies before their set, their response is always along the lines of, “These guys are great, aren’t they?” and they delve into an analysis of why. It’s such an awesome thing to see.
A quick shout out the opening acts from this last show:
3 Legged Chairs: These guys sounded lik
e a rock band. They had a really good sound and mixed in some really awesome psychedelic instrumentals for their set.
Shallow Heads: Kind of in a Led Zeppelin vein with a hefty dose of 90s punk rock. Strange? Yes. In a good way? I thought so. And the lead singer had a head of hair to match!
Satellite Era: It took a moment for them to grow on me, but they had excellent instrumentals and a very mellow sound. Oddly enough, they did a fantastic Britney Spears cover, and then a really good original song after that, and it completely turned it around.
If you’re looking for some great music played by local talent, check out their band here, look for them on Spotify, Apple Music, or your favorite player, or keep an eye out for a performance by The Skies Above Us. I don’t think you’d be disappointed at all but… Definitely take some earplugs. Just in case.
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