Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Guess what? I am back in Orlando! I returned last Friday and man I had a major weekend of recovery from my month away in Daytona Beach. Not only I was recovering but did have to unpack everything I took and bought as well. Besides all that, I do have a review for you and that is on the House of Blues show I went to last Friday along with a review on Mr. Bella’s new album which I picked up while I was there! What do I think? Keep reading! Also…

DISCLAIMER: This review is based on opinion and observation of the writer! Please respect the thoughts and opinions of what they say.

House of Blues, July 1, 2016 Show with Filth, Mr. Bella, Soul Switch, and Mechanism: I did a quick review on this show over on my Facebook and decided why not bring it to Word Press since this was a show not only after the Pulse tragedy but it was the last show that Tom Huestus of Soul Switch was saying goodbye to the band. When I found this out back in May, I was surprised because Soul Switch has been together for as long as me and Gondras have been together (didn’t know until the night of the show about this tidbit) and they aren’t the only ones who lost a lead singer because Leaving Haven lost their’s at the time of I found out about this. So, I did what I always do and asked for tickets from Matt of Soul Switch and I did get two envelopes full of them this time around.

I know I mentioned how the Pulse tragedy was an unfavorite last month and still is it didn’t keep all of us and the rest of the crowd from not going and the bands from performing that night! They did beef up security which was a good thing. Before we got into the House of Blues, we did explore the Disney Springs area since we had time to kill and we found the Mac and Sephora in that area. For those of you who don’t know is that Disney Springs took place of Pleasure Island which was the party spot of all Disney and lost money apparently during the recession and was changed into this place. Very nice and we will have to see how it’s like in the shops. Also, got to go back to Ghiradelli after so long since that place is my number one chocolate spot and all time fave! Gondras tried a sundae that had cookies and cream, vanilla, and those new mini squares with caramel which taste amazing! I had the salted caramel brownie shake was equally amazing! If you haven’t been to the Ghiradelli shoppe on the Village side, you should because they tend to put their chocolate squares in every ice cream item! Stellarnan did have something but from a shop across from Ghiradelli and it’s a Canadian dish called Poutine which tasted very good actually! I never thought gravy, cheese, and potatoes would go together and that is not the only one they have since they have others like a latin-style and an Italian-style, which sounds delicious but I would go for the original.

The Show: The first act up was known as Filth. I never heard of these guys since it was their first time at the House of Blues that evening and man they really woke me up! They are a scream metal band and when they started their set I almost flew out of my flip flops. I know it’s strange to hear me say I was wearing flip flops but since the day before I was wearing a pair of new wedges that went with a dress for a mock interview and I had flip flops to help my feet out that I bought when I got to Daytona at the beginning of June and wearing them and learning from that night was kind of a mistake but I wanted to be comfortable. The band, Filth by the way, was okay not knocking my invisible socks off at the moment except they did bring Tom onstage for a song since it seems that some of the bands were really wanting to celebrate with him.

Next up was Mr. Bella always lighting up the stage! They started off with my alarm for the past month and that was “Cross My Heart” and it killed it! They did perform a lot of new material which I will get to the review after this and did pick up the newest album they done. They did have a major request from it and that was the song “Psychological” which is very awesome! They did go back to one of their oldies and it was known as “Fire.”

Next Soul Switch took the stage and of course they not only killed it but fired up the stage despite it being the last night for Tom to be in the band. They done their classics such as “Walk Alone,” “Saving Me,” and of course “Hang On,” and the song you will ever hear me scream with, “Demons.” “Change” this time around was extra special because the lead singers of Mr. Bella, Filth, and Mechanism were also brought onstage and both Anne Marie and Eric were heard in the performance. I am not sure if Mecha joined in with the screaming because she is also a screamer and opera singer with her music. What really made us sing along was of course Soul Switch doing “Zombie” by The Cranberries. We have seen some of the local acts cover this song but this done by Soul Switch would make Cranberries happy due to how well they did it! I also made it extra special since not only my birthday is the day before Tom’s (go figure that I was born on August 9th and he was born on the 10th) but decided to bring my zombie torn shirt! If you guys don’t know the story behind it…

So, it is pretty much the original Soul Switch shirt and when I had it washed the first time it unraveled a little and I worn it to the show back in 2011 if I remembered or was it a year later, anyways, I wanted to see if I could get a replacement and did. I kept the unraveled shirt and when Manime Man held a Friday the 13th party, I had an idea and pretty much went town on this shirt to make it look like I was my Soul Eater character fighting off zombies and covered in zombie blood and shreds. I did wear it to the End of the World show underneath my warm jackets since it was freezing like crazy that night, the last show we saw them at last year in the fall, and now this one since Tom was leaving. He did want me to bring the shirt and decided why not get it signed to retire it. Man, it tickled with the sharpies but worth it! I also have a picture with them which you can see on my Instagram at MariBlueCat. I hope Soul Switch will be okay as a band because I will miss Tom in the band but I will still wish him birthday wishes when August 10th rolls around!

Finally, Mechanism finished the night which in my honest opinion this set was a bit off. I mean the sound check shown they had no problems but when they performed they were a bit off beat. I mean Mecha was a few beats ahead of the guitars and drums. I think one song had them go with the beat a lot better. Mecha is still nice as ever and she was happ0y that I came back from Daytona earlier that day.

Mr. Bella New Album:”Don’t Tell Me No!” This album shown how much Mr. Bella has matured as a band. I still remembered seeing these guys back in 2009 at the House of Blues and it turned into a regular thing to go to see local bands for us. “Don’t Tell Me No” is a major step up from seeing them back then and now that it’s 2016 and still rockin’! I heard their newer stuff since the start of last year and man it sounds good. The songs you would tend to hear them perform are “So Long to Sanity,” “Word,” and “Don’t Tell Me No.,” which are equally great songs even live. But the song that really got my ears going is “Psychological!” This song has me tapping with the beat of the drums and give me a nice adrenaline rush while listening to it. I think of the anime Psycho Pass with this song because of the action it brings. I can see why so many fans requested this song to be performed especially when we went since it kind of gave me the same feeling of “Cross My Heart” live. What surprised me about this album the most is the cover to “Just Dance.” I bet you’re wondering, “Bowaaaaahhhh!?” Yeah, they covered a Lady Gaga song and they made it better in my ears! I do admit I do like “Bad Romance” and one other song I am blanking on but “Just Dance” was covered very beautifully and Anne Marie rocked it.

That is why I am giving this album:

Five Paws out of 5!

What abouyt the show? Hmmmmm…..

4.5 out of 5 Paws! Reason being is that Filth was just okay in my opinion and Mechanism did a smooth sound check but the performance was a tad bit off. I can’t help it that “Zombie” done by Soul Switch did keep a higher score because they really rocked that song!

Well, that is it for this review and I am glad to be back in town! I may be going back in the future since Daytona is considered a home to me since it is very accessible but for now I have to focus on my turutre and how to grab it.

What is next for Nerdy Shique Universe? I am not sure yet but…it may be a sad end to my Boxy and Ipsy for now. I will explain in the post for that so stay tuned! Also, make sure you’re following me on Twitter and now Instagram where I post new pics even new makeup looks!