Airiel Down opens for KISS

This past Sunday, August 29th, 2010 Airiel Down opened for KISS in Raleigh, NC. KISS conducted a contest this summer for bands to compete in order to open for KISS. Fans had the opportunity to vote on event.com for their favorite band to open in their hometown and then two weeks before the show, KISS took the Top 5 bands and selected which band they would like to open for them in that select city. Well, Airiel Down's hard work (and the fans' hard work) finally paid off because Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons chose Airiel Down to open in Raleigh. Obviously, being a huge supporter of not only my cousin, but Airiel Down as a group, I had to find a way to get down there. Luckily I had some other family members who wanted to make the trip as well, so we road tripped it down to Raleigh on Sunday morning. We met up with even more family and friends down in Raleigh for the show and we were ready to cheer on the boys. Airiel Down played four songs ("Black Flag," Gorilla," "Quick," and "Hurricane Warning") and absolutely rocked it. We were all so proud of Taylor and the rest of the guys. It was such a huge moment for the band and we're hoping this helped them gain even more fans. The only downfall was the lack of stage time, but we didn't complain. We were still extremely happy with what we saw and we felt it was well worth the wait. We stayed around for KISS and I must say, they put on quite the show. Not sure if I'd go to another KISS concert just to see KISS, but we enjoyed their show to say the least. I included some pictures above of Airiel Down in action. (These were all taken by Tim Szczesniak. With the exception of the picture of Taylor and all of the family who made it to the show.)

Airiel Down

Well, how do I even begin? Everyone should have expected that my boys would make at LEAST one blog topic! As most of you know, Airiel Down is the band my cousin, Taylor, is in (plays the drums). They've been together about six years and I've been following them and traveling many places to see them play for about four years. They've also stayed at the Landrin household many times - so I'm a little biased with this one. But with all that aside, they are an exceptional, independent band from Raleigh, NC. When I say independent, I mean it. This is one of those true, struggling bands who's out there just trying to make it in the business. I promote them all I can because I believe in their music and what they stand for. They are such hard workers and have played everywhere in the country. I've seen them play to thousands of people at a sold out show in Raleigh and to about 10 people in random places like Towson, MD. But you know what, they play the same type of show with thousands or 10 people. Anyway, I could go on and on, but that would just be boring to some of you. I'll put some links below for you to check them out, and if you dig their sound, go buy some of the tunes (or all of them) on iTunes because like I said, they do everything themselves, so they could use the support. And speaking of support, if you're in the Philly area, they will be playing a huge Philly gig at the Hard Rock Cafe on Friday, August 13, 2010. Please come out if you have the time because they're trying to get more gigs in the area, and if they have a good showing that night - there could be more AD in Philly! (Which means, I won't have to travel 8 hours just to go see them play! LOL)

Airiel Down's Official Website
Silhouette Music Video
Air Video (one of my all time faves)
Quick Video