Arts & Entertainment
New Drummer, Same Sound
Stone Temple Pilots tribute band Silvergun Superman rolls on despite road bumps and lineup changes.
Five months ago, Silvegun Superman had plenty of momentum behind them. After a strong performance at Friday Night Live in Port Chester, and a show at Sullivan Hall in New York City, things were looking promising for the tribute band.
Unfortunately, a slew of bad luck came their way, including the band losing its drummer to tendonitis.
“We really had a lot going,” said lead singer Carlos Ferreira. “It was difficult to pick up the pieces after Akil went down.”
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“I was almost ready to pack it in after that,” admitted Ferreira. “I didn’t want to go through a host of auditions so we really needed to find someone we knew could fill in.”
Finding James’s replacement turned out easier than the band thought. Shawn Dieppa Freytas, a 28 year old native of Puerto Rico, and Berklee School of Music graduate, stepped in to fill the drum seat.
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“Shawn was in a friend of our band, so we already knew him,” Ferriera told me. “After the third rehearsal everything felt natural again.”
For now, Silvergun Superman is a side project for Freytas, the Queens based drummer told me before his inaugural show with the band. He was excited to see where the music would take him.
The group’s first show back after the long hiatus took place Saturday, Aug. 20 at Tammany Hall in the Lower East Side. An intimate venue, the live show area has both an open floor in front of the stage, and a lounge area that doubles as a balcony.
A relaxed set list, meaning the night is not necessarily themed with bands of similar genres; the feel was a bit different for Silvergun Superman.
“The Sullivan Hall show we did before our drummer went down was a tribute night. There were us, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Guns and Roses – all tribute bands,” Ferriera explained.
Despite the different set-list, the band was buzzing before they went on. Filled with friends, family, and a number of curious fans, Silvergun Superman took the stage to close the night at 12:45am.
“Definitely, not our best show, but its good to be back playing.” a happy Ferriera said afterwards.
Silvergun Superman’s next show will be at the Trash Bar in Brooklyn as part of a themed grunge night. Be sure to check their facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/stpsongs for more information on the band.
