ION INDIE MAGAZINE August 2015, Volume 15 | Page 117

NEVER judge a book by its cover! I’ve told myself this over and over, but I never listen. So one night, I’m at JEWEL NIGHTCLUB
in Manchester way back in December. They’re hosting a “Battle of the Bands” event to see who will open for an upcoming
show with headliners PUDDLE OF MUDD. All the usual local suspects are there to strut their music muscles, rock out and prove
their worthiness of being on the same bill as a national touring band. Local favorites like CRYIN’ SHAME, MY SISTER WILL and
the mighty TESTER are all in the house. I’m hanging around between sets watching the bands load in, play and load out. In the
door comes three “kids” with their instruments. These three looked like the textbook definition of an Indie coffee house trio.
My first thought was, “They looked barely 18, they probably don’t know who OZZY is, probably freshmen at the nearest
community college, etc.” The guitarist could have been blown over by a stiff breeze, the lead singer looked like someone who’d
be babysitting my kids while I’m at a Rock concert and the drummer looked barely old enough to drive. I’ll be the first to admit-I wrote them off. Certainly these “kids” can’t be on the same stage as the local greats! Definitely not with a national act like
PUDDLE OF MUDD!

Man oh man, was I wrong!
Let me tell you about BLINDSPOT…
The lead singer--that’s ALEXA
ECONOMOU--she’s
a
little
powerhouse on stage! Amazing voice,
plays some guitar and rocks out like a
younger—and waaaaaay better
looking STEVEN TYLER.
The guy on lead guitar and keyboards-that’s boy genius CHRIS CORMIER.
The night before the “battle”, their
band was left without a bassist.
Without missing a beat (sorry, bad
pun!), Chris stays up all night and
makes up bass backing tracks for the
show. He kind of reminds me of a
cross between a younger THE EDGE
and GEDDY LEE.
The drummer--that spot’s since been
filled with ADAM MILLER. He’s the
only engineer I know that can keep a
beat and totally kill it every show on
his drums. The kid can definitely play!
I’ve seen blindspot a bunch of times
since that first night. Hey, I know a
good band when I hear one! This little
trio from Lowell, Massachusetts, can
bring it with the best of them. The
results of the “battle”, you ask? They
opened for PUDDLE OF MUDD--and
since then have opened for
BUCKCHERRY, SCOTT WEILAND,
TANTRIC, SAVING ABEL and THE GIN
BLOSSOMS too. That’s a pretty
impressive resume!