"OURS" : Rock's Best Kept Secret

About two years ago, my friend, Erin, turned me on to a band by the name of ‘Ours'. Since she usually had pretty good taste in music, I decided to check them out. My first impression was that they sounded a bit like a mix of Radiohead and Muse, but I hate even comparing their music to anyone because they are so unique and different from any other band out there.

Since I enjoyed what I had heard so far, I agreed to go see them in concert with Erin at the Avalon in Boston. I had no idea that what I was about to see that night would change my life forever.

To be honest, ever since the early 90's Seattle grunge rock explosion, I had yet to hear a band or see a performance that actually moved me. When I was thirteen, there were some great bands that had evolved: Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, etc. They were all so passionate and intense. Their music made me feel something. It sparked something inside me that I couldn't explain. Even if it was something sad, it was something. It was real. It had affected me one way or the other, and it takes a great musician to do that.

As I got older, my love for music started to fade. It wasn't that I loved music any less. It was the fact that there seemed to be a lack of talent in the music scene. A lot of musicians weren't even writing their own songs anymore. How can you be passionate about what you're singing if you didn't even write it? How can you expect to move other people with your music when you're not even moved by it yourself? The answer is simple: you can't.

In my late teens and early twenties, I went to a lot of concerts, but it was mainly to get drunk and party. I can't tell you one show that I went to and was actually moved by the performance. Music started to become more of a party to me than what it used to be. What did it used to be? My emotional crutch. My love. My life. My obsession.

Luckily, in early 2006, I saw ‘Ours' in concert for the first time. They opened with an unreleased song ‘Murder', followed by a song ‘Realize' off their second album, ‘Precious'. I don't know what in God's name happened to me during this performance, but it changed not only my life but my entire outlook on music. Finally, THIS was what I had been missing. This intensity, this passion, this emotion. It was indescribable.

The lead singer's name is Jimmy Gnecco. The giant voice that escapes this man is surreal. You really don't expect such a big voice to come from such a small man, but when he opens his mouth to sing, the rest of the world seems to fade away.

He can sing high notes as if he's singing opera, or he can scream like the old 90's rock screams that I had once longed for, but either way it's magical. You can tell that when he sings, he sings from his soul.

At most concerts, by the time the first song was finished, I was ready for another drink. I'd usually take a walk, buy a beer, check out the guys, you get the idea. Not this time. By the time their second song ended, I forgot I even had a drink in my hand. Hell, I think I even forgot where I was at that point. But I knew one thing: I had to hear more.

I didn't move or take my eyes off the stage for the rest of the show. I stood there in a hypnotic state, listening to every electrifying riff and chord, and prayed that it would never end.

I haven't missed one ‘Ours' show in Boston since that night. I've even managed to catch a few NYC shows as well. There's something to be said about a guy that can not only scream rock music, but can cover Queen's ‘Bohemian Rhapsody' as well. Enough said.

To this day, whenever I hear ‘Realize', I think back to the night that changed my life. The night that I realized that real music, intense, emotional, passionate, soul inspired music, still existed in the world.