MUSIC Silvertide picks Cellar for DVD

Delighted with an earlier visit, the band is back for more.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Nearly three months after giving Northeast Ohio audiences a memorable show at The Cellar, hard rock band Silvertide returns to the scene of the crime for a special date tonight.
However, this time the Philadelphia-based band, which is touring its debut disc "Show and Tell," will be ready with plenty of cameras in tow to record the show for an upcoming DVD concert.
"It's good to be coming back," said singer Walt Lafty calling from Philadelphia. "The fans were really cool. The club had a really cool vibe. It was everything we were kind of looking for to grab on tape, so we said screw it, 'Let s just do it there.'"
It's been a busy year for Silvertide, which released its debut last September. As for touring, that began last summer when fate smiled on the five piece in the form of landing the opening slot for the high-profile Van Halen/Van Hagar reunion tour.
With over 150 bands vying for the coveted opener role, it was Silvertide's classic rock influenced sound and new millennium motif that got them the gig.
Great attitude
"It was great because now we've been friends with Sammy Hagar ever since," Lafty said. "Sammy taught us just to keep our head up and keep smiling because if he can be happy at his age in the music business, so can anybody, according to him."
After witnessing the Van Halen camp off stage, Lafty said he wasn't surprised to learn the reunion didn't last. Still, Silvertide remains in contact with Hagar, who had Silvertide open up a few of his solo Waboritas shows.
Other bands Silvertide has opened up for in the past year include Velvet Revolver and Godsmack. In fact, it was the reception they received from these larger audiences that spurred the DVD concert recording, which when finished six weeks from now will appear in stores packaged with "Show and Tell."
"The DVD is more or less to let people know that we are a live band," Lafty said. "So, we're going to attach it to our record so we can try to draw more people to the shows.
Having already released two singles -- "Ain't Comin' Home" and "Blue Jeans" -- from "Show and Tell," Lafty said the band is ready to spend another year on the road promoting its debut record.
"We have a lot of strong material," Lafty said. "I think we worked our asses off on our record and it deserves a fair chance. In this day and age in the record business, people judge you by the first 200 you sell in the first month, and people forget that rock bands take a little bit of time to brew."
Whether it's a slow brew or a bubbling caldron of hard rock, Silvertide is hoping lightning strikes again when it plays The Cellar.
Said Lafty, "We had a great time last time, so let's have a ball again."