Crowd's familiarity with band impresses Breaking Benjamin

A band with local connections opened the concert.
By GUY D'ASTOLFO
VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Breaking Benjamin likes to keep it simple. Its members wear jeans and T-shirts and put on a no-nonsense, no-frills show. And when it's over, it's over.
Ben Burnley, the group's vocalist and visionary, had little intention of doing an encore after he and his mates ended their set at The Wedge on Friday. But he caved in after five minutes of exhortation from the capacity crowd of 1,200.
Big Ben, in fact, appeared to be moved by Youngstown's familiarity with his songs all night.
"The best thing about being a musician is hearing all of you singing my songs ... and doing a damn good job of it," he said after his alt-metal quartet played "Sooner or Later."
The typical Benjamin anthem includes crashing verse and a sing-along chorus, and the set list Friday included a few textbook examples.
The Wilkes-Barre, Pa., band opened its 70-minute set with "Polyamorous," the first single from its debut album.
The next two songs also highlighted the band's early work: "Shallow Bay," which Burnley wrote when he was a teenager, and "Home," which began with an audio clip of the Wicked Witch from "Wizard of Oz."
The fuller sound of latter CDs "We Are Not Alone" and "Phobia" worked even better, including chart hit "Diary of Jane," as well as "Breath" and "Sooner or Later."
Getting the crowd into the act early were "Topless" and "Breakdown," with Burnley's trademark guttural roar and bassist Mark James' string-thumping cutting through the noisy hall like a buzz saw.
Other rockers included "Had Enough" and "Break My Fall."
"So Cold," with its haunting opening strains, was supposed to be the send-off song, before the band returned for a short curtain call.
Openers
The Burden Brothers, a Dallas quintet that was supposed to start the show, got bumped back when Dropping Daylight, the original No. 2 on the bill, opted out to join the Sno-Core tour.
So Daylight's dropping created an opening for an opener -- which was filled admirably by Leo, a passionate post-emo squad whose guitarist and drummer are local boys. Their appearance was a surprise, but not a letdown.
Mike Roberts of Austintown and Mark Grabowski of Boardman are Leo's lead guitarist and drummer, respectively. Both were members of now-defunct Cedars-stalwarts Ivet.
When Ivet went belly up a few years ago, Roberts and Grabowski merged with vocalist-guitarist Ian Eddy of Cleveland, who was the last man standing in the original incarnation of Leo, and bassist Rek Mohr of St. Louis (bassist and possessor of a great rock 'n' roll name), to form the new and improved Leo.
"Our bands [Leo and Ivet] were like best buddies," said Eddy backstage after the show. "We used to go see each other play." They jumped at the opportunity to combine talents.
Leo landed the spot on the Benjamin tour thanks to connections made by their record label, but they will only be along for the ride until March 19. Then, they will head to Austin, Texas, to play in the South by Southwest Festival, which showcases the nation's up-and-comers.
While Roberts and Grabowski have played countless shows in Youngstown, they admitted that Friday's was the biggest hometown crowd they ever entertained.
Leo's new album, "Nightmares," is on the Dream Makers label. To learn more about the band, go to Leotheband.com.