The Last Hour
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The Last Hour

Greensboro, North Carolina, United States | SELF

Greensboro, North Carolina, United States | SELF
Band Rock Alternative

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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Live Review @ Somewhere Else Tavern (Greensboro,NC)"

I drove to Greensboro, NC to see a show by The Last Hour. They were performing at SomeWhere Else Tavern (S.W.E.T.). The Last Hour was the fourth band of the night to perform. There were 3 other bands on the bill. They were Blind Crisis, Lansdowne, and Viva La Venus. Unfortunately I only made it for the last 3 songs of Viva La Venus, so I really can’t say much. What I did see I liked though.

The Last Hour came on last at 11PM, how ironic. TLH is made up of Travis Comer, lead vocals/lead guitar, Cyle Ritchie, bass/backing vocals, and Ray Mietus, drums/percussion. They started out with a song called “Friend”. This is their newest song recently added to the set. For this being a new song, it definitely went over well. The nicest surprise was towards the end. I loved the addition of the screams which brought a lot of emotion to the song. The next song was “My Last Words”. This song really showcased Cyle on bass. He definitely enjoyed playing this song and was very into it with his moves. The third song was “Vampire”. This song was one of my personal favorites performed by TLH. Don’t let the feel of the soft ballad fool you. This song is so powerful it moves you from deep within. Inspired by

The fourth song was “Stand Between You”. This was a re-work of their original song. They were trying it out on the crowd, and wanted some feed back. The feedback was positive as every person in the crowd loved the makeover. The fifth song was “Blinded By Her Eyes”. This is my personal favorite. This song definitely gave Travis a chance to show off his skills, both vocally and on his guitar. He laid out an awesome guitar riff during the solo he played. I was very impressed. I could feel the crowd getting into this song during his solo. People were totally getting involved with the music during this song, with many locals singing along.

The sixth song was “Prayer”. This song totally blew me away. Ray, on drums, did a sick drum solo that kept building and building. It was insane! He played it like a pro. And the seventh, and final song, was “Rain”. This song was a surprise. It started off sounding kind of down and sad, depressed and gloomy. Then from out of nowhere it got heavy, but with a slow drag. It was a great surprise.

All in all this was a great show. It was in a small bar near the college. The guys definitely made it worth my trip to visit them for this show. I was impressed with their stage presence and how well they jammed together. The emotion and devotion to their music was evident. This is definitely a local band that is worthy of some national attention. They are in the studio recording their debut album A Month Of Sundays and it should be available by late December. I strongly recommend picking up a copy. You can visit them on their myspace page at

http://myspace.com/thelasthourband
- Marie Tyler "Alternative World Fanzine" (LA, CA)


"Local Buzz (The Last Hour)"

I had the opportunity to talk to lead man Travis Comer a few days ago and I can tell you The Last Hour is ready to rock your craniums off this weekend! It is always amazing to me to hear the history of a band, the ups and downs and finally how things all come together and I’d like to share a bit of their story with you.

Travis Comer (lead vocals) and Cyle Ritchie (bass/back up vocals) have been playing guitar since they were knee high and grew up together in Eden, N.C. While life always has a way of interfering and people always seem to go their own way, sometimes fate throws a monkey wrench into things and the two were thrown back together in the summer of 2005 by a mutual friend. They hooked up with John Bowman and Justin Carter to form The Last Hour, but due to work conflicts and scheduling problems they soon realized that wasn’t going to work.

So they were back to the drawing board, but after several bad auditions their prayers were answered in the form of Ray Meitus, an Iowa Native who had moved to High Point, N.C. from Chicago last August. According to Travis “Ray found us and was ecstatic about the music.” Ray’s credentials were more than impressive. Ray Meitus is also the professor of percussion at Winston-Salem State University and was featured in Modern Drummer Magazine a few years back. And he’s only 26 years old.

Upon actually meeting Ray, Travis and Cyle just knew that “this” was it. So without even playing together or jamming for the first time they went ahead and rented a rehearsal space in Greensboro. To quote Travis again, “When we first walked into that rehearsal space and played together, we knew. It was freakin magic.”

The first time I heard The Last Hour play it was an acoustic set with Cyle and Travis on guitar and I have to tell you even without the full band I was impressed. Hearing “Vampire” acoustic was truly a pleasure and quickly became one of my favorite songs. I just know that to hear them now live is going to be extreme!

So to welcome them back to Charlotte we’re running a contest! It’s a pretty simple one this time. The first four emails that we receive will win free tickets to the show on Saturday night at JB’Z Beach Club at 2311 West Sugar Creek Road sponsored by Dead Girl Productions. The headliner Saturday night will be INJUSTUS out of Spartanburg, SC and opening the show will be From This Day hailing from nearby Winston-Salem. This will be one great night of rock!

Contest Information:
Email info@7zero4events.com with “The Last Hour Contest” in the subject line with your full name (so we can have you on the VIP list) and boom you’re done! We will contact the winners on Friday April 21st or sooner depending on how many entries we have. Must be at least 18 years of age with valid ID to win!

Written by: Michelle Bailey - 7zero4events.com


"THE LAST HOUR (Last, best hope for modern Rock" by Jordan Green"

Travis Comer and his two Last Hour bandmates have just returned to the Clubhouse in west Greensboro near Guilford College after a meal at Chickfil-A; they grab seats around one of the tall tables.

Comer, a native of Eden up near the Virginia state line, looks like a regular, all-American guy with a close-cropped ’do, facial hair and the slightest hint of the tortured-artist-male-angst look that was the hallmark of ’90s hard-rock vocalists like Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. Bass player Guy Wainwright, who was born in England and grew up in Spain, is even more of an ordinary type with an easygoing, friendly personality. Long-haired drummer Paul Salas, a New Jersey native raised in Puerto Rico, has a streak of gonzo in him, alongside traits of nice-guy teamplayer commitment and enthusiasm.

The members of the Last Hour are pros — modest and straight dealing in person, theatrical and over the top onstage. If there’s a big-time to reach for after the disintegration of the music industry as we know it, these guys want a crack at it. Comer and Salas will take a couple sweating Buds onstage to carry them through the mission, but their discipline in pursuing their goal puts a check on any excessive tendencies hidden in their psyches.

They know what they want: a record deal and the opportunity to tour far and wide. Every setback is painfully learned, turned into a gift and incorporated into the grand strategy. Comer, the undisputed leader of the band, discovered that a batch of good songs, well executed studio performances and a tangible product do not automatically lead to success. Someone has to play those songs night after night. Relationships need to be massaged. Each member’s dedication must be calibrated to the dynamic of the group’s shared aims. Logistics have to be worked out. Some spark of mutual recognition must catch fire between musical group and audience.

All the songs on the Last Hours’ EP, A Month of Sundays, had been recorded in 2006, and by early 2008, Comer’s band was flagging. “At the first of 2008, the two guys I was playing with hit a dead spot,” Comer says. “I thought we were going to quit.” He gestures toward Salas.

“I had lost touch with this guy,” Comer continues. “It just so happened we were in the right place. He said, ‘Do you need a drummer?’ He nailed all the songs. I had been thinking of going in the cover-band vein, but he was just so perfect. Then we started looking for a bass player.”

They held a CD release party in November at Market Street Music Hall, a Latin dance club in the bowels of the old warehouses at Guilford Mills that briefly served as a rendezvous point for the hard-rock and metal scene. The next month, they headlined Greene Street, the Greensboro concert hall that is a required stop for any local band with serious aspirations of mass appeal.

“We’re just trying to make great songs that are melodic and hard hitting, that move quickly, and at the end you’re like, ‘What was that?’” Comer says. Show up on time to every gig, break down your gear quickly to ensure a smooth transition for the next band and give the same performance for five people that you would for 500 — those are the essentials of longevity, the requirements exacted in exchange for the opportunity to do bigger things.

They’re playing three sets at the Clubhouse tonight. It’s a compliment of sorts for a band that writes its own material: Saturday nights are generally reserved for cover bands. The Last Hour duly obliges with a closely vetted set of chestnuts from the golden age of grunge and its hard-rock aftermath — covers of the aforementioned Stone Temple Pilots, the Foo Fighters, Nirvana and some pop detours such as OneRepublic.

“There’s rules,” Comer says. “We’ve all got to like it. It has to be something that influenced us. And we’ve got to put our own taste on it.” The front man makes a point of describing the Last Hour as an “original hardrock group” in his onstage rapport with the audience, and mindfully introduces each original song, guarding against the temptation to become a human jukebox or a trick pony that performs silly variations on familiar tunes.

And so he should: The handful of songs on A Month of Sundays, and the equal complement of tunes generated by the current lineup since then, explode with calibrated intensity, perfect tension in the counterpoint between guitar and bass and agile, dynamic percussion.

Everything is there: tight interplay between the bass and guitar, melodic and soft passages segueing into monster riffs, a progressive metal breakdown that suggests the sound of a heavily amplified deadbolt heaving out of a lock, bass progressions that course like an undertow beneath the melodic line, earsplitting volume, charismatic stage presence, and vocals that coo, growl and wail, limning the evolution from Otis Redding to Paul Rodgers and Billie Joe Armstrong.

“We’re going to keep doing this,” Comer says. “We’re going to keep saving our money, what little we get. It’s not about the money. I don’t want to be rich. I just want money to eat, to drink a couple beers and take a shower now and then.” - YES! WEEKLY


Discography

(A Month of Sundays EP) Released November 2008

Track Listing:

1. Blinded by Her Eyes
2. My Last Words
3. Vampire
4. Friend
5. Rain
6. Prayer

Tracks/Singles "Blinded by Her Eyes" & "My Last Words" featured in local show rotation 96.3 WROV VA & 106.5 the end "Charlotte, NC"
(A Month of Sundays "sampler")

1. "Blinded By Her Eyes" - Roxanne Digital Radio, 96.3 WROV Roanoke, VA

2. "Vampire"(orginal demo version)-Roxanne Digital Radio

3. "Friend?"(revised album version)-Roxanne Digital Radio

(Demo)

1. "Stand Between You"

2. "Vampire" (Streaming Airplay-Roxanne Digital)

3. "Friend?" (Streaming Airplay-Roxanne Digital)

Photos

Bio

The Last Hour is an up and coming Rock band bursting out of the Greensboro, North Carolina area. Formed during the summer of 2005 the band burst on to the scene with a sound unlike no other. Years prior to the bands creation, singer/guitarist, & founder of the group Travis Comer had been compiling demos in is spare time. Many tracks of which would later become some of the most popular tracks in bands set list. What started as a musical project eventually grew into some more. With the help of bassist Billy Guynn and drummer Paul Salas, TLH has quickly became on of the biggest power trio acts on the scene.

In Spring 2008 Comer wrapped up all post production for what would be the groups debut EP entitled "A Month of Sundays" assisted by Recording Engineer/Producer Jamie King. With tracks like the thunderous "Blinded by her eyes"and Twilightesk "Vampire", TLH has proven they are a musical force to be reckoned with. Blending progression & simplicity TLH leads you on a rollercoaster of emotion with hard hitting tracks such as "Friend" & "Prayer" to the somber tranquility of "Rain" leave melodies stuck in your head that you will be hooked on from the start.

Since the release of their debut disc, the band has been performing locally & regionally around the East Coast in support of the album performing with such great National Acts as Candlebox, Days of the New, & Rehab. The group hopes to enter the studio yet again in early 2009 to begin recording their follow up record. On April 3rd the band received an award for "Best Alternative" @ the 2009 JFNE Awards. Chances are, if you like "real" Rock, then you will love "The Last Hour". Wanna Sample more of TLH's music? Visit myspace.com/thelasthourband