Tuesday October Fifth, 1999		EVENING EDITION * 25¢

Two Cities, Countless Fans...Tales From the Road

Cincinnati and Canton, OH just witnessed two shows of a lifetime.

Witchazel lived up to that old saying by killing two birds with one stone. They quenched the thirst for original sound at Sadie Renee's in Canton, while having floored the crowd with their now-known-all-over-the-nation monstrous groove at Cutter's in Cincinnati. More importantly, to the awe of their die-hard fans, Witchazel appeared at the Cutter's stage as four-piece and introduced the new lead singer Lath Motley (and yes, it is his real name).

The addition happened so quitely even the core of the Witchazel fan-base wasn't aware of the newsflash until they actually saw Motley with the band. The word got out shortly after an anonymous posting appeared on the band's newsgroup on the net. Fans rushed to the Cutter's box office hoping they would be able to get tickets for this historical event. Surely enough, the show was sold out in 17 minutes. 450 lucky fans were up for a very special night with the mighty boys of rock'n roll. The night at Cutter's proved two facts: the band was tighter and happier than ever, and Lath was the perfect match for Witchazel with his amazing stage presence and anthemic voice. A whole new horizon just opened up its arms to the power-house four-piece.

The next stop for the already charged up quartet was the little midwestern town Canton. Being close to a city with an ever evolving local music scene like Cleveland, Canton was a crucial spot on Witchazel tour map. Eventhough a couple of unfortunate events attempted to ruin the trip (the newly purchased tour bus broke down, and the driver got arrested for DUI)for the band, they were ready to rock hard'n heavy for their debut appearence at Sadie Renee's. They performed a killer hour and a half set. After the show, it took them almost two hours to leave the place because of all the papparazzi action awaiting for them outside the bar. "This is the best part of the whole thing" Lath answered a reporter from a local music magazine, trying to sign an autograph for a screaming teenager at the same time, "Being able to interact with fans at a more intimate level".

At the press time of this article, Witchazel was getting ready to start the second leg of their North American tour which will include St.Louis, Memphis, Nashville, Richmond,MS and New Orleans,LA tentatively. Dates for these shows are to be announced by Sardouchi Bros Entertainment, the management agency for Witchazel, in the next couple of weeks.

Writer of this article Selin Z is an interning journalist at Hazelnut Valley Times