Cold Roses Record Release Show @ Milkboy.

Text and images by Michael Bucher.

Cold Roses released their album No Silence in the City last weekend before a full room of fans at Milkboy. In the crowd were two people still rocking Halloween costumes and another man who couldn’t look more like “The Situation” from MTV’s Jersey Shore.

To mark the occasion, the band – which includes Rob Clancy on guitar and vocals, R.M. Webb on drums, Brandon Porter on bass guitar and Alex Ayala on keyboard – played the 11-track album in its entirety. Tom Petraccaro (saxophone), Rick Rein (trumpet) and Matt Keppler (upright bass) provided the crucial bursts of melody that filled the room. And thanks to Clancy, the audience learned just how close they were to missing it.

“Our trumpet player was arrested last night and we were afraid he couldn’t make it,” said Clancy between songs.

Rein just smiled and said, “The City of Philadelphia cares a lot about their stop signs.”

Sweat formed on their foreheads and soaked through their solid-color button-up shirts as the room heated up with whaling, blues guitar solos in the song “Someplace to Go.” A woman in the audience actually found the heat to be uncomfortable and tried propping up a window with an empty beer can but as she turned around, an alert bouncer removed the can and closed the window.

Clancy told the crowd how appreciative the band is for the help over the years, whether through supporting their Indiegogo campaign or coming out to shows.

“It means the world to us,” said Clancy.

He also thanked The Rivals, who got the night started with masterful guitar work by Rob Swift.