As the crowd pushed its way up front of the intimate Roxy floor, the members emerged and pummeled into their hour plus set of hard hitting, yet melodic and angst-ridden songs. Lead singer Stephen Richards’ vocal range can go from fast rapcore, to slower Aaron Lewis (Staind) style singing.

What makes Taproot different is their love for their audience, and their humbleness. Throughout their very energetic and enthusiastic set, Richards moved his way off stage and into the crowd with microphone in hand singing as he passed members of the crowd. While his band members jammed ontsage, Richards made a heartfelt connection as he slowly walked through the audience, breaking the barrier between fan and performer. As the crowd cheered, after virtually every song, the band thanked the audience gracefully for coming out. "WE want everyone to know we appriciate the love and support you’ve all given us. Lets have a good time out here tonight!" yelled Richards with an optimistic glee in his eye.

Taproot debuted a number of new songs from their second album, which is due out in March, and from the reaction of the crowd, it’s already making its ways to listeners’ ears, more than half of the crowd sang along and knew the words. Finishing their set, they closed the show with their song ‘Poem,’ which is a current hit on KROQ. Richardson of course thanked the fans for that.

Opening the show were DEADSY, who may be known for lead Singer Elijah Blue’s celebrity parents. He is the son of Cher and Gregg Allman. But believe me, from the sounds of things you would never know. DEADSY are not easy to categorize, but who cares? You might not like them you might love them and you might just think they are weird. But you have to give it up for them for going against the grain and the current trends, and making some intelligent and original music. Many call DEADSY a hybrid of gothic pop 80s and death metal. That works. Imagine a more commercial not so Evil version of Type O Negative, that is as best as I can describe DEADSY's one of a kind sound. Check them out for yourself and make your own decision. It was an entertaining night at the Roxy, with two bands that were not so similar in sound, but both put on outstanding live shows.