Beach band's long break ends tonight

Revery is shaking off its lame-label-imposed reverie and hitting the stage again tonight.

The Virginia Beach band, which seemed headed for big things a couple of years ago when it signed with an indie label, is putting on a reunion show as the warmup band for Shinedown at The NorVa.

"We took an indefinite hiatus last June - not a breakup, but certainly needed a break with all the stuff going on with the label," lead vocalist Jason Martinez said.

In 2005, Revery released its debut album, "Avarice & Absolution," on the indie label EVO Recordings, out of Raleigh, N.C.

Joining Martinez were John Adkins on guitar/vocals, Michael Doyle on guitar, brother David Doyle on drums and Kenny Adcock on bass.

The album received positive reviews regionally and nationally. A single, "Popstar Wedding," was played by about 25 mainstream rock stations across the country including locally on WNOR FM99; in Cincinnati on WEBN; in Riverside, Calif., on KCAL; and on the Sirius and XM satellite stations. By early 2006, "Popstar Wedding" had occupied the No. 1 position twice on KCAL.

The dream of becoming nationally known rock stars seemed to be within reach. Their second single, "Bleed Alone," was set for release, and a summer tour in support of the album was fully booked.

With 50-plus shows on the horizon, the band set out to rock towns across the country. They kicked off the tour in the South.

The band was in the heart of the country when - with $10 on hand and no gas in the tank - they suddenly could not get in touch with anyone from the label. They had to abandon the tour, halfway through.

EVO Recordings had run out of money, according to Martinez.

"The label was supposed to pay for tour support, keep us on the road, but we were paying for our own tour. And towards the end, it started to be too much."

When it was all said and done, the band was out $5,000 to $10,000 - even losing the van they were touring in, he said.

Early last year Revery sued for a breach of contract with EVO and severed all ties with the label. Martinez has been told the label went out of business, and now the band is unsigned.

Attempts by The Pilot to contact the label were unsuccessful.

Why hasn't the band performed locally until now?

"Mentally it was draining. We were supposed to be the next big thing, and we were lied to," Martinez said.

Revery's mission, from its MySpace page at myspace.com/revery, "is to bring back the seemingly forgotten art of rock music," and that is what the band plans to do tonight.

The Virginia Beach band will open for Shinedown, a melodic, hard rock group out of Jacksonville, Fla. Shinedown is touring on its June 24 release, "The Sound of Madness." The single "Devour" hit the airwaves earlier this month.

Revery fans may notice that bassist Adcock is gone, and Bruce Robinson, former bass player for local rock band Nemesis, is filling in. Robinson has been rehearsing with the band for the past couple of months. Martinez said Adcock is concentrating on his own project and cover band.

The band is filming a DVD that will include footage from the 2006 American Music Festival when it opened for 3 Doors Down, and they plan to shoot footage at tonight's show. As for new Revery songs, they have some raw recordings down.

So, what does this reunion show, and the ones to follow this summer, mean to Revery?

"Hope," Martinez said.

"What we know is, we love playing together. I don't mean to sound cliche, but it's really magic when we perform."

Patty Jenkins, (757) 446-2298, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com