Snake Canyon at Arlene's Grocery

New York's Lower East Side has been the local heartbeat of live music for decades – sorry, Williamsburg. Dozens of music clubs, sometimes several on the same block, still feature the best of the up and coming bands. Snake Canyon is the neighborhood’s newest homegrown hard-rock band. The group presently consists of lead vocalist Morgan Liebman, lead guitarist Joe Hogan, rhythm guitarist AJ, bassist Vance Garcia and drummer Texas Clamp.

At Arlene’s Grocery tonight, Snake Canyon performed a 45-minute set of heavy-bottomed hard rock. Liebman, who can often be found working in local clubs like the Niagara or Boss Tweed’s as a heavy metal disc jockey, proved to be a fine front man for the band, and Hogan was a very capable lead guitarist. The band’s sound has been refined and defined, mixing metal with a taste of grunge and sludge. Some of the songs performed tonight, including “No Apologies”, “Life on Mars” and “Devil,” can be heard in demo form on the band’s website. The band returns to Arlene’s Grocery on August 26.