By Andrew Bansal
Jan. 14th 2012, The Roxy, Hollywood CA: After a largely successful Nuclear Blast showcase last November, Scion A/V put together their second label showcase, this time spotlighting Prosthetic Records. The bands that represented the LA-based label at this event were Holy Grail, Scale The Summit, Last Chance To Reason and The Greenery.
This would be Holy Grail’s biggest headline show so far, and in Scale The Summit they had a fantastic opening band. Besides, I was interested to see how well Last Chance To Reason perform this time, and I had never seen The Greenery. So there was more than plenty to give fuel to my anticipation of this show.
The doors promptly opened at 1 PM, and The Greenery hit the stage at 1.25. I was really impressed by their debut full-length “Spit & Argue” which was released last year, and have been wanting to see the band live ever since. Today I finally got my chance, and it’s safe to say that The Greenery did not disappoint. Vocalist Matt wasted no time in jumping straight onto the floor to be among the crowd, and he stayed there for majority of the band’s set. He did his best to get the crowd pumped, and his attempts were successful. I could tell that their set was well appreciated, even by people who didn’t know who they were. Besides loving them for having one of the most awesome band names I have ever come across, I love what they do musically, and how they present it on stage. Their brand of hardcore punk has a distinct groove to it, which makes them a great live band. These dudes are based in Long Beach CA, so if you live around Southern California and haven’t seen The Greenery yet, you should.
Last Chance To Reason were up next. Now, I wasn’t really impressed with them when I saw them open for Obscura at the Key Club last November. But I was willing to see if they put on a better performance at this show, and they sure did. I ended up liking them a lot more this time, and they did a great job on that Roxy stage. They never looked overwhelmed by the occasion and performed their music excellently. Since their latest album is a concept album based on a video game, they attracted a group of nerds wearing Mario hats, which was really amusing to see. Based on this set, I would say they are good musicians and their material is strong, but vocalist Michael Lessard’s occasional high-pitched shrieking is just about the only thing they should drop from their live performances. I was talking to a fan of theirs and he told me that this part of the vocals isn’t on the actual studio albums, and Michael only does it live. I don’t understand why, because it reminds me of horrible vocalists like Dani Filth and Maria Brink, singers whose voice makes me shudder with disgust. But other than that, Last Chance To Reason were impressive, and definitely changed my opinion about them.
Next to take the stage was Scale The Summit. I was initially a little worried that they might not fit in with this line-up of bands and would drive the crowd away, but I was glad to see that it wasn’t the case. They won the entire crowd over with their brilliant musicianship. Even though they were the only instrumental band on this bill, their music was powerful enough to hold everyone’s attention. Their set length was longer than usual, which I had no complaints with whatsoever. They utilized the set extremely well and played a good selection from all three of their albums. “Sargasso Sea” from the 2nd album was among the highlights of the set for me. But honestly, the material from the latest album “The Collective” was my favorite, and the manner in which they performed it made it sound even better in the live setting. They ended the set with an extended version of “Origin Of Species”, and quite simply, it was orgasmic. All in all, the band made great use of this opportunity, and this a great promotion for their upcoming headline show at the Whisky A-Go-Go on January 31st. A truly mesmerizing set from an incredible group of musicians.
With all of that said and done, it was time for the headline act Holy Grail to hit the stage. Having seen them on numerous occasions in the recent past, I knew the exact order of songs they usually perform, but since this was their biggest headline show yet, and was being recorded, I was very curious to see whether they would change it up or add rarities to the set. And I’m extremely glad to say, they sure did.
The start of their set was customary, with “Immortal Man” and “Chase The Wind”. I certainly didn’t mind that, and neither did the crowd. This is just about as good as it gets when you talk about a one-two punch to start off a live performance. The Roxy floor exploded into life as soon as the first note of Immortal Man was hit, and it stayed that way throughout the song. Everyone was in good voice and people around me in the front row weren’t shying away from signing the lyrics along with James Luna. The first song warmed up the crowd rather nicely, and at Luna’ cue, fists were pumping at full tilt during the Chase The Wind interlude.
The 3rd song of the night was the biggest surprise for me. They hadn’t played this song since April 2011, and I was worried that it had been dropped from the set permanently. But thankfully that wasn’t the case, and they revisited the ever-amazing “For All Eternity”. It’s most definitely my favorite Holy Grail song, and a favorite among fans as well. Needless to say, we lost our minds while this was being played. I was disappointed when this song wasn’t included on their debut full-length, but I can understand why. It’s more of a straight-up power metal song and I guess they wanted to move away from that musical style. But it’s an incredible tune, and brings out the best reaction from the crowd every time they play it. I just hope a studio version of it gets released at some point in the future.
The rest of the set consisted of tunes from the debut full-length, tunes that always sound great live, and this gig was no exception whatsoever. Every song was well appreciated by a crowd that was loving every moment of this. But after “Call of Valhalla” and “Crisis In Utopia”, they did something they’d never done before. Eli Santana and Alex Lee started a guitar duel which then turned into an instrumental jam. May be it’s a taste of what to expect from their next album. It sounded very different from any of their other songs, and had a very identifiable classic hard rock feel to it. If this is how the next album is going to sound, I’m already excited.
They ended the set with their fastest, thrashiest tune “Fight To Kill”. It induced the final, and strongest mosh pit of the show. They thanked the crowd for attending this mid-afternoon show, and the crowd showed their gratitude in return by giving them a generous applause.
Unfortunately the turnout at this free, all ages show wasn’t as good as it should have been, but I kind of expected that to be honest. All of these bands, at this stage of their respective careers, have what I would call a ‘cult following’. But all I can say about the turnout is, the ones that were not in attendance missed out on a killer show.
In comparison to the first Scion label showcase, I actually thought this was a much better show even though the Nuclear Blast showcase drew a much larger crowd. The selection of bands for yesterday’s gig was much better, and every band got the appreciation they deserved. At the Nuclear Blast gig, there was a clear separation between fans of Exodus and those of the other bands, but that wasn’t the case here as I saw the same group of people stood around me for the entire show. Holy Grail fans were open-minded towards other bands that played different styles of music, which was very refreshing to see, and something the Holy Grail members would have been glad to notice as well, as they are some of the most open-minded musicians I have ever come across.
All in all, a truly memorable afternoon that highlighted the talents of four of the most promising bands on the Prosthetic Records roster.
Rating: 10/10
Holy Grail setlist:
1. Immortal Man
2. Chase The Wind
3. For All Eternity
4. Call Of Valhalla
5. Crisis In Utopia
6. Guitar Jam
7. Requiem
8. The Blackest Night
9. My Last Attack
10.Hollow Ground
11.Fight To Kill
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