By Andrew Bansal
August 28th 2013, The Satellite, Los Angeles CA: We as fans of heavy music in the Los Angeles area have always been well appreciative of what Scion A/V has done for our genre, sponsoring live events free of cost to the public, funding album releases and music videos, and generally taking good care of the bands they choose for these endeavors. The Roxy was the regular venue for their rock shows until a couple of years back, after which they moved it to the Glass House for a little while, and then they took a bit of a break from doing the LA rock events. Now, they are back with a new series of events simply called ‘Scion Rock Show’, which kicked off with its first event at the Satellite last night featuring the bands Fu Manchu and Moab. It was an interesting choice of venue, and even though I had a feeling it would fit the musical style of the two bands, I was still curious to find out how it would turn out, and what Scion A/V is doing differently this time around.
For starters, the Satellite is usually a 21+ venue so this was a 21+ show as opposed to the all ages shows Scion has been known for. The queue of people waiting to get in wasn’t anywhere near as long as what the norm used to be for their shows, and for the longest time, this show didn’t really have the ‘Scion’ vibe to it. It was like just another regular rock show at the Satellite, which in all honesty wasn’t a bad thing after all. With that said, freebies like Scion socks, shirts, earplugs and CDs were available as always, and most people gleefully took the opportunity to stock themselves with the swag. The Scion socks were the most popular item.
Technically, the show began at 9 PM but it was a group of metal DJs called ‘LSDJs’ that started it off rather than a live band. There was a little bit of confusion amongst some people as they thought the show wasn’t starting on time, before they realized that it was a DJ set. The first band to take the stage at 10 PM was Moab, who played a highly impressive 40-minute set filled to the brim with extremely heavy psychedelic desert rock. This Los Angeles-based trio turned out to be the absolute perfect opener for a band like Fu Manchu. Even though it was my very first listen of Moab, I got a feeling I had heard the music before, which was actually a good thing because I could easily relate to it. It was instantly accessible. Their setup was very simple, but their sound was massive. The guitar and bass combined to create quite a powerful low-end onslaught, balanced by guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis’ high-pitched singing. He had a bit of a technical issue as his guitar cut out at one point during the set but the drummer saved the day with a drum solo and they carried on. All in all, a great set by Moab, a fitting prelude to Fu Manchu.
moabband.com
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The wait wasn’t long and promptly at 11 PM, Fu Manchu took the stage. By now this place was packed and almost everyone here was in high spirits, ready and primed to enjoy the music that was to be presented by Fu Manchu. Right from the time the first note was played, the band nailed their sound and the crowd got into it big time, head-banging, shouting and at times dancing along to the tunes. It was easy for any heavy music fan to enjoy this Fu Manchu performance, and I have nothing bad or negative to say about it, at all. Their 60-minute set included the songs ‘California Crossing’, ‘Trapeze Freak’, ‘King Of The Road’, ‘The Vulcan Has Landed’, ‘Hell On Wheels’ and ‘Open Your Eyes’, among a few others. But honestly it really wouldn’t have mattered what they played, because this crowd was largely consisting of longtime Fu Manchu fans who were here to have a good time regardless of the set list. This band has such a long history and a devout fan-following in the LA circles, but I never had a chance to see them live before this, and I was finally able to get the Fu Manchu live experience. Based on what I witnessed last night, I am only kicking myself for not making the effort to see them in the past, because they put on as good of a live show as any I’ve seen from a band of this musical style, or for that matter, any band in general.
fu-manchu.com
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The Satellite certainly helped enhance the overall experience of this show for the attendee, specially sound-wise. The small size of the room and the quality of its acoustics made the bands sound even bigger and heavier than they would have done at a different venue. I commend Scion A/V for putting together this show and picking the right venue to do so. LA folks should be glad that the Scion Rock Show is back with a bang, and I’m already looking forward to the next Scion rock event.
ScionAV.com
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theSatelliteLA.com
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