By Andrew Bansal
November 6th 2013, Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: During the nine years of their existence so far, Houston TX-based progressive instrumental quartet Scale The Summit have done some fantastic tours with like-minded bands, and have successfully presented themselves to people who are more likely to understand their music. After an impressive 2011 release ‘The Collective’, they came out with an absolutely stellar new album this year called ‘The Migration’ via Prosthetic Records, and it’s by far the best thing they’ve ever done. Having missed out on attending their previous tour with Intronaut and having never seen any of the Migration songs live, naturally I was looking forward to their headline show here at the Whisky last night, which was part of a headline touring run which began in their hometown last Saturday. Surprisingly, in a very rare case for this venue, there were no local openers for this show and it was going to be just the three touring bands playing an all-prog night for us. There was a long queue of people outside the Whisky at around 8 PM, and the buzz amongst this crowd for the start of the show was tangible.
After much deliberation and delay by the venue in getting the queue moving, everyone safely entered just in time for the opening act Jolly to begin their set. I saw this New York-based band when they played at the same venue on August 22nd for their label InsideOut Music’s 20th anniversary party featuring Spock’s Beard and Randy George Band. They played a great set on that occasion, and last night was no different in that regard. It’s clear that they are highly skilled at what they do, but more importantly, they know how to present it well in a live setting. Anthony Rondinone’s bass is the single most emphatic driving force of this band’s sound. His bass was sounding much heavier last night than what I remember from the August show. It’s one of the tastiest bass sounds I’ve heard all year, and if it could be served on a platter, I would gleefully feast upon it. Sadly this crowd didn’t seem to appreciate Jolly as much as the band deserved, and they certainly were better received by the Spock’s Beard fans here a couple of months ago. But nonetheless, they didn’t let that deter them and put on an excellent show. Here’s hoping for many more LA appearances by Jolly.
Visit Jolly on the web at:
Jollyband.com
facebook.com/Jollyband
twitter.com/Jollyband
There was massive excitement surrounding the arrival of the next band The Reign Of Kindo, and they seemed to draw a large majority of this crowd who had come here to see their set alone. I was totally unfamiliar with the band and pre-show I had heard weird things about their music, but kept myself open-minded to the possibility of liking them. Unfortunately though, I didn’t find them to my cup of tea. They brought a lot with them onto that stage, with two drummers/percussionists and a keyboard player aside from the bass and guitars. Instrumentally, I enjoyed some parts of their music but the R&B-style vocals didn’t do anything for me whatsoever. They did have some heavier segments in their tunes but those were few and far between. Their fans were loving every minute of it though, so I guess it’s fair to say that the band’s performance met the fans’ expectations and gave them their money’s worth with an hour-long set. I can respect The Reign Of Kindo as a talented group of musicians, but it’s definitely not my thing.
All The Reign Of Kindo fans departed the venue as soon as the set was over, which left me feeling a little bit disappointed because they certainly missed out on an aural spectacle delivered by Scale The Summit. The venue was only half-full by the time they started their 70-minute set, but the few people who did stay had an absolute blast witnessing Scale The Summit play this mind-blowing headline set. I positioned myself exactly in the center of the general admission floor/pit to feel the complete strength of their music, and I was amazed by how crushingly heavy they sounded. They played the entirety of ‘The Migration’, along with four selections from older records sandwiched in between. The new tunes were just as powerful as I expected them to be, with ‘Odyssey’, ‘The Dark Horse’ and ‘Narrow Silent’ standing out as the highlights of the set.
I thought the Chris Letchford-led quartet performed their set extremely well, and from the audience’s point of view it was flawless. If there were any flaws in the performance, only the band members themselves would know. The order of tunes was excellent as well, and the only disappointment was the absence of the ‘Origin Of Species’ tune off of The Collective album. But other than that, this Scale The Summit set was, in all honesty, prog perfection. A lot of metalheads hate and disrespect the entire prog sub-genre. Perhaps for that reason, a band like Scale The Summit doesn’t even want to be called ‘metal’, but as long as they are releasing music that’s as heavy and creative as theirs is, and presenting an even more powerful version of it live on stage, they will always be supported by Metal Assault, and I only wish at least some of the other metalheads thought the same way.
Related – In-depth Interview With Scale The Summit Guitarist Chris Letchford
Visit Scale The Summit on the web at:
ScaleTheSummit.com
facebook.com/ScaleTheSummit
twitter.com/ScaleTheSummit
Set List:
1. Glacial Planet
2. Odyssey
3. Atlas Novus
4. Dunes
5. The Dark Horse
6. The Levitated
7. Oracle
8. Evergreen
9. Whales
10.The Great Plains
11.Willow
12.The Traveler
13.The Olive Tree
14.Narrow Salient
Remaining North American tour dates:
11/07 San Francisco, CA – Thee Parkside
11/08 Portland, OR – Ash St. Saloon
11/09 Seattle, WA – Highline
11/11 Salt Lake City, UT – Shred Shed
11/12 Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
11/13 Merriam, KS – Aftershock
11/14 Newport, KY – Southgate House
11/15 Cleveland, OH – Now That’s Class
11/16 Toronto, Canada – Wreck Room
11/17 Montreal, Canada – il Motore
11/18 Danbury, CT – Heirloom Arts Center
11/19 Boston, MA – Great Scott
11/20 New York, NY – Santos Party House
11/21 West Chester, PA – The Note
11/22 Norfolk, VA – The Iguana
11/23 Knoxville, TN – The Bowery
11/24 Nashville, TN – The End