By Andrew Bansal
December 7th 2013, The Whisky, West Hollywood CA: Los Angeles-based musician Monte Pittman has quite an interesting backstory, which began with him moving to LA from Texas, becoming a guitar teacher and ending up with Madonna as one of his students, which led to him joining her group as a live guitarist. Other than that, he has performed with a variety of different artists but his first venture into the world of heavy metal was his stint with Prong as a touring guitarist and co-songwriter. He started his solo career in 2009 and explored more and more of his heavy metal/hard rock traits as he went along, which has brought him to this point, playing a headline gig at the Whisky where he presented a 45-minute set of solo material, including a couple of unreleased tunes slated to feature on his next studio album.
On an agonizingly chilly Saturday evening here in West Hollywood, he began his set at around 10:35 PM with the song ‘(I Am) The Black Robot’. Having never seen him live before, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I was certainly impressed with what I saw over these 45 minutes. His style of clean vocal delivery instantly reminded me of a by-gone era of rock singing which was prominent in the 80s. His music constantly shifted from simple, catchy hooks to ripping technical interludes as he shredded away on that guitar of his with utmost effortlessness. His guitar playing came across as extremely natural, as if his hands were moving on their own without any need for instruction from his brain. It just proved his calibre and experience on the instrument, and it’s no wonder he’s had such high-profile students.
His music is definitely an intelligent mix of elements that go down well with fans of heavy music as well as amongst a more ‘mainstream’ crowd. The guitar sounded very simple and bare-bones, and it was all about what he was actually playing rather than the bells and whistles. He was performing with a bassist and drummer in a power trio setting and it suited his tunes perfectly as his live musicians performed their roles excellently. The songs ‘Before The Mourning Sun’ and ‘A Dark Horse’ will be on his next album ‘The Power Of Three’ which comes out next month, and I really felt these two were the best songs of the set, more metal than the older tunes and with better guitar solos.
I would certainly recommend Monte Pittman to metalheads who’re able to appreciate a softer side in the music, but regardless of one’s preferences, Monte Pittman is an artist worth checking out because there’s more to him than meets the eye.
Visit Monte Pittman on the web:
MontePittman.com
facebook.com/MontePittman
twitter.com/MontePittman
instagram.com/MontePittman
Set List:
1. (I Am) The Black Robot
2. Keep Shining
3. Before The Mourning Sun
4. The Circle
5. Out Of The Black
6. Lost
7. Close Your Eyes
8. A Dark Horse
After the headliner was done, Los Angeles-based heavy metal band Crowned By Fire took the stage. It’s never ideal to play after the headline act, and last night’s show was no different in that regard as a good number of people departed after Monte Pittman was done, leaving Crowned By Fire to play in front of a much smaller audience. They played a set which consisted of some decent tunes, in the vein of bands like Black Sabbath and Pantera. These guys undoubtedly had the stage presence and the look nailed down perfectly, and they ensured that their on-stage mix was solidly balanced and strong before they started playing which helped them put on a strong show sonically, but I did feel there was something lacking. They just need to infuse something in their tunes that would make them stand out a bit more. Their musical direction is promising and the bands they draw influence from are great, but they need to find their own identity.
Overall, this was a largely enjoyable night at the Whisky-A-Go-Go which succeeded in showcasing the talents of Monte Pittman to everyone in attendance.