By Andrew Bansal
January 11th 2014, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: In what has become somewhat of a regular Saturday night hangout, I made my way to the Loaded bar in Hollywood for this potentially great rock n’ roll show featuring an interesting all-local lineup consisting of headliners Mötochrist and support acts Loup Garou MF, Caveman Voicebox and Bang Feather Bang. Aside from Caveman Voicebox who have been featured on this website in the recent past via an audio interview, I was completely unfamiliar with any of the other three bands, but taking into account the fact that I’ve generally enjoyed the local shows Loaded has hosted in the past couple of weeks, I decided to arrive at the venue early enough to watch the whole show. Saturdays at Loaded are always buzzing with people, and even at 8:30 PM, there was a sizable gathering already in attendance. I had a good feeling about this show, and I wasn’t mistaken.
At 9:15, Bang Feather Bang got the show going, and considering the norm at such shows, they turned out to be quite a unique opening act. A two-piece blues rock outfit with one guitarist and a female vocalist/drummer, Bang Feather Bang provided a very easy, laid-back and enjoyable start to the show and a majority of the audience was certainly appreciating it. The guitarist laid down bluesy riffs and patterns with aplomb, while his band mate complemented him excellently on drums and presented a great singing voice. They’re playing again soon at Boardner’s in Hollywood on Tuesday January 21st, and if you’re into blues rock at all, go check them out.
Visit Bang Feather Bang on the web:
facebook.com/pages/Bang-Feather-Bang/291258657682127
Hard rock group Caveman Voicebox were the next to take the stage, performing for the first time at this venue, this being basically their first ever gig as a three-piece. Thus far in their short 2-year career they’ve released two impressive EPs that treat listeners with some quintessential old-school hard rock, but both EPs were recorded by the band’s four-piece lineup, so I was curious to find out how these songs would translate in this new dynamic. In all honesty, based on last night’s performance I would say I actually like the 3-piece version better. It created a more stripped-down, barebones and raw vibe which fit their tunes perfectly and greatly highlighted the most fun aspect of their music, Graham’s vocals. Besides, guitarist Karl was able to express himself to the fullest, with him being the sole guitarist in the band, and new drummer DeAngelo did a great job on the kit. ‘Move It Up’ is certainly their best song released till date and sounded excellent last night as well, but each of the seven songs in the set made its impact, including the brand new tune ‘On The Verge Of Living’, the quality of which augers well for the next Caveman Voicebox release, hopefully a full-length. With an extremely enjoyable brand of hard rock music to go with entertaining lyrics about strippers, mullets, beer, facial harmonies and other such topics, Caveman Voicebox are on a mission to bring the fun back into rock n’ roll, and any fan of the genre would be well-served to give them a try.
Set List:
1. Forsaken Place
2. Bombs Away
3. Save Me
4. Move It Up
5. After What She Said
6. On The Verge Of Living (New)
7. Mindset
Visit Caveman Voicebox on the web:
facebook.com/pages/Caveman-Voicebox/195711527132367
twitter.com/CavemanVoicebox
instagram.com/CavemanVoicebox
youtube.com/user/CavemanVoicebox
In complete contrast to the three-piece Caveman Voicebox’s straight-up hard rock, female-fronted rock/punk outfit Loup Garou MF brought quite an ensemble with them onto that tiny Loaded stage, complete with a saxophone/mouthorgan player who joined the band for a few of the tunes as they alternated between five-piece and six-piece lineups. It was amazing to see them do their thing despite being crammed into such a limited space. Singer Tina Jane looked like she wanted to run wild while doing her vocals, but somehow controlled her movements and adjusted to the stage size, delivering an impressive performance. But perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of their set for me was watching their lead guitarist lay down some killer riffs and solos using the finger-picking technique, which is very rare among guitarists in hard rock and metal. Even though they clearly had a punk edge to them, Loup Garou MF definitely carried an almost orchestral feel with the sax/organ kicking in for some of the tunes, and overall it was an intriguing set of music.
Visit Loup Garou MF on the web:
facebook.com/LoupGarouMF
twitter.com/LoupGarouMF
As is always the case at Loaded on Saturdays, this place was packed with people by the time headliners Mötochrist were ready to begin. At around midnight, they opened with a hilariously awesome cover of Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’ with their drummer carrying out the unenviable task of singing it. Most of the rockers in the crowd didn’t recognize the song, but those who did couldn’t stop laughing. But once their set began proper, it was nothing but good ol’ beer-fueled rock n’ roll all the way through, including some original tunes and a few covers along the way, such as ‘Chip Away The Stone’ by Aerosmith, the ever-amazing crowd sing-along ‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S.’ by one of Mötochrist’s most obvious influences, Motörhead, and ‘I Just Want To Have Something To Do’, by the band Motörhead dedicated that song to, the Ramones. People in this crowd were already in high spirits owing to the copious amounts of alcohol each of them had consumed, and Mötochrist, featuring members of bands like The Dwarves, NY Loose, The Throbs, Humble Gods and Faster Pussycat, made it even better with their gloriously loud, heavy and catchy rock. The musicians in this band bring plenty of experience from their past endeavors, and it showed in their performance last night as they knew what they were doing and looked like thoroughly enjoying their time on stage. Los Angeles needs more Mötochrist shows.
Set List:
01. Wrecking Ball
02. The Fist
03. Supersonic
04. Did It To Me
05. Chip Away The Stone (Aerosmith cover)
06. Hang ‘Em High
07. Marc Diamond
08. Mötochrist
09. Big Love
10. Evel
11. R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Motörhead cover)
12. I Just Want To Have Something To Do (Ramones cover)
13. Rockaway Beach
14. We Came, We Saw
Visit Mötochrist on the web:
facebook.com/pages/Motochrist/32511724324
In all, this gig made for another great Saturday night at Loaded Hollywood, and the locals would certainly hope for the trend to continue every week. If anything, one would wish that a larger percentage of the the crowd at the outer bar area came in to the live music room to watch the bands, but as people are allowed to enter the venue and hang in the outer room free of cost while there is a cover charge to go in the other room for the live music, it gives people an excuse not to do so, and perhaps the authorities at the venue can consider removing the cover charge altogether. It would be greatly beneficial for the bands, and shouldn’t really cause a financial loss to the venue as everyone spends on alcohol anyway, but that’s for them to decide and ponder over. Regardless, Loaded deserves credit for putting on some great shows, developing a solid group of regulars and building a rock culture in the heart of Hollywood.
Visit Loaded Hollywood on the web:
LoadedHollywood.com
facebook.com/LoadedRockBar
twitter.com/LoadedHollywood
instagram.com/LoadedHollywood