Review by Darshun
March 18th 2014, The Satellite, Los Angeles CA: Swedish hard rock trio Truckfighters are currently on a short US headline touring run in support of their latest album ‘Universe’, which delivers a 45-minute slab of the fuzzy desert stoner rock they’ve been known for ever since their inception in 2001. As part of this US tour, they played at the Satellite in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles last Tuesday March 18th, and quite appropriately so. Support came from their tour mates in Pottsville PA-based band Crobot, and local opener Black Belt Karate. Our man Darshun was in attendance to review the show for us.
The night started with local band Black Belt Karate, as they warmed up the audience with their stoner pop sounds. This quartet consisting of the usual suspects: guitar, bass, drums and a singer. What’s really cool about the band is that the other members had mics to sing into as well. So there were harmonies happening on the vocal aspect of Black Belt Karate, which was a bonus. The songs had the sing-along anthem type choruses to get the energy started for the evening. The content of the lyrics were straightforward—what I gathered from hearing the vocals was about run-of-the-mill everyday life situations. This band reminds me of Fu Manchu, but poppier. Even though it was the start of the evening, Black Belt Karate were well received by the end of their set.
Visit Black Belt Karate on the web:
BBKOfficial.com
facebook.com/BlackBeltKarate
twitter.com/BBKOfficial
instagram.com/BBK_Official
Set List:
01. Camouflage
02. Street Cleaning
03. Rigamortis
04. Strut
05. One & Only
06. Meteor
07. Push
08. Kaleidoscope
09. Servant
10. Mechanical Man
The second band of the night Crobot hail from Pennsylvania and brought their dirty, stoner groove on. The guitarist and back-up vocalist for the band Chris Bishop started the set by using some cool effects and began chugging away on the riff for “Legend of the Spaceborne Killer.” Bishop’s riffage and showmanship was on display as he twirled his guitar while it was still strapped on — hard to describe in words but it was reminiscent of an old Ben Weinman move of Dillinger Escape Plan. Brandon Yeagley sang and played harmonica on one of the latter tunes in their set, but really knew how to work the crowd. Jake (bass) and Paul (drums) Figueroa laid down the foundation for the rhythm section and were very solid. Crobot played to an audience that knew the tunes and were bobbing their heads to the groove. “La Mano de Lucifer” began as a slow number but would switch back to a rockin’ groove in between the verses and rock out to the choruses. Crobot announced before playing their new song “Nowhere to Hide” that they have a new EP that’s going to be released this May. I can tell that the crowd were into their dirty, groove rock that night.
Visit Crobot on the web:
CrobotBand.com
facebook.com/CrobotBand
twitter.com/CrobotBand
Set List:
01. Legend of the Spaceborne Killer
02. Weigh Me Down
03. Night of the Sacrifice
04. La Mano de Lucifer
05. Nowhere to Hide
06. Skull of Geronimo
07. Cloud Spiller
08. Wizards
09. The Necromancer
10. Chupacabra
11. Fly on the Wall
And the main event, a power trio all the way from Sweden, Truckfighters! Guitarist Dango started the set with guitars fuzzed out to “Mind Control” and Ozo (bass and vocals) and Enzo (drums) followed suit laying down the rhythm. Their album “Universe” was just released on February 24th and this power trio was hungry to play from their catalog of music. For the night, Dango provided the comic relief in his broken English but managed to get the crowd roaring for more. Dango was also jumping about and was all over the stage— you can really tell by his energy how excited he was to play to this audience. It was a great set to round out the night. Truckfighters played four songs from “Universe”, one tune from “Phi”, and another one from “Mania.” The highlight was hearing the chorus for the song “The Chairman”, a fuzzed out heaviness of chords, a sing-along harmony from Ozo and bombastic drums. Listen to their album, “Universe,” in its all-out-fuzzy rage.
Visit Truckfighters on the web:
Truckfighters.com
facebook.com/Truckfighters
twitter.com/Truckfighters
youtube.com/TruckfightersTV
Set List:
01. Mind Control
02. Traffic
03. Get Lifted
04. Last Curfew
05. Manhattan Project
06. The Chairman
Visit the Satellite on the web:
TheSatelliteLA.com
facebook.com/TheSatelliteLA
twitter.com/TheSatelliteLA
instagram.com/TheSatelliteLA
Remaining Truckfighters/Crobot Tour Dates:
3/21 – Las Vegas, NV – Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
3/22 – Tucson, AZ – The Rock
3/23 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom