Trioscapes Play Intimate Headline Show In North Hollywood

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

June 5th 2014, Bonnerhaus, North Hollywood CA: Featuring the talents of Dan Briggs (Between the Buried and Me), Walter Fancourt (Casual Curious, Brand New Life) and Matt Lynch (Eyris) in its ranks, Trioscapes is an instrumental progressive rock/fusion band that started out three years ago, was taken on by Between The Buried And Me’s label Metal Blade, and released their debut album ‘Separate Realities’ in 2012, an album that instantly found an audience amongst prog rock/metal fans. But owing to BTBAM’s prolific schedule, the North Carolina/Georgia based Trioscapes hasn’t been doing a whole lot of live gigs, specially not along the US West Coast. But finally, they were able to work out a couple of shows in our neck of the woods and on the eve of BTBAM’s LA gig with Meshuggah, Trioscapes played a small headline show of their own at Bonnerhaus in North Hollywood last night.

Presented by local DIY promoter Sound Of A Vacuum, this turned out to be the most intimate gig I’ve ever attended, and it was quite literally a house party, hosted inside a house in North Hollywood. The live music scene in Los Angeles never ceases to amaze, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, gigs of this nature pop up to take you by surprise. The insides of this house/venue emitted a cool, friendly vibe, and my levels of curiosity and excitement for the onset of this event heightened further.

The show began at 7:30 as Los Angeles’ own instrumental trio Sketch Orchestra started things off with a highly entertaining 35-minute set laden with a cosmic gravy of prog rock jams and outlined by funny samples serving as introductions to each track and also embedded within. Their set included the tunes ‘Spoil The Kids’, ‘Babies. Love. Vegas.’, ‘HeManWomanHater’ and ‘I Wanna Be A Firetruck’ off of the newly released 5-track EP ‘The Better Mustache Ride’ which is available for free download via their bandcamp page. It certainly was a joyous ride for this audience as Sketch Orchestra received a unanimously positive response from everyone. It’d been three years since I saw them at the Old Town Pub in Pasadena, and while they formed an indelible first impression on me on that occasion, the performance last night was expectedly better as a result of the trio’s natural progression as musicians. Sketch Orchestra comes as highly recommended to all fans of instrumental rock.

Sketch Orchestra links:
facebook.com/SketchOrchestra
twitter.com/SketchOrchestra
SketchOrchestra.bandcamp.com

Shortly after, LA math rock duo 100 Onces took the stage for a 30-minute exhibition of their own interpretation of progressive music. Barrett Tuttobene on guitar and Richard Ray on drums combined to deliver a set of tunes that undeniably carried the modern prog vibe but also had punk tendencies with its short violent, fast-paced outbursts. The music came across as a very diverse, wide-ranged blend of styles and patterns that was enjoyable for first-time listeners. A mosh pit broke out during the penultimate song of the set, which was strange and slightly hazardous for a show of this nature, in this kind of setting. Barrett, even without a microphone in front of him, started yelling out vocals during the final song of the set and instigated another mosh pit which stopped only when the band finished the song. This was by all means a highly impressive set from 100 Onces, and for those intrigued by my description of their performance, 100 Onces’ latest full-length album ‘100 One Says’ is up for free download via their bandcamp page.

100 Onces links:
facebook.com/100Onces
100Onces.bandcamp.com

And at 9:25, the evening’s headline act Trioscapes began their 45-minute set and enthralled the audience with the three-pronged virtuosic musicianship of Dan Briggs on bass, Matt Lynch on drums and Walter Fancourt on the tenor saxophone. Typically, I’m a stickler for the prominence of guitar as an instrument in rock and metal music but Trioscapes is perhaps the biggest (and only) exception when it comes to guitar-less music. The compelling exploits of Walter Fancourt on the sax gloriously compensates for the total absence of the guitar. When one listens to Trioscapes, specially in the live setting, it doesn’t even feel like a band without guitar, such is the richness and fullness of their sound. Coming from a group of insanely talented musicians like those in Between The Buried And Me, Dan Briggs carries the same qualities himself, and even before anyone heard a single note of Trioscapes three years ago, no one doubted that he would team up with like-minded and equally talented musicians for this new project. Even if the studio recordings that constitute the group’s 2012 debut effort somehow didn’t convince listeners of their talent, the live performance definitely does.

Aside from tunes off of the debut album, they presented a couple of new compositions that are slated to feature on the next release. A mosh pit started during the set and it once again seemed a little out of place. Trioscapes ended the set with ‘Blast Off’, perhaps saving the best for last. Watching Matt Lynch make use of the rim of his snare drum for some of his parts in this tune was particularly delightful. Dan Briggs thanked the hosts, support bands and the audience for making the show a success, and brought proceedings to a close.

What’s a band without a guitar and with saxophone as the lead instrument doing being featured on this website, you might wonder. But there’s no denying that Trioscapes captures the true essence of progressive music, and the term progressive here doesn’t merely imply the tempo changes you associate with this genre, but also a progression in the attitude and way of thinking when it comes to metal musicians and fans playing and listening to this type of music. Trioscapes has all it takes to gain the appreciation of true fans of progressive rock and metal, and one hopes for their longevity as an actively composing and performing group.

The quality of the sound here was perfect for the nature of music, the lighting was sufficient and apt, and in these two aspects Bonnerhaus seemed a lot better than most if not all of the DIY-type venues I’ve been to, it must be said. The turnout was beyond excellent, with close to a 100 people packed into this small house, and there was a strong sense of community as mostly everybody seemed to know each other. It was hands down the best $5 I spent and probably will spend all year, and I hope to attend many more shows here in the near future.

Comments