Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
June 12th 2014, The Satellite, Los Angeles CA: Taking a break from their ongoing creation of new material for the next full-length release, San Francisco’s all-destroying duo Black Cobra embarked on an extensive North American headline tour in Los Angeles last night with a gig at the Satellite, with Los Angeles-based bands Wizard Rifle and Occult Wisdom as the support acts. One of the fiercest two-piece groups going around, Black Cobra is a band I hadn’t seen for more than three years since their devastating performance at the Power Of The Riff festival at the Echoplex not too far from this place, and with no new music from them during this period either, I needed a reminder of the awesomeness of Black Cobra, and I certainly got it last night.
To start proceedings at around 9:15, local three-piece rock band Occult Wisdom played an impressive 30-minute set that turned heads and gained appreciation from those present inside the venue at this time. In all honesty, I’m yet to see a bad opening band at a Satellite show, and Occult Wisdom definitely weren’t about to be an exception to the venue’s tradition of serving excellent opening acts. Their deliverance of classic 70s-tinged, fuzz-driven space rock had an instantly enjoyable quality to it, but had a great deal of variation even within a 30-minute period, as the guitarist and drummer traded doing lead vocals. The one part where both combined for a truly powerful vocal harmony was my favorite moment of the set, but the entirety of their performance was engaging and compelling. The beauty of arriving at venues early enough to check out the entire show as opposed to merely the headline act alone is the chance to discover great new talent such as Occult Wisdom, who’ve now been added to my ever-growing list of promising LA bands.
Occult Wisdom links:
facebook.com/OccultWisdom
CultWisdom.bandcamp.com
Wizard Rifle, a three-piece band that started out in Portland four years ago and then migrated to Los Angeles, were next on stage and presented a largely contrasting set in comparison to that of Occult Wisdom. Their music came across as a jam-oriented gravy of heavy weirdness which was a bit of a challenge to get into at first but a few minutes later, it was more understandable and appreciable to the audience, specially following a couple of fast-paced thrashy bits in one of the tunes that came in the middle of the 30-minute set. All three members contributed vocally, making it a very richly layered sound overall, and they ended strongly, leaving a lasting impression. With a name as great as Wizard Rifle it’s impossible to forget them in any case, but with the level of musicianship they displayed on stage, their impact becomes tenfold.
Wizard Rifle links:
facebook.com/WizardRifle
WizardRifle.bandcamp.com
And promptly at 11 PM, the duo of Jason Landrian on guitar/vocals and Rafael Martinez on drums started off a one-hour Black Cobra set. They were in top gear right from the getgo, and their intensity never faded away during the performance, not even for a single instant. The deadly duo rampaged through the set like an unstoppable freight train trampling everything in its path, presenting a righteously heavy blend of thrash, sludge and doom, compelling the headbangers in the crowd to flex their neck muscles. Black Cobra has to be the heaviest band I’ve ever seen that doesn’t have a bassist in its lineup, and the exploits of Jason and Rafael ensure that the absence of a bassist is not felt whatsoever. As I enjoyed their show here, I was instantly reminded of their set at Power Of The Riff three years ago, but even though they played to a bigger crowd on that occasion, last night’s gig was a lot more powerful and enjoyable, as Black Cobra were absolutely in their element. This tour provides an ideal buildup for the band’s forthcoming full-length album, which promises to be even more of a punishing slab of heavy music than anything in their existing catalog.
The only negative aspect of this great three-band show was, it deserved a much bigger audience than what it garnered here at the Satellite. The eventual turnout was by no means a reflection of the quality of music on display, and I think it was mainly a matter of a lack of awareness amongst LA locals. Quite a few people said that they didn’t even know about this show, and perhaps this aspect of local concert promotion needs to be looked at, where word needs to be spread in a much better and more efficient manner.
But overall, another excellent evening of heavy music at the Satellite, and if Black Cobra is visiting your town in the next few weeks, take my word and go see them.
Check out more photos from the show below, or view them here if you’re on a non-Flash device:
Black Cobra links:
BlackCobra.net
facebook.com/BlackCobraMusic
twitter.com/BlackCobraMusic
Remaining tour dates:
6/14/2014 Sister Bar – Albuquerque, NM w/ Wizard Rifle
6/15/2014 Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO w/ Wizard Rifle
6/16/2014 Burt’s Tiki Lounge – Salt Lake, City UT w/ Wizard Rifle
6/17/2014 The Shredder – Boise, ID w/ Wizard Rifle
6/18/2014 The Hop – Spokane, WA w/ Wizard Rifle
6/19/2014 The Palace – Missoula, MT w/ Wizard Rifle
6/20/2014 Sled Island Festival – Calgary, AB w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
6/21/2014 Rock Bottom – Saskatoon, SK w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
6/22/2014 The Zoo – Winnipeg, MB w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
6/24/2014 Reggie’s – Chicago, IL w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
6/26/2014 Il Motore – Montreal, QC w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
6/27/2014 Mavericks – Ottawa, ON w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
6/28/2014 Bar Le Magog – Sherbrooke, QC w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
6/29/2014 Cactus Show Bar – Rimouski, QC w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
6/30/2014 The Capital Winter Club – Fredericton, NB w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/02/2014 Hunter’s Ale House – Charlottetown, PEI w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/03/2014 The Caveau – Moncton, NB w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/04/2014 Michael’s – Halifax, NS w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/05/2014 Rock Cafe le Stage – Trois-Rivieres, QC w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/06/2014 L’Agitee – Quebec City, QC w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/07/2014 Nectars – Burlington, VT w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/08/2014 The Mansion – Kingston, ON w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/10/2014 Call the Office – London, ON w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/11/2014 El Mocambo – Toronto, ON w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/13/2014 Canadian Nightclub – Sault Ste Marie, ON w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/14/2014 Crocks – Thunder Bay, ON w/ Anciients, Black Wizard
7/15/2014 The Aquarium – Fargo, w/ Anciients, Black Wizard ND
7/17/2014 The Exchange – Regina, w/ Anciients, Black Wizard SK
7/18/2014 The Pawn Shop – Edmonton, AB
7/19/2014 Hassen Arena – Armstrong, BC @ Armstrong MetalFest
7/20/2014 Electric Owl – Vancouver, BC
7/22/2014 The Shakedown – Bellingham, WA
The Satellite links:
TheSatelliteLA.com
facebook.com/TheSatelliteLA
twitter.com/TheSatelliteLA
instagram.com/TheSatelliteLA