By Andrew Bansal
June 19th 2014, Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Continuing on with their quest to conquer the local scene, Burbank CA-based heavy metal quartet Legal Tender played at the Viper Room last night along with Los Angeles bands Aeges, Goldsboro and Max Cady completing the all-local lineup for a potentially entertaining Thursday evening on the Sunset Strip. Legal Tender opened up their guest list to everyone on their social networks, and gave their fans and followers absolutely no excuse or reason to miss this gig. Having seen them a few times in the past year or so on various stages, I’ve developed an admiration for Legal Tender’s musicianship in the live setting and I was expecting another great performance from them here, but was also looking forward to seeing the other three bands, none of whom I’d ever seen previously.
Doors opened at 8:30 and a few minutes past 9, Max Cady started off the show with a more than decent set. Comprising four members hailing from different cities but coming together in Los Angeles to pursue this band, Max Cady presented a style of hard rock that’s clearly reliant on riffs and is portrayed through great guitar tones. Their set carried a dark, laid-back vibe that compelled those in attendance to stay inside the venue for the entirety of it. Most of the tunes they played moved at a mid-paced tempo, except for two of the last three songs which had some faster parts. The riffs are definitely strong enough to make a positive impact, and the songwriting built around these riffs is solid, but perhaps the only shortcoming they have as of now is a bit of sameness in the songs, specially tempo-wise. They would be well-served with a little more variation in that aspect. Nonetheless, good start to the show by Max Cady.
Max Cady links:
Max-Cady.com
facebook.com/pages/Max-Cady/8717813729
Next up, power trio Goldsboro played a largely different style of hard rock, having an unmistakable flow to it as a natural consequence of the inter-member chemistry of the three-piece. They brought forth an excellent blend of metal, punk and rock ‘n roll in their music, as their songs also varied in tempo. The most enjoyable quality of their set was the creativity displayed by bassist Johnny Lonely on his instrument, but his bass sound was given further impetus by Chris Cano’s drumming and the band was ably fronted by Kevin Roentgen on guitar and vocals. All three members bring several years of their musical experience into this band, and it’s quite evident from the ease and effortlessness with which they’re able to put on a good show.
Goldsboro links:
GoldsboroBand.com
facebook.com/GoldsboroBand
twitter.com/GoldsboroBand
instagram.com/GoldsboroBand
The band I was most curious to check out at this show was Aeges, as I’d heard good things about them from a few people in the local underground rock community. They began promptly as the clock struck 11, and for the next 30-odd minutes they went about their attempt at creating a positive impression on first-time listeners in this crowd. I thought their music centered around simple but well-placed riffs that are enhanced through heavy usage of effect pedals, and drummer Mike Land’s instrumentation came across as the most complex part of the band’s music as he laid down some great fills on top of and in between what the other three members were doing. When the guitar work is based on simplicity, the tone and distortion becomes that much more important, and frontman Kemble Walters and lead guitarist Cory Clark both excelled at these aspects of their performance. Walters’ clean vocal delivery was solid as well, and overall, I would say Aeges played an interesting and high-impact brand of heavy music, and theirs was the kind of set that would easily pique interest amongst those who see the band live for the first time.
Aeges links:
facebook.com/AegesBand
twitter.com/AegesBand
instagram.com/AegesBand
soundcloud.com/Aeges
And finally at midnight, Legal Tender took the stage in top gear and played a typically awesome 30-minute set which seemed to fly by much too quickly for anyone and everyone in attendance. They played four of the five songs on their ‘Lust In Demons’ EP plus a new composition called ‘Swallow Your Soul’ and a great instrumental jam titled ‘The Hunt’. Legal Tender owned this stage just in the same manner they’ve done at every other venue I’ve seen them perform on, as they not only used the entirety of what this Viper Room stage allowed them but the two guitarists also stepped onto the floor on a couple of occasions to express themselves even more freely and interact directly with the crowd. Some people were seen taking cellphone selfies with them while they were busy shredding through their guitar parts during these moments, an aspect of modern-day live music that was non-existent even a few years ago. The new song ‘Swallow Your Soul’ along with the set-closer ‘Street Walker’ stood out as the highlights of the set but there was no dull moment to be had. The turnout here wasn’t bad for a Thursday night on which plenty of other shows were taking place elsewhere in and around LA, and although the Viper Room wasn’t packed by any means, Legal Tender’s performance carried the same degree of conviction as it would in front of a bigger crowd. In all honesty, Legal Tender get better with every show and I’m yet to find out what a bad Legal Tender show feels like.
Legal Tender links:
LegalTenderMetal.com
facebook.com/LegalTenderBand
twitter.com/LegalTenderBand
instagram.com/LegalTender_Metal
Viper Room links:
ViperRoom.com
facebook.com/TheViperRoom
twitter.com/TheViperRoom
instagram.com/TheViperRoom