Review by Andrew Bansal
[Live photos by Matt Nielson, marquee photo by Carsten Steinhausen]
June 21st 2014, The Troubadour, West Hollywood CA: Southern California riff worshippers Fu Manchu recently released their eleventh full-length studio album ‘Gigantoid’, and along with Los Angeles-based support acts The Freeks and Moab, they played a headline show at the Troubadour in West Hollywood last night to celebrate its release. My first ever Fu Manchu experience came last year at the Satellite where they played a Scion A/V-sponsored show, also featuring Moab. My appreciation for the band’s music grew tenfold upon witnessing their live performance that night. All the great things I’d heard about them from their die-hard cult fanbase were indeed true, and ever since then, I was yearning for another Fu Manchu show. The moment had arrived, and all seemed in readiness for a rifftastic evening.
Doors opened at 8, and promptly at 8:30, stoner/psychedelic rock trio Moab began proceedings with a 30-minute set. They released a split 7-inch with Fu Manchu last year to coincide with the Scion rock show they played with them at the Satellite, and anyone who’s heard their music and/or seen them live would not be surprised by how well they fit with a band like Fu Manchu. Moab were one of the best bands at the massive and eclectic Scion Rock Fest last month, and their display of simple, easily enjoyable and undeniably uplifting heavy jams here at the Troubadour certainly didn’t go amiss with this audience either. They played material off of their sophomore full-length effort ‘Billow’ which came out via Scion A/V last week, and based on its studio version and the live renditions of some of its tunes, it’s going to be a strong contender for one of the albums of the year for stoner rock fans. Download it here, and go check out Moab the next time they play in your town.
Moab links:
MoabBand.com
facebook.com/MoabBand
Next up were The Freeks, a five-piece fuzz-driven retro rock group I hadn’t previously seen. The abundance and dominance of the fuzz element in the two guitars and the bass was clearly the main feature of the band’s overall sound, and gave it a more violently chaotic persona as compared to that of Moab. The manner in which the keyboard parts interacted with the lead instruments was interesting as well. Fronted by Fu Manchu founding member Ruben Romano and featuring a lineup of musicians who’ve plied their trade in well-respected Los Angeles bands over the years, The Freeks served as a good appetizer for the main course which was to follow.
The Freeks links:
TheFreeks.com
facebook.com/TheFreeks
twitter.com/The_Freeks
instagram.com/The_Freeks
The show moved along quickly and smoothly, and before we realized it, it was time for Fu Manchu to hit the stage. The Troubadour was completely packed by this point, and was buzzing with anticipation. At 10:15, the four members of Fu Manchu descended down the staircase linking the green room to the stage, and amidst a huge roar from the already excited fans, they began their 80-minute exhibition of heaviness to turn this place into a church of riff worship, as the air got more and more filled with the scent of cannabis as the set went on. As soon as they laid into the opening track “Eatin’ Dust”, a fan zealously surfed atop the crowd and set the tone in terms of the crowd’s response towards the band.
Led by the effortlessly awesome Scott Hill on guitar and vocals, Fu Manchu went on to present a righteous selection of old and new material in a 17-song set and pleased this crowd to no end as heads banged, joints were rolled and frequent mosh pits ensued. They played four tunes off of the new album, each one extremely well-received by the fans and gelling together seamlessly with the older tunes. The new material included mid/up tempo tunes ‘Dimension Shifter’, ‘Invaders On My Back’ and ‘Tripleplanetary’ and the delightfully slow ‘Anxiety Reducer’, which served exactly the purpose its title would suggest. When it comes to Fu Manchu’s music, the slower the better, in my opinion. For that reason I enjoyed Anxiety Reducer more than the other new stuff, and amongst the older material, songs like ‘The Falcon Has Landed’ and ‘Boogie Van’ stood out as the highlights for me. They pleased some of the hardcore fans with rare gems like ‘Weird Beard’, and ‘King Of The Road’, as expected, got the biggest cheer. Fu Manchu is the kind of band that could play just about anything from their catalog and the response from fans would be equally great regardless, but they still clearly put effort and thought into presenting something memorable every time they take the stage, specially for a Los Angeles crowd.
Performance-wise, all four members were on-point, not that anything less would be expected of them. It was obviously my first time seeing them at the Troubadour, and based on how well the venue’s vibe and sound suits the band, I was definitely not left wondering why Fu Manchu have frequented the Troubadour over the years. It was good to see such a great turnout, as it’s always heartening to see good music finding rightful appreciation. Fu Manchu keep it simple and do it right, with music that’s instantly ear-pleasing for lovers of the heavy, and this show of theirs was one to remember for all fans as well as first-timers in attendance.
Fu Manchu links:
Fu-Manchu.com
facebook.com/FuManchuBand
twitter.com/FuManchuBand
instagram.com/FuManchuBand
FuManchuBand.bandcamp.com
Set List:
01. Eatin’ Dust
02. Hell On Wheels
03. Invaders On My Back
04. The Falcon Has Landed
05. Hogwash
06. Boogie Van
07. Dimension Shifter
08. Laserbl’ast!
09. Regal Begal
10. Evil Eye
11. Anxiety Reducer
12. Weird Beard
13. Pigeon Toe
14. Triplanetary
15. King of the Road
Encore:
16. Mongoose
17. Saturn III
The Troubadour links:
Troubadour.com
facebook.com/theTroub
twitter.com/theTroubadour
instagram.com/theTroubadour