Original Metallica Guitarist Lloyd Grant Jams With Night Demon

Review by Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Brad Worsham, video by Arturo Gallegos]

August 4th 2014, Five Star Bar, Los Angeles CA: Bringing an end to their ‘Warriors Of The West’ US West Coast run with Canadian old-school metal band Iron Kingdom, Ventura CA-based Night Demon played a homecoming show at the Five Star Bar in downtown LA last night. Los Angeles’ undisputedly finest NWOBHM flag-bearers, Night Demon have had a tremendous year with their first ever European tour and signing to SPV Records for Europe. It’s rather ironic but not surprising that Night Demon are better known in Europe than in the Los Angeles metal scene, as that seems to be the case with several bands that pursue this style of music. But regardless, thanks to the efforts of local promoters Church Of The 8th Day and Thee Static Age, along with the staff at the Five Star Bar, last night’s show was made free of cost and left no reason or excuse for true metalheads (aged 21 and over) to not attend this one.

Doors opened at 9 and local opener Warchief, who were added onto the bill at the last minute as a replacement for Lethal Dossage, started things off with a set of straightforward old-school metal tunes that carried the Iron Maiden gallop and a rock ‘n roll element to go with it. The flow of their set was constantly interrupted by technical issues such as the bass sound cutting out, but the trio managed to power through and deliver a decent set which proved to be a good way to begin proceedings on this free Metal Monday.

Hailing from the Canadian state of British Columbia, Iron Kingdom appeared on stage at around 10:30 and took things up a few notches, both sonically and visually, with a righteous heavy metal denim and leather look and a brand of musicianship that follows along the path of young groups such as Cauldron and Enforcer, paying homage to the forefathers of traditional metal like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and several others. Iron Kingdom have been in existence for three years and this was the first time they made it out to Southern California, and although there’s no doubt that they’ll get better as a live band as they progress in their journey, specially in their guitar-play, they put on a solid show laden with high-pitched clean vocals, guitar harmonies and quintessentially metal stage moves.

Iron Kingdom links: website | facebook | twitter

By the time Iron Kingdom ended their set, the Five Star Bar was appreciably packed with attendees, the beers were flowing, members of the LA metal underground was socializing amongst each other, and the stench of body odor permeating through this room was undeniably powerful. Night Demon took the stage at 11:30, in typical all-guns-blazing fashion with their favored choice of opening track, ‘Ritual’ off of the debut self-titled EP, its relentless speed and old-school metal deliciousness enabling the headbangers and air-guitarists in the crowd to happily flex their neck muscles and fingers respectively.

Night Demon have already developed a reputation of picking out great obscure tunes as cover choices and in every show they ensure the inclusion of at least one of them. So from ‘Ritual’, they shifted gears to lay into a cover of Riot’s “Road Racin'”, an excellent addition to any NWOBHM set. It was followed by another one off of the debut EP and then came three selections from the fantastic but yet-to-be-released full-length album ‘Run For Your Life’, tunes such as ‘Curse Of The Damned’ and ‘The Howling Man’ showcasing the sheer level of instant impact the possesses in their new material. Unlike any other Night Demon show I’ve seen, drummer Dusty Squires played a drum solo, after which the crowd here was in for a treat.

Bassist/vocalist Jarvis Leatherby introduced original Metallica guitarist Lloyd Grant onto the stage, and Night Demon jammed on ‘Hit The Lights’ and ‘Seek & Destroy’, classics from the now long bygone pre-MTV Metallica era. The crowd was largely reserved up until this point, but full-fledged mosh pits broke out as soon as these songs got into gear and the energy inside this room would have rivaled that of an early 80s Metallica gig. By his own admission, Grant hadn’t performed on a stage in front of an audience for a long time and said prior to the show that he felt rusty and uneasy, but once he got up there, for him it was like relearning to ride a bicycle as the riffs and solos flew out of his fingers with utmost ease. He maintained a very low key presence while entering and exiting the stage and let the guitar do the talking. After witnessing this part of the set, the crowd was naturally in great spirits, and Night Demon kept them riding high with an encore of two old songs, the slow banger ‘The Chalice’ and the eponymous ‘Night Demon’ aptly closing out the set.

I’ve been to this venue plenty of times in the past three years or so, and no band has honestly sounded as good as Night Demon did here last night. They dialed their instruments and utilized this room to perfection, to treat this gathering with a face-melting sonic blast that would leave some of us blissfully deaf at least for a few hours. For me, the loudness, the intimacy, and the addition of a very special guest musician made this the show of the year so far. All hail Night Demon.

Check out a gallery of Brad Worsham’s 15 photos of Iron Kingdom (1-8) and Night Demon (9-15) from the show below, or view it here if you’re on a non-Flash device:

Night Demon links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp

Set List:
01. Ritual
02. Road Racin’ (Riot cover)
03. Ancient Evil
04. Satan
05. Curse Of The Damned
06. The Howling Man
07. Drum Solo
08. Hit The Lights (Metallica cover, with Lloyd Grant)
09. Seek & Destroy (Metallica cover, with Lloyd Grant)
10. The Chalice
11. Night Demon

Check out Arturo Gallegos’ video footage of Night Demon and Lloyd Grant, and visit his youtube channel for more videos from last night and from several other local shows:

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