Crobot & Aeges Perform At Viper Room

By Andrew Bansal
[Photos & video by Matt Nielson] 

September 4th 2014, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Leading up to the October 28 release of their sophomore full-length album ‘Something Supernatural’ via Wind Up Records, Pennsylvania hard rock quartet Crobot completed an East Coast summer run and are currently on their first ever West Coast headline tour. They performed at the Viper Room in West Hollywood last night, with local support from LA hard rock band Aeges.

Doors opened at 8 and the show began at 8:30 but due to other commitments I was unable to catch the first opening act, and I arrived at the Viper Room just in time for the start of Aeges‘ set. Their brand of modern hard rock laden with as much grit as it is with melody served a largely different set of music to that of the headline act but in a good way, as most of the Crobot fans were seen enjoying and appreciating Aeges’ set, the Crobot band members included. A sizable chunk of the set comprised Aeges’ newer material which came across as discernibly slower, more focussed on heavy riffs and less on melody, and sounded a lot better than the old tunes as a result. In comparison to the one and only previous time I saw them at the same venue on a sparsely populated Sunday night, this performance made a far greater impact on a much larger audience, and with the nature of their new tunes Aeges look clearly set to become the kind of band that would fit in both modern and old-school rock shows.

Aeges links: facebook | twitter | instagram

Promptly at 10:30, Crobot hit the stage with a flurry of delightfully hard-hitting tunes that brought nothing but pure joy to the headbangers in the crowd, the four Crobot members themselves headbanging and boogying throughout the set and not standing still even for a single moment. The generally downtempo nature of their music allows each member to express himself to the fullest, vocalist Brandon Yeagley hitting extensive high notes and putting the lyrics across with much conviction, guitarist Chris Bishop ripping it up with some classic bluesy riffs and solos, with bassist Jake Figueroa and his brother Paul on drums keeping the rhythm section groovy. The Clutch influence was clear in the band’s instrumentation and overall on-stage demeanor, to fans of bands such as Clutch, Wolfmother and Lionize, Crobot brings instant satiation.

Check out a video clip of Crobot from the show:

Crobot’s new material off of the forthcoming full-length ‘Something Supernatural’ sounded truly fantastic and based on its quality it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that Crobot is on the brink of a huge turning point in their career. They’ve already toured with great bands and one could easily foresee them getting on many more high-profile tours on a regular basis with the likes of Red Fang, Graveyard, Mastodon and even groups such as Melvins. For the genuine hard rock/heavy metal fan, Crobot’s beer and marijuana-fueled brand of foot-stomping boogie rock is indeed easy to appreciate.

Check out more photos of Crobot below, and for their downloadable versions or to view them on a non-Flash device, click here:

Crobot links: website | facebook | twitter | instagram

Remaining dates:
9/06 – Seattle WA – El Corazon
9/07 – Portland OR – Hawthorne Theatre
9/08 – San Francisco CA – DNA Lounge
9/10 – Spokane WA – KHTQ show @ Knitting Factory
9/11 – Boise ID – KQRX show @ Knitting Factory
9/17 – Lansing MI – The Loft

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