Review by Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Brad Worsham & Andrew Bansal]
September 20-21 2014, Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: The seventh annual edition of the Sunset Strip Music Festival was held this past weekend in West Hollywood across three outdoor stages and the Roxy and the Whisky-A-Go-Go within the Sunset Boulevard street closure between San Vicente and Doheny, and joining the illustrious list of previous honorees Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, Mötley Crüe, The Doors and Joan Jett, this year it was the turn of Jane’s Addiction to be honored with the Elmer Valentine award which they received in a ceremony at the House Of Blues on Friday night. They took the main outdoor stage on Saturday to perform their 1988 album Nothing’s Shocking in its entirety as the headline act of this festival, amidst a diverse spectrum of artists spanning a multitude of genres. SSMF has always been a celebration of Los Angeles music, invariably features LA-dominant lineups, and while some of the early SSMFs brought plenty for the hard rock and heavy metal fans to cheer about, the 2013 edition was largely devoid of the rock ‘n roll element. So the onus was on SSMF to redeem itself this year. The revelation of the 2014 lineup raised eyebrows and garnered bewilderment as the majority of LA locals seemed unfamiliar with most of the participating acts, but any music festival has the potential for a fun outing regardless of its lineup, and with that thought I ventured to see how this one turned out.
The horrid heat of the week past was behind us, and the weather relented to an ideal maximum of 80F for the weekend. Gates opened at 2 PM, the festivities began soon after, and upon viewing the schedule for all five stages, it was clear that almost all of the rap/hip-hop/DJ ‘artists’ were put on the Murs 316 Stage in the parking lot across from the Hustler, and it was easy to just stay as far away from that stage as I possibly could through the whole weekend.
Day 1
Providing the early fireworks on Day 1 were Future Villains, rocking the Whisky-A-Go-Go with a high-octane 40-minute set delivering a solid punch of unadulterated rock ‘n roll to an audience that was decent in size considering the time of day and was appreciative of the Villains’ on-stage efforts. Playing a little longer than they usually get to do, they beefed up the set with two covers this time instead of one, and also included a groovy new tune ‘Take It To The Limit’. My photographer remarked how much better he thought they sounded as compared to the gig with Steel Panther last April, which just about summed up the band’s rapid rise as an unmissable live act, owing to the subsequent North American tour with Panther and the regularity of local shows thereafter, all within the last five months. Future Villains laid down the marker early and proved to be a very apt way to kick the festival into gear.
Set List:
01. Sweet Little Evil
02. Bullets In The Wind
03. If You Want Blood (AC/DC cover)
04. Toast To The Damned
05. Devil In Her Bones
06. Take It To The Limit
07. Highway Star (Deep Purple cover)
08. Reject
09. Down The Drain Blues
Next up on the Whisky were The Killing Lights, featuring former Vampires Everywhere vocalist Michael Orlando and Doc Coyle of God Forbid joining in on the second guitar, putting forth a very watchable set, appeasing the metalheads in the crowd with their brand of musicianship which could be described in broad terms as metalcore. Orlando showcased far greater vocal range than he ever did in Vampires with more than merely the monotonic growls, and it was great to see a proficient musician like Doc Coyle up on stage again after the demise of God Forbid. Meanwhile, directly adjacent to the Whisky on the Monster stage, a band called Nightmare & The Cat performed, and although their music was nothing special, they were entertaining to watch, possessing good energy through a whole ensemble on stage with one dude dressed in a skirt and two girls in giant cat suits. And in complete contrast at the Roxy, psychedelic blues folk rock quartet Fathers & Suns were a soothing influence amidst the loudness elsewhere, the sweet sound waves emanating from Arturo Bandini and Jesus Lara’ classic Fender strat and Gibson Les Paul respectively. This is one band at SSMF 2014 that musically grabbed me and I’ll be inclined to keep track of from now on.
The focus then shifted over to the West/main stage, as The Birds Of Satan, presenting the talents of Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) on drums and lead vocals, were getting ready to begin their set. Now, I’m not a Foo Fighters fan in the least bit but I’m always greatly curious to see members of such bands in different musical endeavors, and The Birds Of Satan, started by Hawkins in Spring 2014 and having a 7-song self-titled debut album under their belt, made an extremely strong and indelible first impression with this set, playing a very expressive and free-form brand of rock ‘n roll. Hawkins’ exploits on that drum kit combined with his fantastic lead vocals were thoroughly enjoyable to bear witness to, as he was also well aided by his 3 band mates on guitar, bass and keys/additional percussion. For me, their set turned out to be the most ‘Sunset Strip’ out of any of the 70-plus artists/groups that participated in SSMF 2014, as they ended the set with covers of Van Halen’s ‘Eruption / I’m The One’ and Mötley Crüe’s ‘Looks That Kill’ and ‘Live Wire’. As soon as The Birds Of Satan ended their rip-roaring performance, my first thought was, I might just have already seen the best band of the festival.
Following that, we rushed to the Whisky to soak in the awesomeness of goblin metal group Nekrogoblikon who obliterated this stage in their typically glorious manner through the efforts of six musicians and an insanely entertaining and unpredictable goblin man. The mosh pit action that was witnessed the last time they played the same venue was missing on this occasion due to the scattered and diverse nature of the audience, but the band’s entertainment value certainly compelled them to stay indoors for the duration of the set which included a new song ‘Full Body Xplosion’ (played for the first time in California) and ended with the epic one-two punch of ‘Prince Of The Land Of Stench’ and ‘Powercore’, although I noticed that some people were missing great on-stage moments while their heads were buried in their phones, moments such as John Goblikon’s great leap from the drum riser over one of the guitar players who was kneeling down to play a solo. For greater enjoyment, undivided attention is recommended at all times while watching this band. All hail Nekrogoblikon.
Set List:
01. No One Survives
02. In The Hall Of The Goblin King
03. Nothing But Crickets
04. Bells & Whistles
05. Full Body Xplosion * new song *
06. Bears
07. Friends (In Space)
08. Prince Of The Land Of Stench
09. Powercore
Upon exiting the Whisky we were greeted by the sight and sound of Crosses, Deftones frontman Chino Moreno’s side project on the Monster stage. They failed to create any positive impression on me as the excessive usage of laptops on stage and the prominence of electronic elements was a huge turnoff for my sensibilities. The band didn’t ‘rock’, but many in the crowd seemed to be digging the Crosses set as the Monster stage and the patch of street in front of it, previously engulfed in bright sunshine, was now graced by the chill of the evening air. But from my perspective, Crosses triggered a bad patch of unenjoyable performances all over the place, as I checked out Cold War Kids on the main stage, The Beta Machine at the Roxy and Unwritten Law at the Whisky, the first three very repelling and Unwritten Law barely tolerable with their pop-punk. Some respite was desperately sought, and thankfully it arrived soon.
The Last Internationale, comprising drummer Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine (another band I’m not a fan of), took the stage at the Roxy and played a delightful blend of raw, folky, Southern-tinged hard rock fronted excellently by Delila Paz’ soulful vocals and occasional bass play, who also provided a much-needed legit female rocker element to this festival and with her voice she succeeded in holding me captive in the front row much longer than I was originally planning to watch the band for. Like me, the Roxy crowd was enchanted by the band’s performance, Wilk serving as Paz’ perfect ally, laying down some crafty, hard-hitting fills on that kit, and altogether The Last Internationale turned out to be one of my favorite bands of the weekend. On the contrary, 90s prog/alt rock trio Failure, whom I was impressed by at their headline show at the Fonda Theatre earlier this year, were a complete disappointment on the Monster stage, their sound and low-energy nature simply not translating well in this outdoor setting, so much so that it almost sounded like a different band and not in a good way. Adjacent to this stage, alt rock band Wild Roses fronted by Marc Orrell (ex-Dropkick Murphy) were much more listenable than Failure, thanks mainly to some niftily crafted guitar solos. The crowd were seeing dancing and cheering to Wild Roses’ soft jams, and they made an equally positive impact as the last time I saw them play the same stage opening for Robby Krieger’s Jam Kitchen on the Whisky’s 50th anniversary last January.
Next, all eyes and ears were on the main stage, marijuana smoke increasingly filling the air, as the festival’s headline act and honoree Jane’s Addiction was slated to appear at 9:30 for a 90-minute set. They arrived a tad late, at 9:40, and laid straight into the now 25-year old Nothing’s Shocking album, followed by an additional three-song offering from the rest of their small catalog. This was my first time seeing them and despite all my efforts and patience to give them as fair a chance as I possibly could, this Jane’s Addiction performance just didn’t do anything for me. Perry Farrell’s vocals sounded incredibly weak and spineless, and the band’s overall sound didn’t have any penetrating power in it. Plus, the Nothing’s Shocking album in its entirety didn’t come across with any great conviction in the live setting, perhaps a lesson to all bands to think twice before deciding to ‘celebrate’ an old album. Even the visual addition of skimpily clad girls swinging atop the stage couldn’t rescue this Jane’s Addiction set, but with that said, Stephen Perkins’ drumming and some of Dave Navarro’s guitar solos were perhaps its only two redeemable qualities. And as an honoree, Jane’s Addiction certainly do not hold a candle to previous honorees Ozzy Osbourne, Slash, The Doors, Mötley Crüe and Joan Jett, all of whom having influenced the Sunset Strip and LA hard rock/heavy metal much, much more significantly than Jane’s Addiction ever did. One can certainly think of other artists that’d have been worthier of the honor, Lemmy/Motörhead coming to mind straightaway.
Set List:
01. Up the Beach
02. Ocean Size
03. Had A Dad
04. Ted, Just Admit It…
05. Standing in the Shower… Thinking
06. Summertime Rolls
07. Mountain Song
08. Idiots Rule
09. Jane Says
10. Thank You Boys
11. Pigs in Zen
12. Been Caught Stealing
13. Just Because
14. Stop!
As I distanced myself from the main stage and re-entered the Whisky, legendary English hard rock vocalist Graham Bonnet (Rainbow, Alcatrazz, Michael Schenker Group) was just about starting the penultimate song of his set under his solo band name Bonnet, a set that consisted of some Rainbow and Alcatrazz cover tunes earlier on, as I was told by one of the Whisky’s security staff. Unfortunately, no thanks to Jane’s Addiction, I wasn’t able to catch nearly enough of Bonnet for an informed opinion, but for the short duration I caught them, Graham Bonnet sounded great for his age and as a classic hard rock fan it was an absolute treat to watch him perform.
But, my misery hadn’t ended with Jane’s Addiction, as Puddle Of Mudd, whom I stayed inside the Whisky for solely to avoid the long line to enter the venue for the night-closing LA Guns set which was scheduled for midnight, went on to deliver a gut-wrenching performance, hitting the stage at 11 PM and not departing until midnight. They took an age to sort out technical issues between songs, lengthened their set unnecessarily and delayed the next band as a result. I remember watching some of their most popular music videos repeatedly many years back, and as I witnessed this set, I was overcome with self-loathing as I could not believe I once liked their songs because in the live setting they completely failed to impress. I went in thinking may be this could be one of those ‘guilty pleasure’ type sets for me, like Linkin Park was last year, but Puddle Of Mudd were by far the worst rock band of the weekend. Extreme suckage.
And finally, after much deliberation with gear setup and a lengthy delay, LA Guns closed Day 1 of SSMF 2014 with a 45-minute set that began at 1 AM. Having never seen them live but hearing polarized opinions from longtime fans, this was an eagerly anticipated moment, and it was completely worth the wait as Phil Lewis graced this stage with some fantastic vocals and guitar play, firmly proving that the notion of an LA Guns without him is unthinkable and blasphemous. Behind him, longtime partner-in-crime Steve Riley rocked it on the drums, and Michael Grant on guitar with Kenny Kweens on bass provided a solid support cast. As much as I was loving their performance, I was physically unable to endure standing through the whole set after an 11-hour workout. It was a real pity that they went on as late as they did, and it’s mere speculation whether the delay was caused by the band itself or a deliberate ploy by the venue to keep people drinking till closing time, but this might have been one of the best 80s/glam/hair metal sets I’ve ever seen, and I’d take this version of LA Guns over the likes of Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard any day.
Aside from the musical performances, the organizational aspect of day 1 at SSMF was largely smooth, although entry and re-entry for ticketed wristband holders and media was a bit of an ordeal. The turnout is always hard to judge as a whole in these multi-stage events, although the size of the audience for the headline act here was definitely smaller than for Linkin Park last year, Ozzy in ’09 and Slash in 2010. But perhaps the greatest positive was the involvement of corporate sponsorship in a far better capacity than any of the previous SSMFs, as attendees were being handed free cola drinks and power bars, and were able to go to a brewing station to make themselves hot/iced coffee, tea and fruit juices all day long. Feeling completely fed and hydrated through the day without spending a dime was indeed a refreshing change from the otherwise wallet-drilling music festival experiences as there was no need to pursue the regularly overpriced food options that were also available here, and with any prior knowledge of this, I would have even avoided the low-quality fast food I consumed before entering the festival. This is the beaming plus side of corporate sponsorship which is often portrayed in negative light, but in future years this aspect has the potential to reach levels wherein an attendee shouldn’t have to pay for anything except for the festival ticket.
Check out a gallery of 79 photos from Day 1 below (to view their downloadable versions or if you’re on a non-Flash device, click here):
Bands featured:
Future Villains (#3-#17)
The Killing Lights (#22-#27)
Nightmare & The Cat (#28-#29)
Fathers & Suns (#31)
Fartbarf (#32)
The Birds Of Satan (#33-#44)
Nekrogoblikon (#45-#49)
Crosses (#51-#52)
The Last Internationale (#54-#64)
Failure (#65)
Wild Roses (#66)
Jane’s Addiction (#67-#71)
Bonnet (#72-#73)
LA Guns (#74-#79)
Day 2
The announcement of SSMF 2014 being a 2-day affair instead of the one-day street fest of previous years surprised a lot of people, and many didn’t think the Day 2 lineup was strong enough to pull a crowd on its own. I felt it was a mistake to have Jane’s Addiction close out Day 1 instead of Day 2, as every artist performing on the clearly inferior and sparsely attended second day was like that one band at your local bar that goes on after the evening’s headliner is already done and everybody has gone home. But regardless, I returned to the scene to give you an idea of what it was like.
A majority of the Day 2 lineup comprised of acts that were far removed from the genre this website supports, acts I couldn’t possibly be interested in and hence have no right or reason to review. The heavy rock and metal bands were few and bar between, but as it turned out, made it worth the time and effort invested in attending Day 2.
Early on at the Whisky, alt/indie rock group The Narwhals provided welcome relief from the thumping noise outside, with some sweet vocal and guitar melodies, and I would listen to them any time over quasi-aggro bands such as We Came As Romans who were playing on the Monster stage around the same time. Following The Narwhals, veteran LA hardcore punk band DFL (Dead Fucking Last) played a very solid set, making me wonder why there wasn’t more punk at this year’s SSMF as opposed to the excess of rap and laptop music.
The first of the day’s main attractions from my perspective were San Diego/Oceanside CA instrumental progressive quartet CHON, whose talents I was introduced to earlier this year as they opened for Animals As Leaders at the Roxy and was anxiously awaiting the opportunity to see them again. They captured the crowd at the Whisky, which grew in number throughout the set, into an altered state of consciousness with some soul-soothing jams that emphatically stood out as musically the best of the day, and the band’s immaculate balance of technicality, melody and heavy grooves is all the more evident in the live setting. CHON is the prog band of the future.
Two bands originating from San Diego playing one after the other on an LA stage rarely ever happens but it did here as progressive deathgrind outfit Cattle Decapitation were next to play the same venue, tearing it apart in a style they’ve made all of their own over their nearly two-decade existence thus far. The metalheads scattered around the festival united under the Whisky roof to cheer and rage along with Cattle Decapitation, as furious head-banging and light moshing ensued. Vocalist Travis Ryan was in his typically bestial element as a performer and expressed his gratitude towards the Whisky and SSMF along with his liking of Onyx and Jane’s Addiction during his mid-set speeches. He was well backed up by his band mates who orchestrated the perfect sonic onslaught, much to the delight of this metal-starved audience, who’ll all be most certainly looking forward to the next Cattle Decapitation album and tour.
And the last order of business on this day for fans of our favorite genre was also at the Whisky for Abloom, comprising Jasan Radford on vocals, Mikey Doling (Snot, ex-Soulfly) and Levon Sultanian on guitar, Cello Dias (ex-Soulfly) on bass and Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour) on drums. The band formed in 2004 but have returned after a 10-year hiatus, and following a gig at the Velvet Jones in Santa Barbara CA on Saturday, they played only their second show since the return here at the Whisky. Roy Mayorga falls in the same category as Taylor Hawkins and Brad Wilk of being associated with a band I’m not a fan of, but just like the two of them, he and his band impressed greatly with their brand of straightforward but well-crafted metal. Their material boasts of excellent melodies and grooves all around, the band’s performance did justice to these qualities in full, and I was extremely glad I stuck around to catch them even after elongated lull following Cattle Decapitation’s set.
Set List:
01. January 2nd
02. What You Came For
03. Nothing Left To Do
04. After That Quiet
05. Burnt Offerings
06. So Softly
07. Blood, Sweat & Tears
08. Cover Up
09. Along We Sing
Overall, it would be fair to say that the SSMF 2014 lineup as a whole did not warrant a 2-day event, but on the great upside, it was easier and more enjoyable to absorb the good performances for large portions or entireties of their duration instead of shorter doses if they were all crammed into a one-day event instead. One might say that the lineup should have been reduced to half the 70-plus artists it had, but then again, all artists that performed would beg to differ and the SSMF organization deserves credit for giving these musicians the exposure, even though the quality of the actual lineup selection is always up for debate depending on one’s musical preferences. SSMF 2014, in my opinion, was undoubtedly a better event than last year’s edition in every way imaginable, and most importantly, had a much more significant rock ‘n roll element to it. Regardless of the lineup, SSMF is an event I’d recommend every LA music fan to attend in future years as it’s certainly a worthwhile experience.
Check out a gallery of 24 photos from Day 2 below (to view their downloadable versions or if you’re on a non-Flash device, click here):
Bands featured:
The Narwhals (#1)
DFL (#2)
CHON (#3-#6)
PPL MVR (#7-#8)
Cattle Decapitation (#9-#16)
Abloom (#17-#24)