Monte Pittman Performs At Whisky-A-Go-Go

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

September 27th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Primarily known as Madonna’s touring guitar player and former member of Prong, Metal Blade recording artist Monte Pittman has focussed more on his solo career in recent times, having released his third studio album called ‘The Power Of Three’ last January, produced by Flemming Rasmussen and certainly Pittman’s most metal release till date, signaling his return to heavy music as his next two albums are also written along a similar vein. He headlined the Whisky-A-Go-Go last April, appeared on stage as guest vocalist for Prong earlier this month, and returned to the same venue for a show last night, featuring bassist Max Whipple and drummer Scott Fuller (Abysmal Dawn) in his three-piece setup. This being a one-off event, the show’s lineup did not have any ‘touring’ support acts and comprised merely of Monte Pittman and a stack of local openers, making it a long Saturday evening at the Whisky.

Doors opened at 7:30 PM and the show began at 8 PM on a hilariously entertaining note with a band called Red Light Fever, who went on to perform some of the worst-sounding covers of rock and metal classics I’ve ever heard in my life, their rendition of Mötley Crüe’s ‘Live Wire’ taking the cake as the worst of the lot. I previously didn’t think it was even possible to play Mötley Crüe songs any worse than Mötley Crüe themselves, but this band proved me wrong. I have nothing against Red Light Fever and I hate to be a downer, but they need to seriously reassess their own performance and avoid listening to their friends and family who tell them “they’re awesome” just to be nice, before paying to play the Whisky-A-Go-Go and putting themselves out in the public eye.

The Roadkill

The other notable performance amongst the openers was by The Roadkill, not ‘local’ by any means, actually having flown in from Norway to play this show and next week’s show here featuring Hellion and Bitch. They put on a good show playing some solid rock ‘n roll/80s glam metal. The singer’s voice kept making me think it reminds me of someone but I wasn’t able to pinpoint on anyone in particular, which is perhaps a good thing. If you’re planning on attending the Hellion show, get there early enough to catch The Roadkill’s set.

Finally at 11:45 after all five openers were done, Monte Pittman took the stage to play an hour’s worth of easily enjoyable heavy music boasting of crafty guitar playing, creative rhythm fills and great clean vocals by Pittman himself. There was a good chunk of ‘The Power Of Three’ in the 11-song set with as many as eight selections from the album, and two of them were filmed by the band’s cameraman for possible official live video releases in the near future. Songs like ‘A Dark Horse’ and ‘Before The Mourning Son’ stood out as the highlights of a set that showcased Pittman’s musical maturity that enables him to display his talents in a sustained and controlled manner without going overboard on his instrument or voice.

It’s a real mystery that Monte Pittman doesn’t attract a larger audience, because his new music should be straight up the alley for any and every metal fan, and if metalheads aren’t fans of the music or even aware of his existence as a metal musician, one wonders what they’re actually listening to. Overall, an excellent set by Monte Pittman well worth the long Saturday evening ordeal, and here’s hoping for more metal from him in the foreseeable future.

[Interview with Monte Pittman coming soon]

Check out a gallery of 10 Monte Pittman photos from the show below (click here for downloadable versions or if you’re on a non-Flash device):

Set List:
01. Everything’s Undone
02. A Dark Horse
03. Away From Here
04. Before The Mourning Son
05. Missing
06. Definitely
07. Black Rabbit
08. Close Your Eyes
09. Blood Hungry Thirst
10. On My Mind
11. Delusions Of Grandeur

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