Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
April 16th 2015, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: New York-based rock ‘n roll quartet The Compulsions comprises Guns ‘N Roses members Richard Fortus on guitar and Frank Ferrer on drums along with Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks/New York Dolls) on bass, and is fronted by Rob Carlyle on guitar and vocals. The band self-released their second full-length album ‘Dirty Fun’ on April 14th 2015, and played a gig at the Viper Room last night, April 16th 2015, to celebrate its release and present a combination of new and older material. This venue simply never does such a thing as a bad show, and with great local acts Delta Rose and Flashback Heart Attack also on the bill, this was expected to be a worhtwhile evening for all in attendance.
Hard rock quartet Delta Rose started proceedings at 9:30 with a 30-minute set, sounding and looking decidedly livelier and edgier than their recent performance at the Troubadour, coming up with a far better set list this time. They played a few well-chosen tracks off of their newest release ‘Golden’ and got a unanimously positive reaction from the audience. Through their own original and fresh interpretations, this band is second to none when it comes to preaching from the AC/DC / Van Halen school of bluesy hard rock.
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Shortly after, The Compulsions took the stage without any fuss and laid down a solid 40-minute set of punk-infused rock ‘n roll, decorated by some delightfully free-flowing guitar solos by Richard Fortus, the skillful rhythm section of Frank Ferrer and fill-in bassist Alec Morton, and excellent frontmanship by Rob Carlyle. It came across as simple, no-bullshit, unpretentious heavy rock, and the Viper Room was the perfect setting for it. The Compulsions showcased appreciable variety within their set, with tunes ranging from minute-long breathless punk to slow blues rock jams. It was also another proof of the undeniable and criminally underrated talent the members of the current Guns ‘N Roses lineup possess. It was a treat to watch Fortus and Ferrer in this intimate environment, and they certainly imposed their musical stamp on The Compulsions’ performance here. The Compulsions are no overhyped supergroup, and are experts in doing the things that matter most to the rock ‘n roll lover.
Set List:
01. Rock ‘N Roll Johnny
02. Howlin For You
03. Hired Gun
04. I Just Wanna Play Guitar
05. House Of Rock
06. Eat My Dust
07. Long Tall Sally
08. Jungle Disease
09. Lucky
10. I Was Right, You Were Wrong
11. Shake Hands With The Devil
12. Groove On
Last and by no means least were 80s rock ‘n roll/new wave cover band Flashback Heart Attack, who are in the midst of a weekly Thursday night residency here at the Viper Room. I attended their gig last week and on this occasion they definitely played in front of a more ‘rock’ crowd in comparison, but were still able to reach the same impact level. In keeping with the theme of the 80s, their dress sense and crowd interaction is suitably flashy and over-the-top. Their selection of tunes is based on spontaneity, as they keep a long list of songs on stage but do not play all of them in the order listed.
Besides with their own act, this time they garnered much attention by inviting Richard Fortus and Frank Ferrer up on stage in the middle of the set to jam two songs with them. It was absolutely hilarious to note that Fortus and Ferrer instantly denied their request to play a GNR song, and they ended up playing a Psychedelic Furs tune and a Ramones number instead. Flashback Heart Attack boast of an entertaining show, and LA folks are recommended to check it out on Thursday nights.
Overall, yet another unabatedly rocking evening at the Viper Room.
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