The Atomic Bitchwax, Mos Generator, Against The Grain & You Know Who Bring The Heavy To Hollywood

By Andrew Bansal

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September 5th 2015, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: New Jersey stoner rock trio The Atomic Bitchwax have been on a North American headline tour with Michigan-based Against The Grain since last August, and joined by Seattle’s Mos Generator, the second leg of the tour arrived in Los Angeles for a gig at Loaded Hollywood last Saturday September 5th. Also featuring Palm Desert trio You Know Who as the opening act, the event was put together by Church Of The 8th Day, and it not only brought four varied facets of sonic destruction to Hollywood but also succeeded in pulling off the unthinkable, drawing an excellent turnout despite not even a single local band on the bill.

Doors opened at around 8:30 and You Know Who started proceedings at 9 with a highly enjoyable and well-attended 30-minute set. There have very seldom been as many people for the opening act at a Loaded show as there were for You Know Who on this occasion. They brought forth a blend of punk and stoner rock jams that flowed smoothly and sounded crystal clear. This was one of the cleanest-sounded punk-laden performances I can think of. With a background comprising experience in bands such as Mondo Generator and The Dwarves and involvement in projects with the likes of Nick Oliveri and Brant Bjork, the three members of You Know Who do full justice to the California desert rock and although not strictly local to the Los Angeles area, will always have a legion of fans and supporters here. By all means an ideal start to the show.

You Know Who
You Know Who

Next up were ‘Motor City Speed Rock’ quartet Against The Grain, scorching the stage and shattering eardrums with an undeniably fantastic performance that will stand in memory above and beyond any of the other bands that played this show. The last time I saw Against The Grain, they opened for Church Of Misery at the Satellite in 2013 and made them sound like the most boring band on planet earth, and they orchestrated a similar effect here. They started 10 minutes before schedule and played a full 40-minute set comprising tunes from their previous releases ‘Motor City Speed Rock’ and ‘Surrounded By Snakes’, as well as some from their new album ‘Road Warriors’ album, released on LP in August via Self Destructo Records and digitally in July. Besides fully embodying the Motor City ethos in their musicianship and attitude, Against The Grain also incorporate a variety of elements that make them accessible to fans of heavy music all across the board. Traditional heavy metal, classic rock, doom, stoner rock, thrash, punk … you name it, they got it. With a well-rounded twin-guitar attack, vicious dual vocal delivery and skull-crushing rhythms, the Against The Grain freight train leveled everything in its path. The interaction between drummer Rob Nowak and the relatively tiny house drum kit was akin to that of David and Goliath, except that Goliath emerged victorious in this instance. Against The Grain without doubt bring delight to every heavy music fan and nightmares to every band they open for. Bands that pride themselves on a great live show should let Against The Grain open for them and then reassess, because these dudes are on an altitude of their own. Against The Grain is a must-watch and must-listen for anyone and everyone reading this site.

Set List:
01. Here To Stay
02. Afraid Of Nothing
03. Armadillo
04. Nothing Left To Lose
05. Pendulum
06. Till We Die
07. Night Of The Wolf
08. Run For Your Life
09. Livin A Lie
10. Downtime Jam
11. Night Time
12. Surrounded By Snakes
13. Sirens

Against The Grain
Against The Grain

The insanity of that Against The Grain set was always going to be a tough act to follow, and longstanding Seattle stoner rock trio Mos Generator were handed this task. They brought forth some sweet jams but ended up playing a largely instrumental set because vocalist/guitarist Tony Reed seemed to have lost his voice almost completely even before the set began. He tried his best to sing but simply couldn’t, and instead stuck to instrumental versions of most songs. This was not the best or most accurate representation of Mos Generator’s live show, but it was enjoyable nonetheless and the jams were so strong that first-timers didn’t notice the absence of vocals. That said, there shall certainly be better Mos Generator performances in future.

Mos Generator
Mos Generator

Mos Generator ended at 11:15, and so far, the show was running very smoothly and least 20 minutes ahead of schedule as all three support bands used the house drum kit. But, The Atomic Bitchwax eventually got the show back on its original schedule and took more than 45 minutes to set up before they started a little after midnight. This unexpectedly long intermission was in many ways an exhibition in setting up, as the band meticulously and slowly installed their gear on stage. Once they did start, they played a longish set and got a decent response from the crowd which was still large in number. Their three-piece setup resulted in some simple heavy jams but with much emphasis on the usage of the wah pedal. The band has been in existence since 1993 and their music has been featured in various television shows and sports broadcasts, because of which this Los Angeles appearance of theirs was a highly anticipated event, and even on a night with several other shows occurring elsewhere in town, Loaded was nearly packed for the entirety of The Atomic Bitchwax’ set.

The Atomic Bitchwax
The Atomic Bitchwax

Overall, this was yet another highly successful and enjoyable Church Of The 8th Day presentation, and they showed that if the touring package is strong enough, it is unnecessary to put local openers and elongate the show just for the sake of doing so. All four bands were great, but there was only one Against The Grain.

The Atomic Bitchwax / Mos Generator / Against The Grain remaining tour dates:
9/08 – Albuquerque NM @ Launchpad
9/09 – Dallas TX @ Three Links
9/10 – Austin TX @ Red 7
9/11 – Houston TX @ Rudyards
9/12 – New Orleans LA @ Siberia
9/13 – Atlanta GA @ Masquerade
9/16 – Richmond VA @ Strange Matter
9/17 – Baltimore MD @ Metro Gallery
9/18 – New York NY @ Bowery Electric

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