By Andrew Bansal
September 19th 2015, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: Canadian post-hardcore/sludge trio KEN Mode are currently on an extensive North American headline run with a variety of support acts for various legs of the tour, Detroit, Michigan post/hardcore punk quartet Child Bite providing support in the ongoing segment. They arrived in Los Angeles last Saturday September 19 2015, for a gig at Loaded Hollywood presented by Church Of The 8th Day and Forgotten Form and featuring Colombian Necktie as the local openers. Besides the bands, KEN Mode are also presenting Garrett Jamieson, a stand-up comedian from their country, at these shows. Loaded hosts a large number of rock/metal gigs of diverse natures, but the unabated intensity and expressiveness of this lineup from start to finish most certainly made this something this venue had never witnessed before.
Doors opened at 8:30 and the show began promptly at 9 with Colombian Necktie taking the stage to deliver a set overloaded with their brand of ‘stoner hardcore’, in front of an already sizable turnout as the room was occupied by enthusiastic attendees that gave this band a tremendous response. Their unique and eclectic odd-meter style combined with their on-stage energy is always entertaining to experience live, and one could not have imagined a more perfect local opening act for a band like KEN Mode. These promoters do so many shows on such an incredibly regular basis, they must have hundreds of local bands in their database, so for them to land upon the absolute ideal opener for a show deserves some credit in itself. It is hard to pinpoint what bands would fall under the ‘recommended for fans of’ category when it comes to Colombian Necktie, but they invariably succeed in impressing fans of all things heavy, extreme and hardcore, as is evident from their already strong and ever-growing hometown following. Splendid set.
Next up, Child Bite started their set to put forth their own interpretation of heavy music, vaguely described by some as ‘art punk’. But in simpler words, based on the style of music, and the personality, vocal delivery and range of facial expressions exhibited by frontman Shawn Knight, one could brand them as a noisier, more hardcore punk variant of Clutch. On one side of the spectrum they bring the simple Detroit blue-collar ethos in their musicianship while on the other end they blend it with strange rhythmic shifts. They’ve been in existence since 2005, but are finally being discovered by many first-timers on this tour. Undoubtedly an intriguing band worth seeing live.
And before the headline act of the evening, it was time for a brief change of pace with some stand-up comedy by Garrett Jamieson. Having been on this tour with KEN Mode, he knew exactly how to handle an audience of this nature and handled a potentially difficult task with ease, leaving the crowd in splits, for the most part. He performed while KEN Mode were setting up their gear in the background, which meant that his act did not lengthen the duration of the show but rather filled the gap during the last changeover instead. MCs and comedians usually turn out to be failures of epic proportions at rock/metal shows, mostly because they don’t know the demographic well enough, but Jamieson proved to be an exception. If you’re attending any of the KEN Mode shows, make sure you catch Garrett Jamieson’s set.
And lastly at around 11:20, all was in readiness for the most devastatingly intimate KEN Mode performance Los Angeles has ever experienced. The only previous time Metal Assault witnessed this band live was on a much bigger stage at the El Rey on March 10th 2014, where they were the odd one out, opening for Russian Circles and Helms Alee. The stage and room at Loaded gave attendees a chance to get much closer to the band, and the trio’s sonic enormity was by all means tangible as a result. Frontman Jesse Matthewson employed the usage of an elaborate effects pedal to amplify and mould his guitar sound while keeping the vocal delivery unrelentingly aggressive for the entirety of the set. He also switched to bass for a song or two, and the audience briefly got the unique taste of a three-piece band with two bassists. The heaviness emanataing from this setup was earth-shaking, ear-piercing and roof-shattering. Drummer Shane Matthewson had a lot to do with the solidity behind the varying rhythmic patterns in the set, and bassist/vocalist Skot Hamilton played no small part either. They played a 50-minute set comprising material from their 2015 Season Of Mist full-length release ‘Success’, as well as some representing past work. The head-banging in the crowd intensified as the set progressed, and by the end of this perfectly timed set, everyone in attendance was visibly floored by a performance that was nothing short of an exorcism, for the band and for the audience.
KEN Mode succeeded in orchestrating the fiercest exhibition of extreme music ever witnessed on this stage, and will earn similar plaudits wherever they go on this tour.
KEN Mode Remaining Tour Dates:
09/22 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge *
09/23 Denver, CO – Three Kings Tavern *
09/24 Kansas City, MO – miniBar *
09/25 Austin, TX – Mohawk *
09/26 Dallas, TX – Sons of Herman Hall *
09/27 New Orleans, LA – Siberia *
09/29 Birmingham, AL – Syndicate Lounge *
09/30 Tallahassee, FL – Liberty Bar *
10/01 Miami, FL – Churchill’s *
10/02 Orlando, FL – Will’s Pub *
10/03 Atlanta, GA – 529 *
10/04 Johnson City, TN – The Hideaway *
10/06 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 *
10/07 Richmond, VA – Strange Matter *
10/08 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie *
10/09 Brooklyn, NY – The Acheron *
10/10 Rochester, NY – Bug Jar *+
10/11 Boston, MA – Mid East Upstair +
10/13 St. John, NB – Pub Down Under +
10/14 Halifax, NS – Gus’ Pub +
10/15 Fredericton, NB – Capital Complex +%
10/16 Quebec City, QC – L’Anti +
10/17 Montreal, QC – Turbo Haus +
10/18 Sherbrooke, QC – Le Murdoch +
10/19 Ottawa, ON – House of Targ +
10/20 Kingston, ON – The Mansion +
10/21 Toronto, ON – Smiling Buddha +
10/22 Hamilton, ON – Absinthe +
10/23 London, ON – Call the Office +
10/24 Windsor, ON – Dominion House +
10/25 Detroit, MI – PJ’s Lager House #
10/26 Cleveland, OH – Now That’s Class #
10/27 Pittsburg, PA – Mr. Roboto Project #
10/28 Columbus, OH – Ace of Cups #@
10/29 Indianapolis, IN – Joyful Noise #@
10/30 Columbia, MO – Social Room @
10/31 St. Louis, MO – The Demo @
11/01 Chicago, IL – Cobra Lounge @
11/02 Dubuque, IA – The Lift @
11/03 Milwaukee, WI – The Cactus Club @
11/04 Madison, WI – Dragon Fly Lounge @
11/05 Sioux Falls, SD – Total Drag @
11/06 Minneapolis, MN – TBA @
11/07 Winnipeg, MB – the Windsor ^
* = w/ Child Bite
+ = w/ Life In Vacuum
% = w/ Fuck The Facts
# = w/ We Are Hex
@ = w/ Lo-Pan
^ = w/ Conduct