Kadavar, The Shrine & All Them Witches Rock The El Rey

Review by Andrew Bansal, photos & videos by Matt Nielson

October 25th 2015, El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles CA: German stoner rock trio Kadavar released their third full-length studio album ‘Berlin’ via Nuclear Blast Records earlier in 2015, and embarked on a North American tour in October, which included shows as main support to The Sword as well as headline gigs. While The Sword were busy making an appearance at the Aftershock Festival in Sacramento last Sunday October 25th, Kadavar headlined a show of their own at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles the same night, with The Shrine and All Them Witches as support acts. On their first US tour in 2013, Kadavar garnered a lot of hype which resulted in strong attendences at shows everywhere, and now with an audience comprising repeat attendees and new fans, they are playing to bigger crowds. Despite a plethora of other high-profile events taking place the same weekend in and around Los Angeles, a sizable turnout greeted Kadavar at the El Rey, and anticipated a religious Sunday outing filled with riff worship.

Doors opened at 7 PM and the show started at 8, with Nashville, Tennesee psych rock quartet All Them Witches taking the stage for a 40-minute set. They impressed the Glass House in Pomona opening for The Sword just four days prior, and created a similar impact on this El Rey crowd which steadily grew in number as the set progressed. All Them Witches’ music comes across as straightforward and chilled-out, but the more one sees and hears them live, the more it’s evident that there are layers in their music that stand out on their own as well as combine well together, and that with a mere four-piece setup they are able to establish a rich sound. Hailing from the unexpected source of Nashville, Tennessee and sharing the stage with big guns like The Sword and Kadavar from hesher hotbeds such as Austin, Texas and Germany respectively, All Them Witches are proving that stoner/psych rock is a universal musical language these days.

Next up, Venice Beach stalwarts The Shrine hit the stage and ripped it apart with 45 minutes of their self-created brand of Black Sabbath-meets-Black Flag stoner/skater crossover punk ‘n roll. Having recently signed to Century Media Records and poised to release their third full-length album ‘Rare Breed’ on October 30th in Europe and January 15th in North America, The Shrine have been going places of late, presenting more and more of the newer material along with older fan-favorites. In the last month, they have toured the US with Clutch and Corrosion Of Conformity, made appearances on Motörhead’s Motörboat and Beach Goth Fest, and are now getting ready for a full European tour with Kadavar and Horisont, before ending the year with some US shows with Black Label Society and Huntress. Vocalist/guitarist Josh Landau, bassist Court Murphy and drummer Jeff Murray laid down nine face-melting, foot-stomping jams here at the El Rey and brought back memories of the stellar set they played at the same venue opening for and upstaging Fear two years ago. Starting with the neck-breaking tunes ‘Tripping Corpse’ and ‘Worship’, they delved into three new songs before taking it back to their roots with their signature cover of Wicked Lady’s ‘Run The Night’, and ended on an absolute high with ‘On The Grind’, ‘Destroyer’ and ‘Nothing Forever’. ‘Destroyer’ isn’t played as often as it should be, and was a pleasant surprise for The Shrine fans in the house. The Shrine always succeed in standing out as the most unique and memorable band in any lineup they are a part of, and this gig at the El Rey was no different. The Shrine can do no wrong.

Set List:
01. Tripping Corpse
02. Worship
03. The Vulture
04. Coming Down Quick
05. Acid Drop
06. Run The Night (Wicked Lady cover)
07. On The Grind
08. Destroyer
09. Nothing Forever

US dates with Black Label Society & Huntress:
12/26: Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee
12/27: Albuquerque, MN @ Sunshine Theater
12/28: Dallas, TX @ Gas Monkey Live
12/29: Tulsa, OK @ Brady Theater
12/30: Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
12/31: Marksville, LA @ Paragon Casino Resort-Mari Center

And lastly at 10 PM, Kadavar appeared on stage to put forth a very well-received performance that had the dudes head-banging and the chicks swaying, and from the vantage point of one of the booths located on either side of the general admission floor, the sight of the band on stage and the audience was nothing short of a throwback to a vintage Black Sabbath or Thin Lizzy live video. Kadavar played at the Roxy in 2013 as main support to Scorpion Child, and while it was a good performance that night, it was not mind-blowing, and came across as slightly monotonous. In contrast, perhaps due to the addition of the ‘Berlin’ songs in the set, Kadavar played a far more enjoyable, dynamic and energetic set on this occasion. The song ‘The Old Man’ off of ‘Berlin’ was the highlight of the set, with its Iron Maiden-tinged main riff lending a distinctly dancy, mystic vibe. Sonically and performance-wise, the trio were at their peak in this performance, and the El Rey truly got a taste of what Kadavar is really capable of as a live band. They showed that there’s more to it in their musicianship than mere Sabbath worship, and this newfound dynamism of Kadavar is certain to transcend them beyond being labeled as a 70s revival act. While his band mates went about performing their roles with good energy on stage, drummer Christoph Bartelt was the visual spectacle of the show with his acrobatics on the drumkit which were very much reminiscent of YouTube star Steve Moore, the famous ‘drummer at the wrong gig’, except that Bartelt was at the right gig. All in all, Kadavar established themselves as the kind of band people would come and see every time they tour from now onwards, and for those that missed this show/tour, there will certainly be another opportunity in 2016 to join the club.

An excellent show from start to finish, leaving attendees with no regret whatsoever for choosing to not be elsewhere.