By Lisa Burke
November 29th 2015, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: The Whisky-A-Go-Go has catered to many metal bands throughout the years and is still in constant competition with the Viper Room that exists practically across the street from it, and when you see a band at the Whisky that has encountered a positive experience, they tend to stay loyal to the venue and always return to show their dedication. Nashville Pussy, as well as many other southern rock/metal bands seem to have an undeniably good time at this venue. On the third show of their three-week November-December 2015 ‘Ten Years Of Pussy’ West Coast tour, Nashville Pussy were back at the Whisky last Sunday November 29th with opening acts In The Whale, Sounds Like Murder and Stereo Love, and naturally, I ventured out to the show.
I arrived during Arizona-based band Sounds Like Murder‘s set and was pleasantly surprised to hear some quality tunes. This trio has some southern rock vibes mixed with doomy elements and came across as a band containing three badass dudes who made at least one new fan on this night. The guitar player who sported a red beard provided us with some fine riffage throughout the set. An interesting note on this particular show is that on the flyers for this show they list this band with a two-word title ‘Sounds Likemurder’, and as interesting as this could be, it is clearly a major typo. Get it together people pops into my head, but at least we got a laugh out of it. Also, I suppose for being a Sunday night after a major holiday where everyone has already emptied their bank accounts and put themselves in a permanent food coma, no one was to keen on venturing out even for a cause as noble as supporting metal. I’ve rarely seen the Whisky as dead as it was on this night and remained so until a few more stragglers showed up just in time for Nashville Pussy.
Denver, Colorado duo In The Whale took the stage next, and as conceptual as they were, I was fairly unimpressed with the overall outcome. They are one of those jam bands with vocals who stare at each other while they play, which is a concept I don’t admire. While having the drummer face sideways is a strong composition, it also affects the sound in an odd way. For me a band that is not looking at the audience makes me feel like I’m watching a rehearsal in a garage in Orange County as it takes the professionalism away. There was definitely a Mudhoney vibe happening and while both members were technically sound and put on a good show, I felt it also lacked a bit in originality. One last note before I move on to the highlight of the night is that if there is no bass player in your band ideally you over compensate on guitar to make up for it which I have seen work well, however in this instance I believe it was pushed slightly too far which in turn creates a muddy sound that deters from the original intention.
Finally around 11 PM Atlanta based southern metal band Nashville Pussy rocked the stage. Blaine Cartwright and Ruyter Suys are not only married to each other, but they are also the masterminds behind this band and work well as a team in all aspects. Last time I saw them was many years ago and with a different bass player. I remember the dynamics between the guitar and bass then versus now and I have to say they both had their strengths in different ways. Ruyter really expressed her talent and dove deep into the riffs, bringing them to us with such technicality and strength, I wasn’t sure she’d remember to come up for air. She gave it her all and ended up playing barefoot which was pretty entertaining if nothing else. Blaine was sporting some kickass gator skin boots and waving a large bottle of Jack Daniels around, singing as any southern metal frontman should. His vocals were dirty, fun and commanding as always, and despite the weak crowd turnout they all poured blood, sweat and tears into the performance. The signature of this band for me has always been the sleezy girl rocker dynamic of the bass player and guitar player, and this was carried out well through the playing, stage presence, as well as the exposed bras. All aspects considered, this was a great show and I highly recommend checking them out if you have any good taste in music as you will definitely not be disappointed.
Remaining Tour Dates:
12/01 – San Jose, CA @ Rockbar Theater
12/02 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
12/03 – Reno, NV @ Shea’s Tavern
12/04 – Bend, OR @ Volcanic Theatre
12/05 – Portland, OR @ Dante’s
12/06 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
12/07 – Whistler, BC Canada @ Garibaldi Lift Co.
12/08 – Vancouver, Canada @ Rickshaw Theatre
12/10 – Edmonton, AB Canada @ Denizen Hall
12/11 – Calgary, AB Canada @ Dickens
12/12 – Red Deer, AB, Canada @ The Vat
12/14 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Club X
12/15 – Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
12/16 – Denver, CO @ The Bluebird Theater
12/17 – Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
12/18 – Tempe , AZ @ Yucca Tap Room
12/19 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Dive Bar
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