By Andrew Bansal
December 31st 2015, Monty Bar, Los Angeles CA: An opportunity to spend New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles is both a blessing and a curse in equal measures, given the plethora of live entertainment options and the dilemma it poses. Not usually a big New Year’s Eve fan, I decided to go out and celebrate it this time around, and it was probably a mistake to do so, because as it turned out, I made a clearly regrettable decision by choosing to ring in 2016 at the Monty Bar in downtown Los Angeles.
Cherie Currie of The Runaways fame was slated to do a special set with LA’s Glam Skanks as her backing band as well as the opening act. At a $10 ticket price, it was a great idea, and to me it seemed like the LA rock ‘n roll thing to do on New Year’s Eve, so much so that I prefered to attend this event over the several other shows taking place elsewhere all around town, but the execution of this idea left plenty to be desired and a sour taste.
I arrived at 9:30 and the tiny bar was already very crowded. Not long after, the bar was ridiculously packed far beyond capacity, despite the door security turning away people that were still waiting outside. Drinks were incredibly cheap by LA standards on New Year’s Eve, but the downside of that was the long lines at the bar and the venue staff’s clear inability to handle the traffic. Basically, unless you knew one of the bartenders personally, you needed all the luck in the world to be able to get a drink. And in case you’re wondering why there are no live photos to accompany this review, it’s simply because there was no room for me to lift my arms and take photos without elbowing everyone around me in the face. Being intoxicated may have helped endure the abominable circumstances under which this event took place, but alas, that wasn’t to be the case for anyone unfortunate enough to be inside this venue on this occasion.
With Glam Skanks being the only opening act, there was to be no live music until as late as 11:30, by which time the vibe emanating through the room was largely that of restlessness and confusion. The ‘stage’ told a story in itself, easily the tiniest stage I’ve ever seen anywhere. But that wasn’t the problem, because tiny stages can be fun for all involved. The issue was the severely atrocious sound quality. During the Glam Skanks set, vocals were either almost non-existent or disturbingly overloaded with reverb, and the guitar and bass kept cutting out at regular intervals. There was no sound guy anywhere in sight, and in the meanwhile fights broke out and people were falling down and knocking over the ‘mixing board’. The singer called out asking for the sound guy, but to no avail.
Midnight was fast approaching and the Glam Skanks continued playing. Just at the stroke of midnight, a contrived countdown was executed and Cherie Currie was hastily escorted onto the stage. She did a little speech before getting ready to perform, but unfortunately the reverb drowned out every word she spoke. The same can be said about her vocals during her short duration on stage. She did a few songs with Glam Skanks including the most loved Cherie Currie centric Runaways songs ‘Queens Of Noise’ and ‘Cherry Bomb’. Still no sound guy. She carried a graceful personality, put in a wholehearted effort and looked like she was hitting all the right notes with ease, but the venue’s sound system did little to no justice to her performance or that of the Glam Skanks, who proved to be an apt choice as the backing band and put on a high-energy set of their own prior to Currie’s arrival. Getting to see the seemingly ageless Currie perform Runaways classics with a great backing band for a mere few minutes was just about the only positive to take from this whole experience.
Of all the ‘celebrities’ I could have hoped or expected to run into at this event, guess who was the only one to show up. The dude who I freshly crowned the worst live performer of the year, none other than the legendary Glenn Danzig. He was sitting in the booth right next to the stage and saw the whole show. This is only my speculation, he would have joined Cherie Currie on stage for an encore, but seeing the nature of the stage he elected not to bother.
The place cleared out at 15 minutes past midnight as soon as Cherie Currie left the stage. This show eventually started later than all other NYE shows in town and was still the first to come to an end. At a different venue the exact same event could have resulted in a whole other outcome, but the Monty Bar was absolutely not the right setting for it. Go to this bar for the cheap drinks, not for the live music.
A highly eventful year of 2015 comes to a perhaps fittingly anti-climactic end.