By Lisa Burke
February 26th 2016, Silverlake Lounge, Los Angeles CA: Last Friday I decided to attend a show in Silverlake at the Silverlake Lounge to see San Diego natives Red Wizard perform. Other bands on the bill this evening consisted of The Blood Wisdom, Lords Of Beacon House, and Blackwülf.
I actually spent a year or two living in Silverlake many years ago and it has yet to change its vibe. It is by far the hipster capital of Los Angeles, and with a stoner, doom, psychedelic vibe at a rock/metal show happening in a central location on a busy street, you would think perhaps a few locals would be intrigued to participate and raise up the numbers on attendees, yet I witnessed a group of equal amounts boys and girls show up at the door and as soon as it was expressed to them that it was an $8 entry fee they immediately turned around and stormed off, only to most likely find a nearby hipster club with a trendy DJ playing where they could blow way more money on overpriced drinks. There is a real problem in this town in 2016 where local bars that have stages are closing down because rock ‘n roll and metal shows do not make them enough money to support the costs because no one ever wants to pay $10 or less to see a show. While I understand a lack of funds, I also loathe this because soon shows of this nature will just simply not exist if we keep on this path.
Back on track to the positives, Red Wizard took the small stage and played a great set for the fairly intimate audience at this odd location. I’d like to point out that when you make an invitation to your show listing the order of bands is extremely important because especially at a show where I’m familiar with one or two bands only I really expected Red Wizard to headline at a venue such as this one. While I didn’t mind and did put it together before they played that they would go on first, I still didn’t believe it right away. This stoner doom quintet has some unique elements apparent in the creative guitar and bass melodies and the singer’s addition of harmonica jams. Appropriate use of the tambourine was also in effect and the Red Wizard style version of Black Sabbath’s ‘The Wizard’ was a hot number that was only enhanced with the wild harmonica playing. I’d hope this band continues to grow to a higher and more popular level as I feel they have some unique creative grooves happening, enhanced by their psychedelic vibe and electrified and slightly demonized energy. The finale song was my personal favorite and the slow counted beats of 666 left a warm spot in my heart.
I decided through curiosity to stick around for the next two bands and Oakland based Blackwülf ransacked the stage next. They are great at the stoner sludge and rocked the room with their fun tunes. This singer chose maracas to shake up the audience instead of the tambourine and it was intriguing. One of the song intros featured some crazy wah pedal that was a little too much for me and at times I wanted the drumming to crawl outside of the normal zone it was in, yet it was hitting all the right beats at all the right times so no real complaints. I was engaged in the uptempo stylings throughout the set, yet in terms of uniqueness I did find quite a few direct similarities to Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats and Graveyard. All in all though I was interested, there was definite depth here and the song ‘Thunder Witch’ was a good jam. I had a good time for sure, and they were a good fit with Red Wizard in terms of compatible style. Also, during this band’s set was the first time I’ve ever seen a lady shake salt into her Corona bottle so I’ll keep that one with me for a while. I mean tequila with salt and margaritas with salt I’ve never liked or really understood either but it is a familiar concept at least. This is beer though, not bacon, or a steak, or some other heart attack food that people enjoy adding more flavorful health problems to.
Next and finally for me was Lords Of Beacon House because I had other venues to attend that evening and honestly no interest in seeing The Blood Wisdom which wasn’t on the original invite, not for any personal reason just not my vibe. Lords Of Beacon House are an LA trio with a vibe that proved even more interesting than the singer’s tight black velvet pants and it seemed a touch more into the world of retro or funk stoner psych than the previous two bands. There’s talent here and I’m curious to see what comes next for them. It was loud, fun and original, and their style has a decent demographic out there these days so you should keep them on your radar.
For me, the Silverlake Lounge these days puts me slightly out of my usual habitat yet I’m happy to see places like it still exist and book rock and metal bands for very reasonable prices. I can’t stress enough how important it is to come out to support these rock and metal bands that are everywhere and trying to help keep this scene alive. All that is missing is your support and with a lack of it comes a detriment to society and rock ‘n roll nightlife as we know it that’s hurting what could be thriving in this town.
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