By Lisa Burke
March 4th 2016, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Tribute bands on the whole may sound slightly unimpressive as a concept for an adventure, but in a town like Los Angeles I can assure you it’s nothing short of a unique party with the finest talent. Last Friday March 4th 2016, I attended the Viper Room for the first of many nights I plan to be among the clientele this month due to some great events booked, and of course, a Paradise Kitty residency which puts a smile on everyone’s face. March 4th was the first of three Friday night residency shows by the all-female Guns ‘N Roses tribute act (the other shows coming up on March 11th and 18th), but not the first residency they have had at Viper Room and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
I will say, having seen Paradise Kitty before, my main attraction to this night was actually to see a newly formed Nine Inch Nails tribute band called Pretty Hate Machine, featuring members from the bands Mursic and Madlife, among others. The two openers for this event were Rivet and Acidic which are the exceptions to the tribute bands of the evening. I arrived at 9 PM and missed Rivet who played at 8:30, unfortunately, but I did squeeze my way into a seriously packed-to-the-max room for the start of Acidic. Interestingly enough, the Viper Room is one of those places that will put some odd combos together in terms of bands booked for one evening, yet somehow they always pull it off well. Acidic had a huge draw at this show which was clearly apparent based on personality and dress of the majority of the crowd. Not to be a judgmental asshole in the least about style of dress and using that to interpret what band these people are here to see, but it is slightly apparent when you’ve got a NIN tribute band and a straight-up alternative rock band in the house. I will say that there is some uniqueness and definite high skill level happening in Acidic and I can appreciate the what they have achieved in the last eight years playing in Los Angeles among other places. With song titles like ‘Rad’, ‘Drive Thru’, and ‘Chicago’ you can almost see the hipster oozing out of the cracks on this one, only to be topped off with vocals and lyrics that you might find at a 2016 Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. There is an acquired taste that I have an affliction for in terms of the vocal stye, however if you don’t then more power to you. Despite my unavoidable affliction I was pleasantly surprised at the Aerosmith cover of ‘Come Together’ in which the singer’s voice changed to a more palatable tone and the band kicked serious ass in mastering the song and making it their own. In previous songs the bass player and guitar player switched instruments on more than one occasion and mid song, which of course is almost as highly commendable as when they took their shirts off. At one point the bass “broke” which is another signature that only happens to quality musicians, and the medleys throughout were clearly well thought out. While this was an overall positive experience, for me the part that stuck out in a not-so-good way was the new song that the singer insisted the audience sing along to even though of course they don’t know the words, but guess what it’s fine, because there are no words, just sounds. For me, in situations such as this, I really would prefer the singer to just sing actual words and leave the audience participation to at-will status. The other song was the slow ballady type which instead of coming across as pretty, actually deemed to be a bit on the whiny side in terms of vocals only. To me those vocals didn’t even sound like they could be from the same person as the vocals from the Aerosmith cover and while it’s all subjective taste in which I clearly have a taste for straight rock, I seem to be in the minority in my opinion within their current fan base. On an upside note I’ll say that the singer was on his game and somehow in shoulder to shoulder packed crowd still made his way to the top of a nearby booth at one point to sing, and definitely commanded the audience with praise. The last song was my favorite with its decent rock jams and surprise licks, and the strobe effect lighting made for an exciting end to their show which was only exemplified to extremes in the next band’s performance.
For those who love all things NIN, this band Pretty Hate Machine is for you and don’t you worry about a thing, because the range of songs not only covers more albums than just Pretty Hate Machine but it also spans to a cover of David Bowie’s ‘I’m Afraid Of Americans’, because of course Nine Inch Nails did tour with David Bowie and also have their own cover of the song, so why not? It actually fits right in to that industrial world. Other song favorites were ‘Wish’, ‘Only’, ‘Starfuckers, Inc.’, and ‘Head Like A Hole’ in particular because it was slightly different than the original in tone and pace and I truly enjoyed that. The drummer who comes from another industrial band is extremely talented and sounds excellent in this band in terms of perfect industrial drumming. With hard hits and fast beats it’s a breath of fresh air for everyone. The vocals and stage presence are great, the guitarist, of all people, even looks like Trent Reznor a bit in hair, style, and stamina, and these goth style dressed rockers are clearly not here to mess around. While I was a bit curious what a live keyboardist would do to enhance this performance I really didn’t mind the heavy backing tracks because it really can’t be avoided in this kind of industrial tribute. That said, i did find ‘Hurt’ to be the weakest link here and I could probably blame that opinion on Johnny Cash in some way, but for what it’s worth my solution would be to cut it and replace it with ‘Something I Can Never Have’ because bringing your audience to tears in a good way is a success among itself. Despite the mass exodus right before Pretty Hate Machine went on stage, due only to the vast mix in genres at this show and people’s lack of open-mindedness, other supporters arrived, and the room, which was still full, electrified the singer, who happened to be celebrating his birthday, and the party was in full effect. In terms of being basic and judging this band on copying the original in all accuracies, I would say you can’t do that because that is not only not the intention but it becomes the difference between amateur and professional when you can not only master all the NIN songs but then rework them to suit the band’s needs which is exactly the success Pretty Hate Machine accomplished.
After the usual waiting period and band set up jargon, Paradise Kitty clawed up the stage for a very entertaining and dynamic set. For an all-female tribute band, I hold these ladies high up there on par with The Iron Maidens who are the best of the best in my opinion. I have seen the singer Jenna Syde in at least two if not three bands she frequents, and this is definitely my favorite and such a good fit for her on-stage personality. She has all the charisma, spunk, and attitude of all attitudes of Axl Rose and then some, and I was particularly blown away by the cute blond girl with the tiny Slash hat that told her Les Paul exactly what she wanted it to do with amazing ease. Seriously, move over Slash, this girl has all the skills and she’s prettier than you. Rhythm guitars and bass were on the money as well, as was the drumming, however some mixing up of tempo to perhaps faster pace in certain places could only enhance the already precise hard hitting-beats. My favorite songs were ‘Out To Get Me’, ‘Mr. Brownstone’, ‘My Michelle’, and ‘Night Train’, but I must say that the singer really rocks the hell out of ‘Paradise City’ and shows off her many talents. As far as Guns ‘N Roses tributes in this town are concerned, you can imagine the multitude, but the top two contenders for me are Paradise Kitty and Hollywood Roses with a close race to the number one spot that will probably end in Jenna out-whistling Colby or some minor feat of that nature.
Do yourself a favor and check out Paradise Kitty on their Friday night residency this month and have no fear of a boring night because it’s virtually impossible due to the fact that no matter how many times you see these women, they will continue to blow your mind.
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