By Andrew Bansal
June 14th 2016, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: For its 66th edition on June 14 2016, the think tank behind the all-star ‘Ultimate Jam Night’ event held every Tuesday at the Whisky-A-Go-Go decided to freshen the format a little, and called it ‘Ultimate Band Night’ instead, shedding more of a spotlight on bands rather than on random all-star jams as they’ve done in all past editions. But as always, it was an all-ages, no-cover event, and drew a large audience comprising fans, tourists, curious passers-by, media paparazzi, and of course, a plethora of seasoned musicians. Even for regulars, this promised to be different from Ultimate Jam Night’s typical weekly affair, and it remained to be seen how this band-centric format would work and what bands would make their mark.
Doors opened at 8 PM, and with the density of population inside the Whisky rising by the minute, and proceedings were soon ready to begin, as host and MC Paulie Z appeared to give the audience a brief introduction of what to expect, before announcing the first band. A good host is extremely crucial for shows of this nature, and many such past events, including some at this very venue, have failed because of mediocre hosts. Paulie Z certainly isn’t one of them, and plays a bigger part in the event’s success than perhaps what most people give him credit for.
The first band Paulie Z introduced onto the stage was LA-based hard rock/metal quartet Stonebreed, who began at 8:52 and ended in 15 minutes, which was the general format the rest of the evening would follow as well, with all bands playing very short sets. Stonebreed’s music is nothing out of the ordinary in terms of your standard rock/metal, but them as an opening act was exactly what this event needed, as evident from the largely positive response they received. Playing with a classic vocalist-guitarist-bassist-drummer four-piece lineup, Stonebreed’s bassist and guitarist were solid in their roles on stage while vocalist Carlos Cruz and drummer Orion Rainz were the flashier members of the band that displayed great stage presence, Rainz even with some stick tricks thrown in for good measure. Cruz really got the crowd involved and showed good command as frontman. All in all, an ideal start to an evening that overflowed with music.
Next were another LA based band, rock trio Kicking Harold who have successfully toured actively with the likes of The Winery Dogs. They started with a cover of Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’. Kicking Harold’s version sounded incredibly slower, bluesier and heavier than the original, and made quite an impact. Far too many bands have recorded and/or performed blandly generic and unimaginative covers of this song, and they all should probably take lessons from Kicking Harold on how to reinvent a song if you’re going to cover it. Kicking Harold’s original tunes weren’t far behind either, and their 15-minute set was one of the early highlights of the night.
Following these two bands was the house band, comprising Ultimate Jam Night mastermind Chuck Wright on bass, Mitch Perry and Walter Ino on guitar, Matt Starr on drums and Paulie Z himself on vocals, and they performed just two songs, including an excellent cover of Lenny Kravitz’ ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’, before a brief intermission in proceedings was called. All of these musicians are greats in their own right, and Paulie Z is just as good as a singer as he is as host.
This was the only intermission in the event as it flowed almost non-stop for its remainder, as one band quickly followed another. Next up was Budderside, led by the sparkling Patrick Stone on guitar and vocals, and through their 3-song set which the crowd enjoyed from start to finish, proving why they were noticed and signed by Motörhead Music. Their new self-titled full-length album is slated for a July 29 2016 release on the label, and great things are expected from the explosive rock n’ roll quartet that is Budderside, in the near and distant future.
Members of the house band returned for two more songs, with veteran punk drummer Lucky Lehrer (Circle Jerks, Bad Religion) sat behind the kit and Matt Starr performed lead vocal duties. Starr did a commendable job on the songs selected for this little jam, Talking Heads’ ‘Psycho Killer’ and Devo’s ‘Uncontrollable Urge’.
Rock ‘n roll had dominated the evening so far, but it was time to turn up the decibel level and bring some metal to this stage, and there could be none better to do it than the world’s finest Iron Maiden tribute band, The Iron Maidens. This was a strange setting for them, and it was a rare occurrence (and probably the only one, at least in the LA area) where they were performing in front of an audience that was not solely made up of Maiden fans. But any hard rock/metal gathering is bound to have at least a few Iron Maiden fans, as was the case here, even though this two-song set by The Iron Maidens certainly wasn’t for the casual fan, and only the diehards recognized and enjoyed the band’s selections i.e. ‘Flash Of The Blade’ and ‘The Duellists’. The band was at the peak of its powers, and with this short lived set which was nothing more than a showcase from their perspective, they made a long-lasting impact on first timers, of which there were quite a few. Most notably, drummer Linda McDonald was absent from this gig and Tim Yeung (ex Morbid Angel) filled in perfectly, which made things all the more interesting and unique. The Maidens came and conquered, leaving the next band with the herculean task of attempting to follow them.
Ultimate Jam Night typically brings forth wild variations in style, mood and genre from one act to the next, which is great for true open-minded music lovers, but the downside of it is, at times the variation is a bit too much to grasp. This was the case here, as The Iron Maidens’ scorching heavy metal was followed by, guess who, veteran American soul band The Chambers Brothers. This band started out as far back as the 1950s, and their set included their 11-minute 1968 hit ‘Time Has Come Today’. As legendary and renowned The Chambers Brothers are, and as privileged as this audience should feel to have witnessed them, from Iron Maiden tunes to straight-up soul music was an extremely strange shift, and The Chambers Brothers’ set went a tad under-appreciated as a result. Good musicianship, but perhaps misplaced in the wrong slot and lost in the shuffle.
But soon after, the rock and metal loving voices were raised again, with the much anticipated appearance of Stephen Pearcy of Ratt fame, as he fronted the house band for two songs. But interestingly enough, neither of these were Ratt tunes, and major props and credit go to Pearcy, the house band and the Ultimate Jam Night team for ensuring that they in fact did not perform ‘Round And Round’ as part of Pearcy’s set. Instead, they did Judas Priest’s ‘Heading Out To The Highway’ and Aerosmith’s ‘Draw The Line’, Pearcy delivering the goods on the vocals for both songs and showing that he still has the magic touch. His solo shows, as Metal Assault discovered earlier this year, are undoubtedly enjoyable and worth the money, and this was just a small taste of it.
It was back to heavy metal next, as LA metal supergroup Attika 7 featuring Evan Seinfeld (Biohazard) on vocals took the stage. Attika 7 played Mayhem Fest 2013 and failed to create an impression on that occasion, but this time they were far better and stronger in their performance, and even though this style of ‘tough guy metal’ is rather played out and overdone, there is definitely still a large fanbase for it, fortunately or unfortunately. Attika 7 cater directly to this fan base and do a fine job at it.
Another contrasting shift in musical style followed, but a well-received one at that, plus the pattern of LA-based bands was also broken with this next act. Portland, Oregon’s Prince tribute band Erotic City took the stage for an absolutely brilliant three-song set which included limitlessly enjoyable renditions of ‘1999’ and ‘Purple Rain’. If Prince was watching and listening, he’d be extremely proud and impressed by what he’d have witnessed, as Erotic City left no stone unturned in paying a fitting tribute to the recently fallen legend, both with their musicianship and visual presentation. Prince’s music is above and beyond any genre limitations and categorizations, and just about every music lover can enjoy it. This much was clear from the audience’s roaringly positive response to Erotic City. ‘Purple Rain’ was overwhelming in every sense of the word, and even though it was not, it rightfully should have been the final musical segment of the evening, as nothing could possibly top that. Erotic City emerged triumphant and were the standout highlight of the evening. The event wasn’t over yet, and there were a few more jams, some Hendrix blues fronted by Dug Pinnick, and a Guns N’ Roses cover set by the house band to end the night.
Overall, this ‘Ultimate Band Night’ was very well organized and executed, and at least from this writer’s perspective, came across as a far more appreciable and respectable event in comparison to the regular all-star jams, as it gave these bands a chance to shine in the spotlight. With the city’s most high-profile media and a large crowd of rockers and metalheads in attendance, the bands were able to showcase themselves on a great platform. Because of the location of the venue and the glamorous nature of the event, detractors often ridicule it for attracting the so-called ‘poser’ crowd, but upon actually attending you’ll discover that the reality is in fact quite the opposite. It’s a free show, and yes, the casual fans do come in, but only genuine music lovers go the distance and last till the end of the night. Ultimate Jam Night #66 was no different in this regard, and the late survivors were specially grateful as they were rewarded with some high-quality musicianship towards the end.
All in all, a very successful ‘Ultimate Band Night’ by the UJN crew, which will hopefully lead to more such events spotlighting bands.
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