By Andrew Bansal
August 13th 2016, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Southern California stoner rock giants Fu Manchu have been tremendously influential and have enjoyed a cult following over the three decades of their career thus far. Aside from 11 studio albums, they also have a long list of singles and EPs to their name, and are about to add further to it with the August 19 2016 release of the ‘Slow Ride’ 7″ single, featuring their take on the Foghat classic of the same name, and an original tune called ‘Future Transmitter’ as the B-side. But prior to the official street date, they played a special one-off headline show last Saturday August 13th in conjunction with the Viper Room’s 23rd anniversary celebrations, and put up the ‘Slow Ride’ single as well as shirts on sale exclusively for attendees of this show. The sole support act was Venomous Maximus, and the gig was sold out in advance, as ticket holders lined up outside the venue in anticipation of an eagerly awaited event that promised to be one for the ages.
With a mere two-band bill, the start time was much later than usual by Viper Room standards. Doors opened at 9 PM, Fu Manchu fans flocked to the merch table in the venue’s basement to grab the opportunity to buy exclusive merch, as the vinyl single as well as shirts were priced at only $10. With such cheap merch and tickets for headline shows coming at low prices ($13 for this show), Fu Manchu is very much a fan’s band and there is no wonder their fans have stayed loyal to the band through the years. With their purchases taken care of, attendees migrated up the stairs to get the best possible vantage point to watch the show from and proceeded to turn the Viper Room into a jam-packed congregation of stoner rock nerds.
At 10 o’ clock, the stage curtains drew apart and the show was ready to begin. Houston, Texas quartet Venomous Maximus had flown in to Los Angeles just to play this show, and despite having not performed on stage since April of this year, arrived here with unmistakable conviction and firepower, laying down the heavy riffs, sweet harmonies and tasty grooves through a six-song, 35-minute set. Using the Viper Room’s in-house drumkit and backline, Venomous Maximus played three songs off of their 2013 debut full-length ‘Beg Upon The Light’, one from their stellar 2015 album ‘Firewalker’, and as a special treat for their legion of dedicated LA fans, they also debuted two brand new unreleased tunes, ‘Spellbound’ and the title track of their next album ‘Return Of The Witch’. Enigmatic frontman Gregg Higgins was at his wildest best on vocals and guitar, and his effortless chemistry with guitarist Christian Larson has been the standout feature of this band, which is evident in the sound itself as well as in the live performance. Backed by the extremely efficient rhythm section of Trevi Biles on bass and Bongo on drums, Higgins and Larson made this a memorable Venomous Maximus set, albeit a rather short one.Heads in the crowd were banging hard, the applause getting louder with every song. The last time this band played in LA, they were the first out of four bands but completely upstaged High On Fire, Pallbearer and Lucifer all of whom came after them, and threatened to do the same even on this occasion. Had they played a longer set, they would have undoubtedly stolen the show from Fu Manchu. But as it turned out, Venomous Maximus served as the ideal warmup and departed the stage leaving attendees already awaiting the next album and their return to the LA area. Venomous Maximus ruled supreme, and for some in the crowd, were just as much of a reason to attend the show as the headliners themselves.
Venomous Maximus set list:
01. Path Of Doom
02. Moon Child
03. October 14th
04. Spellbound
05. Dream Again (Hellenbach)
06. Return Of The Witch
At 11:20, Fu Manchu hit the stage for a 75-minute set of tunes new, old and obscure, sending this Viper Room gathering into delirium, as folks that were already on their fourth or fifth overpriced drink were very much in the mood to cause mayhem. Crowd-surfing at this venue is no easy feat, but it happened quite a few times during Fu Manchu’s set. Ironically enough, as headbanger-friendly as Fu Manchu’s tunes are, the room was so packed that head-banging wasn’t really a possibility, and mosh pits ensued instead at regular intervals. It was all in good fun though, except for that one professional photographer who chose to use his flash the entire time with complete disregard for the performing artist as well as the audience. There is always one at every show, specially at venues like this.
But amidst all the chaos, Fu Manchu orchestrated a typically fantastic slab of straightforward stoner rock, starting out with fan favorite ‘King Of The Road’ and going from strength to strength with tunes such as ‘Boogie Van’, ‘Neptune’s Convoy’, ‘Dimension Shifter’, ‘Push Button Magic’ and the set-ending ‘Saturn III’, among others, in a 14-song performance. They also played both songs that feature on the impending new release, and their extra-slow, ultra-heavy rendition of Foghat’s ‘Slow Ride’ is quite possibly the best version of the song ever, definitely better than the original at the very least. Fu Manchu slowed it down so much that they should have perhaps called it ‘Slower Ride’. Individually and collectively, all four members of Fu Manchu are prominent figures in the stoner rock community, and were at the peak of their powers here, delivering their music with silken touch but maximum impact.
The general demographic at a Fu Manchu show is certainly unconventional, and for a stoner rock band, comprises a sizable section of fans that probably don’t follow heavy rock religiously and stay loyal only to Fu Manchu. But of course, the rockers, heshers and metalheads also dig Fu Manchu, as it would make no sense if they didn’t. With an unmatchable combination of simplicity, catchiness and heaviness, Fu Manchu is the epitome of stoner rock and will continue to sell out such shows with ease till the day they decide to stop. Much to the chagrin of the hipster underground, the Viper Room has proved itself to be an ideal setting for this style of heavy music, and made the apt choice of bands for its 23rd anniversary celebration. Here’s to many more great things from both Fu Manchu and Venomous Maximus, and many more stoner rock shows at the Viper Room.
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Fu Manchu set list:
01. King of the Road
02. Eatin’ Dust
03. Boogie Van
04. Neptune’s Convoy
05. Dimension Shifter
06. Laserbl’ast!
07. Future Transmitter
08. Push Button Magic
09. Written in Stone
10. Slow Ride (Foghat cover)
11. Cyclone Launch
12. Superbird
13. Squash That Fly
14. Saturn III