By Lisa Burke
April 29th 2016, The Dragonfly, Los Angeles CA: The Dragonfly in Hollywood has been around for many years, hosting special events including rock ‘n roll and metal shows on occasion, and on Friday April 29th I attended a special night of a rock ‘n roll birthday party California Kegger event hosted by Cleo Antonelli. The bands on the line up this evening were headliners Nightmare, with support from Carrera, Rattlehead, Void Vator and Dioxide.
If you are wondering how to get people to show up early for a rock show to see all the bands, a newly proven way is to offer up an open bar from 9-10 PM and before and after offer less than $20 all you can drink beer kegs, as there was on this night. It was definitely taken advantage of, but hopefully and seemingly with no harm done, and it got the crowd in a happy-go-lucky mood to set off what was to be a fun, adventurous evening. There was a second room set up next to the stage room for two DJs to play all night, yet it was sectioned off in a way that it wasn’t super obvious that they were in there working their asses off providing great rock and metal tunes. It was announced later where they were holding down the fort which in turn sort of worked with the night afterwards, but I think given the space, the DJs would have been better off in the main room between band sets or out on the patio all night if that were possible. Regardless, it was a fun night and an experiment for future nights to come.
Dioxide was the first band to take the stage, and they are at this moment a duo with only a guitarist and a drummer which focuses on experimental rock. They had some potential and fun moments, and if you weren’t interested in hearing that full rounded-out highs and lows sound of a ‘normal’ rock band then maybe you enjoyed it. I personally just wished they turned it more straight rock ‘n roll with bass player and all, and less experimental harshness, and from the audience reaction I believe most were in agreement. It was also a bit of an odd fit with the bands to come that were all very popular local rock and metal bands that have a pretty decent reputation in the LA rock and metal scene.
After ‘two fisting your free booze’ hour was over, rock ‘n roll locals Void Vator took the stage. The sound minus a technical difficulty or two was working in their favor and these guys are no joke in terms of skill and talent. They have a similar style to that of Soundgarden with a slightly more complex and modern rock ‘n roll and heavy metal sound overall. The singing is pleasant and while it’s no Chris Cornell it has its own style and fits in perfectly with the music. The dueling and complementary antics between the two guitars is a unique touch and probably where the strength lies in this group. They have gone through a few lineup changes in the past and while the newest members on drums and bass seem to be an odd fit from first glance, particularly with the bass player’s All That Remains shirt that I couldn’t stop staring at because it was so out of place, they still were up to par and seemed excited to be there. Basically they have a solid ground established and I respond to the heavier songs the most, and the backing vocals are a bonus as well. If this band became the Lucas Kanopa versus Erik Kluiber show I would find that exciting because I believe these two work well together, and the two styles meshing and playing off one another gives them an exiting and unique flavor.
My personal favorite draw of the evening was grind and thrash metal band Rattlehead who has also gone through a recent lineup change with their bass player. He happened to fit right in and mesh with the rest of the guys in just the right way. Lead singer and guitarist Nick Baranov has been the mastermind behind this band for years and they always put on a great live show. Guitarist Francis Ausley also kicks ass on the grind and shred with his unique style of playing. They are reminiscent of early Metallica but not in a copying way and if I’d never heard Metallica these guys would be off the chain in the over-the-top ‘stand out in a crowd’ department. The singer’s stage presence and passion always gets the room excited for more, and the fast and furious drumming accelerates the vibe of the crowd to the appropriate level of headbanging. The lyrics are fun, the vocals are pure metal, and the grind is non-stop and light-hearted yet brutal fun. I am always left wanting more from them after every show, and I’m excited to see them continue on to make new tunes and play more awesome shows with more awesome bands in the immediate future.
On to the sleeziest moment of the night, Ruby Carrera‘s band Carrera took the stage with his most recent singer Wendy Groovella who appears to have the ability to kick anyone’s ass with one punch or one verse, depending on your preference. In other words, she’s tough as nails with a heart of gold and commanded the stage well, despite having her work cut out for her in terms of holding up to the level of the previous singer who I really enjoyed. Ruby, of course, still carries that stamina and passion he must have had at sixteen years old and never misses a lick despite all the chaos of the ‘booty dancer girls’ with X-ed out nipples shaking booty and dripping chocolate sauce on themselves that is going on all around him. This is sleaze rock at its finest and never a dull moment with the fun catchy jams that are interspersed with sex appeal. It’s a party from start to finish with skill and talent to boot.
Finally, after much dancing and chaos only to be topped by more dancing and chaos, Alice Cooper tribute band Nightmare takes the stage with the best lineup I’ve ever seen Nick Fucco have in all the years I’ve seen him play. The amount of added dancing, chaos, and spectacle that happens on stage during his shows alone are enough to make any band have a rough time keeping the sound together, but I must say these guys do it with ease and they’ve really brought new life into the popular Alice Cooper songs such as ‘Feed By Frankenstein’, ‘Poison’ and ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ which are always my favorites. They do the tradition that Steel Panther is popular for where they pull girls on stage to dance, and I’m always happy to let my inner rockstar out and be one of these girls. Chris Declercq plays some really fun and technically sound guitar and adds some crazy fun into the solos that I really enjoy, not to mention he’s been seen licking his guitar which clearly makes the playing better. Of course it also helps the effect that the singer fits the spitting image of Alice Cooper himself and he brings on Frankenstein to dance and wears a straight jacket at one point, gets the electric chair, and ends up in a coffin at another point. They are a great band to end the night with at these type of shows because the total chaos that ensues can only come from an Alice Cooper tribute band.
I’m not sure this Dragonfly shindig is going to be a regular occurrence or not, but I do know that it is one of the few remaining intimate live venue spaces in Hollywood that we have left, and I would love to see more rock and metal bands take place here, so let’s all do our part to ensure this can happen. I would also like to see what long time Los Angeles promoter Cleo Antonelli has up his sleeve next, so stay tuned.
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