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By Tyler Crooks

May 23rd 2013, The Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA: It was a beautiful, sunshine filled day over Hollywood, CA, as Jeff Hanneman’s memorial at the Hollywood Palladium was set to take place. Upon arrival, it was noticed that the entry line was around 2 miles long; a truly incredible sight to behold, as everyone in line was there for one reason: to celebrate the life and legacy of Slayer’s late axeman, Jeff Hanneman. Continue reading “Jeff Hanneman Memorial Held At The Palladium”

By Andrew Bansal

May 21 2013, Whisky A Go Go, West Hollywood CA: Hookers & Blow, the LA-based hard rock cover band featuring Dizzy Reed of Guns ‘N Roses on vocals and keyboards along with Quiet Riot’s Alex Grossi on guitar, Matt Starr (Ace Frehley, Burning Rain) on drums and Chris Price (The King Mixers) on bass, are currently doing a month-long residency gig at the Whisky A Go Go. Called ‘Toxic Tuesdays’, the residency has brought them to the Whisky once a week, along with new guest musicians for every show. After playing shows on May 7th and 14th, the band was back for the 3rd show last night, and this being my best chance to catch them before the end of the residency, I decided to attend the show and check out how it goes. I arrived at the venue much too early, and after a long wait, all the opening acts were finally over and done with by 11 PM, clearing the stage for the headliners. Continue reading “Dizzy Reed-Fronted Hookers & Blow Perform On ‘Toxic Tuesday’ At The Whisky”

By Andrew Bansal

May 18th 2013, The Troubadour, West Hollywood CA: Following the release of their sophomore album ‘Meanderthal’, Miami/Gainsville based sludge outfit Torche underwent a lineup change and after a gap of four years, came out with a new album called ‘Harmonicraft’, released on the Volcom Entertainment label. They’ve been doing plenty of touring since the release, and currently they are on their own extended headline run across the United States. The trek made a stop at West Hollywood’s famous Troubadour last night, along with touring support band KEN Mode and one-off local opening act Totimoshi. Having never seen any of these bands before, I went into the show keeping an open mind, not knowing what to expect. For such a premise, the cozy Troubadour promised to be the perfect setting. Continue reading “Torche, KEN Mode & Totimoshi Perform At The Troubadour”

By Andrew Bansal

May 17th 2013, The Vex, Los Angeles CA: After headliners Hypocrisy and direct support act Aborted dropped off, this tour appeared to be in the doldrums. But, Brazilian death metal trio Krisiun decided to go ahead with the tour and took on the headliner spot, as Viriginia-based melodic tech death metal band Arsis became the main support act. The trek began on May 1st in New York and made its way to Los Angeles, visiting the Vex last night. The local promoters Church Of The 8th Day had made every effort to ensure that the turnout still remains strong by lowering the price of the tickets and allowing the pre-sale buyers to come in with a plus 1. I arrived at the venue at around 7, waiting to check out how these remaining touring bands and the three local openers would fare at this show, what the turnout would be like, and whether the Vex made any improvement in their much-maligned sound system. Continue reading “Krisiun Plays Headline Show At The Vex”

By Andrew Bansal
[Live photo by Vince Edwards]

May 16th 2013, The Observatory, Santa Ana CA: Death metal mainstays Cannibal Corpse have been an actively touring band in recent times, completing the Summer Slaughter run last year and following that with a short tour of their own. Now they’re back with another headline run, this time with Napalm Death and Immolation as support acts, along with the rotating opening slot going to Cretin for this part of the tour. The caravan arrived at the Observatory, formerly the Galaxy in Santa Ana. As a venue or a promoter you can never go wrong with a Cannibal Corpse show, and the proof of that was there for all to see. The box office window said ‘Cannibal Corpse is sold out’ at least an hour before the start of the show, even as a huge line of people was still hoping to score tickets to get in. Continue reading “Cannibal Corpse Decimates Orange County”

By Andrew Bansal

May 15th 2013, The Viper Room, Hollywood CA: Following the release of their sophomore full-length effort ‘Ride The Void’, Los Angeles’ very own metal warriors Holy Grail have been highly active on the road lately, finishing a successful run on the mighty Metal Alliance tour alongside the likes of Anthrax, Exodus, Municipal Waste and High On Fire. They will go on their own tour next month, but in the meanwhile they are enjoying their break in LA, turning up to perform a headline show or two, like they did last night at the Viper Room. As support acts, they had with them three fellow LA bands in doomsters Behold! The Monolith, death/thrash/punk outfit Gravehill and Cliff ‘Em All, a tribute to ’81-’86 Metallica. Being as heavily involved in the LA gig circuit as I am, I look forward to these all-LA shows probably more than anyone else. I got there at around 8.30 PM, and the stage looked set for a fabulous LA metal night. Continue reading “Holy Grail & Fellow Hometown Metal Bands Rock Viper Room”