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By Avinash Mittur

June 1st, 2012, Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA: Van Halen is one of the few bands that I can genuinely say had a significant influence on my life. Van Halen I was the first rock album I ever bought, and listening to the album for the first time was a life changing experience. It wasn’t just that Eddie Van Halen’s playing was amazing, or that David Lee Roth’s vocals were so over the top, it was that the songs were so mindnumbingly catchy. It’s still one of my all time favorite albums. A year after buying that album, I was fortunate enough to see Van Halen on their first reunion tour with David Lee Roth. It was the third concert that I ever attended, and it was an great show by any standard. In the four years since that show, my musical tastes have grown and changed, but my love for heavy rock music has remained the same. Last night at the Staples Center, Van Halen once again delivered a fantastic show that is sure to have pleased their fans, both hardcore and casual. Continue reading “Van Halen Gives Hometown Audience A Stunning Show”

By Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal

May 26th 2012, Clarks Exotica, Bangalore, India:  The buildup and countdown to Lamb Of God’s second performance in the Indian city of Bangalore finally came to an end. Unlike their 2010 show, this one took place at Clarks Exotica, an open-air venue near Bangalore International Airport. The support acts for the show were Skyharbor from Delhi, Bhayanak Maut from Mumbai, and Escher’s Knot from Bangalore. The last time I saw Lamb Of God as a headline act was at the Hollywood Palladium in 2009, just after “Wrath” was released. The opportunity to see a Lamb Of God headline set again, coupled with my curiosity towards the Indian support bands made this event an exciting prospect. Continue reading “Lamb Of God Makes Triumphant Return To India”

By Avinash Mittur

May 5th 2012, House Of Blues, Hollywood CA: It’s been three long years since Meshuggah have toured the United States. In those three years, the band’s massive influence on modern metal has truly become apparent. The so-called “djent” bands have taken Meshuggah’s heavily downtuned riffs and ludicrous time signatures in whole new directions in the last couple of years, but the original article has yet to be topped. Last night, Meshuggah proved this notion with a stellar set, and gave the House of Blues a fun Saturday night with more than able support from Decapitated and Baroness. Continue reading “The Ophidian Trek Gives Hollywood A Memorable Cinco De Mayo”

By Elena Whidden

May 3rd 2012, Club Nokia, Los Angeles CA: The last time I saw Overkill was back in 2007 in their home state of New Jersey, where they annihilated a die-hard crowd of east-coast fans. Because of this, I’d say I brought some pretty high expectations to Thursday’s show, but Overkill lived up to them one hundred and ten percent, and as I walked back to my car I couldn’t help but feel a little sad thinking that they had a whole tour to finish before they might be back.

This show was one of a number of stops the band will make in support of their sixteenth studio release, The Electric Age, which dropped in March. Downtown L.A.’s Club Nokia hosted them, and the most striking thing about this venue was that it was practically empty. The entire upper gallery of seats was closed because, as I heard the man in the box office tell some fellow concert-goes, not enough tickets had been purchased. If I had to make a guess, I’d say the lack of online sales was due to the high price of tickets, originally around $60 for pit on the internet. They were reduced at the door, where my friend purchased hers for $30. Although the choice of a larger venue more than likely pushed up the price of tickets and precluded a lot of people from attending the show, it did wonders for the way the concert sounded.The mixing for all the bands was really professional, and each instrument sounded incredibly clear as the music resonated through the large space of the club; this was something I really appreciated, since sound quality can often be lacking in the smaller venues. Continue reading “Overkill’s Electric Age Tour Visits Downtown Los Angeles”

By Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal

April 15th 2012, United 21, Thane, India: After two interesting outings in Chennai and Bangalore, horror-themed traditional heavy metal band Albatross brought “The Kissing Flies” EP launch tour to their hometown of Thane. This gig, christened Wither 2012, also featured Workshop, Cosmic Infusion and Varcas, along with Providence, a last-minute fill-in for Pillbox 666 who had to withdraw from the gig due to unfortunate circumstances. Because of Pillbox 666’s withdrawal, this became an all-Mumbai lineup, and gave me a chance to get my first proper taste of the city’s metal scene.

Continue reading “Albatross Puts On Stellar Hometown Gig”

By Avinash Mittur

April 13th 2012, The Troubadour, Los Angeles CA: The Melvins is a band that I have consistently taken for granted when it comes to their live performances. This band has been on tour nearly non-stop over the past few years, and I couldn’t even count the number of times they have stopped by my area. For the first time, I finally took the chance to see the band live, and I was certainly not disappointed. This may not have been a mind blowing concert to end all concerts, but it was a good deal of fun, and it was certainly worth the twenty dollars most people paid for their ticket.

One thing I immediately loved about this show was the short bill. Where far too many metal concerts attempt to attract more fans with wildly different acts on one bill, this show truly succeeded because of its small number of bands, only Unsane and the Melvins. The fact that show was sold out weeks in advance is even more evidence that this concert didn’t need a ludicrously large lineup in order to get people in the door. Continue reading “The Melvins Attack Troubadour With High Decibel Barrage”