Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

By Andrew Bansal

September 18th 2014, Segerstrom Center For The Arts, Costa Mesa CA: A highly influential figure in the world of progressive rock, British singer and multi-instrumentalist and conceptualist Ian Anderson is best known for his work with Jethro Tull, but aside from that he’s also pursued a solo career that has spanned more than three decades. His sixth solo studio album ‘Homo Erraticus’, a concept album that follows the life of fictional character Gerald Bostock, much like Jethro Tull’s ‘Thick As A Brick’ (1972) and Anderson’s own ‘Thick As A Brick 2’ (2012), was released in April 2014 via KScope Music. He embarked on a two-month US tour last week to perform this new album in its entirety, along with a full set of Jethro Tull selections. The tour arrived in Southern California last night for a gig at the lovely Segerstrom Center For The Arts in Costa Mesa. Continue reading “Ian Anderson Plays ‘Homo Erraticus’ + Best Of Jethro Tull In Costa Mesa”

Photos & videos by Matt Nielson

September 17th 2014, The Fairplex, Pomona CA: The 2014 edition of the annual LA County Fair is currently being held at the Fairplex in Pomona and is bringing the summer to an end with a rich range of festivities, which as always include a series of concerts. The rock ‘n roll offerings on the concert lineup most notably features four shows, with Styx having already played on September 12th, and Heart (9/26) and Earth, Wind & Fire (9/28) set to bring the fair to a grand finish in its final week. But last Wednesday, it was the turn of Cheap Trick and Kansas to rock the fair crowd with performances that gave their respective fan bases as well as the general audience plenty to cheer about. Our man Matt Nielson was in attendance to capture some photos and video footage for us. Continue reading “Cheap Trick & Kansas Perform At LA County Fair”

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

September 16th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: AXS TV and host Katie Daryl have returned with Season 4 of their World’s Greatest Tribute Bands series, and after kicking off the new season last week, they featured longstanding Def Leppard tribute act Pyromania for episode 2 last night, at Whisky-A-Go-Go, the same venue as the last season but at a new time slot of Tuesday 7 PM Pacific. Based out of Huntington Beach CA, Pyromania have been doing their tribute shows for 12 years now, and they performed here in a lively environment typical of these AXS tribute events. As for me, more than anything, after seeing Def Leppard last July and being largely unimpressed with their set list, I was curious to find out whether the tribute band delved a little deeper into the Def Leppard discography. Continue reading “Pyromania Performs On AXS TV’s “World’s Greatest Tribute Bands””

Review by Andrew Bansal
[Photo by Taylor Younani] 

September 15th 2014, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hollywood CA: Atlanta, Georgia’s stoner/sludge/progressive metal heavyweights Mastodon released their sixth studio album ‘Once More ‘Round The Sun’ via Reprise Records/Warner Music last June, and following a European tour to coincide with the release, they embarked on a short run of US festival dates in Raleigh, Chicago and Sacramento and landed in Los Angeles yesterday for an appearance on ABC’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, presenting material from this new album which debuted at #6 on the Billboard chart. Free tickets to this outdoor mini-concert were snagged up almost instantly when they were first made available two weeks ago, and fans lined up in searing heat to get a small taste of the Mastodon live experience and to witness the LA performance debut of their new material. There was a whole lot more to this gig than the mere two songs you saw on TV last night, so here’s a review with a more detailed glimpse into what transpired at this event. Continue reading “Mastodon Plays 40-Minute Outdoor Mini Concert In Hollywood”

By Andrew Bansal

September 14th 2014, Complex, Glendale CA: Coming towards the end of their month-long summer touring run, San Diego-based pirate-themed folk rock/metal group The Dread Crew Of Oddwood played a headline show at Complex in Glendale last night, with local support from Los Angeles melodic extreme metal six-piece band Sirion and Menifee CA’s pagan metal outfit Helsott, for a show put together by Daniel Dismal and Church Of The 8th Day. I’d never before witnessed The Dread Crew live but having heard plenty of interestingly positive things about them I was very much curious for my first experience of them here, and Sirion and Helsott, bands I’ve known and admired for the past few years, provided two more great reasons to attend this show, even though it turned out to be quite the ordeal for all involved. Continue reading “The Dread Crew Of Oddwood, Sirion & Helsott Battle The Heat In Glendale”

By Jason Williams

September 13th 2014, OC Music Hall, Anaheim CA: After its inaugural edition at the Mirror Image Studios in Anaheim, CA with Cattle Decapitation and Disgorge headlining the bill last year, the second annual OC Death Fest was held at the OC Music Hall last Saturday, with LA’s progessive death metal group Syrebris being the only returning band from last year’s lineup and many new bands including Inanimate Existence, Infinite Death and more. I was intrigued, especially as I’d actually heard only a handful of the bands on this lineup. Headlining this year were tech death veterans The Faceless, as well as the “supergroup” Murder Construct, having members from well established bands such as Cattle Decapitation, Impaled and Phobia. This was to be a truly exciting extreme music festival taking place at The Music Hall in Anaheim, CA, a new place for metal shows as of late. There were to be some challenges and obstacles on this day, as temperatures across Southern California were to be well in over the 100s. I stood ground, with the rest of the music goers, and ventured onward for a day of extreme metal music. Continue reading “OC Death Fest Burns Bright In Orange County”