Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

July 14th 2014, City National Grove Of Anaheim, Anaheim CA: Celebrating the release of his 14th studio album ‘Shut Up & Jam!’, his first set of original material since the 2007 effort ‘Love Grenade’, perennial American rocker Ted Nugent is currently on an extensive US headline run to present some of these new tunes along with an assortment of some of his most loved classics and a few deeper cuts thrown in the mix. The City National Grove Of Anaheim is very much familiar territory for Uncle Ted, but this year Anaheim got treated to a double dosage of the Ted Nugent experience as he played two back-to-back shows, the second of which took place last night. Continue reading “Ted Nugent Rocks The Grove Of Anaheim”

Review by Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Brad Worsham]

July 13th 2014, House Of Blues, Anaheim CA: Hailing from New York City, Helmet have been around since 1989 and enjoy a worldwide fan-following through a discography that features seven compelling studio albums to go with great live performances to present these tunes to the masses. Led by mastermind Page Hamilton on vocals and guitar, Helmet’s last studio effort ‘Seeing Eye Dog’ came in 2010 but currently they’re out on the road in the US with Filter and Local H on ‘The Anti-Folk Revival Tour In Drop-D’. Helmet have announced a full-on 20th anniversary celebration of their third studio album ‘Betty’ by the promise of playing it in its entirety on a two-month Europe tour later this year, and as a precursor to it, they also played the Betty album as a one-off for a headline show at the Viper Room in West Hollywood on July 11th (although a second ‘Betty’ US show has been subsequently added, at Reggie’s in Chicago IL on August 16th). Two nights later, they performed a much different set at the House Of Blues Anaheim in Downtown Disney as main support to Filter. Continue reading “Helmet Plays At House Of Blues Anaheim”

By Andrew Bansal

July 11th 2014, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: Los Angeles thrash quartet Brain Dead have been hard at work in the local scene of late. Earlier this year they released their debut full-length album ‘Indoctrinator’, produced by the legendary Bill Metoyer, and have been playing shows regularly at various venues in and around LA. They took the stage at Loaded Hollywood on Friday July 11th as part of a show put together by Lara Gladstone, and did what they do best. Continue reading “Brain Dead Thrashes Loaded Hollywood”

By Andrew Bansal

July 11th 2014, The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA: San Francisco Bay Area based rock/metal trio Black Map recently concluded an 8-show US West Coast touring run as main support to Chevelle, including a gig at a packed Wiltern Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Friday July 11th. This was the first ever tour for the new band comprising of Mark Engles (Dredg) on guitar, Chris Robyn (Far) on drums and Ben Flanagan (Dredg) on vocals and bass, and their dynamic musicianship had the potential to garner a new set of fans amongst those in attendance primarily here for Chevelle. Continue reading “Black Map Performs At The Wiltern”

By Avinash Mittur

July 12th 2014, 333 Live, Los Angeles CA: Grindcore: to the average music fan, it’s a cacophony. A spastic burst of noisy chaos, something that no one would ever want to intentionally create. To the late Jesse Pintado, the sound he called “grindcore” was exactly what he sought to invent. To him, the music wasn’t merely noise and sonic havoc. It was art. For the second year in a row, Los Angeles’ underground metal scene came together to honor the fallen Pintado on his birthday with a festival monolithically entitled Grindcore 2014. It would prove to be a phenomenal celebration, one that overcame a few issues and detriments. Music talked, and the bullshit walked. Continue reading “Grindcore 2014 Takes Place In Downtown LA”

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

July 10th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Coming to the end of a four-week US tour, Japanese eclectic experimental band Man With A Mission played a headline show at the Whisky-A-Go-Go in West Hollywood last night, a little over eight months after they performed at the Roxy a few paces down the street. With just one opening act, this was event was of a rare and unusual kind for a place like the Whisky, and it was exclusively occupied by Man With A Mission’s loyal fans who had turned up in large numbers to support them. At 10 PM, the lights went out and the band members arrived on stage amidst palpable excitement and anticipation. Continue reading “Man With A Mission Headlines The Whisky”