Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

Review by Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Carsten Steinhausen] 

April 24th 2014, House Of Blues Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: In recent years, the team of Brian Tichy and Joe Sutton have developed a great tradition of organizing all-star events to pay tribute to rock legends like John Henry Bonham and Randy Rhoads, and continuing on in the series of such events, they put together a tribute to John Entwisle and Keith Moon of The Who, affectionately known as ‘The Ox’ and ‘The Loon’ respectively. It took place at the House Of Blues Sunset Strip last night, and promised attendees a show featuring a truly star-studded lineup of tremendous musicians. Continue reading “All-Star Ensemble Pays Glorious Tribute To ‘The Ox’ & ‘The Loon’”

Review by Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Matt Nielson] 

April 23rd 2014, Club Nokia, Los Angeles CA: Bringing together the who’s who of hard rock and heavy metal for the sixth year in a row, the Revolver Golden Gods event returned to its usual venue at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles last night, promising an artist lineup bigger and better than ever before, and it came at a much higher price of a minimum of $85 for the paying audience as compared to the 2013 edition which carried a $50 and upwards price tag. I was denied press credentials for this event, and there was honestly no way I was about to drop $85 to see this show but at around 1:30 PM yesterday, premier LA record store Amoeba Music tweeted about a ticket giveaway. Continue reading “6th Annual Revolver Golden Gods Event Takes Place At Club Nokia”

Review by Darshun
[Photos by Matt Nielson] 

April 22nd 2014, Fonda Theatre, Hollywood CA: Following the postponement of their US tour originally scheduled for September-October last year, British industrial metal veterans Godflesh announced the rescheduled dates and were finally at able to make it here, to play a headline show at the Fonda Theatre in the heart of Hollywood with opening acts Cut Hands. House Of Low Culture and La Fin Absolute Du Monde. Our writer Darshun and photographer Matt Nielson were on-site to cover the show for us.  Continue reading “Godflesh Headlines The Fonda”

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

April 22nd 2014, The Satellite, Los Angeles CA: Detroit-based proto-punk cult legends Death began their journey when three brothers Bobby, David and Dannis Hackney started the band as an R&B group in 1971, before switching to punk-driven rock ‘n roll. Unfortunately, their initial rise between 1971 and ’76 was followed by a long period of inactivity, but about five years ago, their early demos resurfaced as official releases by Drag City Records and the band was resurrected with guitarist Bobbie Duncan replacing David Hackney who died of lung cancer in 2000. Last year’s documentary film ‘A Band Called Death’ encapsulated their history and took them into further prominence, and their third archival album ‘Death III’ was released by Drag City yesterday April 22 2014. To celebrate its release, the band held a special event at the Satellite to coincide with the date. Continue reading “The Satellite Hosts Evening With Proto-Punk Veterans Death”

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

April 21st 2014, House Of Blues Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: Having started out as Danger Kitty and then changing to call themselves Metal Shop, Metal Skool and finally in 2008 arriving at a name that would stick, Steel Panther have been reigning supreme on the Sunset Strip in the West Hollywood area of Los Angeles for the past 14 years. Initially only a parody/comedy live metal act, they began writing their own music and once they started releasing studio albums, their fame and popularity outgrew the Strip and they went on to become an internationally touring band. But despite their overwhelming success, they still kept returning to Los Angeles to play a handful of residency shows at the House Of Blues, their home for the past three-and-a-half years. But they kept garnering a larger fan base elsewhere, and the number of residency shows kept decreasing. This month, they announced a ‘threesome’ of shows, the last of which took place last night, but no one in attendance could have perhaps anticipated it to be the final residency show Steel Panther would ever play on the Sunset Strip. Continue reading “Steel Panther Say Final Goodbye To Sunset Strip Residency”

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

April 21st 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Season 3 of AXS TV’s “World’s Greatest Tribute Bands” series of live broadcasts found its home at the Whisky-A-Go-Go and treated LA locals and national television-viewing audiences with some mighty fine tribute acts, not only from Los Angeles but from various other parts of the country as well. To bring the season to an aptly emphatic finish, Cleveland, Ohio-based KISS tribute band Mr. Speed descended upon the Sunset Strip. There was much fanfare and anticipation surrounding the event, as Los Angeles’ KISS army lined up early outside the venue, and a face-paint artist did rounds to get this crowd ready for the show. The ‘LA KISS’ girls also donned the red carpet to take photos with fans. It was truly a festive atmosphere, very much symbolic of a KISS-related event, and all was in readiness for AXS TV and host Katie Daryl to give their audience nationwide one more final hour of live music entertainment this season. Continue reading “AXS TV “World’s Greatest Tribute Bands” Season 3 Ends With Mr. Speed’s KISS Tribute”