Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

By Lisa Burke

March 3rd 2017, West Hollywood CA: The Sunset Strip in West Hollywood practically gave birth to quite a few glam metal bands of the early 1980s origin, and for some it is still the glue keeping them a fixed entity among the rock n’ roll community. LA Guns has quite the history in this scene, and with many line up changes including Axl Rose and Jizzy Pearl for stints with this band along with two active line ups using the L.A. Guns name at one point, the tale becomes quite shy of boring. On Friday March 3rd 2017 I attended the first of two nights on the strip with L.A. Guns for the kickoff of the tour featuring both Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis once again headlining in pre-support of their collaborative album ‘The Missing Peace’ due out in June 2017. Both of these nights also featured direct support act The Aviators from Bakersfield, CA. While there are usually a hodgepodge of openers in a line up like this ranging from out of place to not very skilled to surprisingly well executed and interesting, the focus of this review is on the two main acts. Continue reading “Alive Again: Phil Lewis & Tracii Guns’ L.A. Guns play Sold-Out Hometown Show”

By Lisa Burke

February 25th 2017, The El Rey, Los Angeles CA: Sometimes falling outside of your comfort zone is good for the soul, and when it comes to attending heavy metal shows on a Saturday night, Richard Cheese is not usually at the top of anyone’s list. It is however worthy of attendance and a discussion because the art of manipulation is quite a fascinating agenda, and this man can make any song of any era worthy of at least a non-stop minuscule chuckle. On Saturday February 25th 2017 at the El Rey, I had my first taste of the cheesiest band around featuring none other than headliner Richard Cheese doing his Lounge Against The Machine act along with support from The Lucky Stars and a very strange “non-couple” duo named The Lampshades. Continue reading “Lounging Against the Machine: Richard Cheese Performs at the El Rey”

Photos by Chris Brody

February 25th 2017, Sapphire Palace, Blue Lake CA: San Francisco CA all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band Zepparella wowed us when they played the Roxy two years ago, and have been on our radar ever since as one of the most graceful yet powerful Zeppelin tribute acts in existence. Having founded this band in 2004, these four ladies, Noelle Doughty (vocals), Gretchen Menn (guitar), Angeline Saris (bass) and Clementine (drums) are well-versed in the craft of Zeppelin worship, and indeed in keeping the Zep alive. Last Saturday, they played a show at Sapphire Palace in Blue Lake CA, and our photographer Chris Brody was in attendance to capture the show through his lens. Check out the images below. Continue reading “Photo Gallery: Zepparella @ Sapphire Palace, Blue Lake CA”

By Andrew Bansal

February 25th 2017, City National Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim CA: New Jersey thrash veterans Overkill released their 18th full-length studio album ‘The Grinding Wheel’ on February 10th, an album that,both in its title and musicianship, epitomizes the relentless consistency of this band. Even though Overkill is one band that never broke up or faded away, the 2010 release ‘Ironbound’ was their return to form in many ways, and through subsequent albums ‘The Electric Age’, ‘White Devil Armory’ and now ‘The Grinding Wheel’, they haven’t looked back ever since, only moving forward with each creative step. During the last 7 years they have also toured actively, doing full justice to material old and new with unwaveringly fantastic performances on stages worldwide. Currently, the band is on North American headline tour in support of the latest album, and played the Grove of Anaheim last night. Continue reading “The Grinding Thrash Wheel: Overkill make Triumphant Return to Grove of Anaheim”

By Lisa Burke

February 24th 2017, Troubadour, West Hollywood CA: Variety is the spice of life and when it seems that too many venue doors are closing in our faces as of late, it is refreshing to see some smaller shows happening at larger venues at least. On Friday February 24th 2017, I visited the Troubadour to attend a show with headliner Legal Tender, with support by The Deaf Pilots, Fallen Suns, and Gutteral Riot. The Troubadour is a great space and stage, and in my opinion it needs more heavy metal shows. This night was quite the odd line up mix actually, but Fallen Suns and Legal Tender were both compatible as well as capable. Continue reading “Locals Only: Legal Tender, Fallen Suns rock Troubadour”

By Lisa Burke

February 22nd 2017, The Roxy, West Hollywood CA: How do you make sure you are having the best time of your heavy metal life? Well, thanks to Church Of The 8th Day, you can start by attending two European fronted black metal shows within a week’s time. It had been a fair amount of time since the last time I attended a show at the Roxy in West Hollywood, and on February 22nd 2017, I made my return appearance for Archgoat with support from Valkyrja, Hellfire Deathcult, and Volahn. Continue reading “Black Metal Apocalypse: Archgoat, Valkyrja, Hellfire Deathcult & Volahn perform at The Roxy”