Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

By Andrew Bansal

June 24th 2013, House Of Blues, West Hollywood CA: In the past couple of months, the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip has been running dry as far as hard rock and heavy metal shows are concerned, and as a result, I hadn’t visited the venue in a while. But what better way to end that drought than with a Steel Panther Monday night residency? Following their travels abroad, the band is back in their hometown for a few weeks of Monday night shows at the venue, the kind of shows Steel Panther have been doing for more than a decade, shows that are hailed as legendary by fans and musicians alike. In December 2011, I saw the band open up for Guns N’ Roses at the Great Western Forum, and even though that was a very different set from them as compared to what they do here, I had a newfound appreciation for them. This being my first time seeing them since then, I was expecting to enjoy the ‘Steel Panther experience’ a lot more than I did in the past. Continue reading “Steel Panther At House Of Blues – Most Fun Show Of 2013 (So Far)”

By Avinash Mittur

June 22nd 2013, Thee Parkside, San Francisco CA: Once every now and again, you see a show that truly embodies a local sound and community to their fullest extents. On Saturday June 22nd, such a show happened. The location was Thee Parkside Bar & Grill in San Francisco, and the music was classic heavy metal, with its loving fans gathered en masse. For a mere $8, these jolly metalheads got to see three outstanding hometown acts: Hell Fire, My Victim and Midnight Chaser. More than any other show in recent memory, this one genuinely did justice to the spirit of Bay Area old school heavy metal. Flowing drinks, big smiles, loud riffs and a sense of togetherness that I haven’t felt in ages all coalesced into one of the most fun nights I have ever had in this weird city.  Continue reading “Saturday Night In San Francisco: An Evening Of High Energy Heavy Metal”

By Andrew Bansal
[Live photos by Carl Mahoney] 

June 22nd 2013, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Despite having closely followed the band ever since they released their self-titled debut album in 2009, all the way up to their second album release ‘The Right Thing’, I strangely never got the opportunity to see the band live. It was high time I changed that, and last night I sure did, as Owl took the stage at West Hollywood’s Viper Room for a hometown performance. Featuring in their ranks Chris Wyse, bassist for The Cult, along with LA-based multi-faceted guitarist Jason Achilles Mezilis and drummer supreme Dan Dinsmore, I’ve thought of Owl’s music as virtuosic in its own unique way, and it has always intrigued me as something different from what you would describe as ‘normal’ for heavy music. The latest album stands relatively truer to this statement than the first one, and I was about to find out whether Owl’s material, new and old, hold any juice in the live setting. Continue reading “Owl Enchants The Viper Room”

By Andrew Bansal

June 16th 2013, The Joint, Los Angeles CA: It had been a while since a good full-on extreme metal tour came to town, but Melechesh’s short two-week headline run with Norwegian black metal band Vreid and Los Angeles-based bands Lightning Swords Of Death and Reign Of Lies began at the Joint last night. By the looks of things, it promised to fulfill that extreme metal void for all fans of the genre in this city. The last time I saw Melechesh was in 2011 when they opened for Rotting Christ, I hadn’t seen Vried in almost two years since their gig with Kampfar at the Whisky, and strangely enough, this was going to be my first time seeing Lightning Swords Of Death in more than three years, having missed each and every one of their shows for a number of reasons since they opened for Immortal at the Avalon in early 2010. So for me this show had a lot riding on it, and my expectations were high but fair. Continue reading “Melechesh, Vreid & Lightning Swords Of Death Start North American Tour In Los Angeles”

By Andrew Bansal

June 15th 2013, The Vex, Los Angeles CA: After the long and tiring vigil in the hot sun for Hirax, it was time to cruise to the Vex all the way in east LA to go out all-out punk with this promisingly great lineup of bands put together by Poor Kids Radio, featuring the likes of M.D.C. and Ill Repute as the main acts along with Verbal Abuse, In Defence, Dissension, Yapo, Destroy LA and Psycotic Scum. I’ve seen a few metal shows at the Vex now and this was my first full-on punk show at this venue. From what I’d heard, it seems like a better setting for punk bands and punk crowds rather than for straight-up metal shows, but I was about to find that out first hand as I went into this show with a completely open mind with regards to what these bands were about to offer, and how the venue handled things this time. Continue reading “M.D.C. Headlines All-Punk Show At The Vex”

By Andrew Bansal

June 15th 2013, Century Media Records Parking Lot, Hawthorne CA: Veterans of the old-school metal guard Hirax, along with thrashers of a newer generation Bonded By Blood, took the stage in the Century Media Records parking lot yesterday for the label’s ‘Noize In The Hood’, a free event comprising of live performances by these two bands, some of the Century Media bands doing signings, and cheap CM merchandise for sale. When I first saw the announcement for this show, I thought to myself, ‘What better than a free Hirax show on a Saturday afternoon?’ It being a free of cost, all ages show, I was expecting a massive turnout and was certainly looking forward to seeing Hirax again for the first time since December 2011. I arrived at the venue at around 12.30 with great anticipation of a fun-filled Saturday afternoon metal show, not knowing what to expect but hoping for an enjoyable event. Continue reading “Hirax & Bonded By Blood Play Century Media’s ‘Noize In The Hood’ Event”