January 22nd 2017, City National Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim CA: After great success in Europe through 2016, original Accept singer Udo Dirkschneider‘s ‘Back to the Roots – Farewell to Accept’ tour has finally come to North America this winter. Performing a two-hour set of all Accept material for one final time and touring under the ‘Dirkschneider’ name instead of the usual ‘U.D.O.’, the metal great and his cohorts arrived at the City National Grove of Anaheim last Sunday January 22nd 2017. Continue reading “Classic Metal Heaven: Udo Dirkschneider turns back clock with All-Accept Set”
January 21st 2017, Whitter Community Theatre, Whittier CA: A mainstay in the world of progressive rock/metal through his exploits in bands like Spock’s Beard, Transatlantic, Yellow Matter Custard and Flying Colors, Nashville, Tennessee based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse started his solo career with the eponymous ’99 album, and eight solo albums and 16 years later, formed the Neal Morse Band (hereby referred to as NMB). This band has already released two full-length albums, ‘The Grand Experiment’ (2015) and ‘The Similitude of a Dream’ (2016). Featuring in its ranks prog rock greats such as Mike Portnoy (drums) and Randy George (bass), NMB set out for a North American tour in January 2017 to perform the latest album in its entirety, with no opening acts in an “evening with” format. They visited Southern California for a sold-out show at the Whittier Community Theatre, and prog fans in the area gathered in large numbers in anticipation of a spectacular evening in a very intimate setting. Continue reading “Prog Spectacle: Neal Morse Band plays Sold-Out Show in Whittier”
January 21st 2017, Los Angeles CA: I’m 42 years old and I’ve achieved a personal trifecta. I’m attending, shooting and reviewing my first backyard metal show. This is not the typical “your uncle’s ’80s cover band” type of show. This is a grind show… in Los Angeles. The kind you hear about a week or so after it’s passed and you think to yourself, “Fuck! How did I miss that?” Continue reading “Backyard Pornogrind: Goremonger, Pop A Squat and others play Los Angeles gig”
January 20th 2017, Brick by Brick, San Diego CA: On yet another cold and rainy night, I was driving to the show listening to Racer X, thinking to myself, “There’s going to be nothing but musicians and primarily guitar players in the room.” I arrived, and I pretty much hit the nail on the head. There was a very solid turn out at Brick by Brick, which is a medium-sized room in San Diego, to see guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert, who stopped here on a short run of shows in support of his latest solo album ‘I Can Destroy’. Points North and RDG were regional/local openers for this event. I ran into several guitar players I knew and we talked shop waiting for the music to start up. Continue reading “Technical Ecstasies: Paul Gilbert enthralls San Diego”
Billy Sheehan & Phil Demmel jamming together for Metal Allegiance
January 20th 2017, City National Grove of Anaheim, Anaheim CA: Formed in 2014 primarily as an all-star cover band, Metal Allegiance, led by bassist and songwriter Mark Menghi, went on to release their self-titled debut album of all original material in 2015, featuring the core lineup of Menghi, Alex Skolnick (guitar), David Ellefson (bass) and Mike Portnoy (drums), with guest appearances on vocals as well as additional guitars and bass by the who’s who of heavy metal. The live shows continued to be a mix of original and cover tunes. In 2016, the band released a three-song covers EP ‘Fallen Heroes’, as a tribute to some of their favorite musicians. Extending this very theme, Metal Allegiance performed at the Grove of Anaheim last night, treating attendees to quite the star-studded ensemble of splendid musicians. Continue reading “A Fitting Tribute and more: Metal Allegiance, Marty Friedman, Gus G rock Grove of Anaheim”
January 17th 2017, The Roxy, West Hollywood CA: One of metal’s greatest privileges is to get to hear the first influences within the genre, whether it be the fierce, classic, thrash riffing from the Big Four, Emperor’s symphonic black metal wall of sound, or Suffocation’s pioneer brutal technical death metal genre, we’re truly fortunate to bare witness to what makes metal universally unique and magical. No stranger to being a wide influence to metal, legendary Swedish death metal group Entombed introduced ‘Left Hand Path’ in 1990, bringing along a bombastic death metal attack with rapid vocal work, monstrous presence, and the classic buzzsaw-like rhythm guitar sound that leaves you paralyzed in awe. After the band parted ways in 2014, most of the members went on to form Entombed AD, splitting the two bands into Entombed and Entombed AD. Despite the potential confusion, I was extremely excited at the prospect of one of Sweden’s most influential metal bands in this new incarnation. On their current North American tour, they visited the Roxy, what’s becoming one of my favorite venues due to the great intimate setting as well as the impeccably quality sound every band seems to have there. Continue reading “Second to None: Entombed A.D., Full Of Hell, Turbid North & Teeth crush the Roxy”
