Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

Review by Lisa Burke, photos by Brad Worsham

September 24th-25th 2016, San Manuel Amphitheater, San Bernardino CA: In America we still have few and far between heavy metal festivals, though there are some that can compete with the famous European festivals such as Hellfest and Wacken. We have Maryland Deathfest, and now Psychofest, we also have metal cruises, and we’ve had Ozzfest for many past years followed by Knotfest. This year, Ozzfest and Knotfest joined forces calling themselves Ozzfest Meets Knotfest featuring a pre-party day plus a two-day festival at San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino from Friday, September 23rd to Sunday, September 25th 2016. Friday night featured headliner Armored Saint with support from Exmortus among others, while Saturday’s headliner was Black Sabbath, and Sunday of course was Slipknot. Putting on a festival like this takes plenty of pre-planning and dedication, and while I commend all involved for their efforts I feel the need to mention some pitfalls that should be noted and taken into consideration for future events. Continue reading “Dust N’ Tunes: An Images-And-Words Recap Of ‘Ozzfest Meets Knotfest’”

By Lisa Burke

September 23rd 2016, The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA: Sometimes rock and metal shows catch your eye last minute and you end up having an unplanned adventure, which is more often than not the best kind of adventure because expectations are usually left at home and atypical evenings incur. That said, go figure, I had one of these nights on Friday September 23rd 2016 at the Wiltern where I went to see British rock trio Band Of Skulls. They have been performing since 2004 under a different name until 2008 when the new title was born and life picked up its pace for them. Continue reading “Killer By Default: Band Of Skulls Rock The Wiltern”

By Lisa Burke

September 21st 2016, The Regent, Los Angeles CA: My second venture of the week to The Regent Theater in downtown LA, which is quickly becoming a favored venue among the heavy metal community due to its perfect size and great views from any spot in the room because of the raked floor and well spaced out balcony level, happened on Wednesday September 21st 2016 for what was originally planned as a black metal show headlined by Swedish black metal band Marduk with support from Rotting Christ, Carach Angren, Necronomicon, and Nokturne. Unfortunately, due to paperwork issues becoming more complex than originally anticipated because of certain legalities, Marduk was unable to obtain access to the US for the first half of their scheduled tour. They are going to make a comeback soon enough though, so stay tuned for details on that front. Even though the lineup changed and Rotting Christ took the reigns as headliner, the crowd packed the house early on and this was still a not-to-be-missed show in the amazing and underrated genre of all things black metal. Continue reading “Black Metal Bonanza: Rotting Christ, Carach Angen & Necronomicon Perform At The Regent”

By Lisa Burke

September 19th 2016, The Regent, Los Angeles CA: Monthly free Monday metal night The Black Communion at The Regent in downtown Los Angeles has continued on with its heavy and thrash filled lineups, of which the latest one on September 19th 2016 featured Exmortus as the headliner with support by Gravehill, Blade Killer, Ironaut and Obsidian. The concept of pulling off a free show where the bands still get paid is not an easy task yet would be the ideal outcome. No matter what the final deal is here in financial regard to the bands, I do know that they come out of the nights happy in most instances due to the solid lineups and the top notch stage and sound quality. For this particular Monday night where the biggest competition was Black Sabbath at the Hollywood Bowl, I must say this thrash or die show received an excellent turnout, all obstacles considered. Continue reading “Shred Till You’re Dead: Exmortus Headlines September Edition Of ‘The Black Communion’”

By Lisa Burke

September 17th 2016, Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, Irvine CA: In case you haven’t noticed yet, one of the latest trends in the rock n’ roll scene is to make a solid attempt at re-creating the past by bringing broken up or separated bands back to some semblance of their original form. Most of these bands never even took much of a hiatus, rather they simply evolved into something quite mutated from their origin. Basically all the popular ’80s and ’90s rock bands are back with a vengeance to cash in before they cash out, and honestly why the hell shouldn’t they? If you want to gripe about how they are all old and can’t perform anymore, you clearly haven’t actually watched any of these bands perform today and you forgot that despite thirty to forty years of possible liver abuse, these rock stars also have the years of experience under their belt, and in the wise words of Axl Rose, experience makes you wise. That said, on Saturday September 17th, 2016 I attended The Hair Nation festival at the soon-to-be closed down Irvine Meadows Amphitheater. Hair Nation featured a couple of old school ’80s hair/glam metal rivalry bands’ lead singers Vince Neil and Brett Michaels in solo projects. In other words, one would hope, much like in the vain of Stephen Pearcy and Sebastian Bach, that in this case there would be an abundance of Poison and Motley Crue covers done well by whatever team the lead singers felt comfortable working with these days. What we ended up with on this particular evening was actually somewhat interesting, and fortunately with my expectations of these two acts at an all-time record low, I was at moments pleasantly surprised with what went down. Continue reading “Hair Metal To The Max: ‘Hair Nation’ Festival Rocks Irvine Meadows”

By Lisa Burke

September 4th 2016, The Rainbow Bar & Grill, West Hollywood CA: Twice a year, the Rainbow Bar & Grill opens up the back parking lot that extends behind the Roxy and sets up their outdoor stage for live music, and usually adds a row of outdoor mini-bars along the pathway as well to accommodate the large swarms of loyal patrons who usually attend such events. On Sunday September 4th, 2016, the Rainbow put on its Labor Day Weekend Backyard Bash with bands on the outdoor stage consisting of headliners Buckcherry along with Iron Butterfly, London, Hirax, and All Hail The Yeti. The bands all played decent set lengths from three in the afternoon to around nine in the evening, and patrons attended for “free” with a $16 purchase of redeemable drink tickets, so if you are of the sober variety you may have sacrificed a little, although even still, for such a long show with at least five bands you got your money’s worth. Continue reading “Hard Rock Hodgepodge: Buckcherry, Iron Butterfly & London Perform At The Rainbow”