January 23rd 2016, City National Grove Of Anaheim, Anaheim CA: Last Saturday I attended the annual NAMM convention in Anaheim and the Schecter Guitars sponsored after-party concert featuring Zakk Wylde in Zakk Sabbath and Arch Enemy at the Grove. Now, I’ve recently seen both of these bands and loved them, so naturally this time was no different though it was a great combination to see them in one packaged show. Continue reading “Arch Enemy & Zakk Sabbath Perform At Schecter NAMM Party”
January 22nd 2016, Lucky Strike Live, Hollywood CA: Last Friday night, I made my return to Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood after the last unfortunate fiasco where they got shut down by the fire department and David Lee Roth never got to perform. This night was Dimebash, the Dimebag Darrell Abbott tribute and a special treat featuring some members of Pantera along with guest musicians throughout the night. Continue reading “Rock ‘N Bowl: Lucky Strike Hollywood Hosts ‘Dimebash’”
January 16th 2016, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: Loaded Rock Bar has been a rapidly growing music venue since it bought out the space next door to the bar just a few years ago. On Saturday January 16th, 2016 it was a night full of rock n’ roll debauchery featuring The Drama as headliners with what was the beginning of their reunion shows, complete with supporting acts Pat Todd And The Rankoutsiders and Turbulent Hearts. I was in and out for the openers as sometimes despite the eminent quality of the rock n’ roll I have trouble keeping focused on some as a live act at this venue especially when a Guns ‘N Roses marathon is being played in the next room to steal away my attention. That said, I’m glad I gave them both a listen, and I recommend them for anyone who likes bluesy rock music.
Loaded has given a voice to many upcoming local acts and certain popular acts a residency as well. The Drama has had such a residency and after a temporary break up all were sad to lose this entertaining act until it was announced that a reunion with a slight line up change would occur. However, shortly after the good news some more bad news was revealed stating that due to landlord rent issues Loaded was going to have to close down the music venue side of the bar at the end of February 2016. I’ve noticed a surge in people who have frequented the music side of the establishment since the news and we all are going to miss it greatly as many venues in this town are closing and not nearly as many new ones of the same caliber are opening. Regardless, Loaded is determined to end the live music section with a bang and has booked some really great last days shows you should definitely check out.
The Drama
The Drama took the stage somewhere close to midnight and filled the room like they never left. The first oddity you notice about this band is that they mix ’70s, ’80s and ’90s rock n’ roll so you can’t figure out what you are watching or remember what year it is. It does have a Marilyn Manson with Duran Duran and The Beatles vocal vibe, mixed in with a little Black Sabbath and The Beatles guitar and drums influence among other greats. The sound was mixed well as it usually is at this venue and the stage presentation was larger than life. The singer’s androgynous vibe and pure white suit with white shirt was an interesting touch that was later only enhanced with a pure white half mask and then total costume change into sunglasses, tight pants, and a ‘little miss sunshine’ shirt. Before the costume change, of course the best part of this getup was revealed when he suddenly vomited black ‘ink’ all over the front of his white dress shirt in a beautifully creative metaphoric gesture. The retro, clean, charismatic and at times gothic vocals complimented by the energetic guitars, creative bass lines, and vibrant drumming set the meter to the top and captured the hearts of everyone in attendance. ‘Love Song’ was a crowd favorite as was the David Bowie cover of ‘Moonage Daydream’ from the Ziggy Stardust era which was very well executed and a nostalgia for all. Let’s put it this way, I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that while I’d heard of this band I somehow never caught a show in the old days, and now that I have, I’m not going to miss any more. The singer especially gave off such a great vibe also reminiscent to that of the singer of Placebo and carried the presence of a true performer to the extent that I kept thinking that if he had a day job, he should immediately quit, sing on stage every night, and never look back.
Despite the fact that we can’t always keep good venues or good bands or good people in our lives for that matter, we still deserve to fully appreciate them and absorb what we can from these unique experiences until we meet again. Check out The Drama for some undead rock n’ roll fun and please continue to support your local venues so they don’t have to suffer any more tragic impending doom.
January 9th 2016, The Regent, Los Angeles CA: The ‘Show Your Scars’ festival, featuring headliners Municipal Waste performing their ‘Hazardous Mutation’ album in its entirety along with support acts Repulsion, Terrorizer, Ghoul, Gravehill, Night Demon, Crematorium, Nervosa and Skeletal Remains, took place at the Regent in downtown LA on Saturday Jaunary 9th 2016, and our writer Lisa Burke was on site to recap the action for us. Check out her review below. Continue reading “‘Show Your Scars’ Festival Decimates Downtown Los Angeles”
LA glam/parody metal kings Steel Panther literally brought the House Of Blues Sunset Strip by playing the very last show at that venue in the summer of 2015, bringing an end to their longstanding association with the Sunset Strip, having done highly successful and popular residencies not only at the House Of Blues but also at the Key Club and Viper Room in earlier years. This January, they found a new venue a few miles east of the Strip for a set of three headline shows, the Fonda Theatre in central Hollywood. Our writer Lisa Burke was in attendance for the first of these shows. Check out her review below. Continue reading “Steel Panther Plays ‘Threesome’ At The Fonda”
December 31st 2015, Monty Bar, Los Angeles CA: An opportunity to spend New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles is both a blessing and a curse in equal measures, given the plethora of live entertainment options and the dilemma it poses. Not usually a big New Year’s Eve fan, I decided to go out and celebrate it this time around, and it was probably a mistake to do so, because as it turned out, I made a clearly regrettable decision by choosing to ring in 2016 at the Monty Bar in downtown Los Angeles. Continue reading “2015 Comes To Anti-Climactic End At Downtown LA’s Monty Bar”
