Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

November 24th 2015, The Troubadour, West Hollywood CA: Soon after welcoming vocalist Daniel Tompkins back into the fold and releasing their third full-length studio album ‘Polaris’ via EOne Music in September 2015, British progressive metal group Tesseract embarked on a North American headline tour with support acts The Contortionist, Erra and Skyharbor, and three weeks into the tour, arrived in Los Angeles for a gig at the Troubadour in West Hollywood last Tuesday November 24th. Having seen the band go through multiple changes in vocalists in recent times, fans were looking forward to witnessing Tesseract return to a familiar incarnation, and anticipated an evening of diverse modern progressive music in a very apt setting here at the Troubadour. Continue reading “Tesseract, The Contortionist, Erra & Skyharbor Perform At Troubadour”

By Andrew Bansal

November 23rd 2015, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Hardcore veterans from opposite sides of the United States, New York City’s Madball and Los Angeles’ Strife came together for a week’s worth of US West Coast tour dates, the run aptly titled ‘East Meets West’. On the penultimate day of the tour, the two bands arrived in Los Angeles for a gig at the Viper Room in West Hollywood last Monday November 23rd, along with local openers Countime and Bad Samaritans. West Hollywood/Sunset Strip hasn’t had a reputation for hardcore shows of late, so the choice of venue came as a surprise, but as it turned out, it resulted in an evening of unbridled insanity, the kind perhaps never witnessed at the Viper Room before. Continue reading “Madball & Strife Annihilate Viper Room”

By Andrew Bansal

November 23rd 2015, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hollywood CA: In the world of symphonic/progressive/art rock, English group Electric Light Orchestra has been influential and revered, with a world record of hits but at the same time with a cult following amongst rock fans. Formed in 1970, ELO disbanded in 1986, partially reformed briefly in 2000, and as Jeff Lynne remained the only original member, ELO was fully converted to the moniker Jeff Lynne’s ELO in 2012. Under this name, the group released its first album ‘Alone In The Universe’ on November 13th 2015, and Jeff Lynne and his ensemble embarked on a promotional tour, making national television appearances and playing a select few concerts. Last Monday November 23rd, they performed an outdoor mini-concert in the parking lot of the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood for an appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, and fans young and old gathered in huge numbers for the first ELO concert in the Los Angeles area since 1981, to give the band what the show’s hosts described as ‘the best response ever from a JKL concert crowd’. Continue reading “Jeff Lynne’s ELO Performs On Jimmy Kimmel Live”

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

November 21st 2015, City National Grove Of Anaheim, Anaheim CA: It is not often that German power metal veterans Blind Guardian tour the United States. In fact, as what has become a rule of thumb for the band, it happens only once every album cycle. But whenever a Blind Guardian show gets announced, fans get excited uncontrollably and most of them purchase tickets the day they go on sale, and as a result, every Blind Guardian visit is an event in the real sense. Now 30+ years and 10 albums deep into their career, Blind Guardian are currently touring North America in support of their 2015 Nuclear Blast Records full-length release ‘Beyond The Red Mirror’, and played a show at the Grove of Anaheim last Saturday November 21st. It was their only Southern California appearance of this run, the first since the gig at Fonda Theatre in Hollywood in December 2010, and the first Anaheim show since 2006. Besides the rarity of their own live show, there was also the added bonus of fellow Germans Grave Digger as support act, on their first ever tour of this continent. Metal shows usually do not draw well at the Grove, but this one certainly did, and an excellent turnout here witnessed an unforgettable show. Continue reading “Blind Guardian & Grave Digger Conquer Anaheim”

Review by Andrew Bansal, photos by Andrew Hernandez

November 20th 2015, The Echo, Los Angeles CA: Following a successful North American support run with Enslaved earlier in the year, Eugene, Oregon doom veterans Yob embarked on a four-week Fall 2015 US headline tour of their own, along with support acts Black Cobra. Still on the touring cycle for their mesmerizing seventh full-length album ‘Clearing The Path To Ascend’ which was released via Neurot Recordings in 2014, Yob have been satiating doom fans across the globe, with the record as well as the live show. Towards the end of this latest run, Yob and Black Cobra arrived at the Echo in Los Angeles last Friday November 20th for a gig presented by Church Of The 8th Day and also featuring Deathkings as local openers. The Los Angeles underground metal community gathered in numbers to make it a sold-out event, and anticipated quite a treat of all things heavy. Continue reading “Yob, Black Cobra & Deathkings Play Sold-Out Show At The Echo”

By Lisa Burke

November 20th 2015, The Palladium, Hollywood CA: Last Friday night, and for once in my life, I arrived to a show before any bands had started and was filled with anticipation of a super fun night because I was at the Palladium about to gain my first live experience of Primal Scream and The Cult. Much to my dismay, however, I was in for a wild ride of not quite what I expected. Continue reading “The Cult’s Hollywood Show Fails To Deliver”