{"id":11028,"date":"2016-04-04T11:07:06","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T18:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/?p=11028"},"modified":"2016-04-04T12:29:24","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T19:29:24","slug":"ultimate-jam-night-makes-its-debut-at-the-whisky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/2016\/04\/04\/ultimate-jam-night-makes-its-debut-at-the-whisky\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ultimate Jam Night’ Makes Its Debut At The Whisky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal<\/strong><\/p>\n

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March 29th 2016, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA:\u00a0<\/strong>The 56th edition of Los Angeles’ popular no-cover all-star rock ‘n roll jam event weekly Ultimate Jam Night took place last week, except that unlike\u00a0the other 55 weeks at Lucky Strike Hollywood, it did so at the Whisky-A-Go-Go on the Sunset Strip, and\u00a0also moved from its regular Wednesday night slot to Tuesday nights at its\u00a0in new and decidedly better home. I attended one out of the 55 Ultimate Jam Nights at Lucky Strike Hollywood\u00a0in its first month, and discovering firsthand just\u00a0how unfit that venue is for a no-cover rock event of this nature and how un-rock-n-roll its ambience and location clearly is, I avoided this all-star jam like a plague since then. But now in its new setting, I was willing to give it another chance, and I arrived at the Whisky with zero expectations.<\/p>\n

Doors opened at 8:30, and the turnout was already excellent as a long line of people were waiting outside the venue, but thankfully, the Whisky did not overpack itself with a ridiculous number of people in a way that would alert the fire department and risk the safety of one and all in attendance. The proceedings began at 8:45 with Los Angeles-based punk rock\/rockabilly trio Bash<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>playing a short 15-minute set and\u00a0serving as the opening act. Led by Gordon Bash on vocals and upright bass, the band brought forth great energy, warmed up the crowd for what was to follow, and won some new fans in the process.<\/p>\n

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Bash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At 9:20, the all-star jam commenced with its first set which presented 11 songs featuring the talents of Los Angeles’ most seasoned musicians. Host Paulie Z was also fronting the house band comprising Mitch Perry and Alex Kane on guitar, Matt Starr on drums, and the creator of this event, Chuck Wright on bass. The quintet started things off with a lively cover of Guns ‘N Roses’ ‘You Could Be Mine’, as Paulie Z hit all those high notes. From then on it was a sequence of rock covers with musicians switching out every one or two songs. This being the 56th edition of Ultimate Jam Night, all or most of the organizers and musicians involved have done this enough to where they’ve got it down to a science, and the efficiency and speed with which the event flowed despite the large number of musician changeovers was undeniably admirable.\u00a0Even with as many as four hours of nearly non-stop live music, time flew at the Whisky and the event never felt anywhere near as long as it actually was.<\/p>\n

The performances by all musicians that took part were thoroughly enjoyable, but there were certainly some highlights. Maureen And The Mercury 5<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>infused some delightful old-school jump blues into the set with their rendition of the 1953 classic ‘I Want You To Be My Baby’\u00a0as well as an original tune of their own called ‘The Keepin’ Kind’, while metal vocalist extraordinaire Oni Logan, making his Ultimate Jam Night debut, wowed the crowd with his vocal delivery on ‘Snortin Whisky’ and ‘Shakey Ground’. Debby Holiday on lead vocals for ‘Losin You’ was also awe-inspiring. But the single most memorable and powerful moment of\u00a0the whole evening was Layla Brooklyn Allman<\/strong><\/a> singing Heart’s ‘Crazy On You’ with Sean McNabb harmonizing on the vocals. Allman’s talent as a singer was on full display and her tremendous stage presence and range of expressions went perfectly\u00a0with it.<\/p>\n

\"Sean<\/a>
Sean McNabb (left) & Layla B. Allman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first set ended promptly at 10:40, and to provide live music entertainment between the two sets, LA rock group Dilana<\/strong><\/a> took the stage for a three-song set and left a solid first impression as frontwoman Dilana Smith put forth a tremendous performance on vocals, well supported by her band mates. The pedigree flowing through the music is undeniable. The band has\u00a0been around for a number of years, and definitely deserves recognition amongst LA locals as well as people elsewhere. While the all-star jam is without doubt the main attraction at these Ultimate Jam Night events, the importance of showcasing deserving local talent should never be forgotten, and it was\u00a0heartening\u00a0to note that good bands like Bash and Dilana were given\u00a0an opportunity here.<\/p>\n

\"Dilana\"<\/a>
Dilana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second set brought more sparkling performances, starting with Billy Sheehan and Greg Bissonette from David Lee Roth’s Eat ‘Em And Smile lineup joining forces with Eric Dover to play two Van Halen tunes ‘Light Up The Sky’ and ‘Dance The Night Away’. Coming out on stage wearing a white fur-like piece of clothing and then discarding it (photos below), Eric Dover was hard to watch but at least sounded far better than present-day David Lee Roth. This group was scheduled to do only two songs but they stayed on to play ‘Shy Boy’. Amidst all the rock ‘n roll, this second set also included a dose of metal, in the form of Metallica’s ‘Master Of Puppets’ and Pantera’s ‘Fucking Hostile’, but in all honesty, and with no disrespect to the musicians that participated in these two songs, the metal didn’t fit well whatsoever with the rest of the song selection, and the fake tough guy aggro displayed on stage was neither\u00a0in tune with the rest of the set nor appropriate for the kind of crowd that had gathered here. I came to the realization that the metal segment was actually the most boring part of this Ultimate Jam Night, and I’m sure if I never heard these two particular songs ever again in my life, I’d be fine with it.<\/p>\n

Straight after this, in complete contrast, drummer Mat Starr left the kit and took the microphone as lead vocalist while Cheap Trick drummer Daxx Nielson took his place, and with members of the house band they played ‘Come On, Come On’ and ‘Dream Police’.\u00a0A few more songs followed, and the set ended at close to 1 AM, giving the audience a show more than worth their investment of time and effort. On a side note, Paulie Z was very fitting as a host and conducted the event well, while the talking hand puppet ‘Trippy The Clown’ was not funny in the least bit and could be done without. But more than anything, it is clear that the Whisky-A-Go-Go serves as the ideal home for an event of this kind. Haters can hate (and I was one of them at one point), but the Whisky is where rock ‘n roll lives, and it will certainly live full-on every Tuesday night from now onwards.<\/p>\n

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More photos:<\/strong><\/p>\n