Tag: featured
Goths Go Metal: Tribulation at the Lodge Room
Rob Shepyer
October 10, 2018
You don’t usually see goth boys and girls embrace extreme metal but in the case of Swedish melodic death metal band, Tribulation, the goths have found a band that represents their heart and soul and lets their dark fantasies play out on a stage. Tribulation doesn’t really incorperate the sound of goth in their music though. It’s this melodic death metal monster combined with glam/hard rock rhythm and jamming that makes for a show any fan of rock and roll can understand. Solos of every stripe, virtuosity from every player, I see Tribulation as the Guns and Roses of death metal. I was lucky enough to meet the whole band before the show as I waited in line to get tacos across the street. All of them without their signature makeup, they were incredibly friendly and even gave me the compliment of calling me their groupie! The Lodge Room usually doesn’t host metal, with its regal interior and the delicious paintings that decorate its walls, the venue seems more inclined hosting jazz or you know, decent varieties of music. This show fit just fine in the Lodge Room though and I expect more metal there to come. related content: The
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Cal Jam Blooms in 2018
Rob Shepyer
October 10, 2018
The duality of Dave Grohl is something to ponder. Simultaneously Rock God and fan, perhaps the latter is a prerequisite to the former. After 30 years of piloting the Foo Fighters, not to mention a stint in a little band called Nirvana, his place in the annals of rock history are upon a throne similar to the one he once sat upon while touring with a broken leg. His festival, Cal Jam, is merely one example in hundreds as to how he’s still in love with music just like you and I. To revive a festival, one that is part of California’s rock and roll history, is very different than creating an original one. He wants to pay homage and not just push a brand. So, the festival that once hosted the likes of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake, and Lake, and Ted Nugent, was revived for the second year to host Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop, and Greta Van Fleet. related content: Food For The Soul: Music Tastes Good 2018 My day at Cal Jam began with Greta Van Fleet, a band soaked in hype and wrought with criticism. This makes them a must-see just to judge for yourself.
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Soft Kill Interview: Addiction, Loss, Gloom, and Doom
Audrey Kemp
October 9, 2018
A truthful and cathartic conversation with Tobias Grave of Soft Kill will open your eyes to the hardship of addiction, loss and triumph, and demonstrate what it takes and what it is to create music in today’s society. AK: Your atmospheric melodies hark back to post-punk and dream pop of the early ‘80s and ‘90s. As a result of this, do you attract a broad age range of listeners? TG: We do seem to have a diverse range of people into what we’re doing. I think something that gets overlooked is how big some of those bands got and that we foolishly look at the core fan base of any genre as kids in black boots, jeans and band tees. It’s cool to have people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life appreciate what you do, especially since we aren’t goths or punks in the corny aesthetic sense of the word. AK: Although your influences are countless, some being The Chameleons U.K., The Sound and Spacemen 3, your musical constitution is precise and concise. What qualities and themes are you the most allured to as listeners, and thus interested in creating? TG: A couple things draw us to music
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Time Machine for Young and Old: Gary Numan at the Fonda
Audrey Kemp
October 9, 2018
Gary Numan teleported his Los Angeles audience into his multidimensional universe for the final leg of his “Savage” tour on Saturday. It was 8:00 p.m. The venue, called the Fonda Theater, has a capacity of 1200. By the time the I got there, around six, a dense line of fans had circled the block, waiting for the door to open. They were mainly clad in leather jackets and Nine Inch Nails shirts, and with the exception of some millennials, almost all of them seemed to be older than 50. related content: Gary Numan Interview: Art In The Age Of Savages When the doors opened, a sea of veteran fans and first-time attendees flooded the floor. For 63-year-old Mike Sperks, who’s seen Gary Numan 10 times since 1979, he’s gotten better and better. “I like his music better now. There’s more energy. My all-time favorite song of his is ‘Prayer for the Unborn’ — a song dedicated to his unborn child,” he said. Among the older people was a group of 18-year-old University of Redlands students from a class called “Punk Rock DIY for Personal and Social Change.” Their professor held Mr. Numan in such high regard that he bought them
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Food for the Soul: Music Tastes Good 2018
Aria Silva-Espinosa
October 8, 2018
Long Beach has yet to disappoint. Whether it’s a tiny DIY show space with a local artist lineup like Midnight Mass or an R&B soul fest on the water’s edge like Smokin’ Grooves, shows in the LBC draw loads of live music fans at every possible opportunity. Blessed with a diverse demographic, Long Beach festival organizers get to take huge liberties when it comes to booking bands and artists that represent every quadrant of the musical matrix. Music Tastes Good was no exception. They brought new emerging artists, quintessential bands and even artists we didn’t know we were missing into one big block party-style show. related content: Black Is Beautiful: Smokin’ Grooves Festival At The Queen Mary We started out day one with Quintron & Miss Pussycat, husband-and-wife duo from New Orleans. Their performance is half something from a children’s television program and half sing-song drinking ballads. To the untrained eye, their performances are something of a spectacle but there certainly is something uniquely charming about their authenticity. Quintron & Miss Pussycat concluded their set with their cover of Polka Stars “In Heaven There Is No Beer” as the revolving stage gave way to the next act. On the complete
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Cold Waves LA: Heaven For Industrial Kids
Rob Shepyer
October 8, 2018
Photos by: Abraham Preciado In the 1980’s, Chicago was the epicenter of North America’s Industrial music explosion with Wax Trax records birthing some of the genre’s most iconic bands, namely Ministry. Chicago’s importance in the history of Industrial music cannot be overstated. That’s why when Cold Waves, the country’s premiere Industrial festival, announced it was bringing it’s cavalcade of musicians to Los Angeles, it was a big deal for the genre and our city. I still regret missing the first Cold Waves LA last year and so, made sure to attend this year’s. 1720 might seem like a hidden gem because of the surrounding debris and chaos of the area it resides in but after spending my weekend there, I can say it’s one of the better venues in Los Angeles. This is the case for a few reasons, the sound quality and stage being at the top of that list but also its comfortable, well air conditioned atmosphere and it’s smoking area, where bands and audience become one. Day 1 The festival began with a DJ set by legendary artist Rhys Fulber of Front Line Assembly. His set was moody and brooding, the sounds of circuity unnerving due to
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Adult. Interview: Warriors for Weird
Rob Shepyer
October 6, 2018
I remember the first time I saw Adult. live at Echoplex for their Detroit House Guests tour. It was one of the most insane and exciting shows I’ve ever seen. With various guest performers, obscure stage antics, and the hardest off-beats, they were truly avant-garde. It was weird to its core but I danced so hard, the weirdness absorbed into me and I didn’t puzzle over it. I fell in love with the duo’s music that night and getting the chance to interview Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus before their Zebulon show with Plack Blague only intensified my admiration. They were well spoken, intelligent, and unlike many artists with more direct and obvious messaging, they showed a deep understanding of what they stand for and who they are. related content: Different Shades of Black: Adult. And Plack Blague At Soda Bar RS: The latest album is This Behavior. A few of the songs seem to reference human sexuality. What is the album’s title symbolic of? NK: I dunno if I would say it’s symbolic of human sexuality. I think it’s poignant for the moment we’re in with how insane the world is. The process for writing this record was very
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Heavy Metal Parking Lot 2: Judas Priest and Deep Purple at FivePoint Amphitheatre
Dillon Vaughn
October 5, 2018
Words and Photos by: Dillon Vaughn Judas Priest and Deep Purple: with a lineup including two legendary bands like this it’s nearly impossible to find a reason not to do whatever it takes to get to the show. Unique opportunities granted by commuting through a massive city for a gig like this are things I feel my parents dreamed of when they were living in a small town at my age. The drive from LA to Irvine during a weekday rush hour is awful but the anticipation for what’s truly an event multiplies each time you pass another car of people obviously making the trek for the same reason. Seeing other groups of unfamiliar familiar faces grin with shared excitement lends a sense of comfort not unlike the feeling of coming home: the euphoria of warm of acceptance and freedom to enjoy yourself for who you really are. related content: The Olive Branch Extends To Irvine: The Scorpions At Five Point Amphitheatre Firepower is somewhat of a return to form for Priest but the live show leaves the impression they never strayed from what they’ve always been. Despite unfortunate lineup changes in recent years the band has never made compromises in
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Different Shades of Black: Adult. and Plack Blague at Soda Bar
Janky Smooth Central Command
October 4, 2018
Words and Photos by: Rebecca DiGiglio What’s this? A San Diego show being covered by Janky Smooth, you say? No. It couldn’t be.But it is. The reaches of this esteemed publication are expanding— manifest destiny and shit. Allow me to be your photographic and lexical liaison, starting first with an electronic show featuring the impossibly-cool-looking-in-a-European-way ADULT., leather daddy duo Plack Blague, and the fog-drenched, one-man San Diego act, O/X. Opening act O/X started the night with trigger finger on the fog machine and a trance-like demeanor: all dreamy swaying and eyes-shut synth stroking. O/X is the solo project of Chris Oxendine, and the music is self-described as cold wave. Oxendine seemed to intentionally lull the crowd into a false sense of calm for the more beat-heavy, dance-centered night to come, eventually growing a little more rapid towards the end of the set, as if to briefly warn of sounds to come. The show was a release party for his latest cassette, “NEW LIFE”, released through record label Dream. Shortly after, the night turned naughty with the shock to the system that was Plack Blague: two leather-clad daddies bringing heavy, industrial beats and vocals that vacillate between sensual and aggressive singing.
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The Final Final ACxDC Reunion at Resident
Rob Shepyer
October 4, 2018
Antichrist Demoncore. ACxDC. Were one of the craziest power violence bands of all time. Few missed shows bug me as much as missing their final show at Union in 2017. I felt terrible for this, like I had betrayed everything I ever stood for. Then when ACxDC announced they were playing a show at The Resident presented by Church of the 8th Day, not only was I ready to go but I was ready to party, buy merch, drink beer, and get hurt. The lineup was stacked from top to bottom. Two beer bands, a reunion, and a straight edge hardcore band all the way from Amsterdam all brought together on a Monday. Work the next morning didn’t stop the die hards though. They were ready to get their excuse not to come in the next day get planted right across their faces. Skullcrack cracked open this can of whoop ass of a night with no remorse and a thirst for blood. One of the heaviest, most brutal, and rhythmic crossover bands I have ever seen. Their singer’s voice rips and their guitarist is a goddamn hardcore-thrash titan in the making, playing with Fireburn when he’s not with these three young
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I was Straight Edge for a Night: Slapshot at Toxic Toast Theatre
Jonathan Reyes
October 3, 2018
Hardcore shows are weird when you can’t drink. It’s like everyone’s a designated driver, people actually have money for merch, and you can see the spinning heel kicks coming. The benefits of remembering every detail of the night is that you can vividly appreciate what you’re seeing. In this case it was Slapshot at Toxic Toast Theatre in Long Beach. I went in with a lot of ideas about the band. Why do hardcore bands have more former members than The Dead? How white can a person be? I’ve never seen so much Boston represented in a band. I had to double check that it wasn’t Whitey Bulger screaming into the microphone. I also thought this is what Dropkick Murphys sound like if they weren’t awful. Jack Kelly is so pure hardcore or “haadcorr” as he pronounces it, he doesn’t want to be a role model he just wants to be, he wants to be in his band lighting up the territories. Slapshot, a band fronted by a straight edge singer in a venue that doesn’t serve alcohol feels like Superman on the sun. It’s just pure hardcore music, nothing against any hardcore shows that have alcohol but when it’s just you
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to Clutch at El Rey
Janky Smooth Central Command
October 3, 2018
Clutch is an American institution. No band captures the dichotomy of this nation quite as well as these country strong but city hip tunes and their new album, Book of Bad Decisions, is only the latest example of just that. I try to see Clutch every time they play in my area, I’ve yet to see them perform “10001110101” live but I feel like the more times I try, the better chances I have. So, I hope to see you there. But how you ask? Without tickets? Well, let us cover those for you. We are giving away two tickets to Clutch’s Book of Bad Decisions show at El Rey with support from none other than Sevendust. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO CLUTCH OCTOBER 12th AT EL REY THEATRE Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Tag Clutch in the comment section of our Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook Clutch Giveaway Posts and write “10001110101” WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON MONDAY OCTOBER 8TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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