Tag: the smoking popes

The week leading up to The Smoking Popes‘ return to Los Angeles at the Viper Room was filled by my reacquainting myself with their music. I remember the first time I heard of the Popes, from a friend who described them as pop punk meets big band, which is a description I dispute after having seen them, but still it made me curious enough to investigate the band. I had been listening to their cover of Gene Wilder’s “Pure Imagination” nonstop and was willing to see them as many times as it would take to hear that cover live. The Smoking Popes had hung up their papal pipes for a few years but with the twenty year anniversary of their seminal album Destination Failure,  the band decided to get back on the road to celebrate. The last time they were in Los Angeles was 2012, when they played the Knitting Room (RIP). related content: Heaven Or Coachella?: Django Django And Tank & The Bangas At The Fonda Entering the Viper Room, which was already filling up, I got to the front of the crowd to watch the opening band Bad Cop/Bad Cop, a band that I’ve been hearing and seeing