Category: SHOWS

Down the Rabbit Hole: Bad Rabbits at the Echo

Rob Shepyer February 9, 2020

I’m gonna go out on a limb and state very matter-of-factly that Boston’s power funk band, Bad Rabbits, are the best concert you could ever see in a club. This opinion isn’t based on the high that I’m still running on since their Echo performance for the 10 year anniversary of “Stick Up Kids”, my favorite of their albums, it’s based on simple addition. Their style, energy, songs, vibe, feel, audience, looseness, tightness, synergy, chemistry, the artists they booked as support, the venue they chose, everything added up to make this show incredible. They sounded so good, in a way that tickled your nerve endings to dance and vibe along, because this music was undisputedly cool. Bad Rabbits’ recorded material has so much swagger and substance and live it translated to a crisp, clean sonic experience that down right SLAPPED. The live versions of these songs were not far departures from the records but in the best way, it still felt spontaneous and present, with the freshest vocals and riffs. Bad Rabbits chose the supporting acts to represent the different sides of their own music. The night began with Chicago singer Nikki Hayes injecting the evening with some R&B. Nikki’s

Photo Recap: Kingdom Come at the Whisky-a-Go-Go

Janky Smooth Central Command February 7, 2020

It’s been over 30 years since the Monsters of Rock but every band has stayed alive since that epic Los Angeles festival. Of all the bands, perhaps the one that holds a soft spot in my heart is Kingdom Come. A metal band with transcendent power and soul. When they announced a reunion for their 30th anniversary, I made it to the Whisky to see the incredible band showcase their talents to a packed house. The people did not forget. A year later and the band is still going strong. They returned to the Whisky for a stop on a three show tour and every member of the band shined. The Kottak attack ala James Kottak was savage, Keith St. John wields one of the most powerful voices in rock and roll, Danny Stag’s lead guitar-work was Godly, Rick Steier’s rhythm guitars brought the house to their knees, and Johnny B. Frank’s bass was frankly, thunderous. We’ve got pics from the show where you can see the ear candy just oozing out of every pixel. Photos by: Dillon Vaughn related content: Return to the Old School: Kingdom Come At The Whisky

Call to Action: Incendiary at 1720

Rob Shepyer January 23, 2020

I swear, you could slap the name Sound and Fury onto any show flyer and the crowd will be in a state of mind that makes them destroy everything in sight. I guess you could call it Sound and Fury culture, the way these kids slam and stage dive harder than any other scene or genre of music in Los Angeles. related content: Boston Calling: Sound And Fury 2019 Incendiary‘s set at Sound and Fury 2019 was one of the more insane but honestly, I felt something was lacking in the sound mix, at least from where I was standing. A few years before that in 2016, the band played both the main festival and Five Star Bar for an after show. Those shows were insane but it was this 2020 performance at 1720 warehouse that was their best show in Los Angeles since they’ve been playing here. This night featured six bands altogether and the first one to go on was the most insane and that was Gulch from San Jose. Made up of members of Drain, this band represents the kind of hardcore that the real gnarly street mother fuckers make, the kind the jock hardcore kids are

The Mother Dome Connection: Funk Legends at Wisdome.LA

Rob Shepyer January 22, 2020

As hard as people try to make sure the funk never dies, it is often hard to find in Los Angeles. Yet, one evening under Wisdome.LA‘s “Mother Dome” brought together numerous legends of the genre to jam and pay tribute to Funk history. No other form of music brings people together quite like funk does, you can’t reason why we all shouldn’t get along if you’re too busy gettin’ down. related content: Long Live The Funk: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic At The Observatory I remember when the property that the multiple Wisdome’s sit on was nothing more than a few warehouses you might pass by on the way to The Resident. It’s amazing how they utilized the space for an immersive experience with so many different things to do on the premises from admiring art, tripping out to dome visuals, listening to live music, watching sporting events, food and drink, and plenty of psychedelic and new age things to buy or gaze at for burners, trippers, Desert Daze or Lightning in a Bottle kids. The potential for this venue is limitless, once they start booking major psych acts like King Gizzard or Mac DeMarco, they will really have something

When Quaint Gets Core: Home Sick 3 at the Glass House Pomona

Rob Shepyer January 21, 2020

I remember the long drive from Los Angeles to Petaluma I took for Home Sick 1 in 2018. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a small Northern California town and wondered why it was chosen to host a hardcore/goth rock festival like Home Sick. After a stroll around town, it didn’t take long for me to figure out. The venue, the Phoenix theatre, as punk and skate friendly as it is, couldn’t have been the only reason. Petaluma is a quaint, breezy getaway, a place where harp music fills the streets and bookstores are held sacred. Something about it feels like the age of Aquarius is dawning. This is where rich old hippies settled after the horrors of a career. There was total chillness around every corner, except Home Sick’s. related content: If Ever A Band Was My Home: Ceremony’s HOME SICK Festival At The Phoenix Theater Pomona is more or less the closest thing Southern California has to a Petaluma. I got the same feeling walking through downtown to Home Sick 3 as Home Sick 1 even though they were hundreds of miles apart. There’s something so joyous about knowing that in the middle of quiet Pomona, bands

Rock and Roll Shit Show: King Khan & BBQ Show at the Teragram Ballroom

Rob Shepyer January 16, 2020

Rock and roll still reigns supreme as the wildest, most fun form of music you can make when you plug in an electric guitar. The father of so many subgenres, true rock and roll, in the vein of Chuck Berry and Little Richard, is the real punk rock. You realize this the moment King Khan and Mark Sultan start riffing away together. It’s an old sound but it’s more unchained and crazed than this younger generation knows how to tap into. A certain level of sloppiness heightens the experience, we want to see the artist let loose, even at the cost of professionalism. related content: King Khan And The Shrines Bring Fans To Their Knees At Echoplex The show was presented by Cretin Hop, LA’s resident rock and roll and garage dance night that takes place at the Short Stop every third Saturday of the month. This is the best place to dance, hear Don Bolles DJ, and meet fellow rockers. It’s the closest thing So-Cal has to a Burger Boogaloo vibe. The cretins were out in full force for the first band, Covina’s The Night Times who were a rock and roll dream come true. Every member pushed themselves to

100% Banger: George Clanton’s NYE Spectacular at the Lodge Room

Dillon Vaughn January 16, 2020

New Years Eve is both a blessing and a curse for anyone looking for a good time in the city: most people opt for overpriced cover charges to enter the same shitty bars they frequent every other night of the year while a significant group of others gather for house parties and closely knit hangs. Truly special events seem to be few and far between (what person with any sense of taste would choose to attend an electro-swing dance party and why do these things happen every year?) With 100% certainty I can say 100% Electronica assembled the most wild, intense, and sincere event to close out the decade with this show at the Lodge Room and I can’t imagine spending the night any other way. related content: Silver Lake Perris: Desert Daze 2019 Support for the evening began with Death’s Dynamic Shroud, a duo collaging all aspects of digital culture to produce a warped take on R&B, as well as the solo act VAPERROR, whose inverted spin on trap catapulted my music tastes ahead to 2050. Perfectly fitting choices for the lineup as these are two acts who’ve proven time and time again to be holding it down and

Lets go do Some Crimes!: Career Suicide at Five Star Bar

Rob Shepyer December 29, 2019

The most important ingredient in a good hardcore punk band is live energy. There has to be something special about how the band stirs up a raw, chaotic, spontaneous feeling in the venue that makes every punk one inch away from committing a crime, from vandalism to violence, whatever your fix. Only a couple bands truly and organically summon this feeling in all its purity, and one of them is certainly Toronto’s Career Suicide. I feel like if they were an American band, they would be considered canon hardcore punk. I certainly feel that way. If Black Flag, Circle Jerks, FEAR, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat were canon hardcore bands of the 80s; Career Suicide, Trash Talk, and Ceremony are today’s. Career Suicide often feels like a modern Circle Jerks. related content: For The Children 2017 At The Echoplex: Hardcore Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving Throughout the night, Eighty-Four booking treated us to some of Los Angeles’ most relentless punk bands. As far as I’m concerned, I think this is the best booking company in town, not just because of the range of bands they bring to town, all of which broaden punk horizons, but because they seem to

The Evolution of the Trust Fall: La Dispute at the Belasco

Jonathan Reyes December 22, 2019

When I saw the salt lamps being put on stage I thought I had made a mistake. Post-hardcore like At The Drive-In I was told. Latin Danzig this was not. This was hardcore with Michigan undertones. There’s a fight club aspect to the group. They look like they work in your office, the ones that guard you while you sleep, don’t fuck with them. One brought a tambourine to a hardcore show, another person in the back who’s job it is to clap into a microphone. The bass player looks like he’s going to start playing “China Cat Sunflower”. Los Angeles Latinos love La Dispute, I was like is it Sound And Fury already? I’m envious of the passion a person who vibes with hardcore can produce. There was a pit for someone playing a tambourine. The only other place that occurs is at state fairs. So how could this be, I told a handful of people I was going so I could flex a little and people who I told were like “that’s cool” and “you listen to La Dispute” related content: Boston Calling: Sound And Fury 2019 “Will I still go to heaven if I commit suicide?” Asks

Photo Recap: She Past Away at 1720

Janky Smooth Central Command December 21, 2019

Turkish darkwave duo, She Past Away returned to Los Angeles for their 2nd performance ever. Hosted by 1720, they sold out the place just like they did last time, filling the venue with the dark, sometimes somber, sometimes explosive tones of Middle-Eastern inspired electro-goth. The phenomenon of this band is a testament to the open mind and heart the underground has for music, no matter what shade of black that heart is. Opening for the band was Twin Tribes. Photos by: Abraham Preciado She Past Away Twin Tribes

Photo Recap: Baby Keem at the Roxy

Janky Smooth Central Command November 30, 2019

Not even twenty years old yet, Baby Keem is already blowing up and making waves on the Soundcloud scene. Hip Hop ain’t ready for what this Las Vegas youth has to offer. Already, he’s had videos directed by Shia LaBeouf and been featured on the Black Panther soundtrack with songwriting credits. His latest project, Die For My Bitch has already been accumulating hype and brought him to The Roxy to perform a headlining show. We sent our official hip hop photographer to the show to get the scoop. Check out the pics below! Photos by: Rodney Campos

Do Anything For Dethklok: Adult Swim Festival 2019

Janky Smooth Central Command November 28, 2019

This year’s Adult Swim Festival saw one of the network’s flagship programs take center stage as Dethklok: Metalocalypse reformed to headline the festival’s first night. This Earth-shatteringly heavy event had fans of all kinds of music come together to go ape shit like no other metal band could do. This set, along with a day stacked with hip hop giants like Vince Staples and artists redefining of cool like Tierra Whack or Leikeli47. We sent one of our best ohotographers, Rodney Campos, to document the festival and damn, did he deliver the goods. Check out the photos below. Photos by: Rodney Campos Day 1 Dethklok Flying Lotus Day 2 2Chainz Freddie Gibbs and Madlib Jamie XX Leikeli47 Rapsody Tierra Whack Vince Staples

Category: SHOWS

Subscribe to the Janky Newsletter

ticket giveaways, exclusive content, breaking news and of course- Music, Art & Activism