Category: SHOWS

Photo Recap: Deicide at 1720

Janky Smooth Central Command August 18, 2021

If there was any doubt that concerts are back, these pictures are all the proof you’ll need. Deicide always brings it when they roll around to Los Angeles, in fact they were one of the last death metal shows of 2019. Although this night seemed to be even more insane given we’ve all been cooped up in our homes for so long. Joining them were Canadians, Kataklysm, a band that sounds like absolutely no other death metal group around. Photos by: Albert Licano Deicide Kataklysm Internal Bleeding Begat the Nephilim

King Crimson at the Greek: Prog Prophets of a Schizoid 21st Century

Rob Shepyer August 12, 2021

For an outsider looking in to Los Angeles’ music scene, psychedelic rock is of the utmost importance in this underground, cultural moment. Here and now, there are many bands that ought to come to mind as the root inspirations to artists like King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, OSEES or Kikagaku Moyo. You could think The Doors or Velvet Underground, and you’d be right but if you turn back the hand of time even further and cross the pond, you’d pay witness to the first true frontiersman of musical exploration, King Crimson. They stand out as the progenitors of the sonic and lyrical landscapes that pervade Los Angeles’ scene till this very day. Some fans and even musicians today might not be aware of the connection, they might just naively rock out to Fuzz’s cover of “21st Century Schizoid Man” thinking it’s an original, but those in the know not only recognize the debt they owe to King Crimson, they carry their awe with them on stage anytime they play guitar and try to breach the same headspace as Robert Fripp. There are a few tenants to the King Crimson musical philosophy, that act as bedrock for modern psychedelic music, the most

Technically, We’ve Always Been Sick: Sex Cells Returns to the Globe Theatre

Rob Shepyer August 5, 2021

There must be something wrong with us. To party so closely, so sweatily, without personal protective equipment in the middle of a pandemic? No face masks. No face shields. No papers needed to be shown to any bio-tech gestapos. We knew the risks. We knew the transmissibility. We saw all the latest science, conspiracies, government lip services and disaster porn. But still, we did the dubious and dangerous thing and decided it was worth the risk to reunite and see friends we missed for over a year. This next comparison might be a little extreme, maybe even tasteless but bear with me, the point is solid–at the height of the 80’s AIDs epidemic, when Anthony Fauci was as much a media personality as he is now, did gay men stop having sex altogether? Some probably did. Some definitely didn’t. Like it or not, the choice of love over fear is similar today. If anything, this experience should make people more empathetic to those who suffered the last epidemic. Celebration, fun, night-life, partying, socializing in general–to many people these things are as essential as actual love-making and no one is going to deny them their right to do so, not the

Morning Stars Over Lodge Room: King Woman’s “Celestial Blues” Release Party

Janky Smooth Central Command August 4, 2021

You’ve never heard an album more Chthonian than King Woman’s Celestial Blues What do I mean by that? I don’t mean this is the most raw, underground punk sounding album ever. What I’m saying is that with “Celestial Blues” King Woman has lent a voice and story to all the mysteries working beneath the surface layers of reality around us, be they the internal workings of the body, the mysterious processes of the Earth, the unfathomable cycles of birth and destruction in the cosmos, or the interplay of good and evil magic with everyday life. When King Woman closed out their Sunday night Celestial Blues album release party with a cover of the Stone Roses’ “I Wanna Be Adored”, I thought some kind of mind reading must’ve been at play because after seeing a full set of Kris Esfandiari’s doomy siren songs, my main takeaway was being genuinely impressed with how much she is utterly adored by her fans. They seemed to have her back unconditionally and after every song when the band let it all hang loose, the audience was there to catch them in rounds of applause, whistles and cheers. All that was missing from the evening was a

PHOTO RECAP: Mike Jones at Echo Flex

Janky Smooth Central Command July 23, 2021

The last concert before Los Angeles’ mask mandate was put into effect had to be LA’s premiere 90’s hip hop party, Echo Flex at the Echoplex where late into the evening fans got up close and personal to each other to romp and dance to hip from the greatest era of the genre’s history, only to top it off with a rare performance from one of the OG’s himself, Mike Jones. Photos by: Rodney Campos Mike Jones

PHOTO RECAP: The Fall of Troy at 1720

Janky Smooth Central Command July 23, 2021

Legendary Post-hardcore band The Fall of Troy played a highly anticipated show at 1720 to an audience filled of fans old and new there to rock out, mosh, and relive their high school years. One of those men was our photographer Taylor who captured an audience devoted to the band through thick and thin, as well as a three other bands who wear their passions on their sleeves. Photos by: Taylor Wong The Fall of Troy Duck Duck Goose Inthebackground The Littlest Viking

Sweat Therapy: Dumb Fucks and Niis at the Echo

Janky Smooth Central Command July 21, 2021

Words by Juan Perez Photos by Paula Jean On the night before the mask mandate went into effect, Pretty But Wicked put together a showcase for the ages, bringing together an eclectic crowd to witness some of the best acts Los Angeles has to offer. From young kids still in high school, to old heads who have been around, this last ditch effort to party before we’d be forced to wear masks showed how much power the love of music has. Playing their first live show ever, Smirk is a project formed by frontman Nick during the pandemic. What started off as something just for fun turned into one of the new best acts in the scene. Old school punk, with something a little bit more obscure added into the mix. The crowd responded very well to the set, stage diving and circle pitting. It was a nice, little warm-up for the madness to come. Just hearing the conversations afterwards tells me how much of an impression the band made for their first time. Next up was Downside. Gaining a huge reputation in the LA punk scene for rowdy shows, the crowd really brought it for these guys. The fans were so

Danger and Fun: Nature World Presents Made Before Sound at 1720

Rob Shepyer July 15, 2021

It’s never been more punk to attend a show. Sure, in the 80’s there was the threat of being stomped out by skinhead mobs or having beer spit in your face for wearing the wrong band shirt but today, a respiratory virus can actually reward your daring for going to a show by permanently mangling your organs. You don’t even need to be in the pit, you can hang back in the farthest corner from the action and still be just as much of a risk-taker as the next cat, crazy enough to test your luck and praying you don’t come out the venue with a strange, dry cough. If you’re going to die young because you went to a show, I could understand if it was a Nature World show. It’s been awhile since this amazing name brought us a show, their Nature World Night Out festivals were enough years ago that we all started to miss them. What distinguishes Nature World from every other promoter is that they have one foot in each underground, punk and rap. When the two come together, you have mohawks bouncing to trap and dreadlocks moshing to hardcore. It’s a beautiful thing to

Speaking in Jazz: John Carroll Kirby at the Lodge Room

Rob Shepyer June 30, 2021

One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that being deprived all our favorite things for over a year makes us truly cherish them now that they’ve returned. “Don’t know what you got, till it’s gone”, in the Cinderella sense of the adage, applies here, to this John Carroll Kirby concert at the Lodge Room. I use this cliche because we are seeing it play out in real time. John Carroll Kirby‘s was the second artist to sell out the venue since its re-opening and the sort of people that bought tickets and cocktails on this evening weren’t the sort that might attend an experimental jazz show at any previous moment of their lives. Having gone without the spiritual sustenance of music has made all our souls rather emaciated over the last year, so like a vampire that smells human blood, we are fiending live music now more than ever. That’s not to take away anything from the artist, John Carroll Kirby is nothing short of a jazz genius, which in a sense is a genius’ genius. After the first song finished, John took the opportunity to address the crowd and thank us all for coming out. Sharing in

First Show After The Great Reset: Patriarchy at The Lash’s Reopening Party

Rob Shepyer June 23, 2021

I’m assuming our audience watches alternative media and not corporate news so the words “Great Reset” call to mind this pseudo-conspiracy theory based on smatterings of elite water cooler talk at world economic forums and other such patriarchal happenings that the global economy will reset into a new system as a result of technological advent, reaction to catastrophe and pursuit of sinister agendas. related content: Janky Smooth Top 25 Artists To Watch In 2020 Where does Actually Huizenga fit in all this? Well, I consider the Great Reset more than a conspiracy but a cultural phenomenon that changed Los Angeles’ underground music scene forever. Without any bands to play for over a year, our once thriving and impressive live concert circuit was completely reset. The kings and queens of 2019 had their scepters and crowns stripped and their thrones vacated. With a clean slate to play with, Actually Huizenga intends to take that throne by making a name for herself as Patriarchy. related content: Photo Recap: Patriarchy At The Echoplex This was the first concert I attended since seeing Madball in March 2020 and coming down with Covid soon after. Even after all this time though, I never lost my

Photo Recap: Overkill at the House of Blues Anaheim

Janky Smooth Central Command March 10, 2020

If you were to ask me who thrash metal’s biggest badass is, I’d answer you in half a second with the name, Bobby Blitz. New Jersey’s own devil, the lead singer of Overkill. Overkill just embarked on their North American tour, beginning with their House of Blues Anaheim show with Exhorder and Hydraform opening. It was a display of the dirtiest, most fun and carefree sort of thrash you can ever hear. Whereas plenty of thrash is about evil and hell, Overkill paints a portrait of the street life from the gutters to the alleyways that one could only get when growing up in a hard knock state like New Jersey. Overkill came out with their most recent album in 2019 with The Wings of War and unlike plenty of bands they came up with, they still sound fresh and brutal. The same goes for Exhorder who released Mourn the Southern Skies in 2019 to continue their tradition of creating some of the most brutal and groovy NOLA thrash metal in the scene. Photos by: Dillon Vaughn Overkill Exhorder Hydraform

Photo Recap: Madball at 1720

Janky Smooth Central Command March 8, 2020

NYHC legends Madball were in the house at 1720 and gave the entire venue a lesson in how much style and bounce you can pack into hardcore. These guys are OG’s in this game and by the sound of their set, it shows because hardcore this heavy and ass-kicking could only come from the mind and guts of a pack of guys who’ve been around the block. Accompanying the band for this show was Death Before Dishonor, Section H8 and Stone Cold Stunner. Every band’s hardness and brutality shined on this night. Check out our pics from the show: Photos by: Veronika Reinert Madball Death by Dishonor Section H8 Stone Cold Stunner

Category: SHOWS

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