Category: SHOWS

Ben Lives!: Ben is Dead Zine 30th Anniversary with Jawbreaker at Catch One

Janky Smooth Central Command November 21, 2018

Legendary Los Angeles punk rock magazine Ben is Dead celebrated their 30 year anniversary since first being published in 1988. As a punk rock blog ourselves, we give all due respect and praise to Ben is Dead for what they’ve done for punk rock and Los Angeles journalism and this contribution didn’t go unnoticed by bands as well. The artists that this event was able to assemble was rather remarkable considering how rare they were to see, not just at any show, but in a club like Catch One. Hot off headlining Riot Fest and selling out the Hollywood Palladium for numerous dates, Jawbreaker was set to headline the anniversary show. Also billed to play were the extremely rarely seen Skatenigs and Kieth Morris’ Midget Handjob. Those that were in attendance were treated to a show they will never forget and those that didn’t go are mostly likely never going to experience anything like this. Photos by: Jessica Moncrief Jawbreaker Midget Handjob Skatenigs Savage Republic

Is This Dungeons and Dragons? No, Cloak and Dagger, Actually

Jonathan Reyes November 20, 2018

You go to a goth fest expecting 90’s Blade as a theme, but the black light shone the crowd for what they were. The weekend crowd from Halloween Horror Nights. The music was right, the expanded line up serviced all shades of goth. The venue was straight out of Miss Murder. Alas the crowd was 6 feet under aside from a few spurts of life during Boy Harsher and Health. related content: The Sound Of Sex: Boy Harsher Seduces The Echoplex I have a theory that the venue makes the show more so than the crowd, possibly even the band. Cloak and Dagger moving the show from the State to the Los Angeles Theatre was a mistake. I think they should have applied their strict code to the venue. Damn the crowd and damn the theatre. I wanted darkness, I wanted to feel like it was a privilege and not a purchase, smaller room, a darker room, a strict dress code. related content: Cloak And Dagger Fest: The Heart Of Los Angeles Bled From Dusk Till Dawn Beside wanting more ruffled Victorian shirts and latex the music and entertainment outstanding. The Jarson family known as Body of Light brought everyone

Séance: Ghostemane & Gatecreeper at the Roxy

Rob Shepyer November 19, 2018

A prediction I made a year ago seems to be coming more true every year and that’s that trap music will be the foundation of music’s future, in this case it’ll be heavy metal which trap will reinvent. I’m talking about trap metal, trap punk, trap-core, emo-trap and industrial trap. All these newborn styles are being spearheaded by a handful of young men at the beginning of their twenties, notably the man(e) who sold out the Roxy, Echo, and 1720 on a three-day tour bender to conquer Los Angeles, that man being Ghostemane. related content: Anarchy’s Monarch: Scarlxrd At The Roxy One might think that trap would have trouble being embraced by the true metal bands its competing against but with support from death metal heavyweights Gatecreeper, it would seem metalheads are fans of trap and trap-heads are fans of metal. Or maybe both are just fancy crazy…. related content: Recontamination: Dying Fetus At The Regent As always, Gatecreeper destroyed the Roxy, just as they do any venue they have the chance to play. They are clearly the best young death metal band around, having opened for every landmark American of the genre with a sound that is undeniably classic

Photo Recap: Underoath “Erase Me” Tour at the Shrine

Janky Smooth Central Command November 14, 2018

Underoath are back and no longer playing under the “christian” moniker. This musical resurrection came to the Shrine Expo Hall for the Erase Me tour with Dance Gavin Dance, Crown The Empire, and The Plot in You. Fans waited anxiously in silence until just like a kick to the face, post-hardcore heroes, Underoath hit the stage, blaring with “On My Teeth” off their new album, Erase Me. People went nuts, jumping over the railing and crowd surfing while the band reeked havoc on stage. Then just as things were getting extremely heavy and intesne, this giant and gentle band brought the crowd to tears with “I Hate It”. Over all, it was a killer show to mark the rebirth of Underoath from start to finish. Photos by: Pedro Carrera Underoath Dance Gavin Dance Crown The Empire The Plot in You

Corn Dogs, Fashion, Puke, and Rap: Camp Flog Gnaw 2018

Rob Shepyer November 13, 2018

Los Angeles’ fashionable youth came out in full force to see the hip hop lineup of the year at Dodger Stadium for Tyler, The Creator’s annual Camp Flog Gnaw. Call it a camp but it’s more of a concert carnival with every sort of fanfare and confection you’d find at a state fair. Slushees, corn dogs, donuts, topsy-turvy rides, every kind of fatty fair food, games, and even post-mates bicyclists to fetch you whatever your lazy ass desires. related content: Camp Flog Gnaw 2015: Beats, Beefs, And Building Your Brand Camp Flog Gnaw 2018 sold out in less than an hour and afterward, ticket prices skyrocketed into the thousands. With numerous millennials paying for their tickets off their rich parents’ dollar, there was something undeniably youthful and nihilistic about the crowd and how hard they’d party. On my way there, plenty of Ubers and Lyfts had to stop off the side of Vin Scully Avenue to let their passengers puke out the window. The puke didn’t end there, the various coasters people launched their bodies on only dispelled more wet, looney lung butter out their vulnerable gutty-wuts. Would the hype live up to the music, though? Was Camp Flog Gnaw

Photo Recap: Kruder and Dorfmeister at the Fonda

Janky Smooth Central Command November 10, 2018

Legendary Austrian down-tempo DJ duo Kruder and Dorfmeister came to play the Fonda Theatre on their brief American tour. Featuring some of the coolest mixing I’ve heard heard and most beautiful and deliciously disorienting visuals I’ve ever seen, this show was one for the books. The audience was also my favorite of 2018 featuring Europeans from every region and 90’s club kids that danced like they were still in their 20’s and on ecstacy. Photos by: Dillon Vaughn

Photo Recap: Public Image Ltd. at the OC Observatory

Janky Smooth Central Command November 9, 2018

John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, brought his communication company, also known as his band, Public Image Ltd. to the Orange County Observatory for an epic show that featured just as much music as poetry. Lydon’s lyrics are sometimes a curiosity and other times a call to action, either way it’s impossible not to take away a lasting memory from a Public Image Ltd show. Photos by: Jessica Moncrief

The Heavy Sound of Nature: Alcest Plays “Kodama” at Catch One

Rob Shepyer November 8, 2018

The first show I attended at Catch One since their recent rebranding was French metal-gaze innovators, Alcest‘s performance of their seminal album, “Kodama”. You can sense new life in the walls at Catch One, something feels different and fresh. Paying homage to the club’s original incarnation as a safe haven for the black LGBTQ community, the club is now just as safe and just as much of a haven for all. This show featured a powerhouse lineup with King Woman and Glaare supporting Alcest. The last time I saw Glaare, they were mashed between two goth bands that made their unique sound stick out like a sore thumb. I found it too cool in the context of a sad boy goth show but on this night I had different feelings. The sound system at Union captured their element better than the Echoplex and having been the show’s opener, there was no other sound for me to compare them to. related content: Who’s The Better Brother? Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel The band’s singer, Rachael, has her on-stage charisma down. She knows how to play with stage banter and move to make for a dramatic performance. Sonically, the band makes a disorienting

Windhand Worship at El Rey Theatre

Dillon Vaughn November 8, 2018

Windhand and Satan’s Satyrs recently played at the El Rey in support of their recently released albums as well as the shared split produced earlier this year. related content: The Protomen: Mega Men On A Mission At The Echoplex Satan’s Satyrs lost some of my attention as they strayed from their most aggressive qualities after releasing Wild Beyond Belief but I found it impossible not to enjoy their performance that night. On display was a more experienced assemblage of the wild hunger they once had: this wasn’t a band trying to prove anything, they were here to shred. It was easy to find appreciation for the new material while witnessing a group that seemed lost (and discovered) somewhere in time between T. Rex and a Hammer horror induced freakout. Clayton Burgess, the group’s leader and bassist, has obviously learned a lot and found a perfect level of comfort on stage after landing the role of the bassist of Electric Wizard. That being said, his bandmates never seem secondary to the balanced performance and their staying power lies in their ability to truly have a sound of their own. related content: Virtually No Dust: Desert Daze 2018 Windhand’s appeal is unique amongst their

Your Vagina May Catch Fire by the End of This Song: Death From Above at the Teragram

Robert Cohen November 8, 2018

In her 1972 book Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature, Margaret Atwood wrote that the Canadian way of death is death by accident. And while this perspective has been analyzed, discussed, and otherwise relentlessly picked apart in the years since the book’s initial publication, it’s important to note that while DFA may stand for many things, “Death From Accident” was certainly not one of them at Toronto’s own DFA’s Sunday show at The Teragram, despite the temptation at times to think of it that way. related content: Finally Admitting It’s Real: Portugal The Man At The Shrine There were times during the entire show I found myself contemplating if all the slip-ups in their career were somehow intentionally made so that the show could be as perfectly tailored as it was. This was a show that might as well have been planned by a Swiss watchmaker based on how effective it was in escalating the mood of the crowd with each consecutive action. From the size of the venue, to the makeup of the crowd, the swagger of the openers and headliners alike, even extending into the music that played before, in between, and after each set, this was

All I Want for Christmas is “Blood and Tears”: Danzig’s Halloween Hell Bash at Fivepoint Amphitheatre

Rob Shepyer November 7, 2018

I attend every Danzig show I can, no matter the incarnation. Glenn’s music is a church of sorts for me, I unapologetically worship the man. For Misfits, I’ll travel across state-lines. For Danzig, I’ll stay in traffic for hours and end up home the next morning. For Samhain, fuck it, I’ll sell an organ to get through the door. For all Glenn Danzig’s done for punk, metal, and dark aesthetics in general, if it wasn’t for him, I would be on a completely different course in life. related content: The Misfits At Riot Fest Chicago 2016: Bats In The Press Tent Danzig I was the first record I ever bought. For months before buying it, I would just stare at the Crystal Skull on the cover until my curiosity and fear got the best of me and I bought it almost to test myself and see if I could handle this dark, evil force. Lately, Danzig has been playing shows to celebrate what might be his most iconic album Danzig III: How the Gods Kill. It’s an album any true fan has to love but it’s Danzig II: Lucifuge that I find is often underrepresented but features a few of my

Noche de las Luchas: Lucha Vavoom at the Mayan

Jessica Moncrief November 6, 2018

October 25th, wrestling and burlesque enthusiasts alike gathered at The Mayan to kick off the first of two nights inside America’s most outrageous show, Lucha Vavoom! related content: Pussy Bang Bang Grindhouse Burlesque Show Grinds on Harvelle’s Long Beach The wildly popular production, Lucha Vavoom has been a staple show in LA at The Mayan for years and always sells out for a reason. The producers have combined comedy, Mexican Lucha-Libre wrestling, music, and burlesque to create an over the top spectacular that keeps your senses tantalized from beginning to end. Before the show officially kicked off Peaches delivered the house rules to a rowdy crowd of inebriated wrestling fans via an instructional video. The most important rule, aside from watching out for flying luchadoras, was “No Puking!” The first act of the night featured trans sensation, Neon Music. She made a grand entrance on a bat swing that descended from the ceiling as she sang a delightfully dark rendition of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. It was a fitting way to start of the “Circo De Vampiros” Halloween edition of Lucha Vavoom and seriously warmed my little black heart. related content: Fierce Fiesta: Scum’s 2 Year Anniversary W/Limp Wrist At The