Category: SHOWS

Your Peace is our Peace: David Lynch’s Festival of Disruption at the Ace Hotel

Rob Shepyer October 20, 2018

My relationship with Transcendental Meditation began with my admiration for the cinema of auteur filmmaker, David Lynch. For the longest time, Eraserhead was my favorite movie. Lynch was able to synthesize certain abstract ideas that invisibly reside in the air and within the deepest part of our souls into images the heart understands but the mind cannot completely rationalize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2WC7GByE1w&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR02uLh8NIf6D_D-4gpioixZYsvXeb4FD_ZdsxtVBs0ro30ihwg8Bk-Cybo David Lynch credits arriving at these ideas to Transcendental Meditation, a specific form of meditation influenced by Vedic tradition and popularized by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the man the Beatles once considered their guru. I was so in love with David Lynch’s directing style that I decided to attend a Q & A that he was participating in but not the focal point of. The focal point of the Q & A was Dr. Norman Rosenthal, who was discussing his book Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation. Dr. Rosenthal spoke about the psychological, emotional, professional, and health benefits of TM while David Lynch gave us his take on the creative benefits. At one point in the discussion, Vice President of The David Lynch Foundation, Bob Roth, told the audience if anyone wanted to learn TM but couldn’t afford it they could write

The Church of Clutch at El Rey w/Sevendust and Tyler Bryant

Rob Shepyer October 18, 2018

Among die-hard Clutch fans, a label which describes most Clutch fans, it’s common to hear the slogan: “Clutch is Church”. The sentiment comes from a deep connection with the band that develops after you see them the first couple times and start sharing memories with people that orbit around their music and shows. There’s something nuanced about why this band generates such loyal fanfare and it can’t just be a consequence of the sound. Having made funky alternative metal blues boogie rock for the last three decades, Clutch’s sound keeps progressing with every album. With this tour coming off the heels of their latest 2018 record Book of Bad Decisions, they seem to be moving into a more rock and roll direction and keeping their alternative metal side more hidden. I don’t mind the change because in today’s musical climate, no other band flies the blues rock flag prouder than Clutch, it’s an important style of rock and roll that must be preserved and Clutch is not only refusing to let it go by the way side, but is expanding on the sound. related content: Neil Fallon Of Clutch Interview: Dog Ears In The Book Of Bad Decisions Combining this blues

Recontamination: Dying Fetus at the Regent

Dillon Vaughn October 18, 2018

A recent conversation with a friend resolved with an agreement that metal in L.A. is alive and kicking; a realization landed upon mostly after discussing the insanity we each witnessed at separate shows on the same night. The show my friend went to at 1720 was a stacked tech death bill featuring Obscura, Beyond Creation, Archspire, and more while I attended the rebirth of Relapse Records’ legendary Contamination Tour with Dying Fetus, Incantation, Gatecreeper, and Genocide Pact over at the Regent. Comparing the two lineups is a challenge for any balanced/general death metal fan and it made me fear one of the two events would suffer from poor attendance. Surprisingly, the distinction between the subgenres worked in each event’s favor and packed both venues with diehards losing their minds and paying respect to some of their favorite bands. related content: Morbid Angel At The Regent: A Lesson In Death Opening the night over at the Regent was one of the most recent groups to sign to Relapse: Genocide Pact. Their last performance in LA was a headlining set at Union back in 2016 that flew under the radar of most. With major label support the band’s reputation has grown quickly and attracted

United Kingdom, United Scene: Basement at the Hi Hat

Rob Shepyer October 17, 2018

When you listen to Basement, you hear so many different styles of rock converging into one sweeping underground sound that whether you’re into alternative, emo, or hardcore, you feel pain, pleasure, and everything in between. These young chaps from the United Kingdom call themselves melodic hardcore but hardcore is the least of what you hear if you span the Basement catalogue. They’ve recorded a song for every scene but don’t alienate anyone in those scenes. It’s no wonder all these different people came together to sell out Basement’s Hi Hat show the same day tickets were made available. Basement could draw at a much larger venue at this point so this show was something of a rare treat. related content: Nirvana Leads To Nothing… At The Regent Basement’s 2018 North American West Coast tour featured San Francisco’s Pllush as the opening band. A sweet and meaningful shoe-gaze experience, Pllush plays long, drawn out riffs that seemingly come straight from the heart. Featuring three women on strings and a guy on the kit, every member of Pllush balances a delicate sound with a mean punch. Pleasant Hill’s Elder Brother plays an emo that could’ve only been spawned in Nor Cal. It’s got chill vibrations

For Boy George, Anything: Culture Club at the Big Fresno Fair

Janky Smooth Central Command October 16, 2018

Words and Photos: Maggie St. Thomas At the turn of the century, I had the honor of being Culture Club’s only photographer at their San Diego show. It was an absolute delight having the entire photo pit to myself for the first three songs. Boy George walked onstage and right up to me as the band began with the opening notes of “Church of The Poison Mind.” George knelt down with style and grace as he positioned his right hand delicately below his chin with his left hand holding the microphone. As soon as the shutter button was pressed twice for good luck, George gave me a wink and got up to begin the show. I have included a handful of these very photographs for this article, shot on 35mm film, and never before published until now. related content: Kick Out The Jams: MC50 At The Observatory One thing is for sure, Boy George and Culture Club know how to dazzle and have been doing so since the bands inception in London 1981. Their third single, a Jamaican infused pop melody released in 1982 titled “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me,” is described by George as his DNA, and went

Kick Out The Jams: MC50 at the Observatory

Maggie St. Thomas October 14, 2018

Words and Photos by: Maggie St. Thomas The innovators of punk were the Motor City 5, known for their high energy live performances, being aggressive revolutionaries of the 1960’s and the house band of the White Panther Party. The MC5 recorded their first album Kick Out The Jams live on October 30th and 31st 1968 at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom. In May 2018, Brother Wayne Kramer announced the MC50 tour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kick Out the Jams across the world with a supergroup line-up including himself, and his partner of this guitar army Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Billy Gould on bass (Faith No More), pounding drum beats by original MC5 drummer Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson and joining him to his right was drummer Brendan Canty (Fugazi). Replacing Rob Tyner on vocals with the towering 6’7’’ frame and image reminiscent of the late lead singer stood Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla), and Billy Gould on bass lines (Faith No More). related content: Teen Angst Never Dies: Alkaline Trio At The Observatory Nearly 50 years to the date of recording, Saturday October 6th, 2018 in Santa Ana, we paid tribute to this all star line-up that sounded rude and unhinged as ever with domination firing off notes like rockets within the walls of the OC Observatory. Brother Wayne Kramer delivered

Don’t Slander Me: Roky Erickson at Teragram

Janky Smooth Central Command October 13, 2018

Photos by: Dillon Vaughn Very few performers have lived lives as hard as Roky Erickson. A godfather of psych rock and garage, Roky’s history is almost unbelievable. A musical prodigy from childhood to a genre defining songwriter at age 19, it’s hard to believe the scope and impact of his work hasn’t made him a staple among Venice Beach type stencil paintings and graphic tees at Urban Outfitters. (His story’s much cooler than that.) related content: Halloween At The Roxy With The Evil Ones: Roky Erikson & Death Valley Girls Finally having the chance to see a performance was something I made my heart drop the moment he walked on stage – not from anticipation, but from fear that the hints of mental illness and the very visible mark of time on this man would lead to a performance that would make it hard to listen to the music again. Sitting on stage in front of everyone was an older man that seemed somewhat lost and nearly puppeteered by his much younger backing band nearly hiding in the shadows. The moment the music began my fears were crushed; applause and screams from the audience fueled something in Roky. His eyes gained some

Return of the Old School: Kingdom Come at the Whisky

Rob Shepyer October 11, 2018

It’s my contention that if 80’s metal and grunge were to duke it out today, 80’s metal would come out victorious. I once read about a book called “The Pendulum” that theorized every forty years, people’s attitudes change from collectivist thinking to independent thinking. Grunge swung more like an axe, not a pendulum, to behead metal and change American rock music forever more. Now, in the Trump era, where collectivist notions don’t connect the same way they once did and hyper-masculinity seems to be the means to reclaim male identity, I think 80’s metal would prevail. We’ve had too many years of bands playing shoegaze without any charisma. We want spectacle. We want solos. And most of all, we want balls. You sense this when you see a great 80’s metal band live. I did when I saw Kingdom Come on their reunion tour where they celebrated their 30 year anniversary. related content: Soulfly And Nile: From The Amazon To The Whisky Kingdom Come were one of the original monsters of rock. Straight out of Germany, these guys had an incredibly powerful, soaring hard rock, metal sound that gained plenty of praise and comparison to Led Zeppelin. They were yesterday’s

Teen Angst Never Dies: Alkaline Trio at the Observatory

Dave Unbuckled October 11, 2018

There’s really no point in beating around the fact that the average age of attendees at the shows I look forward to has well surpassed their mid-20s hipster cred and are slowly blending in with the crowds of parents — most are looking for a safe night out that can reinvigorate some of their teenage angst. Tonight, however, was a culminating difference in the obviousness of this dilemma, made apparent by the leagues of mothers rushing outside in between sets, to call babysitters, and make sure everyone at home finished their homework and chores. On Thursday, October 4th, Alkaline Trio headlined their second sold out night at the Observatory OC, with openers Sharp/Shock and Together Pangea falling mostly onto deaf ears. Though there might have been a few in the audience who closely follow lead singer Matt Skiba’s personal endeavors to recognize Sharp/Shock as one of the few bands on Skiba’s Heart & Skull label, most waited patiently for the headliners to show their face on the main stage. related content: When We Were Young Festival’s Most Dominant Demographic: Mine Sharp/Shock held their own with Together Pangea, and have cemented a worthy ability to share the stage with many of

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

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.

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