Category: SHOWS

Warning At Alex’s Bar: In the Front Row “Watching From a Distance”

Rob Shepyer October 23, 2017

The rise of doom metal’s popularity after the 2000’s had generated numerous doom and stoner bands that have saturated the scene with a lot of the same old sounds. Some bands take doom places that aren’t even metal I’d argue, like Australia’s Divide and Dissolve. One of the second wave doom bands that were able to leave a mark on the genre and get people to reconsider the possibilities of playing slow and heavy is the United Kingdom’s Warning. Their 2006 album Watching From A Distance was the most sensitive and gut-wrenching metal I had ever heard up to that point- it was doom-poetry. Oddly, it may be the case that Warning take more influence from folk than traditional doom bands like Candlemass or Saint Vitus or even Black Sabbath. Doom is simply the musical vehicle the band needs to perform the message. Warning planned to tour Watching From A Distance in its entirety earlier in the year, with Sound And Fury promoting their first Los Angeles show in years, unfortunately for Warning, the reign of president Donald Trump plagued them with visa issues and stopped them from entering the country. My hopes of checking the band off my bucket

The New American Storytellers: Nikki Lane & JD McPheerson At The Regent

Rob Shepyer October 18, 2017

JD McPheerson is a rising star, blazing with acclaim from artists, critics, and fans alike that see his music as the revival of classic rock and roll. And by rock, I’m talking about old timers like Chuck Berry (RIP), Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The moment I heard “North Side Gal” was the moment I heard the potential for a real phenomenon and moment in music to occur. I can best describe the moment that I’m looking for by comparing it to the kind of fan reaction that Bill Haley and The Comets had when they performed “Rock Around The Clock“. People just went totally ape-shit, it was a total spiritual breakthrough of youth releasing all the suppressed energy that comes with wasted American dreaming. And this comparison isn’t necessarily limited to straight forward rock and roll, in fact the only young band I’ve seen come close was Ceremony performing “Kersed” at Sound and Fury 2016, when the entire audience erupted when the opening notes of the song were strummed and there was one distinct sound that shot up into the air and that was the sound of everyone’s feet stamping on the Regent’s floor in a furious, collective

Music Tastes Good In Long Beach – It Really Did

Janky Smooth Central Command October 17, 2017

Music Tastes Good 2017 was a fun-filled weekend featuring eclectic music and gourmet foods on the breezy coast of the Long Beach Marina Green Park on September 30th and October 1st. As I first arrived at the festival on Day 2, all my senses were immediately going off as I was greeted by the fiery sounds of the Hot 8 Brass Band, smelled delicious foods, saw incredible 3-D works of art and my feet began to feel the beat of the band, leaving me dancing as I explored the festival grounds. I only briefly lamented missing all the great music of Day 1. related content: Summertime In The LBC: Love Letter To A City That Doesn’t Always Love Back The first full set I was pleased to dance to was that of Dengue Fever, a Cambodian-American band currently based in Los Angeles. Their jazz meets psychedelic rock infused music had the crowd swaying blissfully as lead singer Chhom Nimol belted out beautiful melodies and led the cheerful crowd. The stage was decorated to match their 60’s inspired grooviness with colorfully painted hearts, rainbows and stars. At the end of their set, they rang out their brassy solos and high energy

So Much Strange At Das Bunker 21st Anniversary At Union

Rob Shepyer October 15, 2017

I’ve always been iffy about going to Das Bunker. Industrial music has held a special place in my heart since high school when I used to smoke myself stupid and put on headphones to let Skinny Puppy pervert my vulnerable mind. Later, when it came to light that Skinny Puppy’s music was used to torture inmates in Guantanamo Bay, I had to reassess what damage I had done to my senses. I’ve always loved the music but the industrial scene itself, turned me off. Those industrial pants are fucking ridiculous and the dancing is down right goofy, especially when the only one on the floor is a 50-year-old gamer, sucking in his gut. So, I had my reservations, but with my need to never miss out, I still feel like shit that I couldn’t go to the Das Bunker 20th anniversary show, last year. Now I would kill to see The Legendary Pink Dots. related content: Front 242 And Severed Heads Bring Classic Industrial To The Regent Theater To make up for last year’s absence and check out some insanely hot goth chicks, I committed myself to make it to at least one of the two nights of the 21st anniversary. I

Finally, A Ska Review: Less Than Jake At The Teragram

Rob Shepyer October 14, 2017

We here at Janky Smooth cover every genre of rock and hip hop but sometimes, certain styles of music slip between the cracks and don’t get their due. This year I’ve seen everything from “New German Death Art” to “Brass House” to “Trap Jazz” to “Metal Gaze”, so I felt like a huge piece of music would be missing if I didn’t go to a ska show. Less Than Jake might be a little more pop punk fusion than just straight ska, but still, I got my fix of horns, fedoras, checkers, and skanking. Pop punk gets a lot of hate from raw punk fanatics but as a former frat boy, I see the charm in pop punk. I might’ve hated those bands in high school when Pantera and Slayer was all I listened to but now, give me a beer and some friends, and I’ll happily indulge in nostalgia. Not to mention, all the pop punk musicians and fans that I know can out-drink and out-fight most of the “real” punk fans and musicians I know. Pop punk kids are usually blue collar, down home, cool mother fuckers. related content: Jawbreaker At Riot Fest: The Moment I Stopped Hating Pop

The Battle of The Bays: Obituary & Exodus Clash At Teragram Ballroom

Rob Shepyer October 12, 2017

Thrash is the father of every form of extreme metal on the heavy metal family tree. If it wasn’t for Slayer there would be no death metal or black metal. There have always been bands that have teetered on the border of death and thrash metal, german thrash bands like Kreator and Sodom brought death metal vocals and heaviness into thrash, while bands like Obituary brought thrash metal accessibility and groove into death metal. Perhaps that was always the secret to Obituary’s longevity, of all the original Florida death metal bands, beginning with Chuck Shuldiner’s Death then continued with Morbid Angel and Deicide, Obituary is the only band of the bunch still reigning. What separated Obituary’s music from these other bands is that they took a more accessible, groove and rhythm approach to death metal, it wasn’t a total noise fest of blast beats and guttural vocals. The band was always more seeped in their southern rock roots than the rest. Almost like how Weedeater is to stoner metal. related content: Weedeater And The Obsessed At The Regent: Blaze It Up, Fool The Florida death metal sound was born out of Tampa Bay in the Morrisound Recording studio but then

Andrew WK Preaches The Party Philosophy At The Regent Theater

Rob Shepyer October 10, 2017

How can anyone not like Andrew WK? No matter what kind of music you’re into, if you go to his show, you will be moved to move, dance, shout, jump, and of course, party. That’s what AWK is a master of, getting everyone in a room on his side no matter who they are, why they’re there, or where they come from. If you’re not a fan, just give Andrew 5 minutes of your time and I’m sure you’ll see the light. related content: Front 242 And Severed Heads Bring Classic Industrial To The Regent Theater Like most people my age, I discovered Andrew WK from his collaboration with the Jackass crew, where the single “We Want Fun” was debuted with the original Jackass movie all the way back in 2002. Fifteen years later, the lasting power and stamina of Andrew WK’s chops and career are truly uncanny. His nose has been bleeding for twenty years and still, he shows no signs of aging or slowing down. How can he do this you might ask? Mind over matter and music of mind, that is the answer. He practices the “party philosophy” in order to reach “party consciousness”. Andrew WK takes

Chelsea Wolfe: She-God of Luciferian Witches And Other Soul Harvesters At The Regent

Rob Shepyer October 1, 2017

Chelsea Wolfe dresses in black. The color simply knows how to fall correctly upon her body. She feels comfortable in black and black feels comfortable on her. With her pale skin and thousand mile cold-detached stare, I don’t ever think I’ve seen a closer resemblance to a mythical siren grace a stage. And I certainly never figured sirens could play a mean doom guitar. Chelsea’s latest album, Hiss Spun is a beautifully grueling venture into the darkness of down tuned metal guitar and noisy wall of sound electronics to make what is best described as doom blues, as opposed to doom metal. I’ve never heard doom sound as rhythmical or groovy as I did beholding Chelsea and her band at the Regent. Her drums and guitars can thrash at intense speeds and make you dance while never departing out of the doom realm. It requires some kind of forbidden alchemy and golden arithmetic to achieve that balance. I see a lot of artists trying to create a similar image to hers, trying to introduce a certain level of “evil” into a mainstream bluesy sound. I don’t think anyone pulls it off quite as well though, the others seem like caricatures,

Front 242 And Severed Heads Bring Classic Industrial To The Regent Theater

Rob Shepyer September 29, 2017

Cold Waves and Das Bunker joined forces to create one hell of a concert bill for a Wednesday night. Belgian innovators of EBM, Front 242 and Australian industrial icons, Severed Heads shared a stage for this incredible evening of dark, electronic music. Both groups are legends in the world of industrial but their performing styles couldn’t be any more different. related content: Psychic TV Experiment With Auditory Alchemy At The Echoplex The Regent was filled with goth kids, Skinny Puppy shirts abound. I eavesdropped on a few conversations and they were all talking about careers in game development. Das Bunker DJs were spinning some tracks as we waited for the opening act which I parked right in front of the stage for. The first thing I noticed about the stage set-up was the red roses strewn all over the electronic decks. I imagined with a name like Romy, they’d be an act with some kind of romance or romeo reference but came to learn she was no male heartthrob or heartbreaker. She was in fact an extraordinarily talented artist and might just be a female Trent Reznor in utero. Utilizing synths and drum machines, Romy makes incredibly catchy, hard-hitting and dark,

Psychic TV Experiment With Auditory Alchemy At The Echoplex

Rob Shepyer September 27, 2017

After Rebellion is Over‘s atrocious Regent performance for the Dais Records 10 year anniversary show, I felt that Genesis P-Orridge needed to redeem herself in my eyes. Up until that show, I had regarded her as a soothsayer, a psychic siren of sorts, a mystic… but that show, was fatally pretentious. So many classic artists still touring in their golden years seem like a shadow of their former selves. They don’t move as much on stage. The singer can’t hit the same notes. And fans never remember the band at their best, they remember the band how they left the building, either riding into the sunset or falling flat on their face. That said, I’d wait to see Psychic TV before making my verdict. related content: Dais’ Records 10 Year Anniversary Party: The Dark Fruits Of Persistence I became a fan of Psychic TV after I saw them headline night 1 of Berserktown 2016 by playing their debut album “Force The Hand Of Chance” in its entirety. They were marvelous. It’s hard not to stun an audience when you get to perform songs as beautiful as those. Songs like “Just Drifting” and “Stolen Kisses“. Psychic TV is not just a

Jawbreaker At Riot Fest: The Moment I Stopped Hating Pop Punk

Danny Baraz September 21, 2017

Sometimes, a live music moment catches you off guard and hits you so hard that you are overcome with the feels- a band or a song that summons a moment in time, a relationship, a victory or a defeat- you are instantly transported to that time and place with a chord, or a riff or a melody. As a reliable concert crier, I typically have a pretty good idea when that moment is coming. Before the show starts, before I get to the venue and even before tickets go on sale, as soon as a show is announced, I know. But The Misfits as the marquee headliners of Riot Fest 2016 and up to this past Sunday when Jawbreaker were the belles of the ball known as Riot Fest 2017, it redefined the criteria for the eligibility of what makes those moments and what don’t and redefined how I reconciled my musical identity- yeah, Jawbreaker were that good. related content: The Misfits At Riot Fest Chicago 2016: Bats In The Press Tent I was 14 In 1990 when Jawbreaker’s first album, Unfun was released. It was the same year the *greatest speed metal album of all time was unleashed and

Perturbator, Author & Punisher: Using Devices To Debase Regent Theater

Rob Shepyer September 19, 2017

Electronic music allows a single artist to take on all the working parts of a band because those parts become synthesized in their machines. The electronic revolution has opened up new opportunities and avenues for artists who might not have ever been interested in picking up a guitar- and that’s no slight against EDM artists (up until this night I was under the impression that EDM was the Pop style of electronic music, at large). The point of music isn’t just to wow you and me with virtuosic and technical playing- it’s to express ones soul and if electronics help an artist do that more purely and directly then it’s a good thing. In this sense, Jim Morrison was right when he predicted the future of music would consist largely of one person and an arsenal of components. So if in Morrison’s mind’s eye he had an image of what that future would actually LOOK like, I doubt it would’ve differed too much from what I saw at The Regent Theater when Perturbator, Author & Punisher and Whiteqube were booked to showcase a different kind of electronic music than what you might imagine when you see the letters E D