Gypsyhawk, Mothership and Future Villains at The Joint on 4/04!

The Joint has recently come back on the map as a bitchin' metal venue! Just in time, with the recent closure of the Key Club and rumors that the House of Blues may be soon to follow! (NOOOOOO!) They hosted a great show last Thursday with The Future Villains, Mothership and Gypsyhawk. Let's cross our fingers that The Joint is here to stay!

Future Villains got the party started with their high energy, over the top rock-n-roll!

Mothership is an amalgam of heavy 70's rock, stoner rock and wicked metal guitar solos. They melted the stage with their heavy riffs and solid jams! Be on the look out for these guys the next time they roll through LA!

Gypsyhawk rocked the Joint like only they can do! When these guys take the stage, everyone forgets about being a hardass and slugging dudes in the pit. These tunes just make you wanna headbang with your pals - especially when Eric Harris jumps in the crowd with his bass to play the end of Commander of the High Forest!

That's how you finish a rock 'n roll show!

Nile at The Grove on 3/27

Since Nile did not have an LA date for their tour this year, I cruised on down to Orange County to see them play at The Grove last Thursday. I have to admit that I hate to travel behind the Orange Curtain but since the Metal Alliance Tour sold out before I had a chance to buy tickets, I chose to see Nile that night instead of staying home to sulk.

Does this look like a typical LA death metal venue??

I'm so glad I went out because these guys played a heart-shrivelingly brutal death metal show (Karl Sanders was smiling the whole time, if you can imagine that)! The turn-out was rather small but that was probably due to the simultaneous Metal Alliance concert taking place in Los Angeles. It was definitely a die hard death metal crowd.  Nile played two full sets of old and new material, and closed with Black Seeds of Vengeance. What a night!

Karl Sanders played some viciously weird and complicated solos on this custom double-neck guitar.

If you enjoy other technical death metal acts like Death or Dreaming Dead, you'll definitely enjoy Nile. Be sure to check them out on Facebook and catch their next show!

The next event on my concert calendar is Death To All at The House of Blues tonight, 4/13.

Metal Blade Records 30th Anniversary with Gypsyhawk, Sacred Reich and Armored Saint

*sniff, sniff*  Metal Blade Records celebrated 30 years in the music business at The House of Blues Friday, December 1st, with a killer line up and a sold out house! What an honor to be in attendance at such a historic celebration! Lots of industry people and metal celebrities were in attendance. The vibe was rockin' yet sentimental.

Gypsyhawk kicked off the celebration for the event with their usual no holds barred rock n' roll style! This hard rock foursome was signed to Metal Blade in 2011 and showcases the promising future of the label and the fact that Metal Blade has "still got it" when it comes to signing great bands. It's a breath of fresh air to see a band like Gypsyhawk re-energizing the classic hard rock sound amidst a market that's so saturated with metalcore and screamo bands. They had a stellar set list which included my favorite song of theirs, "Eyes of Ibad"! I love that song! The crowd warmed up to them pretty quickly, especially when they played Hedgeking and Commander of the High Forest.

                                Is that Animal on drums? Where did Ian go?

Sacred Reich followed them with a very short but sweet set. Brian Slagel explained why the set was so short at the end of the night but I was talking and I missed the explanation. Oops! They're playing again soon, though. 

Armored Saint was the headlining act and they played a super thrashy, high energy show! They even had special musical guests throughout their set, including Johan Hegg from Amon Amarth to sing "Hit the Lights"! Oh man, it was so amazing! For the last song, Eric Harris of Gypsyhawk got to come out and sing a Thin Lizzy song with Dug Pinnick from Redemption. It was a badass ending to a badass evening!

                                          That big blonde blur is Johan Hegg.

                    Eric Harris is on the far right. Too bad most of my photos are blurry.

Three cheers for Metal Blade Records and their continuing efforts to sign great bands, regardless of the difficult and changing music industry. May they have many more years of success!

Check out the Metal Blade Records website to see what other awesome bands they've signed.

I'm seeing Gypsyhawk again tonight at The El Rey with The Sword and the next event on my concert calendar is Holy Grail at The Slide Bar in Fullerton on Monday the 17th.

Tis the Season to Support Your Favorite Musicians by Purchasing Their Merch!

Alright, I'm busted. This is not a concert recap - it's a metal/hard rock shopping guide. This list is, however, based off of my concert experiences over the last year. If you're planning on buying Christmas gifts, support your favorite musicians in the process. They probably need to buy presents, too. These are my top 10 gift suggestions for hard rock or metal fans.

1. Gypsyhawk - Revelry and Resilience
This is a solid rock album, suitable for heavy metalers and non-heavy metalers alike. I vote it best album of 2012.

2. Gypsyhawk - Patience and Perseverance
Yes, Gypsyhawk gets to be on the list twice. This is their first album. Same band, different feel. I LOVE this album. You could probably give this to anyone and they'd thank you for changing their lives for the better.

3. Scorpion Child - Self Titled
This is a hard rock album with just a touch of psychedelia. Suitable for fans of Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Rainbow. Also, it's got AMAZING production quality. This album is a real gem.

4. Dreaming Dead - Midnightmares
This technical death metal album will render your puny human existence to a pile of cold ash. Buy it for someone you love - or hate.

5. Wanna buy something different than CD's or music downloads? Give the gift of Enslaved concert tickets for their February 8th show at The Troubador.

6. Havok - Time is Up
This thrash metal album will knock the wind out you! Seriously, it's so awesomely violent you might need to include a first aid kit with it!

7. Isolation in Infamy - Self Titled EP

Another brutal technical death metal album that will melt your face and ears off. Give it to your best friend or your grandma. Not sure if it's available on itunes so hit up the band on facebook or at their next show.


8.  Kreator - Phantom Antichist 
Wow, you mean a thrash metal band that's been around since the 80's recently put out a GOOD album?? Yes, I do. Not all bands act like Metallica. Some continue to make good music. Go buy this album.

9.  Accept - Stalingrad
The perfect gift for any Accept fans who've been hiding under a rock for the last year! It's a heavy album with a classic 80's Accept feel - even though it came out in 2012. Also suitable for AC/DC, Judas Priest, and German metal fans.


10. Vegan Black Metal Chef DVD 
You get 10 episodes of instructional cooking videos with original black metal soundtracks. Why the hell not? (Gauntlets not included.)

The Darkness at Club Nokia on 10/24

Last Wednesday, I took off my heavy metal blinders and ventured to Club Nokia to see The Darkness perform. I really like their music, especially Justin Hawkin's screeching vocals, but I wasn't sure what to expect from a live show. Fortunately, the show was hellaciously awesome and blew away all of my expectations!

Maybe you don't like The Darkness because you think they don't take themselves seriously enough as musicians, but my response to that would be that you take yourself too seriously. Like a lot of glam bands and hair metal, The Darkness' musicianship gets over looked because of the band's silly, over the top glam style and the fact that they're not really "heavy". But that doesn't mean that these guys don't know how to shred! Everything I saw Wednesday night demonstrated that they can and do play guitar (and bass and drums) very well. If I had to make a comparison, I'd say that the Hawkins brothers' guitar style is little reminiscent of AC/DC's Angus Young. Maybe it's not full of sweep picking but it's original, competent, and respectable. And when Justin Hawkins plays a solo, it's still an impressive guitar solo.

Even if you're a super serious metalhead, you have to admit that it would be nice to see mainstream rock go more in this direction than the horrendous path it's taken towards DJ point 'n click music that's composed on a Mac or PC. I hope that more bands like The Darkness, Gypsyhawk, and Scorpion Child can start to gain momentum in the popular and alternative music realms because a hard rock and glam revival is just what this world needs. It's more palatable to the generic masses than thrash metal and it's genuinely good music. Who knows? Maybe The Darkness fans of today will become the Accept and 3 Inches of Blood fans of tomorrow?

Dreaming Dead, Isolation in Infamy at The Stardust Club

I was chased by zombies for about three miles last Saturday but it wasn't enough to stop me from going out to see a metal show later that night. It was a close call which show I went to, though. I had already committed to seeing Dreaming Dead play and then my buddies from Gypsyhawk surprised me with a last minute show in Pasadena that was taking place at the exact same time as the Dreaming Dead show. Damn. I ended up sticking to the Dreaming Dead show with promises that I would see the next two upcoming Gypsyhawk shows. I still felt a little cheated at the end of the weekend.
Regardless of that, the show at The Stardust Club was totally killer! A band I had never seen before, Isolation in Infamy, played right before Dreaming Dead, and they put on a great show. It was technical -extremely technical- death metal, and a bit progressive. Isn't most technical death metal also progressive death metal? Well maybe not, but I think that's the only kind of death metal I listen to and enjoy. This band showed a lot of scorn for the luke warm audience response, which I suppose was understandable. They really killed it on stage but most of the crowd was sitting down, half-asleep. I tried to make up for everyone else's lack of spirit by screaming and clapping loudly. I still got scorned. That's death metal for you. Of course, I bought a CD later and talked to the band in between sets and they were actually really nice guys!
Next up was Dreaming Dead. I'm a big fan of front woman Liz Schall's shredding and screaming skills and I think anyone who likes death metal even a little bit will LOVE Dreaming Dead. Everyone in this band has chops. Their music reminds me of some sort of primordial horror rising from the swamps to devour humanity in the middle of the night. Really, it's amazing! The sound was a little weak for the first part of the set but Liz turned up halfway through and all was well. I took off pretty soon after Dreaming Dead finished their set since I was utterly exhausted from the zombie race, but I did make a quick stop at El Taco next door for some amazing Mexican food. Apparently, it was the heavy metal taco shop that night.

The next events on my concert calendar are The Darkness tonight at Club Nokia, then Future Villains at The Viper Room on Friday, October 26th...but I also heard that Gypsyhawk might be playing that same night at an undisclosed location in Rosemead! Too much good shit goin' on!

Scorpion Child, Gypsyhawk at The Viper Room on 10/5

Holy crap, what an awesome night! 70's hard rock commandeered  the Viper Room last Friday with awesome performances by Scorpion Child and Gypsyhawk. It was a rock 'n roll double whammy!

Seeing Scorpion Child play was one of those concert moments when you say to yourself "I can't believe I'm really here now and my life is so hellaciously rad!" When they took the stage, I felt like I had been pulled through a time portal to the early 1970's - except that I was loving it instead of hating it! 
I like some classic rock but I am definitely 100% hesher and 0% flowerchild. Somehow, Scorpion Child has taken classic 70's rock and completely reinvigorated it without really changing the essence of it.  I think it's partly due to the amazing, melodic bass lines that drive most of the songs and the overall incredible, dynamic song composition.  Everyone is pulling their own weight in this band. Sure, there is a Led Zeppelin influence but nothing I heard sounded derivative or unoriginal (did you get that joke?). In fact, I'll go so far as to say I like Scorpion Child better than Zeppelin because they don't remind me of dirty free-love hippies, even though they did have a dude doing psychedelic visuals on an overhead projector, but you know what? He was rad, too.  

The only band that could follow a set like that is Gypsyhawk, and fortunately, that's who played next. These guys also have a 70's rock feel but their style is a little more metal, with muscular guitar riffs and shredding solos. Their set was totally killer and full of songs off of their new album, Revelry and Resilience, which I highly recommend you buy. These guys balanced out their 70's rock vibe with some 80's cock-rock, synchronized, guitar moves and got the crowd really going! People were dancing, head-banging and rockin' out for the entire set! They finished their set with Commander of the High Forest, an awesome song off of their first album, and then we all migrated over to The Rainbow to keep the party going. What a great night! 

Be sure to check out both bands on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Gypsyhawkusa

https://www.facebook.com/scorpionchild

The next event on my concert calendar is Dreaming Dead on October 20th at The Stardust Club.

Gypsyhawk, Ex Mortus, and Holy Grail

Last weekend was one of those concert weekends that I hope will go down in music history as the humble beginnings of something huge.  If so, I will be able to look back on it and say that I was there. Gypsyhawk kicked it off on Friday at Vacation Vinyl with their record release party for their new album Revelry & Resilience. (Have you heard it? It's totally bitchin - like 70's rock injected with heavy metal power and epic guitar solos.  So far, my favorite track on the new album is The Fields but Galaxy Rise is a close second.) Vacation Vinyl was completely packed with head bangin' fans and the Grill 'Em All truck was parked out front representing heavy metal cuisine. After party was at 4100 Bar. Awesome night!

But the awesome didn't stop there. Saturday night Holy Grail and Ex Mortus played a free show at Footsie's in Cypress Park. I've spotted Ex Mortus' name on the moshking.com concert calendar several times but I've shamefully never checked them out, mostly because I suspected they were probably a black metal band, which is not my thing. INCORRECT! Ex Mortus turned out to be a shockingly impressive thrash metal band with virtuoso guitar talent. These guys laid down impeccable and energetic neoclassical guitar solos left and right. The bass player and drummer were amazing, too. Everyone who got to watch can now claim that their existence has been improved a little bit.

Holy Grail wrapped up the night at Footsie's by playing some of their awesome new stuff, as well as some of their equally awesome not-so-new stuff (I wouldn't quite call it old stuff, yet). They had kind of a rough start due to sound system issues but when you're playing in a bar parking lot with your amps facing out of the back of two pickup trucks you can't expect the sound to be perfect. Regardless of sound issues, Holy Grail still kicked ass and I'm sure they still made new fans out of anyone who was seeing them for the first time.  

The next event on my concert calendar is Saviours at Los Globos this Thursday, August 30th.