Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the House of Blues San Diego

Cell phone photos courtesy of MK. Unfortunately, the House of Blues has a blanket no camera policy.

I am really getting familiar with the drive down the 405 to San Diego. I won't even mention how bad gas prices are these days.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club was first described as a Jesus & The Mary Chain ripoff on their first album. I say its a huge compliment and thought their first album was brilliant. Their second album "Take Them On, On Your Own" was equally impressive (mixed by Ken Andrews) and sounded just as fiery as their first. I originally wasn't too enthused about "Howl", but eventually came around to appreciate it. Baby 81 is a nice amalgamation of their prior work and will be in the top albums of 2007.

The Black Angels opened the set with their droney, moody rock. It reminded me of the moody moments of Darker My Love, Stone Roses, and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It was interesting to note that their logo is a picture of the woman on the cover of the Smiths live album "Rank". I spotted a Fulltone Tape Echo machine on stage along with a twelve string Rickenbacker lefty guitar. The songs got better progressively through the set. The set would probably have been better if I had the cd and was acquainted with their work. I was disappointed that their cd was $15, especially since Black Rebel Motorcycle Club had their cd for $10. Check them out at the Troubadour on June 1st.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club(BRMC) came out firing on all cylinders with "Took Out A Loan". Peter Hayes(Vocals/Guitars) has a massive guitar sound live which featured 4 Fender amplifiers and cabinets. He was running an elaborate switching system that hid all of his guitar pedals. Robert Levon Been (Bass/Vocals) was killing it on his Gibson Hollowbody bass. "Lien on Your Dreams" had a smoking guitar solo by Peter Haynes. My friend who had never seen BRMC before said that "Heart + Soul" rocked extremely hard. I agreed wholeheartedly. Peter busted out the trombone for "Promise". "Whatever Happened To My Rock & Roll" featured Peter using a capo on the 5th fret. I was extremely pleased to hear "Mercy" which is a b-side from Howl. Robert had some problems though as his guitar cut out mid song. Peter and Robert also switched instruments "Need Some Air" and "American X". They closed the set with one of my favorite tracks off of Baby 81 "All You Do Is Talk". With their set clocking in at almost 2 hours and twenty songs, I quickly realized why I went to San Diego.




Black Rebel Motorcycle Club setlist for the House of Blues San Diego (5/6/07)
"Took out a Loan"
"Berlin"
"Spread Your Love"
"Lien on Your Dreams"
"Heart + Soul"
"Weapon of Choice"
"Red Eyes and Tears"
"Windows"
"Promise"
"Not What You Wanted"
"666 Conducer"
"Whatever Happened To My Rock & Roll"
"Need Some Air"
"American X"
"Fault line"
"Devil's Waitin'"
"Mercy"
"Howl"
"Ain't No Easy Way"
"All You Do Is Talk"