Film School and Everest at the Viper Room

The pairing of Film School and Everest at the Viper Room proved to be to good to pass up as I have reviewed both multiple times. Both bands are located far apart on the sonic spectrum but therein lies the beauty of the Monday Night Indie 103.1 sponsored Check One.Two.. curated shows.

Castaneda





Castaneda fired up the crowd and their synthesizers with their dark wave influenced pop rock. "Pixels" was the first tune they offered that was propelled by their drummer who was rocking out with a full knee brace on. I don't think the doctor recommended he bash the drums for rehab but he was unfettered as the guitars diced the airwaves. Rob (Synthesizers) had a Korg MS2000 stacked on top of a Roland Juno as he washed the audience with various synthesizer patches. "Perfect & Pretty" was another good mesh of atmospheric synthesizers laden with hazy guitars centered around the crisp vocals of Vega (Guitars/Vocals). Your next chance to see Castaneda will be at Spaceland with Gran Ronde on May 27th.

Everest






It seems like only yesterday that I reviewed Everest at the Spaceland opening for the Parson Red Heads. A lot has happened since this time as their debut album Ghost Notes has hit the streets on Neil Young's Vapor Records. Everest had a lot to celebrate as it happened to be a birthday celebration for Joel Graves (Guitars) complete with a cake brought out from the crowd. I feel vindicated for mentioning in prior reviews of Everest of the guitar wizardry of Jason Soda as he nailed a solo during the show that garnered a huge ovation from the crowd and a wide grin of approval from Russ Pollard (Vocals/Guitars). "Into Your Soft Heart" and "Rebels in The Roses" were well received by the crowd as the Viper Room was packed to the gills. Everest will be back at Spaceland on June 16 opening for the Afternoons and I highly recommend this bill as it may be the last chance to see Everest for free.

Film School





What can I say about Film School? I have covered them numerous times and honestly never get sick of seeing them live. Film School had just drove in from Colorado as they were wrapping up their cross country tour with British Sea Power. I know I mentioned how sharp they are live and they continue to add new elements to their live show. "Sick Hipster Nursed By Suicide Girl" wrapped the audience in a fog of noise as the lights were out in the Viper Room. Greg Bertens (Guitars/Vocals) continues to surprise me with his dynamic stage presence as he was literally scraping the paint off the Viper Room walls with his Fender guitar. Greg even handed his guitar to an audience member as he violently tweaked his pedals for a storm of feedback. Film School will be back on tour opening for the mighty Swervedriver at the Henry Fonda on May 31st. I can't wait to hear Film School on the Fonda house system. Bring your earplugs.