Radars To The Sky at the Echo

The line up was stacked high for the Radars to Sky residency Monday night at the Echo. I was feeling a little under the weather but was determined to catch one heck of a line up.

The Transmissions



Christian Biel (Guitars/Vocals) has to be one of the more expressive guitarists/vocalists in the Los Angeles area with his compelling performance leading The Transmissions through a tight set. Christian manages to fill up their sonic landscape with a mixture of howling overdriven and space tinged guitar tones from his Fender Telecaster. Corey Lyons (Bass) and Denise Duncan (Drums) did an excellent job keeping pace with Christian's hyper-kinetic riffs and movements. Christian also had a bevy of effects pedals including a Electro Harmonix POG and sampler to help propel his sound into another galaxy. "Over Saving Mountain" had a prog like feel with it pulsating laser keyboards as Christian methodically sprayed guitar notes throughout the song. I will keep a close eye on the Transmissions.

The Henry Clay People






The pictures above can only partially explain the event that is The Henry Clay People. The Henry Clay People didn't really need to expand their sound but added Joe Napolitano from Le Switch on keyboards and Jonathan Price from I Make This Sound to really hit the audience over the head. Andy and Joey Siara are the local version of the Gallagher brothers with their penchant for antagonizing each other on stage and general debauchery. You couldn't help but raise your whiskey shot to the air as the band ripped into "Working Part Time" as the guitars jangled at high volume. Andy Siara (Guitars/Vocals) was sporting a shiny Fender Telecaster Deluxe in lieu of his Fender Jazzmaster and coaxed some rocking twang from his amp. I also appreciate the random cover songs they throw into their sets as they tackled the Traveling Wilburys "Handle With Care" and Andy did his best impersonation of Roy Orbison. The band also coaxed the audience into a barrage of well timed jumps whilst rocking out. The Henry Clay People will be visiting the residencies of Le Switch and Mezzanine Owls next month so make sure you catch at least one of those shows.


Radars To The Sky





The Henry Clay People are a tough bunch to follow but Radars To The Sky proved to be extremely worthy of their residency at the Echo with a compelling performance. They list some of my favorite bands as influences like Archers of Loaf, Pavement, Grandaddy and The Smiths. Andrew Spitser (Vocals/Guitars) has a distinctive voice that slightly reminded me of the Smoking Popes. "Victoria" was a dynamic blast of frantic guitars and bouncy keyboards that were pulled together nicely by Andrew's longing vocals. "Sunk My Teeth" had plenty of false starts and stops with excellent contrast between Andrew's Fender Stratocaster clean guitar blasts and Seamus Simpson's slightly distorted Les Paul. I was highly impressed by their Pixies cover of "Alec Eiffel" as this song does not immediately jump out as one to cover but Radars To The Sky nailed it. "Selfish Kids" was a new song that reverberated loudly and bounced around the Echo. "Wave By The Sun" has to be one of the more off kilter tunes in their catalog as the guitars ricochet around your skull as the song has a slight Pavement alt country vibe. I will try and swing by their last night of their residency at the Echo on April 28th.

Death To Anders





I was excited to see Death To Anders as I still have their album Fictitious Business in constant rotation. Rob Danson (Guitars/Vocals) got immediate points for being one of the few Los Angeles guitarists with a Paul Reed Smith. This is not to take away anything from Nic Ceglio (Guitars/Vocals) who was strumming his red Fender Telecaster. Death To Anders played a quiet set that capped the night perfectly. As much as I was dying to hear "Ghost Rock", it wouldn't have fit the mood of their set. "Doll" had a sharper edge to the song as it closed out with a fury of squalls. "Camera Lens" sounded even more fractured and urgent with its angular guitars. I was hoping Sarah Negahdari from the Happy Hollows would jump up on stage but she was busy dancing in front of the stage and cheering them along. I need to catch them again to hear the elusive "Ghost Rock".

My Guide to Coachella

If you are baffled by choices to make this weekend for Coachella, I decided I will help you out and give you my recommendations as I have covered a majority of these bands this year. I probably won't make it out this year as I usually venture out to Las Vegas but who knows.

Friday

Rogue Wave 1:30-2:15 (Coachella Stage)
Midnight Juggernauts 2:15-2:50 (Sahara)
Battles 3:00-3:45 (Gobi)
Black Kids 3:45-4:10 (Mojave)
Jens Lekman 4:35-5:15 (Mojave)
Cut Copy 5:15-6:05 (Gobi) (Highly Recommended)
Vampire Weekend 6:05-6:30 (Outdoor Theatre)
Tegan And Sara 6:30-6:55 (Coachella Stage)
The National 6:55-7:45 (Outdoor Theatre)
The Racounteurs 7:45-8:00 (Coachella Stage)
Aphex Twin 8:00-9:00 (Sahara)
The Verve 9:00-10:10 (Coachella Stage)
Serj Tankian 10:10-10:45 (Outdoor Theatre)
Black Lips 10:50-11:40 (Mojave)

Saturday

The Bird and The Bee 12:30-1:10 (Mojave)
Yoav 1:10-1:30 (Gobi)
The Teenagers 1:30-2:10 (Mojave)
Carbon/Silicon 2:10-2:45 (Gobi)
Dredg 2:45-3:10 (Outdoor Theatre)
MGMT 3:40-4:30 (Mojave)
Cold War Kids 4:30-4:50 (Coachella Stage)
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks 4:50-5:40 (Outdoor Stage)
St. Vincent 5:40-6:10 (Gobi)
Hot Chip 6:10-6:25 (Sahara)
Scars On Broadway 6:25-6:45 (Mojave)
Death Cab For Cutie 6:45-7-20 (Coachella Stage)
Rilo Kiley 7:20-7:50 (Outdoor Theatre)
Kraftwerk 7:50-8:50 (Coachella Stage)
M.I.A. 8:50-9:10 (Sahara)
Portishead 9:15-10:15 (Coachella)
Calvin Harris 10:15-10:45 (Gobi)
Enter Shikari 10:45-11:00 (Mojave)
Prince 11:00-? (Coachella)

Sunday
Grand Ole Party 1:20-1:45 (Outdoor Theatre)
Annuals 1:45-2:25 (Gobi)
Holy F*ck 2:50-3:35 (Gobi)
Shout Out Louds 3:00-3:50 (Coachella Stage)
Manchester Orchestra 3:50-4:15 (Outdoor Theatre)
Stars 4:15-5:00 (Coachella Stage)
Swervedriver 5:05-5:50 (Mojave)
Metric 6:15-6:35 (Outdoor Theatre)
Spiritualized 6:35-7:00 (Mojave)
My Morning Jacket 7:00-7:45 (Coachella Stage)
Love and Rockets 7:45-8:25 (Outdoor Theatre)
Roger Waters 8:30-11:00 (Coachella Stage)
Justice 11:00-? (Sahara)

The Alex Benefit at the Detroit Bar

Check out my review of We Barbarians, Delta Spirit, and some special guests at the OC Weekly here. The slideshow is here.

Taste of Chaos at the Long Beach Arena

My first ever concert was in 1984 at the Long Beach Arena. It was the second night of the Defenders of The Faith tour with Judas Priest and Great White. I was a young impressionable music fan and still to this day can remember the soaring guitar solos and pyrotechnics. The Long Beach Arena would later be etched into heavy metal lore with Iron Maiden's Live After Death video where Bruce Dickinson (Vocals) repeatedly implores the audience,"Scream For Me Long Beach!". A phrase that I was willing to bet my life that would be echoed at the Taste of Chaos tour.

Idiot Pilot



Idiot Pilot has come a long way since I saw them open for the Smashing Pumpkins at the Fillmore. They did provide the funniest moment of the entire show when one of the singers of the band retaliated against a heckler in the audience. I remember during Ozzfest many years ago, Josh Homme from Queens of The Stone Age said, "Never heckle the guy with a microphone because you won't win". The heckler did not win.

MUCC


Taste of Chaos was well represented by some bands from Japan. One of those bands, MUCC had an atmospheric heavy Korn inspired sound. Tatsuro (Vocals) was a charismatic front man wildly jumping around the stage and flailing his arms. Miya (Guitars) had some sharp guitar riffs that kept the kids entertained. I didn't understand one word but I can't understand Meshuggah either.



The Underneath




The Underneath rolled out their brand of rock from Japan. I would compare them to a Japanese version of Stone Temple Pilots crossed with AFI. Taka (Vocals) had an impressive vocal range and would frequently jump on the speaker in front of the stage to get closer to the screaming fans. The Underneath have English titled songs, but I still couldn't understand them.

Bless The Fall



Bless The Fall were crammed on the side stage but that would not contain them as took their music to the people. I mean this literally as Jared Warth (Vocals) launched into the crowd to the general dismay of the yellow jackets. Mike Frisby (Guitars) was pounding on his Schecter guitar while blasts of screams and noise came from his band members. The crowd reaction was quite fervent in the front rows. I was quickly scurried from the photo pit after one song due to the concerns of the security guards.

Bullet For My Valentine








I quickly realized why Bullet For My Valentine was recently featured in Guitar World. They quickly proved shred isn't dead with a pulverizing set that would have made Iron Maiden proud. It didn't take long for Matthew Tuck (Guitars/Vocals) to say, "Scream for me Long Beach!". I had to throw up the metal horns to show some support and let them know I got the reference. Michael Padget (Guitars) was shredding on his ESP guitar and peeling off scorching solos. "Waking The Demon" conjured up the demons of circle pits from the '80s as the kids swirled in circles. Security guards were exasperated when Matthew directed the crowd to crash the barriers in a wave of crowd surfers. "Scream Aim Fire" was killer with double bass blasts and palm muted machine gun power chords. The influences of old Anthrax and Metallica were clearly evident at this point. I will refrain from making any analogies with bullets and how hard they rocked.


Atreyu





Having home court advantage can work wonders for sports teams and bands alike. Atreyu had home court advantage as the crowd turned up the energy level a few notches. Atreyu are one of the few bands in their genre that understand melody and song structure. Dan Jacobs (Guitars) and Travis Miguel (Guitars) make an impressive shred duo and always have deep autograph lines at the NAMM show. It is no surprise that they are sponsored by ESP guitars. I remember seeing Atreyu at the Troubadour during their first album "Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses". I also remember thinking that Alex Varkatzas (Vocals) wouldn't have much of a voice if he continued to shred his vocal chords on a nightly basis. One of the other aspects of Atreyu is Brandon Saller's (Drums/Vocals) contrasting melodic vocals that differentiate their songs from their peers. I was hoping they would play "Ain't Love Grand" or "At Least I Know I'm A Sinner" but still immensely enjoyed "Lip Gloss and Black". The kids in the crowd were eating it up as they worked through such favorites as "Bleeding Mascara" and "Right Side Of The Bed". Alex asked the audience for some large circle pits and was genuinely surprised when he witnessed four pits break out. Atreyu will continue their festival circuit by appearing on the Projekt Revolution tour.

Avenged Sevenfold



Avenged Sevenfold has come a long way since their early days at the Chain Reaction. I have to root for the home town heroes as they proudly represent Huntington Beach. The show was being filmed for a DVD so I knew it was going to be immensely over the top. Avenged Sevenfold pulled out all the stops and every play in the heavy metal playbook as they delighted the audience of the Long Beach Arena. I had to duck to avoid the swooping camera cranes and cover my eyes from all the exploding pyrotechnics.






M. Shadows (Vocals) has disposed of his screaming vocal style and can actually sing these days as he belted out song after song without sounding winded. Zacky Vengeance (Guitars)and Synyster Gates (Guitars) wielded their custom Schecter guitars like Thor's Hammer as they bashed the audience with their skull crushing riffs. The fact that Zacky is a lefty and Synyster plays righty amplifies the visual impact of their duel guitar solos. It is difficult not to think of Iron Maiden as they recklessly shredded throughout the night.





Avenged Sevenfold melted the faces off the kids with searing renditions of "Bat Country", "Critical Acclaim" and "Waken The Fallen". I did get flashbacks when Avenged Sevenfold covered Pantera's "Walk" with the help of an audience member. One of the few times I feared for my life at a concert was when I saw Pantera and Slayer at the Long Beach Arena on the floor.



A tribute to the U.S. troops was made as the band displayed various patriotic images during "Gunslinger". "Almost Easy" was insane as the pyrotechnic effects were synced with the guitar riffs as upside down crosses flashed on the screen. It is safe to say a lot of the fans got more then they bargained for as all the chaos was captured on film and will probably be in stores this Christmas.

Jim Noir-Jim Noir

Jim Noir has long been on my radar dating back to December of 2006 when he played Spaceland. I also caught his show at the Viper Room with Neon Neon after his well received SXSW showcase. Jim Noir recently released his sophomore self-titled album on April 8th on Barsuk records. It is by far the grooviest album of 2008.

Elements of:
Teenage Fanclub, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Super Furry Animals,

Chemical components:
Korg MicroKorg, Gigantic vocal harmonies, Mellotron and Gibson Hollowbody guitars

Lab Report:
Jim Noir (aka Alan Roberts) is one crafty songwriter. Alan's songwriting skills continue to grow as his latest album could easily be heard blasting from the 8-track of Scooby-Doo's Mystery Machine. I remember never being able to clear my head from those insanely catchy Scooby-Doo tunes as Scooby and Shaggy are chased by a random villains. "Same Place Holiday" is one of those catchy chase tunes with bubbly synthesizers adding buoyancy to the song as funky wah laced guitars dictate the direction of the song. Alan's vocal harmonies are the focal point of the song and help lift the song above the stratosphere. "Good Old Vinyl" has some soothing psychedelic synthesizer action before the song is swept away in soaring vocal harmonies and delicately placed back on the ground with lightly strummed electric guitars. I have a soft spot for vocoder robotic vocals and "All Right" has plenty before Alan comes in again with more sunshine pop. One of the reasons I can attribute to liking Jim Noir so much is that the songwriting reminds me of Teenage Fanclub. "Don't You Worry" is as bright as Sunday morning with Alan patching together deceptively simple chords to make his songs sound fresh and new. Jim Noir is touring all over the United Kingdom but I hope he is able to come across the pond to support this album.

Crystal Castles at the Detroit Bar

The chaotic Crystal Castles open Pandora's Box at the Detroit Bar. Read my review over at the OC Weekly. The pictorial madness is here.

Ministry at the House of Blues Sunset (4/6/08)

I was curious what kind of crowd would show up on a Sunday night at the House of Blues Sunset. The parking prices had been sliced in half as well as the number of people strolling around Sunset Blvd. After seeing the bands two nights in a row, it took some extra effort to make the trek down to Hollywood. I was luckily rewarded with the best show of the three night stand.

Meshuggah




Meshuggah unfortunately experienced some technical problems during their set. It appeared that Tomas Haake (Drums) couldn't hear the rest of the band in his monitors which is crucial in a band like Meshuggah. The last two songs of the Meshuggah set were "Straws Pulled At Random" and "Future Breed Machine". "Straws Pulled At Random" is another drum clinic as Tomas's cymbals clattered with errant snare hits sporadically hitting while the guitars signaled impending doom. Marten Hagström would crouch down and pluck out the bridge portion of the song as he really need the extra leverage to reach his hand across the neck of his guitar. "Future Breed Machine" was written before they had eight string guitars but still manages to be one of the heaviest Meshuggah songs ever. Meshuggah would also pause for a few moments after starting the song to let the anticipation build. It was the perfect way to close their set every night. I can only hope Meshuggah comes back for their own headlining tour.

Ministry




I could sense that the crowd was different in comparison to the prior two nights of Ministry. I wasn't the only one as Al Jourgensen (Vocals/Guitars) excluded any "Guest list" comments from his usual concert banter. This particular show seemed sharper compared to the others and I could see the expression of satisfaction on Al's face when he walked off the stage and hugged Tommy Victor (Guitars).

The first encore of songs kicked the show into another gear as Ministry would play "So What" from their album The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste. Wayne Static (Vocals) from Static-X would come out and help Al sing the song while clutching his cheat sheet. The second night was probably the best rendition of the song as Wayne worked in his characteristic barks to the song.

The next surprise was Burton Bell from Fear Factory would come out and sing "N.W.O." through Al's distorted vocal microphone stand. As a big fan of Fear Factory back in the day, I couldn't have been more excited as Burton simply devastated with his vocals. Al was busy rocking out with his Schecter Coffin case guitar during the song adding background vocals sporadically.

The recorded screams from "Just One Fix" howled as Burton continued to supply his trademark growl with the pit spinning at maximum velocity. I started to have flashbacks of my first Ministry concert back in 1992. The energy and atmosphere was exponentially elevated as the crowd enthusiastically sang along to the songs. The "old school" encore was capped with "Thieves" augmented with flashing strobes to terrorize your eyes. A fan in the crowd held up an old "Jesus Built My Hotrod" t-shirt to which Al remarked "Gibby isn't here. Maybe in New York".

The second encore was a batch of covers selected from Ministry's Cover Up album. Burton Bell stuck around to help play harmonica through a bullhorn for "Roadhouse Blues". "Just Got Paid" was Al's tribute to ZZ top as he sliced into some evil screaming harmonics on his guitar. "Under My Thumb" had Al switch to an acoustic guitar while managing to make the song stylistically fit within the context of Ministry. I still have my doubts that this will be the last Ministry tour, but at least I can say I caught all three Los Angeles shows.

Ministry Setlist for the House of Blues Sunset for all three nights.
"Let's Go"
"The Dick Song"
"Watch Yourself"
"Life is Good"
"The Last Sucker"
"No W"
"Waiting"
"Worthless"
"Wrong"
"Rio Grande Blood"
"Senor Peligro"
"LiesLiesLies"
"Khyber Pass"
"So What" with Wayne Static from Static-X
"NWO" with Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory for the rest of the songs
"Just One Fix"
"Thieves"
"Roadhouse Blues"
"Just Got Paid"
"Under My Thumb"