We’re Not The Jet Set Art Show – at Western Project – Culver City, CA

Tonight a few staffers took in the art show at Western Project a quaint little art gallery situated on Main Street in Culver City. This was a joint art show featured the art of Exene Cervenka and Wayne White. Most of the audience that visits here is familiar with Exene who is the singer of X, The Knitters and The Original Sinners. After a great performance by X the night before in Orange County, tonight saw a steady stream of gawkers, art lovers and fans of her bands coming through the 3 hour opening reception.

The installation runs through September 5th and you can get more information by going to the art gallery’s website at: www.western-project.com

 

Big Wheel Online Magazine

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

 

 

The Scarred – Heeler – Bob Fisk – High Rollers – Johnny Hootrock – BURLESQUE WITH MISS RUBY JOULE and MISS COCO LECTRIC (from the Jigglewatts) – Dive Bombers – at Double Down Saloon – Las Vegas, NV

The Double Down Saloon has become one of my favorite places for local bands and just a great place to go to have a good time. Well last Saturday was no different. The night started off with a band from Denver Colorado called Heeler. They jammed through their set with intensity, and electricity like no other.
 

 

For me the highlight of their set came when they did an incredible cover of BLACK FLAGS "NERVOUS BREAKDOWN." It was belted out with Punk Energy and sounded as good as the original version. A very High energy band I recommend them if you have the chance to see them.

The next band on the lineup was "Bob Fisk", a 3 piece band who were more metal and thrash than Punk. While the guitar player whaled on his guitar and played it with his teeth it reminded me of Jimi Hendrix. These guys are extremely good. I thoroughly enjoyed their mixture of music. Again another great band not to miss.

The 3rd band on the lineup was The High Rollers. A rockabilly band from Prescott Arizona. Their bass man had his stand up bass, while the lead guitar was a very nice white Gretsch. They belted out their tunes with enthusiasm and pure country rockabilly sound. Every rockabilly band I have seen, to me it's like every lead singer seems to make these facial expressions when they play. This is not a bad thing it's just an observation from me.
They remind me of The Blasters, with Dave Alvin. If your a fan of Rockabilly check these guys out they put the ROCK in ROCKABILLY.

The 4th band on the lineup was Johnny Hootrock with/BURLESQUE WITH MISS RUBY JOULE and MISS COCO LECTRIC (from the Jigglewatts) They are from Austin Texas. I wasn't really sure what to expect from these guys. Their set started out with this Burlesque type music from the 50's, out came Miss Ruby, who performed a little burlesque striptease. By this point I was thinking what kind of music do these guys play? well once they started it was very clear to me that they were Rockabilly as well as The High rollers. But as their set rolled on it came clear to me that their style of music was  "PSYCHOBILLY"

These guys played fast and hard, and with the addition of Miss Ruby and Miss Coco Lectric WHOOOOOO!!!!  what a kick ass band. One of the highlights of their set was when they played a song called "Vodka Shot" Miss Ruby brought out shots of vodka and served the band while they were jamming out this fast and furious tune!

You can't forget Miss Coco, She was outfitted in a Sailor type suit, and various other outfits. In This reporters opinion they danced and performed striptease as fast as the band played!!  and they played FAST! If you like Rockabilly then you will love PSYCHOBILLY. Another great addition to this night of music.  everything from Punk to Psychobilly.  And there were still 2 bands to go. HATS OFF TO MISS RUBY AND MISS COCO LECTRIC.

The 5th band on the Bill was a local band from Las Vegas called the Dive Bombers. They are Punk Rock, and belted their way through about a 30 minute set. While the bass player kept getting knocked down by the slamming audience members they kept on going like the Energizer Bunny. I wish they had played a little longer. If your in Vegas and have a chance to see them I would definitely check them out.

The 6th and final band of the evening was The Scarred from Anaheim Calif. At this time it was 4:00 a.m. and the crowd had thinned out a bit but all the hardcore music fans were still there to see this outstanding trio whip out their set.

Justins vocals really stand out as he jammed through their set, his guitar playing was just as incredible as his voice. With ISHA no longer on drums Ben9000 has taken over the task of beating on the skins. He played so hard and fast that in my opinion I haven't seen anything beaten as bad as he beat on his drim kit since the Rodney King beating. They go side by side beating wise - Incredible drummer. Now playing bass is Byron Sinn, he fits in well with The Scarred. Even though it was very late the crowd still was totally into these guys and there was still a small pit going on. With members of The Dive Bombers helping out on vocals every now and then.

When The Scarred come to your town I highly recommend them, you won't be disappointed www.myspace.com/scarred . I would say that with all 6 bands on the bill I enjoyed every single one of them. The diversity of the music last Saturday made it an incredible night of "ROCK AND ROLL" Thanks to the Double Down for putting together an incredible night of very talented bands.


 

Bob Mandoki
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

A Tribute to Sky Saxon – at The Echoplex – Los Angeles / Silverlake, CA

Sometimes you have no clue when you get a ticket to a show what will be instore that evening. I had read on the internet that Billy Corgan, the face and only original member still in The Smashing Pumpkins, would be performing a tribute show for Sky Saxon.

I won’t lie, I had never heard of Sky Saxon and had to google him. My search found that he was a member of The Seeds and was heavily influential in the psychedelic music scene. The ticket said it was an all-star tribute and that claim would not be a lie. Even though I knew nothing of what/whom would be performing I was thrilled at the opportunity to see a variety of musical groups in one evening.

The tiny Echoplex, which actually opened its doors on time (if you ever go to the venue you know that most of the time they open the doors around an hour late), had a huge line of people dressed in full hippy garb. There were flowers in the hair, bandannas, guys wearing kimono type dresses, peace sign necklaces, and the average age being post 50.

When getting into the venue there was incense burning and a ton of cut out flowers and pictures of Sky all over the venue. There was also a huge memorial for people to sign and leave their best wishes to him as well. I neglected to sign when I came in still not really knowing much about him or what his influences were on the music world.

They handed out programs which would explain who would be coming onstage for the tributes that night. This was a huge plus for me as it allowed me to ask people who specific groups were and what they sounded like.

The show started off with an acoustic set of a few songs by Djin Aquarian of the defunct 60’s group Ya Ho Wa 13.

Accompanied by a female violinist Aquarian played a few songs and then went into some details about the show. He explained that this show was done 30 days after Saxon’s death because it was the optimal time for a spirit to be passing on. He continued to explain more about this in flower power fashion and then explained we all would be doing a star breathing exercise to center our mantra for the evening.

Even though I was confused, and a bit embarrassed, I decided to participate. If you are curious about the whole process I can explain it to you. It starts with your legs spread and an extension of your arms straight out. One of your hands should be turned up and the other turned down. This, we were told, was of the utmost importance. You then do around 120 fast inhales and exhales before taking a deep breath and holding it in. After around 20 or so seconds you let out your breath and you have centered your energy.

My mantra was now centered and ready for the evening.

This set was followed up by a group doing a one time performance going by the name Spirits in the Sky. This super group consisted of Billy Corgan and Mike Byrne of The Smashing Pumpkins (Byrne is the new drummer who is 19), Mark Tulin from the Electric Prunes, Mark S. Weitz of Strawberry Alarm Clock, and Kerry Brown who is an ex member of Cathrine.

I was stoked to see this group, as Corgan was the reason I was there. There were extended solos and the group played 3 different songs with some being Seeds covers. Unfortunately I do not know what the songs were called but judging on the sound I can tell the heavy influence The Seeds must have had on the older “Gish” era Pumpkins songs.

After the 3 song set Billy asked if the audience would like to hear a Pumpkins song and the younger hipsters in the crowd went berserk with that the fact of hearing a song by The Pumpkins. I was pretty excited myself as well.

“Well this is going to be a new song. Fans of the Pumpkins probably won’t like it”.

I actually quite enjoyed the song that was played. It had lyrics that talked about how he wished he was a fish, and hunters guns following deers and finally going into a part with tigers going after meat. The one line I really remember was “Oh tell me baby, what you want. Oh tell me baby, what you need.”

The song had some crazy guitar solos which would be a theme for the rest of the night.

The band left stage and the group Strawberry Alarm Clark treated the audience to some select songs. There were most of the original members of the band performing (including Mark S. Weitz, George Bunnel, Gene Gunnels and Randy Seol) as well as an extra guitarist and a flautist.

I did recognize a song they played which was one of their own songs, "Incense and Peppermints". I think this song is on every one of those Time Life album collections from the 60’s. Complete with synth and a driving cowbell, complete with guitar solo and a sound that is so distinct it was hard not to get lost in it.

The entire audience joined in on the closing la-la-la’s as the fresh smell of “the sacred herb”, as the band called it, filled the venue.

The show just continued to get better as the world famous DJ Rodney Bingenheimer introduced The Electric Prunes. He even gave an intro explaining that this band is what revolutionized the wa-wa pedal. Just looking at the pedal board of the guitarist you could see that some interesting sounds were to ensue.

The group did not disappoint, as many of their songs were loud and grainy with a very garage band feel. The guitar work was very complex with a ton of effects and shifting swirls of noise that pushed the stage amps to their max. I also want to note how cool the guitarist’s guitar was. With a polka dotted pic guard, multi colored knobs, and multi colored tuning knobs it was a total one of a kind.

The singer also had two different purple tambourines that added into the whole purple thing the band was pulling off. Maybe the purple is something they always did, maybe its cause prunes are purple, either way it made them stick out in my mind.

Corgan also came out and stayed in the shadows to add some solos to one of the songs. I will say that the intense solos and noise coming from guitarist Steve Kara overshadowed his playing but Billy was just there as a guest, not to overshadow.

The next group, an the only weak point in the night, was The Simon Stokes Band. They were introduced by a member of Sky’s family as “an acidy country group” and the intro got one thing right, it was a country group.

The set was only 3 songs and one of them was a solo acoustic song by Simon. Nothing really stuck out and I do not have much to comment about them other than the singers striking resemblance to Willie Nelson.

Oh well, not every group can be a standout act when so many were performing.

The next act onto the stage was a female bass player by the name of Sofizel. She is French and had a heavy accent while speaking to the audience. Her sound reminded me a ton of the Breeders and she played a re-worked version of “The Tyger” (which is a William Blake tune).

She even shared the story of how her and Sky met that she read off of a piece of paper. You could hear the sorrow in her voice as she struggled through it. It was very touching and heartfelt and many in the audience started to cry when hearing her words. Knowing that she was in a collaboration with Saxon called The People’s Republic Army must have made this so much harder for her because of actively working with him before his death.

The night continued with a one-song performance by Mike Randle of Baby Lemonade. He walked on stage and explained that he had to learn how to play the harmonica to do this tribute song was a favorite song of Saxon, a song by Arthur Lee, which he did not say the title to.

I was actually kind of disappointed that he only got one song. The duel harmonica with guitar really gave a different sound to the evening. Something more stripped down and very touching. You could almost see a tear in his eye as he walked off the stage after the tribute.

Another highlight and huge surprise for me was a performance by Nels Cline. Maybe you haven’t heard his name before but he plays guitar in a little band by the name of Wilco. To me, Cline is the reason some of their songs get so experimental with the guitar and I was thrilled at the chance to see him do a song.

It took a while for him to set up his massive pedal board, which had well over 20 pedals, all hooked up and ready to go. He started off his song switching from pedal to pedal while throwing the wa-wa in for good measure.

Something he did, which I really can’t explain was use this circular thing that he put in his mouth to distort his voice and vibrate the strings at the same time. I have pictures so if anyone knows what this thing is called please tell me. Either way the song was in the line of the ending of the Wilco song “Handshake Drugs” where the guitar work starts to sound like bells and noises, but coupled with the robotic voice that came from the thing he put in his mouth.

This was a huge thing for me to see and many of the older audience members were asking around who that guy was. It was a complex and amazing song.

There would be one more special performance before the headliners of the evening would be taking the stage. This group consisted of Corgan on a bass guitar, Aquarian on an electric guitar and Kerry Brown on drums.

I am not sure what the song is that they played but it was interesting to see Billy on bass. I know in studio he always tends to play all the instruments but I have never had the opportunity to see him on the four string. Let me just say, like the guitar, Billy can shred on the bass as well.

Aquarian was bit intimidated by Corgan and showed his own skills with the electric. The two went back and forth with extensive solos on the stage and Billy even laughed at certain points. Every time it seemed like the song was coming to an end, Billy would restart up with the reoccurring bass line from the song and Aquarian’s guitar would build back in. The song seemed to just be a free form song that evolved and took on a life of its own.

Finally, the show ended with a massive performance by The Seeds. Sure only two original members were there, Daryl Hooper and Jan Savage, but a ton of others would be joining the band. Even while setting up you could slowly check out the side of the stage and see all the artists from the evening lining up to join on stage to fill in the rest of the band.

With Saxon having passed away who would be filling in on vocals?

Well it all started off with an energetic few songs by Leighton Koizumi of the band The Morlocks. He lit up a hand rolled cigarette, which he then passed around to all the members on stage, and said, “I just got back from India and it smells like Hash in here”.

With this quote the band broke into song and Leighton ran and jumped all over the stage. He even pointed the mic out into the audience so that everyone could sing along with the songs that Saxon had written.

It wasn’t long until Christa Collins, of The Woolly Bandits, would join the stage and take over the vocals. Rik Collins of The Woolly Bandits had already been on stage filling in on bass and you could tell he was stoked to have his front woman up on stage belting out some classic Seeds tunes.

I almost don’t feel the female vocals for the songs really fit, but the added go-go dancer on stage made me loose focus on what Christa was doing anyways. But hey, at least she knew the lyrics to the song unlike the next vocalist to join the group. Billy Corgan took over on vocals for the closing number “Pushin Too Hard”, another recognizable song for me.

Well this wasn’t the last song, as I heard that there were a few encores after the set but by then it was nearly 2am, and seeing that I had lined up around 7pm I was done for the evening.

I will say, this benefit really showed how much influence that Sky Saxon has had on all genres of music and how well respected he is/was in the musical community. I was also shocked at how many songs I did recognize from artist that I hadn’t thought I had ever heard of. All in all for those that didn’t spend the $15 for a ticket (or $10 if you dressed up) really missed out on a truly memorable and touching evening of music and remembrance at The Echoplex.

 

Carl Pocket
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

 

X – at the Pacific Amphitheatre – Costa Mesa, CA

Tonight was a night full of firsts for me. It was my first time attending the Orange County fair, first time getting my palm read by a psychic (which was surprisingly accurate), first time eating fried frog legs, and my first time seeing the revolutionary band X, and hopefully not my last time seeing them.
 
The ticket to see X that night also included O.C fair admission, and all throughout the day Punks walked around and I thought to myself, "Oh, they're definitely going to the show tonight." Some people may think its wrong to assume this, but why would any Punk go to the fair the same night one of the most influential, praised Punk band is performing, and not go to see them?
 
Finally, at 7:30, the doors to the Pacific Amphitheatre (which is actually right on the fairgrounds) opened up. The first singer, Maria McKee, and her band waited until everyone settled down in their seats with their lemonade, pretzels, and beer to start their set. Maria and her group were different from any other performer I've seen, due to the major country sound she possessed. Her folk-style vocals seemed to bore some of the hardcore Punks anxious to see X, but her overall performance was an enjoyable experience to fans of various genres.
 
After Maria's interesting presentation, the Amphitheatre started to get noticeably full. I was shocked that the show did not sell out, but my theory is that no one really knew about the show, due to it being part of the O.C fair. When X came on stage around 8:15, the crowd stood up and roared in applause. People began chanting, "Exene! Exene!" until she started to sing. The band performed many songs off their acclaimed album, "Los Angeles", such as "Nausea" and "Soul Kitchen". John, Exene, Billy, and D.J also riled up the crowd with two of their biggest hits, "Los Angeles" and "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline", causing the audience to sing a long to every word and dance crazily. Another highlight of the night was when the band was performing one of my favorites, "Sex and Dying in High Society", when John Doe yells at a security guard, "JUST STOP! GO AWAY! This is OUR show, not yours!" directing the security's action of stopping fans from acting too wild. John's interaction with the crowd reminded me of Social Distortion's Mike Ness, giving some hardcore, witty advice on the Punk rock lifestyle.
 
Unfortunately, X left the stage shortly after the security incident, teasing the crowd with an obvious encore of some more pleasing hits. A few minutes later, both Exene and Joe came out and performed, "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts", a deep and provoking display of the true intelligence X has. After they performed that tune, Billy and D.J. came out and joined them on stage, as John yelled, "Alright...we have 6 more minutes, lets cut the talking and bullshit!" The band left with a bang, passionately playing "Your Phone's Off the Hook, but You're Not". X left the audience, filled of old and young Punks all sharing the love of X, full of joy and energy, satisfied with the fact that they had just seen legends perform.
Band website: www.xtheband.com

(Due to a camera malfunction the photos may be a bit delayed on this report)
 

-Sarah K.-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter 

 

                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

 

Squirrel Nut Zippers – at the Santa Monica Pier – Santa Monica, CA

We arrived at the Santa Monica Pier after a long 3 hours of traffic ready to party at one of the many concerts in the 25th Annual Santa Monica Pier Twilight Dance Series. Johnny Vana and the Big Band Alumni were opening the show. The members of the Big Band Alumni have made history performing with many of the celebrated orchestras of the Big Band Era.

 

Their  music and voices have been heard throughout the years in numerous movies, television shows and commercials. It's so cool to see people in their 60's, 70's, and 80's still playing gigs. And I couldn't help but imagine how those guys must have partied back in their hayday!

People of all ages showed up to dance and take part in the cool the beach atmosphere. Dance instructors were giving free lessons on the dance floor while The Big Band Alumni was performing. I kicked back at a small restaurant on the pier, drank some beers, and made a few friends.

What I really drove from Bakersfield to Santa Monica for (aside from the break in the 105 degree weather) was a band called The Squirrel Nut Zippers. They were formed in 1993 and are about to be releasing their 9th album sometime this summer. It will be a live album called "You are my Radio". Of all the swing style bands that broke out on the scene in the 90's, I have to say that The Squirrel Nut Zippers stood out to me because of their Creole, jazz, big band, blues, swing fusion sound. It made them difficult to categorize. And easy for me to be smitten with.

I contacted them earlier in the month because I thought they would add some diversity to the site, plus I think they rock. Chris Phillips had no problem putting Big Wheel on the VIP list, and I actually had a chance to chat with Stuart Cole. These guys have been laying low for quite some time and when the topic of where they have been for the few years came up, quite simply, he said they were lost at sea! But I gotta say they are back with a vengeance and this band hasn't lost their chemistry! They were colorful energetic, funny, and sounded better than ever. Katherine and Jimbo's vocals were amazing! And musically, the rest of the band kicked ass! It took you far away from California in 2009 and into the bayou's of Mississippi in 1935.

Like the Zipper's say "If it's good enough for granddad, it's good enough for me!" 

If you are a lover of great live music and you get the chance, you should check em out next time they come to an area near you. Or you can just keep an eye out for their new live C.D. that will be coming soon!

Band website: www.snzippers.com

Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/snzippers

 

 

-J. Moncrief-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter

 

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 
                                          Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews
 

 

 

Cat Party – Self titled release

Here at Big Wheel it's no secret that we love Cat Party. Their 7" E.P. was voted almost unanimously by our staff as the best record of 2008. In fact it's difficult to talk about this band without coming off like a well paid street team. Now that we've gotten all of that out of the way, Cat Party have successfully followed up their aforementioned 7" with a record that is somehow better than their debut. They have maintained their signature sound which has repeatedly inspired comparison to iconic bands like the Wipers, TSOL, Joy Division, but they have also grown as a band, creating a tighter dynamic and a brighter sound. Overall this is a louder record, with clearer vocals, guitar riffs that stick out just a little more, pounding bass lines, and a faster tempo. This is most noticeable in the new versions of songs from the bands' previous releases, such as "Jigsaw Thoughts" and "The Aftertaste," but also shows through in fresh material like "Product Of the 80's" and "Tar and Feathers." The record is ended on a quieter note with "Let the Bullets Through," which is played on an acoustic guitar with some added reverb. Needless to say this is not the feel good record of the year, but it is an impressive feat from the most promising new band in Southern California.

Out now on Flat Black Records

Band MySpace: www.myspace.com/birdsofpreymusic

Record Label MySpace: www.myspace.com/flatblackrecords

 

-Ditch-
Big Wheel Online Magazine

 

 
                                          Go HERE for more record reviews
 

 

 

 

« Previous Page — Next Page »