Barrington Levy – Arise Roots – and Jah Faith – at The Echoplex – Los Angeles, CA

On Wednesday night, one of Los Angeles’ longest running (and intensely popular) weekly clubs--the Dub Club--presented another night of Roots Reggae. The Echoplex hosted an insane night with one of the genres more recognizable, and beloved artists, along with some of the best Los Angeles has to offer the Reggae world. 

 

12/12/12 was a significant night for plenty of people for varying reasons but December 12, 2012 signified the return of a Mr. Barrington Levy to our beloved Los Angeles. As demonstrated with the longevity of Reggae clubs like the Dub Club, Los Angeles appreciates and adores its Reggae. Bringing all types of different cultures and patrons together for drinks, dancing, and really good music, L.A. spun and dubbed some homegrown music by some of the best artists out there.

 

Even though the weather was less than ideal, it made no difference to anyone who was planning on going to this show. Doors opened at nine o’clock, and the line had reached a less than surprisingly ridiculous length an hour prior. The word was out Barrington was here and they (the fans) were not getting out of that line, even hearing word that folks were waiting hours long after the first act had performed and some fans were turned away.  

 

For those unlucky enough to not see the night’s opener you missed a barnburner! Arise Roots, a Roots Reggae group from L.A, came out guns blaring. Always setting the bar high, their rich and warm harmonies (infused with pure professional musicianship and evident love of Reggae) has garnered them a growing fiercely loyal fan base that only seemed to grow larger with Wednesday night’s performance. Old and new fans of Arise Roots danced and moved to popular tunes and sung together for their favorite songs like “People Are You Ready” and “United We Stand”. Not only were Dub Clubbers treated to an amazing performance, they were also given some new material from the Roots Reggae collective. “Blaze It Up” rounded off the set, and had all hands in the air and even a few whistles blowing.  With a new album coming out in February, Arise Roots is looking at a very promising 2013. Keep your ears open for new work from Arise Roots. 

After another wonderful scorcher of a set from Jah Faith, DJ Tom, and Guests, it was time for the original Dancehall master--Barrington Levy. 

Coming out after an almost ten minute lead up introduction, reggae fans were chanting and clapping in anticipation as he made his way to the stage, flanked by security, to a roaring cheer from the crowd. With decades worth of amazing work under his belt, every song triggered immediate joy and singing. His constant energy and hypnotic-like sway over the Dub Club turned it into a classic sing along, along with an experience in a true Reggae fashion. Lighters flicked and scattered throughout the crowd as he dove head first into classic tunes like “Under Me Sensi” and “Sensimella”. With his constant interaction with the fans, the crowd sang along with every word, at times even out-singing the legend himself! 

After an almost two hour set and tunes spanning his career, with an emphasis (as he said) on the early 80’s, it’s hard to imagine this night being anything less than memorable. After playfully asking the crowd, on numerous occasions, “Can I go home now?”, to which they feverishly replied “No!”, he obliged with more top hits and wonderful versions.

Smiles were imprinted on the faces of all in attendance, like the sweat on their brow. This night was everything it was billed to be. With an iconic voice and overpowering stage presence still as overwhelming as the first time you heard it, Barrington Levy left his calling card on the Dub Club stage--rich and dynamic harmony and foot stomping rhythm all backed by the amazing sounds of Detour Posse. Wednesday night left people walking away in ecstasy and with even a few sore throats (or ten) from trying to keep up with the master.

 

                                      More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Gio Van Dam-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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Roger Rivas – First Attack

Roger Rivas the organist behind two of Los Angeles’s more cherished groups Los Bullets and The Aggrolites comes at us with the first release off his new label Rivas Records. First Attack stays true to the old school roots in every aspect, from its sound to the vinyl 45 format it’s pressed on.

First attack lives up to its billing with raw energy and a emphasis on the heavy key slamming sound roger Rivas is synonymous with. Mixed and engineered beautifully First Attack is what we have come to expect from the mind and fingers of roger Rivas and is a magnificent showcase of what we can look forward to from Rivas records. The B side of First Attack is the wonderful gem Sabor A Mi (My Taste) and it is just that a small taste of what inspires and drives the man to continue pumping out choice tune after choice tune popular the world over, with its steady rockin sound it delivers in every category already being featured in the rotation of most LA dj’s and clubs. With its limited initial release any true fan would be wise not to delay on snagging themselves a copy.

Be sure to stop by Rivasrecordings.com to secure your 45 before they’re gone. You can also end the year on a high note by catching The Aggrolites shows on December 28th in Solana Beach at the Belly Up Tavern December 29th at the Viper Room in West Hollywood and a New years Eve bash in Long Beach at Alex’s Bar.

 

 

-Gio Van Dam-
Big Wheel Staff Journalist
 

 

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Show Preview: Mau Maus – The Gears- Billy Bones – The Stains – at Weber’s Place – Reseda, CA – December 14, 2012

A legendary show is set to take place in the valley this Friday with the likes of LA Punk veterans Mau Maus, The Gears, Billy Bones and The Stains.There are 4 headlining bands on one bill for the price of one, so with that said you better believe the masses will roll out to this end of the year shindig for one hell of a Punk rock gathering.

Headlining is none other than the Mau Mau’s who have recently released a career retrospective album that is amongst the best “Best Of” Punk records out on the market today.

Main support will come from The Gears who are best known for their 1982 album “Rockin at Ground Zero” which remains an important part of LA Punk history.

          The Gears



          Billy Bones

The Billy Bones will also be on the bill offering up their brand of sax heavy Punk flavor. Lead by Skulls front man “Billy Bones”, the band are amongst the oldest surviving LA Punk pioneers still active on the live scene today.


          The Stains

Also on the bill are The Stains who hail from East LA and were among some of the first few Punk bands to emerge from that part of our great city.

As mentioned before, this show is ultra cheap considering the amount of talent on the bill. Support your local legendary band…. or in this case four bands.

Get your tickets here before this show sells out:
  www.badsampresents.com/event/123474

-Louie Bones-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

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Heresy’s One Year Anniversary with 45 Grave and Burning Image – at Riley’s Tavern – Bakersfield, CA

Scores of Goths and Punks alike flocked to Riley's Tavern for Heresy's one year anniversary celebration which would not only include dark industrial dance music, but also performances from Death Rock pioneers 45 Grave and Burning Image.

 

 

For the last year, Heresy has been a safe haven and meeting spot for all the freaks and ghouls in Bakersfield and the surrounding areas. It's the Central Valley's only gothic night club. Their DJ's spin everything from Industrial to New Wave and Death Rock. It's hard to imagine any better way of celebrating than with the dark melodic sounds of 45 Grave and Burning Image.

The back room of Riley's filled up quickly as people entered through the red velvet drapes and into the alternate reality of Heresy. The dark room was full of Goths dressed to the hilt, laser lights, fog and the sounds of DJ Thad.


Soon Bakersfield locals, Burning Image, took the stage. After 30 years of playing these guys still remain strong. They opened with "The Final Conflict" and played a solid set that included newer and older tunes such as "Oleander", "Time is Running Out", "Haunted", and many more. It was obvious by the thickness of the crowd during their set that many had come out to see them as well as 45 Grave. You could hear people reminiscing bout being 14 and seeing them play here in Bakersfield back in the 80's. While Burning Image had many fans in attendance, they definitely made new ones by the end of their performance.

After an intermission 45 Grave was up and die-hard fans had taken their place in front of the stage. Dinah Cancer wasted no time getting into character. Quite possibly the first true pit at Riley's Back Room erupted almost instantly. The energy was high as 45 Grave hammered out song after song. 

The great thing about 45 Grave is that their music reflects several different styles of music. There is something for everyone. "Party Time" brought you to your Punk roots, where as "The Sorceress"(from the new album Pick Your Poison) had more of a Gothic Metal feel, then there were songs like "Black Cats" that were straight up Thrash. Their set was well rounded and they kept the crowd moving and singing with smiles on their faces throughout their time on stage. 

All in all, the night was a great success and tons of fun. High-Five to Heresy and to all who take the time and effort to keep the music scene alive.

You can check out Burning Image and keep up with their upcoming tour dates HERE
  


                             More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-J.Moncrief-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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The Outfits – Tryin’ on The Outfits

I've been in a funk lately. All the new stuff I've heard has been ok, but not great. I was starting to worry that I was turning into a hipster, that I'd have to trade my boots in for some ironic something fucking stupid, and start going to ugly sweater parties. Luckily, instead, we went down to the local matinee Punk show today and caught Portland, Maine's The Outfits, and now I'm back to my old self. 

 

This band is everything that was great about Pop Punk, back when that meant The Queers instead of Blink 182, even though they've only been around about a year or so. The songs are catchy, fast, and funny, hitting that disturbingly raunchy note where you can't help but laugh.

 "What's That Smell?" tackles the ever important question in punk rock; "it smells like old man farts/ and kindergarten barf/ it isn't dog poo/ I know it's not my smelly shoes./ What's that smell?" "On the Rag" is your theme song for shitty days. When singer Sierra Roberts sneers

all my farts smell like eggs 
just stepped in cat puke 
and now I'm feeling really cute 
hungover even though I didn't drink 
tried to brush my teeth and barfed in the sink 
everything is goin wrong today 

it might not make you feel better, but at least you know someone's as bad off as you.

Overall, this album is damn fun to listen to, and any fans of The Queers, The Dwarves, The Eyeliners, and The Runaways should treat themselves to an early holiday and grab a copy. 

You can check it out for yourself HERE

 

 

 

-Jo Problems-
Big Wheel Journalist
 

 

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Bad Brains – H2O – Year of the Dragon – at The Fonda Theater – Los Angeles, CA

The rain came down pretty hard Saturday night, but all the rain in the world couldn’t keep away the legions of fans who came out to see the legendary Bad Brains in Hollywood. Opening the show were two bands that were more than qualified to be on the amazing bill, those being New York hardcore stalwarts H20 and the LA based Year Of The Dragon.

The legions of fans who came out to this show were from a variety of backgrounds, and that was apparent as you looked around the dance floor during Year of The Dragons set. Their mix of heavy metal meets George Clinton and Hip hop was met with an overall excitement from a crowd that obviously had an open mind and clear sense of the beauty in musical diversity. It appeared that a sizeable amount of their fan base were made up of Fishbone fans which YOTD vocalist Walt Kibby is also known for fronting.

With their metal riffing and rap like vocal performance over hard heavy drumming and funky bass playing, the general admission floor saw a combination of fans slamming while some busted Soul Train’s robot dance moves. Year of The Dragon are amongst the best new bands out of LA and may not have been as accepted at the majority of hardcore shows, but on a Bad Brains bill they were most certainly home. We hope to catch them again at a show more sooner than later.

Before H20 hit the stage, a DJ spinning a variety of classic Punk tunes kept the growing crowds nodding their heads to Ramones, Misfits and other favorites as fans began to make their way close to the stage. After a brief introduction by Max Morse, H20 hit the stage with a ferocity that amped the crowd to start a circle pit right from the get go. Unfortunately for many in the audience the wet dance floor didn’t help with those in the pit to keep their balance. Many fans slid around uncontrollably while more than a handful wiped out. Despite the slippery floor, H20 and fans kept things moving at a breakneck pace with hard dancing and the bands hardcore flow of positive anthems. Their choice of songs were pulled wisely from their 5 full length releases. Tracks like Faster Than The World, EveReady and One Life One Chance had fans crowd surfing and singing alongside Toby Morse who made his way to the barricade in what was to be many of his collaborations with H20 fans that night.

The last few songs of their set had guest appearances on stage by Travis Barker (who drummed for 2 songs), Scott Vogel of Terror who lead vocals on Guilty By Association and Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio who also lent his vocals to much of the crowds appreciation. H20 may have been main support Saturday evening, but they played with the professionalism of a headlining act and had the crowd going ape shit all the same.

Bad Brains came on shortly after H20 finished (their backline was already setup) their powerful set to a thunderous crowd anxiously awaiting to go off. The venue was filled to capacity into the theatres spacious areas and things were ready to explode. That is exactly what happened when Bad Brains took the stage and opened with the 1982 classic Attitude, the old fans and young fans had their anthem and reacted oh so appropriately in the circle pit that was furiously churning like a cyclone. Following this was Right Brigade and Sailing On in which kept the high energy flowing thru everybody under the roof.

It must be noted that lead vocalist HR resembled what can best be described as a classy looking gentleman at Sunday morning church services, but despite his overall calm appearance he was more than ever set to lead a choir of ferocious hardcore fans for well over an hour in PMA inspired Punk rock Reggae jams.

As previously mentioned, the diverse sounds coming from the stage throughout the night made for an interesting palette of meaningful noise. Bad Brains may have been the finest example of this as their set would go from gnarly 80’s hardcore to a slowed down dub reggae jam session one moment to the next. This variety had every kind of fan satisfied and probably helped the band who are well into their 50’s play as long of a set as they did that night. Guitarist Dr. Know, bassist Darryl Jennifer and drummer Earl Hudson had moments of their own where they were at the forefront of the action on stage when HR would sort of space out and do his own thing, which was kind of cool as it was not a one man show.  Their set managed to also pull from more recent releases that were at times more instrumental and of course reggae influenced.

The newly released album Into The Future had its share of live songs that put newer flavor into the semi classic set which was nice and fresh, but it was the two classic closers Pay To Cum and I Against I that ended the show on a high note and made every fans night as every must play song had been done justice live. The beauty of this was their sat was not too long and not to short but just right with all the essential tunes placed in an order that fit like a glove. Satisfied Punks, Rastas, hardcore kids, skinheads and skater stoners got along together and shared a sense of unity that Bad Brains strive to bring forth with their music, the impact was felt and shared even as the show came to a mighty end.

   Enjoy the video overview of the Bad Brains show that you missed



As with every show that features legendary bands, it’s a safe bet that notable musicians from the scene will come out and support old pals. We noticed Circle Jerks/Bad Religion guitarist Greg Hetson in the crowd and Pete Dee from clockwork Punks The Adicts having a rad time to music that broke new ground around the same time of their own classic releases. Old school Punk promoter Gary Tovar was also in the crowd, perhaps planning the next huge GV Punk fest…

Bad Brains, H20 and Year of The Dragon put on one of the most memorable shows of the year and one that couldn’t have gone off any better, especially for a rainy Saturday night. Young and old shared the dance floor to songs that changed hardcore 30 years ago and that still remain important to our scene today by simply playing from the heart. Sincerity is what is missing from a lot of bands these days, but when it comes to the legends we’ve looked up to for years they surely don’t let us down and Bad Brains are a fine example of such a band.

                             More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Louie Bones-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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