Pepper – Shwayze – Supervillains- at Club Nokia – Los Angeles, CA

There are times when you talk to a friend and they’ll recommend a band that they believe is the best thing since sliced bread. Be honest, how many times have you said “ill have to check them out” and never do. This time however i actually followed through gave this Hawaiian band “Pepper” a chance to impress me. After a couple of listens to their songs on myspace it was plain to see that I found a new band to add to my repertoire. Lucky for me shortly thereafter I was told that Pepper would be playing in Los Angeles, to which I immediately made plans to attend.

When we got to the box office at the Club Nokia to pick up our tickets we were surprised that one hour into the show there was still a gnarly line for tickets. This looked like it was going to be a sell out show!

When we walked in the second band of the evening was just starting to play who were called The Supervillains, and had also got a strong recommendation from the friend who exposed me to Pepper. They played a cool mix of reggae, ska, and punk that could get one in the mood to kick back with some friends beachside. In fact, the theme of the night could quite easily be “music to dink at the beach to”.

Shwayze, the next act of the night was another crowd favorite. At the mere sight of his presence on stage the front row of girls went wild, throwing their arms in the air like they just don’t care…wait...did I just say that?

After a couple of beers and a trip to the merch tables it was time for Pepper to hit the stage.

As a guy who usually attends punk and Indie rock shows, this was definitely a welcome change of pace in the entire vibe of the show. It was definitely more laid back, that is until the band decided to cover the Nirvana song “Smells like Teen Spirit” and the Pennywise song “Bro Hymn”. This island band put on one of the most entertaining shows that I have ever seen, and whats more, they even looked like they enjoyed being there too. Aside from the tunes there was a lot of fun on stage banter and crowd interaction. At one point the horn player for the Supervillains joined then for a song then set his instrument down and dove headlong into the crowd, where he went for a quick surf.

The night ended with an enthusiastic encore demanded by the crowd and an invite from the band to one of their shows in the spring, which I may just take them up on.

-Matt C.-

  

More photos of the show can be seen HERE

 

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