Sunset Strip Music Festival 2013 – Hollywood, CA

Famous for its intimate smaller setting and the high profile up and coming artist that always grace it's stage since 1993 the Viper Room never disappoints as a go to venue for concerts year round.

 

Day two of the three day Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF) opened up at the Viper Room on Friday night with Attaloss, a band from Los Angeles, CA. They greeted the audience with a masterful 3 part guitar ensemble followed by an electric vocal performance of Danny Aguiluz (vocalist for the band).

Attaloss started playing together about 2 years ago and in their years of performing have gained a notable following as a band that plays a well-practiced modern Rock style. Currently they are playing shows throughout Los Angeles. The lead singer had this to say about the festival and playing with Scott Weiland “I am excited to see AWOLNATION, and Linkin Park on Saturday. And I feel honored to be included in the same festival with artist like them and play the same stage as Scott Weiland.”

The next band of the night was the Penfifteen Club a straight up Rock act, from Hollywood, CA. They played a set that featured their song “F the Radio.”

Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts finished off the night at the Viper Room and in true to form he and the band brought a soulful rock vibe with a hint of blues flavor that included quite a few Stone Temple Pilot songs.

However it would be remiss to not talk about the recent trials and tribulations that are occurring between Weiland and his former band (Stone Temple Pilots); specifically those tribulations regarding the hiring of Chester Bennington (vocalist for Linkin Park among other things) as the new lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots. Currently Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots are in the midst of legal battle over Weilands use of Stone Temple Pilots image in his own solo career. According to an article by Gary Graff published on Billboard.com Weiland had this to say “I don't think Chester did it in a spiteful way. The brothers DeLeo can be pretty persuasive...I guess nothing is totally shocking, but...I don't think it was smart for them to do that. I'm surprised they did what they did without checking the legality of it, how they just decided to go and use the (STP) name and go and hire another singer and start playing shows with a name that I still am an owner of.”

Once the show at the Viper Room had ended, we at Big Wheel got a chance to check out the end of Retox’s set just as Justin Pearson (vocalist for the band) was jumping onto Brian Evan’s drum set. Retox has been playing together for about 3 years and have been leaving their audience breathless since they first began. A live performance of any typical band today usually features several moments on stage that leave the audience momentarily bored.

This fleeting moment seems to usually by design in order to create anticipation for what will occur next in the bands show. Retox however, needs and uses no such tactic. Their intense style of play brings the audience to stand still at points due to the shear unpredictable nature of Retox’s style of play. Labeling this band in any singular category seems ill-advised; suffice to say that Retox is an extremely progressive act that should be witnessed live.

The end of the night featured The Icarus Line; a band from Hollywood, CA they are known for their stylistic fusion of rock, with a psychedelic flair. The Icarus Line is fronted by Joe Cardamone and back by the amazing musicians. If hearing of this band is new to you and you happened to be a fan of Iggy Pop as well as Jimi Hendrix, this band may be one you would like to check out.

Their progressive style leaves nothing on floor, and their performance to end Day two of SSMF was far more than adequate to end the evening’s festivities.

 

       

    More photos of the show can be seen HERE

-Ryan R.-
Big Wheel Staff Reporter

 

 

 

 

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