It was definitely a change in music for me this night at the Troubadour. It wasn’t the usual screaming rawk that we all know and love. Maybe it was industrial-metal or something, I don’t know what you’d call it, but I liked it.
The first band of the evening, was a band from Texas called Pitbull Daycare and these guys definitely know what they want when they tour. They brought cages for dancers, their own drum riser and a truckload of kickass tunes! From the opening note, I was hooked on this band. This is totally the style of music that has been creeping its way into my head. Think of the technology of Professional Murder Music and Orgy with the heaviness of Rob Zombie, mix it all together and you have Pitbull Daycare. Along with the band (T.C. Connally – guitar/sampling/programming, Stephen Bishop – vocals, Donnie Van Stavern base/guitar/vocals/programming, Chris – drums) was a mime type of person (Norm – dancer/front man/soul man/sex man), dancing along with the band, singing along with the vocalist. For the first couple of songs, I thought it was kind of odd to have something like this on stage, but then the mime started to sing, he was the second vocalist of the group. This is a band that I wish could play LA every so often so I could get my Pitbull Daycare fix on. This band ruled.
Next was a band called Sinisstar, a five-piece rock band. Definitely an interesting band to see live. The sound was metal-ish with a hint of thrash and a dash of programming. The guitar work in this band is excellent and you can tell that Sinisstar’s members have been playing their respective instruments for a number of years. The drummer had the lowest kit I’ve ever seen, but that didn’t stop him from pounding the crap out of it.
Next up was Rakit, a long time player in the LA industrial scene. Rakit is a band that uses their own sound system when they play and they like foil. Foil on the mic stand, foil on Don McCurdy (drums) full electronic drum kit (something I haven’t seen in LA at the shows I’ve been to) and possibly in the Vinny Rakit (vocals/guitar) hair. Their sound is like nothing that I have heard, using a lot of technological effects. With the smoke and lights that Rakit uses, it makes their set more like a theatre performance than a music show. Wolfe (bassist) is decked out, along with Vinny, in a futuristic look that really blends well with the type of music that Rakit creates. I think it would be pretty fucking cool to use Rakit’s tunes over a 1950’s sci-fi robotic horror flick. But I think that’s my warped mind at work.
The last band of the evening wasn’t a perfect match for the previous bands, but holy shit, did they put on a show! Venus in Rage is a four-piece band is half male (Brian Allen – vocals and Jason Markle – bass) and half female (Simona Bressi – drums and Pola Cornella – guitarist) that really just blew my mind. Picture this: Primus, not as funky, but heavier heavier. The chemistry that this band has on stage is awesome, you can tell that this band has a lot of energy and fun at their shows. Pola and Jason bang into each other in just about every song while creating a “band pit” on the stage. The intensity of this band is just incredible. This band is not only creative on stage musically, but also in the CD demo’s. Most CD’s are either in a jewel case, plastic cover or sleave. V.I.R. takes a different twist on things: wire mesh, black tape and nut and bolt to hold the opening together. Definitely a band that I will be seeing again and you should too. Don’t take my word for it, see them for yourself, you will be glad you did.
Brian
brian@unearthed.com
