What do you get when you cross major street construction and the Troubadour? A 45-minute power outage, that’s what! During the day, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but the power going out at 8:06pm with the first band to take the stage at 8:30.. well.. things get pushed back. Luckily the power did restore in time to have a full show, just a little later than normal.
Aside from the little power outage, free Mondays at the Troubadour rule, and this show more than proves it. The first band to take the stage, Dark Orchestra, I haven’t had the chance to see on stage for a while. The last tine I saw them play, they had a different vocalist. Dark Orchestra played a new song, which they stated was very experimental for them. I think they should keep it; very cool song with a lot of whining guitars. Dark Orchestra likes to “mosh” on stage and unfortunately, there was more moshing on stage that off. I hate it when that happens. One of the songs that I was able to get the name of was “One More Step” and that was a great tune. I’ll be at the next Dark Orchestra show that I can make it to. I want to see these guys again.
Next up was Silfead and it was really cool to finally see Frank and Co. on stage playing. I’ve seen Frank and other members of Silfead at a ton of shows for other bands. It’s great to see the ‘family’ aspect of the LA Scene. Silfead puts on a great show. There was a tad bit of bass trouble, but when that was worked out, Silfead memorized the crowd with their sound. And for the first time on stage, Frank pulled out a guitar and played along on a few songs. The crowd was rock’n along with Frank and the rest of Silfead until the set ended.
Next up was Wiredshut for their first show at the Troubadour. I freaking love this band. Wiredshut opened with “Crime“, followed by “Rise” and “Militant Government.” Next Wiredshut played a new song called “Humanity” which was an awesome song! Wiredshut finished off their set with “Father Why” and “I am the Enemy.” I was really looking forward to see how Wiredshut pulled off a lot of what they did on their CD and Wiredshut pulled it off masterfully. If you missed this show, you should definitely check out Wiredshut when you can. The whole band is amazing, from the drums, the keyboards, the killer guitar work, the bass, and the vocals, this is truly a band to experience while you still can! The vocalist, Shawn, at times reminded me of Phil from Pantera with the face expressions and the body language, except Shawn is bald and has way less facial hair than Phil, taller too.
Depswa took the stage next and opened up with “Faithless” with “Tears and Smiles“, “Lonely Places” following. Jeremy Penick (Guitars, Vocals, Didgerido, & Percussion) them proceeds to tell us that they are going to play a new song, (this night, every band played a new song. How cool is that?) entitled “Lessons in Misery.” Holding true to the Depswa sound “Lessons in Misery” kicked everyone’s ass at the show. Props must be given to Jeremy, Ryan Burchfield (Bass, Back-up Vocals, & Percussion) Dan Noonan (Guitars, Back-up Vocals, & Percussion) and Collin Torres (Drums & Percussion), they have come a long way since they first appeared in LA many months ago. Depswa rules.
The last band of the night was Scarred and for the night, you couldn’t find a better closing band. Scarred played a Sepultura tune entitled “Slave New World” and during the song, if you were quick to notice, Mike (one of the Troubadour’s security personnel) was seen running through the pit! Scarred also played their awesome instrumental song. I’m starting to really like instrumental songs, so its really cool to see up and coming bands continuing the trend. As with the bands before them, Scarred also played a new song, along with “Melting“, “Painless” and “Regret.” At another point in Scarred’s set Mike again came running into the pit and dove off the stage to crowd surf. I’ve been going to the Troubadour for quite some time, and I have NEVER seen any of the Troubadour staff in the pit having fun, unless they call pulling out the assholes that like to start fights in the pit fun.
All in all it was a killer night… Yea the review is a bit in the dated side now, but I still remember it. Better late than never…
Brian – brian@unearthed.com
