SLASH & MYLES KENNEDY SERVE UP ‘NIGHTRAIN’ ON DIRECTV, NOV. 7
Guitar Center has just released a badass sneak-peek at the upcoming Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators concert set to premiere on DIRECTV on November 7.
Taped at the Roxy on September 25, the clip features the rockers performing a scorching cover of Guns N’ Roses‘ “Nightrain.” Contrary to Slash’s shirt, the number definitely does not suck!
Catch the full show November 7 at 9 p.m. on DIRECTV channel 239.
LED ZEPPELIN GUITAR GOD JIMMY PAGE TO TALK MUSIC & MAYHEM WITH CHRIS CORNELL NOV. 12 IN L.A.
Been a long time since you rock and rolled? Los Angeles music fans are getting a rare opportunity to witness rock history next month, when iconic superstars Chris Cornell (right) and Jimmy Page share a conversation about the 70-year-old Led Zeppelin founder’s glorious years in one of the world’s greatest bands on November 12 at Downtown L.A.’s legendary The Theatre at Ace Hotel.
The event, “An Evening with Jimmy Page in Conversation with Chris Cornell,” is being held to celebrate the release of the iconic British guitarist’s photo memoir, Jimmy Page.
Soundgarden frontman Cornell and Page will be chatting about the latter’s time in the Yardbirds and Zeppelin and showcase some private phtos from Page’s personal collection. Genesis Publishing’s 500-page book , which debuted last month, features over 650 rare photos and artwork from the musician’s pre- and post-Zeppelin superstardom and traces his career from the start right up to his 2008 stint performing “Whole Lotta Love” alongside Leona Lewis at the Beijing Olympics.
“An Evening with Jimmy Page in Conversation with Chris Cornell” starts at 8:30 p.m.; doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $100, which includes a copy of Page’s memoir, and $150, which includes the book and a poster. The Theatre at Ace Hotel at 939 Broadway. Get ticket details here.
WARNER DRIVE TO HEADLINE CITY OF ANGELS RECORD RELEASE SHOW AT SUNSET STRIP’S VIPER ROOM NOV. 8
As far as Hollywood buzz bands go, they don’t get much better than Warner Drive. The hard rocking fivesome has been tirelessly shaking up the Sunset Strip for a couple years now before recently taking some time off the club scene to record new material.
Local fans will get a live taste of the new stuff when Warner Drive hits up the Viper Room on November 8 for a headlining gig at the iconic rock club. The band’s return to the Sunset Strip is to celebrate the long awaited release of WD’s new album, City of Angels.
As expected, the band does not disappoint with City of Angels, which includes 10 solid tracks featuring WD’s newer club staples and brand spankin’ new material.
City of Angels, which officially dropped September 9, kicks off with “Rising From the Fallen,” a full-throttle, Sabbathy hard rock anthem that Disturbed would have killed to have recorded. We think the late, great Dio would give this track two devil’s horns up.
The album starts off very strong and never lets up, seguing to the title track, “City of Angels,” which is the coolest L.A. anthem to surface from a Sunset Strip-launched band since Motley Crue‘s “Saints of Los Angeles.”
“Radio Love Song” echoes with ’80s-metal-style harmonies and is the most radio-ready and badass sing-along track since WD’s signature jam “The Scarecrow.” Likewise, the band’s new single “Boys N’ Girls” is another killer original rock song that would have fit comfortably on any early Skidrow or Dokken album.
Also on the new release, frontman Jonny Law and crew — guitarists Candice Levinson and Ryan Harris, bassist Elvis James and drummer Jonny U — switch gears from party rock to get political and bust some strings on the catchy, hard-rocking “West Memphis Three.”
“King of Swing” is standard Warner Drive: mercilessly melodic chorus, scorching guitars and a solid rhythm section that kicks this tune into overdrive and should blow the roof off of the Viper Room on November 8.
Also, considering that WD has already immortalized Viper Room in one of its best songs, expect Warner Drive to deliver a particularly scorching version of “Viper Room.”
Viper Room is located in the heart of the Strip at 8852 West Sunset Boulevard. The show starts at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $10, or $15 with a copy of City of Angels. Lose Control and Kicking Harold are also on the bill. Get ticket details here.
SLASH AND MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS SET FOR THREE-NIGHT L.A. TOUR AT ICONIC ROCK CLUBS, SEPT. 23, 25 & 26
Legendary GN’R alum and Sunset Strip rock refugee Slash is heading back to West Hollywood and Rock Row in September to shred at three of the city’s most iconic rock clubs: Troubadour, Roxy and The Whisky A Go Go. The three-night mini-tour will have Slash reuniting with his SSMF 2010 guest artist, occasional studio collaborator and frequent touring mate, Myles Kennedy and his band Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.
The band will first head over to Santa Monica Boulevard and Doheny and hit up the iconic Troubadour on September 23 for a headlining gig before cruising up to Sunset on September 25 to rock the Roxy. The party continues on September 26, when Slash and Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators take center stage at the world-famous Whisky A Go Go.
Get tickets and additional details here. See you at the shows!
BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU ROCK & ROLLED? GET SET TO SHOUT AT THE DEVIL & DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY ONCE AGAIN!
Not enough metal in your summer? Bummed about the closing of Rock Row landmark Hollywood SoundCheck? Disappointed by the lack of classic metal bands in the SSMF 2014 lineup? Don’t fret. A good mix of hard rockin’ fan bands is coming to a stage near you to save your end-of-summer partying.
On September 12, a hard rocking trio of cover bands paying homage to three of the biggest rock groups in history–Van Halen, Bon Jovi and Motley Crue–will set their amps to 11 and rattle the roof of House of Blues Anaheim. Giving L.A. rock fans a good reason to make the commute over to The O.C. is Atomic Punks, the L.A. Music Awards-winning tribute band whose spot-on covers of early VH tracks has made fans out of metal aficionados like Bret Michaels and Howard Stern; Crue-worshipping rockers Motley Inc.; and Wanted, which will attempt to rock a million–or a couple hundred–faces with scorchin’ renditions of Bon Jovi’s runaway hits. Get tickets and additional details here.
The next night, on September 13, head over to House of Blues Sunset for a trip back to the awesome ’80s with Brit band The Molly Ringwalds. The costumed cover rockers’ roster of retro rock and pop classics generally includes tunes by Sunset Strip icons like Guns N’ Roses, The Go-Gos, Motley Crue and Poison. Timeless tracks by Eighties metal monsters like Twisted Sister and Whitesnake also often wind their way into The Molly Ringwalds’ set list. And considering that these cover rockers are from Sheffield, England, you can expect to hear some anthemic hits from the group’s hometown heroes, Def Leppard.
Wanna get rocked? The Whisky A Go Go is the spot to head to on September 16, when fellow Def Leppard lovers Pyromania takes center stage as headliners of the return of AXS TV’s concert show The World’s Greatest Tribute Bands. Get more details and free tickets here.
Stroll the Sunset Strip east the following week and hit up House of Blues Sunset for a night of good times, rad times when Led Zeppelin 2 cranks up its amps on September 25. Winding down its national tour through America, the Chicago-based band sticks so close to Zeppelin’s repertoire that you can expect to get a contact high just by watching. It’s also why Metallica guitar legend Kirk Hammet has publicly declared, “These guys sound fucking exactly like Led Zeppelin!”
FAN HALEN HITS UP THE MEAN STREETS OF THOUSAND OAKS
Hard-rocking Van Halen tribute band Fan Halen drew a big, fun crowd to Thousand Oaks on August 13 for a scorching, free all-ages show in the Janss Mall courtyard. Faux Diamond Dave and his skillfully-costumed colleagues sent an appreciative crowd of rock fans of every age back in time to 1984 and earlier with two solid sets that celebrated all the timeless hits of the iconic Pasadena band’s pre-Sammy Hagar catalog.
Fan Halen may not have VH’s famous Marshall stacks but they still managed to shake the foundation of Thousand Oaks with spot-on covers of killer rockers like “Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love,” “Atomic Punk,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Jaime’s Cryin’,” and “Everybody Wants Some.” The band also bravely tackled Eddie Van Halen‘s signature soloing on “Eruption” and had much of the audience giving the two-fingered, devil’s horn metal salute in approval.
The colorful crowd itself, with many fans proudly sporting VH tour jerseys, tatts and patches, helped create a vibe that made the two-hour event feel like a drift back to the awesome Eighties.
Check out the scene below.
Catch Fan Halen next at Pala Casino’s Infinity Showroom on August 23. The 21-and-over, 8 p.m. show is free!
ROBERT TRUJILLO TO REUNITE WITH MASS MENTAL AUG. 26
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo is keeping good on a promise made earlier this summer and is heading back to the Sunset Strip to rock the Whisky A Go Go with a reunited Mass Mental on August 26.
The all-ages show will feature Trujillo once again jamming with his funky, pre-Metallica, art-rock bandmates: vocalist Benji Webbe, bassist Armand Sabal-Lecco and drummer Ken Schalk.
Making the historic heavy metal experience even more cool is the addition of guest vocalist Whitfield Crane of Ugly Kid Joe.
The L.A. show is a warm-up gig for Mass Mental’s September 6 slot at Germany’s Warwick Open Day music fest.
Get tickets for the Whisky show here.
VIPER ROOM FINALLY REACHES DRINKING AGE
Landmark Sunset Strip rock club The Viper Room celebrates its 21st anniversary this month as one of the city’s best venues for live shows. To mark the milestone, from August 11 to 16, The Viper Room, at 8852 Sunset Boulevard, is hosting a week of special shows featuring an electric and eclectic mix of music, including an all-star salute to classic rock. Check out the details here.
Great acoustics, fantastic sight lines from anywhere in the club, comfy vibe and an always awesome roster of diverse rock-oriented artists has kept Viper Room one of Sunset and Clark’s favorite hot spots on the Strip since we first stepped foot in the club not too long after it first opened its doors. Here’s some of our favorite Viper Room moments from the first 21 years…
FAVORITE SHOW BY A LOCAL ACT:
After randomly stumbling upon Warner Drive one night during a multi-band bill a few years ago, the Hollywood rockers immediately became–and remain–our favorite local band. And we made that decision before the band was done with its first song.
FAVORITE SHOW BY A NATIONAL ACT:
Bryan “Big B” Mahoney in 2012. The hip-hoppin’ white trash renegade rocked the Viper Room hardcore with nothing but a mic, a kick-ass three-piece band and an arsenal of redneck party anthems. The set still has us baffled as to why B isn’t bigger than Kid Rock yet.
BEST VIPER ROOM MOMENT:
Checking out a multi-band bill in the mid-Nineties and watching singer-songwriter Brian Grillo (right), frontman of legendary, in-your-face, Silver Lake-launched homocore band Extra Fancy, literally drop his mic mid-show and jump off the Viper Room stage before a packed crowd to chase a heckling homophobe right out of the club!
FAVORITE ROCK STAR SIGHTING:
The time we turned and noticed that the guy standing next to us at the back of the club nodding his head to the music at a random show was one of our all-time favorite artists, Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis.
COOLEST VIPER ROOM SHOW EVER:
In what was probably the hardest rockin’ show since Guns N’ Roses used to rock Sunset, Viper Room regulars the Lonely Drunks Club Band celebrated the 25th anniversary of Appetite for Destruction in 2012 by inviting the vocalists for some of L.A.’s best bands, including Brando’s Island and GN’R tribute band Hollywood Roses, to front the mic on a track-by-track cover set paying homage to the hits-packed metal classic. Axl would approve.
MOST INDELIBLE IMPRESSION:
In addition to bringing in some of our favorite national acts and introducing us to great local bands like Warner Drive and Lonely Drunks Club Band, The Viper Room has also helped to hype some very cool visual artists whose original work has adorned the club’s exterior over the years, including our faves David Flores and Becca.
MOST SURREAL ROCK MOMENT:
If we weren’t there to witness it, we wouldn’t have believed it when then-newly signed Atlantic artists Never the Bride performed a record release show for the British band’s 1995 self-titled major label debut that included a powerful cover of “Going to California” that was indisputably on par with Led Zeppelin‘s untouchable original.
HELMET HIGHLIGHTS ’94 CLASSIC AT VIPER ROOM JULY 11
Hard rock fans will be getting a healthy serving of “Milquetoast” on July 11, when Helmet hits up the Sunset Strip to rock Viper Room with a special performance of Betty in its entirety.
The New York hard rockers are celebrating the 20th anniversary of Helmet’s critically acclaimed 1994 rock classic, which also includes the timeless tracks “Vaccination,” “Wilma’s Rainbow” and “Biscuits for Smut.”
In addition to performing Betty track-for-track, Page Hamilton and crew will likely crank out some of the band’s other amp-shaking killer classics, like “Exactly What You Wanted,” “Unsung,” “Gone,” “See You Dead” and the title track to the band’s latest release, 2010’s Seeing Eye Dog.
Joining band founder and frontman Hamilton in Helmet’s current line up is guitarist Dan Beeman, drummer Kyle Stevenson and bassist Dave Case.
Viper Room is located at 8852 Sunset. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Check Viper Room’s calendar for ticket details.
BULLETBOYS TO ROCK RAINBOW’S PARKING LOT, APRIL 13
One of L.A.’s hardest rocking Sunset Strip bands of the late ’80s/early ’90s, BulletBoys is heading back to Rock Row on April 13 to shake the amps at iconic hot spot Rainbow Bar & Grill‘s Party in the Parking Lot.
Mark Torein is still fronting the mic for the local metal monsters that hit the mainstream with a bang in 1988 courtesy of BulletBoys’ badass, guitar-heavy scorcher “Smooth up in Ya,” from the band’s self-titled debut. The timeless track rocks just as hard today and is sure to be a highlight of Rainbow’s free event, which also includes sets by Hollywood-launched hard rock hit-makers Great White, Sunset Strip legend Tracii Guns (pictured right), Metal Blade stalwarts Bitch and more metal monsters that will turn back the clock to the awesome Eighties and keep the hard rock hits echoing throughout the heart of Rock Row all day and night on Sunday.
Rainbow is located at 9015 Sunset Boulevard. Party in the Parking Lot is free and kicks off at 2 p.m. in the back parking lot behind the Rainbow and Roxy. See you at the show!
KIX IS GONNA KICK OUT THE CLASSICS AT WHISKY’S NEW YEAR’S EVE BASH, DEC. 31!
Get ready to get your fuse blown with some hard-rockin’ classic metal when the world-famous Whisky A Go-Go brings Kix to the Sunset Strip for a special New Year’s Eve show on December 31.
The Maryland-launched metal monsters that scored a number of unforgettable hard rock classics disbanded in the mid-’90s for nearly a decade before reuniting and resurfacing in 2012 with the concert album Live in Baltimore. More recently, Kix was one of the last bands to ever play the now defunct Sunset Strip landmark Key Club when they headlined a show last March.
Now, with their return to the Sunset Strip with the Whisky’s December 31 show, frontman Steve Whiteman and the band are ready to start rockin’ like Dokken with powerhouse hits like “Blow My Fuse,” “Cold Blood” and the most awesome heavy metal power ballad next to “Home Sweet Home”: the badass anti-suicide song “Don’t Close Your Eyes.”
Foxy Florida-based hard rockers Siren is opening the New year’s Eve show, and the band’s Zeppelin/Maiden-inspired grooves are also worth checking out. Whisky A Go-Go is located in the heart of Rock Row at 8901 Sunset Blvd. at Clark St., the crossroads where American rock n’ roll history was launched! Can’t wait to get Kix-ed in the cabeza with some hard-rocking authentic old-school metal on December 31!
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