A band is, literally, a living breathing entity. Nowadays, rare is a band that sticks with each other for the long haul. Guns N Roses, Oasis, The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, the list goes on. A band keep on performing with eh same the name, but when the faces change, it often times makes it difficult to maintain the same level affection that curried the initial musical infatuation.
Earlier this year, a friend of mine, and a talented musician, Steve Miller a/k/a “Steville” was asked to play with the band The Secret State. The band seems to have a loyal following (over 400K likes on Facebook), but has in the past year (based on my understanding) undergone a pretty significant personnel overhaul. The band was back in Los Angeles after touring a bit domestically, and set up a semi-acoustic gig at Loaded Hollywood. Knowing how kick-ass my friend, and his music, is, I knew that it was going to be good show.
The Secret State, normally a 6 person, electric band, was paired down to 4 (two acoustic guitars, vocalist and DJ). Their set was short, but impressive. Their original songs were catchy and the arrangements of the two covers they performed (Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” and Seal’s “Crazy”) were solid. It was an acoustic performance, so it wasn’t as “hard” as they normally are, but it gave me a chance to hear the fine guitar work of my buddy and Joshua Jones.
I liked what I heard. For some reason when I was watching them perform live, I thought to myself that maybe they were a mix of Incubus and Tool with a splash of Filter. Again, it was an acoustic gig, so I may be way off. Check out the video below to make your own comparison. The dude singing lead for the gig, Michael, a recent addition, was a solid vocalist, but from what I’ve heard through the grapevine, it sounds as if the band decided to go in a different direction. C’est la vie d’une bande.
Unfortunately, the Flickr slideshow below is not currently available on mobile devices. If you are on a mobile device, please click THIS LINK to get redirected to the set of photos.
I can’t remember the last time I was in a mosh pit. In fact… if I’m remembering correctly … the last true mosh pit I was in was for a Let’s Go Bowling show back, back, back in the day. Like… back in my ska days when I used to wear khakis with suspenders, a wife beater and my Doc Martins. On May 9, 2013, I went to see Dead Sara, and for the first time in forever, I found myself reliving my youthful abandon, smack dab in what was perhaps one of the most intense concert experiences I’ve had in a while.
Sometime last year, driving in my car, I heard a hard, rocking song with some bad-ass female vocals on the radio called “Weatherman”. After the song ended, the disc jockey said that the name of the band was Dead Sara. I hardly listen to terrestrial radio these days, but god bless the ways of old, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have heard about the band.
Later that week, before a blind date, I went to Amoeba Records to pick up a copy of their self-titled, debut, full-length album. The chick I was with was a musician who was into hard, classic rock, so I decided to play the album for her on our way to dinner to she what she thought.
The album was very, very good. It was so much more intense than other female fronted rock bands that have been releasing albums recently. It’s a no holds barred album. Intense power rock but at the same time extremely vulnerable. The lead singer’s (Emily Armstrong) voice is filled with such strength and passion (plus it sounds pretty!) which contrasts the steady lead guitar riffs of Siouxsie Medley, and made me recall another female rock duo … Heart, anyone? But Dead Sara’s rock is much more blistering than Heart’s. It’s the kind of music that boils the adrenaline in the veins … even with the vulnerable sensitive songs.
About half way through the album, my date suggested that she wasn’t feeling the music as much as I was, and that kind of put a damper on the date, because …. Well … I’m a music snob, and I didn’t understand why she didn’t like the album as much as I did. I told her that I’d call her sometime … I didn’t.
When I got home from the date, I went online to see when they’d be performing. I assumed, since they are Los Angeles based, they would be playing some gigs locally. But when I logged on to their website, there were a bunch of dates having them open up for Muse at large venues (in Los Angeles, The Staples Center). Muse? Seriously?
I’m not a Muse fan. They were hyped as a headliner for Coachella one year, but when I saw them perform then, it was soooo not my thing, that I left to catch another act. Muse’s single, at the time, was “Madness” and that song reminded me of Savage Garden. Nope. As much as I wanted to see Dead Sara perform, I wasn’t going to buy a ticket for Muse to see them do a short opening set from the rafters of the Staples Center. “C’est la vie,” I thought. Maybe some other time. I followed their Facebook page, and life went on.
Months later, I get a Facebook “notification” that Dead Sara was playing the El Rey theater. Now, THAT was more my speed. Immediately, I got online and purchased tickets. Glad I did it that day, as tickets for the show sold out. From then, I waited.
It was my buddy’s Steve’s birthday, so I invited him to join me for the show. He was coming from rehearsing for a gig (opening for Motorhead at Nokia Live!!), so I told him that I would either be outside hanging out or waiting in line for merchandise. While I was outside in the patio area, I noticed someone who looked vaguely familiar. Holy shit. It was Siouxsie and … what’s his name … uhh … the drummer … lol. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the drummers name (it’s Sean Friday), but they didn’t seemed bothered by it. I told them how long I had waited to see them perform, and they were cool enough to let me snap a group shot to post on Instagram.
I left them alone to handle their business, and I went over to the merch line to pick up a limited edition 7’’ release of their newest single “Lemon Scent”. I’m glad I got in line early for merchandise, as the line for merch was LONG. So long, that I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get the vinyl treasure I wanted. My buddy met me in line, and after purchasing the merch and as soon as the prior act had finished their set, we decided to try to get as close up front as we could. We got about 5-7 rows from the front, and we waited. Every minute we waited, we could feel the crowd slowly pushing up against our backs. That was sign. A sign that it was about to get pretty nuts.
Found this pic online. So Badass. (c) Brian Bowen Smith (@brianbowensmith)
When the band took the stage, they started the set with a mellow song called “Sorry For It All”. After that, fireworks. Dead Sara lit the fuse with “Test My Patience” and that fire burned scalding through “I Said You Were Lucky”. I know how that fire burned. I was in the middle of the mosh pit as soon as it erupted. For 15-20 minutes straight, I was lost in aggressive moshing. My “technique” for fending off people that were going really crazy came back to me, and I was able to float around an area with a radius of about 3 feet.
Thank god, Dead Sara broke up the intensity with “Face to Face”. After that three song stint of mosh songs, my shirt was drenched with sweat and I’m sure I got a few bruises along the way. I assessed what other really hard songs would lead to moshing, and I could only think of “Weatherman” so I stayed where I was, figuring that I would make my way towards the edges later in their set. By the way, I had no idea where my buddy was. I guess he couldn’t hang. Lol.
Dead Sara’s album is good. Watching them perform is better. I spent my time in awe of Emily’s live vocals and the connection the whole band had with the audience. The performance reached a high point when Emily absolutely DESTROYED her guitar on stage. It totally felt right. From there, the band went on to perform Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name Of”. If Zac and Emily squared off, I’d put my money on Emily.
After the set, my buddy and kicked it a while afterwards. He actually knew some people there and was shooting the shit. Me, I was waiting to see if a bid I placed on a one-of-kind autographed, painted, concert poster won out. It didn’t.
When we were kicked out of the El Rey, we hung out in front just to decompress. Sean and Chris Null (the bassist) were moving equipment, and- being always prepared- I asked them to sign the LP and the poster I had picked up. Since I had two signatures, I had to wait for Emily and Siouxsie, right? Patience pays off, as they soon followed, and I was able to snag signatures from the entire band. If you want to check out some other music treasure of mine, click through on this link.
If anything, watching Dead Sara at the El Rey proved three things in my eyes: (i) I fall in infatuation to easily with chicks who can shred an axe, (ii) Dead Sara is a female-fronted rock band that can melt your face off, and kick you in the ass, and is here to stay, and (iii) yes, you need to see them live … just make sure you invite me to come with.
Set list is below. My video clips from the show are below as well.
Sorry for It All
Test on My Patience
Monumental Holiday
I Said You Were Lucky
Face to Face
Dear Love
Feeling Empty
Whispers & Ashes
Lemon Scent
Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine cover) (Freedom Outro)
Encore
Blue Was the Feeling For You
Weatherman
This is the first version of their concert tour poster opening for Muse. Four additional dates were added to this version. The poster is on thick paper stock, perhaps archival paper.
In my youth, my mother made me take violin and piano lessons. She always emphasized the maxim “practice makes perfect”, but even after over a decade of piano lessons, I don’t think I ever got close to any kind of perfection. Sure, I practiced … but I think I may been lacking the gene that made me want to get better.
I’ve always been amazed with kids who seem to be driven to push themselves (without being forced to do it) to get better. Whether its in sports, music, etc., some kids find their passion early in life and they seem to have the kind of innate drive and talent to get better.
About a year ago, a buddy of mine, Steve Miller told me about an 11 year old guitarist named Nik Kai he was helping out. Recently, he told me that Nik was playing with a new band that had been assembled called Kemikal Kill after meeting at the recentNAMM Show, and suggested that I swing by the The Roxy on 3/25/13 to have a listen. I’ve always supported Steve’s projects, so I did the 40 minute trek to the heart of Sunset to check it out.
Wow.
The band was young and capable, but the whole time I was there I was in awe of Nik. This 12 year old has some serious chops. After the set, I was introduced to his mother, and I asked her about how Nik got so good on the axe. She said that he wakes up everyday at 4am (on his own) to practice, and that he’s always interested in new types of music. She even mentioned that he was starting violin lessons.
I don’t know. I’m sure all the practicing has played a part in Nik being so good at such a young age, and I love my mom and all, but I’m more inclined to say that this kid just has the music in him, and not everybody has that.
Here are two short clips of Nik playing with Kemikal Kill:
It was my buddy’s Steve’s birthday, so I invited him to join me for the show. He was coming from rehearsing for a gig (
#DKLPHOTOS 