Sunset Strip Music Festival 2010

GIRLS RULE SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL: DAY 1

Beth Hart performs with Slash at The Whisky A Go-Go during the Sunset Strip Music Festival honoring Slash.

photographs by picksysticks

by JPegg

Beth Hart at The Whiskey A Go-Go was clearly the obvious headliner on the first night at Sunset Strip Music Festival 2010. Hands down, no argument. There were other concerts going on at the House of Blues, Key Club, The Viper Room, The Roxy, and Cat Club, but none near rival the magnitude of a set with her special guest, Slash.

     

It was a Thursday evening on The Strip, the painted black, music infested side. Slash was this year’s festival honoree. A red carpet arrival of rock legends and stars gathered at House of Blues for this special tribute. This launched the three day festival of rock that was held at six distinct music venues with two massive stages erected in the streets on Saturday that closed off part of Sunset Boulevard.

With so many bands overlapping each other, the difficulty was selecting which to cover, but the advertisements of Cherri Bomb on those Hollywood billboards decidedly peeked early interest. So it was first off to The Roxy Theater to watch them open for Filter.

Cherri Bomb is a foursome of tween girls that label themselves, “Rock’s New Generation”. Their band name revamps fascination back to the all teen girl rock sensation of the late 70’s that were called The Runaways. “Cherry Bomb” was the hit single that shot this group to stardom, and now likely taken as this current band’s name to pay homage to the talented wild girls of adolescence and genre of music that they share in common. Cherri Bomb’s lead singer, Julia Pierce, in her full black hair and attire, even looked like a young spunky Joan Jett.

This new generation of youth girl rock may actually match and possibly exceed the talent and influential rock reckoning force of The Runaways. Here were these tough roses on rocks that could each kick Hannah Montana a few times around the playground. They looked dwarfed by their instruments, but when they played it was mind blasting. The show felt like a story line taken out of a movie like Freaky Friday. What rock star did these girls switch bodies with for this evening? Too skilled for school. This was not the typical sweet cutesy girl pop rock, this was full on rock & roll mayhem. Rock legends reincarnated into youth. Watching them felt like there was another band behind-the-scenes performing and these girls were just mimics, the stand-ins, the puppets. The incredible sound blasting from these four girls averaging only thirteen in age came off literally larger than life, almost superhuman. Unreal. Hello daddy, hello mom, hello world, here comes the new wicked Ch Ch Ch Ch Ch Cherri Bomb!

Cherri Bomb opens up for Filter at The Roxy on the first day of The Sunset Strip Music Festival.
photos by picksysticks

Next it was a venue hop to The Viper Room. Entrance is on the side of a hill, and going in leads through a narrow down slope corridor and then up a flight of stairs that spits into the rear of the crowd. It felt like an exclusive backdoor only club. The teens with their parents were not present. Here were the 21+ crowd of mellowed drinkers and casual talkers, a subtle, toned down relaxed mood before the show, an adult’s den, darker and more compact than the grazing spaciousness of The Roxy. An intimate gathering where the band plays on top of the audience. The Shakers were on next.

The Shakers performs at The Viper Room on day one  of the Sunset Strip Music Festival.
photo by picksysticks

It was long due to get a live listen to vocalist Jodie Schell’s current band and new sound. She was former part vocalist, tambourine player, crowd hyper, fashioning her rainbow Punky Brewster appearance for the party pop band, The Automatic Music Explosion. More than a few years have passed since her Kiss or Kill nights with The AME at El Cid. Things have changed. She has matured.

When curtains rose for Schell and The Shakers this night, the rainbow girl was gone, with the exception of the familiar hot pink bangs. She stepped out of the smoke and lights clad in black, fitted tight to a vest. All grown-up now, the raggedy rainbow was now stream line and rock star slick. Her vocals reflected a grave maturity as well. Her sweet pink Poky Stick sound was no more. It was now a razor edge sword. Angry high pitched fine cut vocals that sheer smooth every verse. No jaggedness, no sloppiness, no lose ends, nothing soft loops about it, just straight, true, and precision sharp. She was accompanied by Chris Lee torturing up hell on guitar. He was so ravenous on the screaming strings that it was a strike first, strike back sword slashing of thin strings versus vocals. Each battle forged a song. Brad Lee on drums and Nick Woods on bass were mere undercurrents, seemingly present only to keep the steady rhythm. The live experiencing of The Shakers puts their recorded tracks to shame. Why does it often sound like girl rockers wear bunny ears and chew bubble gum when recording in the studio? This sudden fan of The Shakers should have started going to these shows over a year ago when they initially formed in the early part of 2009. They are for sure a must watch again.

Soon it was time to head to the main show at the Whisky A Go-Go. There had been a line going into the club all evening. After a half-hour of standing in the cool breeze, I was given a Jack Daniel’s stamp on the hand, and stepped into the past.

It was an odd chill to step inside, this being one of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted landmark venues. This was where music greats got their start before they became legends. Two levels of simplicity in black viewing towards the corner stage. It felt like nothing had changed from the day it opened in 1964, a haunting museum coming to life in the after-hours of night. The stage of equipment waiting for the next band felt like anything could happen, even apparitions of Whisky past appearing seemed possible. Would it be The Doors, Buffalo Springfield, Love, Van Morrison, or Frank Zappa? There was a sudden hair raising breeze from behind that headed towards stage, then nothing, but felt like an eerie premonition of history about to happen again. Nobody seemed to notice as the crowd packed, turning the place into a sweat box.

The time was heading towards midnight when it did happen. The stage came to life with Beth Hart. There was something oddly familiar about her wavy dark hair and her look of a cold sweat natural beauty in recovery, but seeing the band turned everything back to normal, another venue, another show. The usual rainbow of lights waved down from above, the crowd got loud, and Beth Hart opened the set with an Aretha Franklin cover. It sounded of some good old Motown gospel soul. Little did I know she was conjuring up another soul as well.

Beth Hart at the Whisky A Go-Go  during the Sunset Strip Music Festival honoring Slash.
photos by picksysticks

After the first song, Beth Hart turned into Janis Joplin. That was the oddly familiar that she resembled in appearance. She now sounded like Joplin , too. Her vocals turned into that famously infamous voice of psychedelic blues rock parched by alcohol, drugs, and tired lungs in tar. It felt like I had become part of an audience witnessing first hand the live lost performance of Janis Joplin at Whisky A Go-Go. I had fallen back in time. Or somehow I was reliving somebody’s memory or stepped into a Joplin documentary I had seen earlier. Or was this just a movie set with Richard Donner getting started on his next film? Somehow, the past had come to life, and it was perfect for this historic venue.

Then something else happened.half way through the set. Slash took the stage. It looked like he stepped out from the 80’s with his Guns N’ Roses oil slick tire tread hair flowing out from under his black trademark curved out top hat. Janis Joplin and Slash together at Whisky A Go-Go, circa 2010. The awe was in applause. Slash was the real Slash, and Beth Hart was that amazing.

Slash and Beth Hart started with their song, “Mother Maria”. Hart on piano, while Slash on stool next to her, slowly waking up his guitar. Every note he played resonated emotion. It was like he was strumming the guitar and it responded with a gentle cooing. The guitar was a life of its own, and Slash was only tickling the baby to get it to sing. But the lullaby of politeness didn’t last long. Slash would soon slap that puppy awake, take it by the leash, and turn it mad dog frothing.

Beth Hart and Slash at the Whisky A Go-Go during the Sunset Strip Music Festival honoring Slash.
photos by picksysticks

The encore performance took away the piano and stools, leaving Slash and Beth Hart open range to let wild: one song, twelve minutes of malicious metal, “I Don’t Need No Doctor” by Humble Pie. Frampton Comes Alive! He had to be feeling this performance where ever in the world he was. This show not only felt historic, it had epic appeal, a greater surprise than a reunion tour. Whatever I missed at Winterland ‘68 and on the Sunset Strip in the 80’s, I was seeing and feeling it here tonight, together. And this was only the end of day one of the three day experience at this year’s Sunset Strip Music Festival. More to come.

Beth Hart at The Whisky A Go-G0 during the Sunset Strip Music Festival.
photos by picksysticks

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SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL: DAY 2

Nico Vega performs at The Key Club during the second day of the Sunset Strip Music Festival.

photo by picksysticks

by JPegg

Sunset Strip Music Festival: Day 2. Friday. This night was different. The mood was not the same as the celebratory opening night; rather it felt of a somber lull before the big bang storm finale happening all day and all night Saturday. It was Friday night and the street was yet to be closed off, while the outdoor beer garden stood silent in the dark, motionless and waiting for tomorrow, like a carnival ride waiting for the power to be flipped on. Ready to go, but not yet time.

It was more of an evening to stroll and absorb the surroundings before heading to a couple shows, but the place seemed forgotten, dingy, an alley turned into a street where the homeless knew that this was another good time of year to ask for charity. There was the Santa in rags, rolling along in his rickety wheel chair; the bag lady that wore layers of soiled clothes that amounted to as much as what was in her filled shopping cart; and the other dragging droves that politely held open their tired and strained hands. They were the Hollywood streets and their lives ran over just as much. Only an answered prayer to the grasping hope they must had held deep inside saved them. They smelled too. Or maybe it was the pungent day early food truck sitting deep in The Roxy parking lot that nobody wanted to approach, open and empty, like a dumpster luring flies. Or possibly the stink of the hunting paparazzi as they waited to attack a celebrity’s evening with blinding flashes to turn it for a quick buck. This place needed a good flood tonight, but that arrived the next day.

Rich Koehler of Nico Vega at The Key Club on the second day of the SSMF.
photograph by picksysticks

On the brighter side there were the ten foot tall guitars spotting The Strip like colorful Easter eggs. Each of these more than twenty-five individual giant Gibson Les Paul guitar canvases celebrated music history unique to The Sunset Strip. They were scattered all over the place ready for a scavenger hunt through history. This section of The Strip turning into GuitarTown was supposed to be part of the beautification and revitalization of this area, but it just looked like tinsel placed on a nostalgic street. What The Strip should have done were monuments. Everybody would have loved taking pictures next to their favorite historic rock star. There was a nice bronze plaque outside Whisky A Go-Go that told of rock legends that graced their stage, but it would have also been thrilling to see them life-sized in their most memorable poses. What rock aficionado wouldn’t have taken a photo next to a life-sized bronze Jim Morrison? And while thinking all this, Aja Volkman of Nico Vega waltzed by in a flowing white silky garb as she headed down the street towards Sunset Plaza . I only later realized it was her when she took the stage later in the same outfit.

A bit after, I met a young lady in satin black dress and heels walking down the street from the direction of the plaza . She asked about the music that was on so many advertisements around town. She was headed in the right direction, but after conversing with her for a while, I realized that her Hollywood dream had fallen to pieces. She was a musician from Ohio that came to Los Angeles with her hopes of success, but she had nothing much left now, except debt, back-due rent, and something not right in the four cigarettes she chained. She was thinking of New Orleans , she said. I didn’t say anything, except give her a hug and wish her luck. I met far too many people like this in Hollywood . They arrived bright-eyed, stayed a while living the glamorous starving artist life, got a few gigs, made excuses why the city didn’t understand them, then suddenly disappeared with little notice. Most of these Hollywood hopefuls were only tourists, yet they didn’t know it until the opportunities and money ran dry.

Nico Vega performs at the Sunset Strip Music Festival.
photo by picksysticks.

Live shows offered a momentary haven from this reality, any reality, and bliss to be happily fixated in a feeling at a show with senses fully engulfed in the experience. Even entering into Key Club was like getting on a space ship, the outside world left behind. A packed gathering, but very breathable because of its size. Key Club had to be the largest venue on The Strip. Cavernous. There was the recessed pit in front of stage, steps behind was the floor with a bar and sitting booths on both sides, the dinning on the second level with its own bar, and the secluded downstairs lounge bar with a mini stage. This place was a sanctuary from the streets of life, oh so far away, surrounded here in the protective womb by the over stimulating music and scenery of enjoyment peoples. Then it was time for Nico Vega as they too released their frustrations of modern living.

Watching Nico Vega was like watching an atomic bomb explode over the Grand Canyon . The shockwave magnitude energy that erupted from within lead vocalist Aja Volkman stretched faces into smiling uproars. She had an attitude of a political protester, held confident and positive, keeping alive the wild beast within, not letting The Man shackle her thoughts and desires. Her body and limbs danced like a spiritual shaman heretic as each song voiced a message of screaming defiance. A few new songs were performed that took some time to get to liking, much like the deep cuts in their debut album, but once one knew the lyrics, the music was fully understood as to why they sounded like a grinding steel factory riot. Nico Vega showed that now was the time to join together, stand-up, oppose the wrong, and restore dignity. Moral unrest. False promises and lies had to be punished. Nico Vega was the alarm clock for 21st century America . Wake-up and smell the corruption. It was always good to be able to relate bands on levels beyond songs of romance. A burden felt lifted after the performance, knowing I was not alone in my down trodden views.

The Paper Dolls at The Cat Club during The Sunset Strip Music Festival.

photos by Picksysticks

The final show of the evening was at Cat Club. This place looked like it used to be a bar that later added a stage next to the street entrance. It was the smallest venue taking part in the Sunset Strip Music Festival. Not much to the stage lights, not much to the stage, and a floor area that backed into the bar with two bench seats lining the wall. The set-up made watching a performance a little distracting. The previous band was rolling out their equipment across the floor, cutting through the fans, and out the door that glared in street lights as the set started for The Paper Dolls.

The mood of The Paper Dolls playing Cat Club felt like a backstage rehearsal. A work in progress, both club and band. A dark garage that hosted a demo band. An antique automobile during its black primer restoration. A sneak preview before the completed product. Kristina Allison vocals sounded heavy and parched, as if she was holding back, or as though she couldn’t decide whether to sing or scream. There was stiffness too in her performance, not nervous, just unable to loosen up it seemed, while the guitarist was over anxious squealing to get ahead of bass and drums. Uncontrolled rock and roll. These few elements still needed sync and refinement. But when Allison slowed it down for the love song with her Les Paul, she sung as smooth as a rose petal. It was like noticing Bel Air tailfins on a wrecked automobile about to head to the scrap yard. There was something to salvage and build upon after all. Cat Club had these types of bands often, where the whole performance didn’t sound refined enough for the big lights yet, but a song or few surely became a popular single. A nurturing club to hear a lot of knickknacks, but a lot of acts and tunes to sift before being astonished by that glistening gem, an unexpected song that stopped conversations and turned heads towards stage. It was a nice surprise end to the two consecutive nights on The Strip. There was only going to be one more day, but it was going to be larger than both nights combined. The final day was to come of Sunset Strip Music Fest 2010.

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SUNSET STRIP MUSIC FESTIVAL: DAY 3

Nikki & Rich performs at The Roxy during the Sunset Strip Music Festival.
photos by picksysticks

Last Saturday was the big finale of the third annual Sunset Strip Music Festival. The lineup so big, the Sunset Strip had to be closed to hold top acts like caged animals - Neon Trees, Semi Precious Weapons, Common, Kid Cudi, Slash, Fergie – all there to keep the 30,000 in attendance at bay for the festival's headliner – The Smashing Pumpkins. Billy Corgan gave the fans what they wanted, a 90-minute set of hard rock, screeching guitars and loud music that would've made the ghosts of the Sunset Strip proud. It was a night sure to added to the many legendary stories of the famed Sunset Strip.

It began much earlier in the day, anticipation of the unexpected. The Sunset Strip, the Mecca of rock and roll had given up its musical throne to the likes of Silverlake and Echo Park. Three days. Two outdoor stages. Five venues. Over 100 bands. The SSMF was built to take the crown back and return the Strip to its past glory.

The Strip, helping shape the musical careers of The Doors, Guns n' Roses, The Byrds and Alice Cooper was also instrumental in the careers of other musicians. When girl-fronted bands were just seen as novelty acts, The Sunset Strip helped launched the careers of bands like The Runaways, The Go Go's and The Bangles.

Queen Caveat performs at The Viper Room on the last day of The Sunset Strip Music Festival.
photo by Picksyticks

The women who were able to crash this male-heavy lineup proved they belonged on The Strip, rocking all three days of the festival which saw the likes of Beth Hart, The Shakers, Cherri Bomb and Nico Vega. And on the final day of the festival, there was no slowing down for the girls.

Monte Carlo's Star 98.7's sponsored media lounge at The Viper offered performances and live interviews throughout the day. Queen Caveat, scheduled to play later in the night at 11:30 pm, played a toned down set in front of the media. Queen Caveat seemed like a deer in headlights in front of hundreds of camera flash bulbs and buzz of interviews in the background. At night, a totally different band took the stage on the dark recess of a dim stage. And what a difference between night and day makes for this four-piece band from Los Angeles. Instead of flash bulbs, an intense spotlight carved them out of the darkness. Queen Caveat's adrenalin fueled performance was throttled by spark-plug front-woman Lauren Little. This was their element. And this late-night show a more fitting time for their dark and sultry melodies. As people scattered to their cars after The Smashing Pumpkins electrifying set, Queen Caveat served to fill the void for those not ready to go home.

HDR performs at The Cat Club during The Sunset Strip Music Festival.
photo by picksysticks

HDR was a two-piece band playing an early set out of The Cat Club. Spending many a nights on the Sunset Strip, adjusting to HDR heart-pounding bass and drums took awhile. It just didn't seem right. Maybe it was the bright afternoon sunlight flushing in every time someone opened and walked through the door. No coffee needed this early in the day, vocalist and bassist Amy Tung breathed life into me and found my pulse like a defibrillator and I quickly head-banged through their entire set. It was great start to the day. HDR took no prisoners, slapping the crowd silly like a no-holds barred sledgehammer beating them senseless. To my surprise, at the end of the set, Amy revealed that their lead singer/guitarist Joe Mora couldn't make it. And to that, I say, "Who needs him?" Amy and drummer John Lord held their own and didn't miss a beat. But to be fair, I came home and listened to their studio recordings (with Mora) and was actually pleased by what I heard. HDR is definitely worth a second viewing with full band in tow.

Next up was The Roxy. Unfortunately, The Roxy was running an hour and a half behind schedule. Those who packed the club to see L.A. based Nikki and Rich had to wait almost two hours until they took the stage. Those who couldn't wait left to watch Slash tear it up with Fergie on the West Outdoor Stage. But those who remained were treated to Nikki and Rich's soulful/pop inspired melodies. Inspired by pop, hip-hop, R&B and classic '60's girl groups, Nikki & Rich bring fun back into music bringing to mind the sounds of Adele, Amy Winehouse and Duffy. In a festival that heavily featured hard rock, Nikki & Rich were a true standout dubbed the most anticipated new duo in music. Songs from their debut album, "Everything," released last month has been burning up the airwaves and already found placement on numerous television shows and films. When curtains lowered on Nikki & Rich, those who stayed to catch this amazing performance realized it was well worth the wait.

Which leads us to Slash, the honoree of the Festival. Playing with Myles Kennedy, special guest Fergie joined them onstage to sing super-charged renditions of Barracuda and Paradise City. Later, they gave way to Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins who proved that they're as strong as ever, hard as ever and exciting as ever, delivering a 90-minute, 17 songs set to close the night.

Nikki & Rich's Nikki Leonti performs at The Roxy during the Sunset Strip Music Festival.
photos by picksysticks

If The Sunset Strip Music Festival's goal was to promote The Strip's legacy and continued relevance, then this year's festival went beyond that, reminding people that The Sunset Strip and Los Angeles is still the music capital of the world, a breeding ground for up and coming artists. The three-day event merely awoke a sleeping giant from years of slumber.

Fans gather to watch honoree Slash perform with Fergie.
photos by picksysticks