Show Review: UZ

After dealing with massive will-call and security lines, I entered Club Nokia to check out UZ with 12th Planet, French Fries, and Jerome LOL. Unfortunately, because of the delays in line, I missed Jerome's set but I arrived in time to see French Fries.

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Show Review: Orientation LA

Flosstradamus, AraabMUZIK (MVP of the MPC), gLAdiator and Congorock were the talented components who made up the hard-hitting show known as Orientation LA. The electronic/trap/nu-trap interactive show at Club Nokia was held on Wednesday, February 27th. Lots of mashups and trap remixes got the crowd going, and the party didn't stop until 2:30 a.m., thus setting the standard for Wednesday-night raging.

 

The venue was convenient, especially for USC students who live on or near campus, and it was large enough to hold a big crowd without overcrowding yet still have an intimate club feel that was perfect for a show like this. The emcees and hype men, along with the lights and smoke effects, added to the entire experience.

Although the sets were on-schedule, the soundchecks and set-ups in between sets took painstakingly long and led to a fluctuation of energy in the crowd. Still, each artist, once onstage, brought the crowd back to life. Additionally, whenever AraabMUZIK plays, I feel that it would enhance the experience to have a live feed somewhere in the arena, such as on one of the screens behind him, to show his lightning-quick fingers tapping away on the MPC to create those electronic masterpieces. They don't call him the MVP of the MPC for nothing, so let's do the man some justice and showcase his crazy talents!
  

The DJ's each brought their own styles that made the crowd go crazy to the point of the entire front of the crowd becoming one giant mosh pit. Although it was fun at first, towards the end of the final set we needed a breather and headed to the back, which was just as fun because there was more room to dance! When the Hoodie Boyz, aka. Flosstradamus, dropped a remix of Benassi's "Satisfaction," the club went wild one last time before the night ended.

 

After the show, it really felt like a Saturday night, except the next day was really Thursday. Still, before finally going to bed, I had to share some photos of our epic night with my friends... and before I knew it,@flosstradamus and @joshtradamus (one half of the legendary duo) already "liked" my Instagram photos from the event! My photos ended up being featured on Orientation LA's Facebook page, which only added to my entire experience... for me and hundreds of others, it was indeed a Wednesday night for the books!

-Tanaya

Show Review: H2O and Terror

Thence to the Roxy on Valentine’s Day for a show of good old-fashioned east coast style Hardcore even though not all of the bands were from the east coast. It was an early show – earlier than I was told. I arrived around 8 PM and found the second band already finishing up! Oh well. Fortunately the bands I really wanted to see, H2O and Terror, had not yet played.

Image from straightedgeworldwide.com

H2O is from New York City, although in recent years they’ve mostly relocated out to this side of the country. They’ve been around since the mid-1990s and they still rock hard and fast! There have been no line-up changes since 1996 and the band is very tight. They played an excellent collection of songs from all of their records, combining early classics like “Family Tree,” “I See It In Us,” “Guilty By Association,” and the ever popular “Five Yr. Plan” with later favorites like “Go” and “Nothing to Prove.” Toby’s voice has held up well over the years and the band’s playing remains strong. The crowd was heavy with moshers and stage divers, but no one got hurt.

Image from ineffecthardcore.com

Unfortunately the same could not be said when Terror played after H2O. Terror is from L.A. and has been around for 10 years. However they play a heavy brand of slower hardcore that strongly shows the influence of east coast bands. They also played a great set; they were tight and the lead singer connected well with the crowd, urging stage divers to land on peoples' heads. Unfortunately this may have been taken a little too literally as the one blemish was when someone got badly clocked in the pit and had to be dragged off the floor, completely out of it. Fortunately he was all right and I saw him again later in the set fully recovered. These sorts of incidents are actually a lot rarer at Punk shows than the media would have you believe but even one is too many. Thankfully nothing else happened to mar the show.

-Barry, The Bear's Den

Show Review: Trombone Shorty

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Review played to a full house at the El Rey Theatre on February 8^th and 9^th.  The tight horn and brass riffs, coupled with Trombone Shorty’s crazy solos, made for an upbeat and energetic performance.  The band played mostly originals but also a few crowd pleasers like Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.”  I liked the show because the band had everyone dancing the whole time, whether to a jazz infused blues tune or to a borderline heavy rock thump. 

My favorite part of the show was the last song, a crazy medley of blues songs that had the crowd singing.  The best part was when all the band members switched instruments.  That’s right, Trombone Shorty was holding it down on the drums, the bass player switched to the trumpet, the drummer to guitar, etc etc.  It was an awesome show and I am definitely seeing Trombone Shorty next time he is in town.

-Solomon, It's A Small World