Show: Rogue Wave
Date: July 20, 2013
Venue: The El Rey
City: Los Angeles, CA
Rogue Wave
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Dan Sinclair
It’s been a long time since the Oakland-based indie rockers Rogue Wave made their way south to Los Angeles. But don’t ask me how long it was because frontman/songwriter Zach Rogue was the one who brought it up over again throughout the show. And it didn’t seem like the band had been away from L.A. for so long on purpose as Zach kept saying how great it was to be back and that it had been “too long.” But however long it was, it was clear that Los Angeles was happy to have them back if one were to measure that sort of thing by enthusiastic crowd noise.
The show starts off with “Every Moment,” the very first song off their very first album, Out of the Shadow, and the fans couldn’t be happier. Next, with multi-colored flashing light bars behind him, Zach tells everyone, “It’s the old shit!” and goes right into the second song off that debut album, “Nourishment Nation.” Everyone sings “Don’t worry, it won’t take long!”
Rogue Wave has a new album called Nightingale Floors and “Siren’s Song” is the first tune they play from it. The guy up front jumping up and down, with hands raised high up in the air signifies this was a good choice. And when the next new song was announced with “This is “S(a)tan,” a man somewhere in the back yelled out, “Hail, Satan!” But the part-poppy, part-mellow lullaby was anything but the devil’s music. Zach finished the song out by shredding a little guitar close up in the face of everyone stage right, much to their emphatic approval.
Then the crowd goes nuts when the band goes into the familiar hit “Publish My Love.” It was fitting that Zach “Mixed up the distance of the Miracle Mile,” playing here smack dab in the middle of it. Does this mean that we now can publish his love as well?
But as happy as the fans are to have Rogue Wave here, it’s the band who are the thankful ones. Zach sincerely thanks everyone for coming out to the show. “When we first starting playing L.A. years ago, we couldn’t get ten people to show up.”
“Figured It Out” comes next for Zach’s sister who is in attendance. And after that “Bird on a Wire” beats out “Ghost” by round of applause. Zach thanks everyone for voting, admitting that he “Never put songs to a vote before” because “This isn’t a democracy!” But the cheers get even louder as soon as the fans here the beginning of the next song, “Love’s Lost Guarantee.” Some girl not too far away screams so loud I may now be deaf in my left ear.
One of the catchier new tracks, “College,” comes right before this writer’s choice for song of the night, “Chicago X 12.” Then the girl that busted my eardrum’s life becomes complete when they finally played the song she had been yelling for all night: “Eyes.” Luckily I recognized the song before she did and was able to cover my ears before she could send my right eardrum to a similar fate as the left. I didn’t check, but I’m sure glass shattered somewhere.
And just when you thought the El Rey couldn’t get any louder, fan favorite “Lake Michigan” comes up and every female in the place (and most males, too) all do their best imitation of the eardrum destroyer, screaming and jumping up and down. Everyone sings along, moving and dancing in unison and this continues into the closer “Harmonium.”
Rogue Wave then gives fans a three-song encore comprised of “Cheaper Than Therapy,” a super-cool cover of Screaming Trees’ “Nearly Lost You” and, of course, “California.” After all you can’t have a band from California not play their song called “California” in the state of California.
But before that last song, Zach mentioned something about getting old and our favorite eardrum-shattering woman reassured him “You’re still hot!” And screamed and screamed again and then screamed some more. And though Rogue Wave said their good-byes and left stage and the house lights were up, she stayed and kept screaming for more. She may still be there.
See, Zach? That’s the kind of shit that happens when you stay away too long. Come back to Los Angeles again soon, Rogue Wave.