Show: The Sunset Strip Music Festival 2011
Date: August 18-20, 2011
Venue: Sunset Strip
City: West Hollywood, CA
The Sunset Strip
Music Festival 2011
Photos by Nicolas Bates
Written by Katie J. Norris
The glam band of 2011, the Black Veil Brides, opened the West stage on the hot, sunny Saturday donned in full garb. With their studded belts, leather straps, charcoal body paint and black wigs, they started off their set at full force. Despite their fantastic stage presence and shredding skills, it was a little odd seeing them play at 2:30 in the afternoon with nothing but the summer sunshine as their lighting kit, making their vampire-esque personas seem a little out of place and probably not as intimidating as they are used to being. However, there were definitely fans in the audience who didn’t seem to care one bit as they all fist pumped their middle finger on cue during “Fuck You, Mother Fucker.” I must admit, even though BVB’s young fans made themselves obvious in their attire made to match their favorite band member, there were also some patrons of an older generation reliving some moment of their Kiss days with just as much vigor in their soccer mom t-shirts and shorts. Spotted in the back were even some clean cut white boys bobbing their heads in time.
BVB played a few songs from their new album, Set the World on Fire. “God Bless You” was a widely accepted new hit, promoting freak freedom…in an angry way. Each song came with a hot guitar solo or two, and some rock n’ roll moves from the bass player; especially his lick up the fret board stunt. Overall, aside from some brutal monitor feedback, the sound was pretty good for this opening act on the main stage, and the audience seemed to really enjoy the kick-start. To check out more Black Veil Bride’s, and to get their music, go to http://www.bvbarmy.com.
The second act to grace the West stage was the complete opposite of Black Veil Brides. She Wants Revenge were totally casual; their down to earth style tying in nicely with their straightforward personalities. Lead singer, Justin Warfield, with his honest sense of humor and a centered level of confidence on stage, was quite refreshing. He was very courteous and grateful, doling out genuine compliments to his fellow performers that would grace the stage later in the day. Justin effortlessly captured the audiences’ attention with his calming, intelligent introduction, and then kept their focus with his smooth vocals, which were further enhanced by the great sound mix of this set. “True Romance” was a highlight performance and the band certainly gave it their all. Something to note about this group, and a sign of its maturity, was the masterful usage of dynamics in the songs. Without trying so hard to impress, they took their time and kept it chill until a build was created leading to the rock out, darkwave chorus or bridge.
The only oddity mildly unappealing was their version of “Tear You Apart,” which they used as their closer. The whole crowd was anticipating it, of course. However, they decided to perform it in such an acoustic style which had no rewarding rock-out explosion. It sounded a bit strange and never built to the energy level that is created in the recording.
Other than a slightly disappointing close, this was a fantastic performance. Despite being a more mellow band among the line-up, they were nothing short of a solid act. You can check out their new singles and videos, as well as keep up to date with their next performances, and also order Valleyheart as a CD or vinyl online at http://www.shewantsrevenge.com.
The twenty-five minute sound check wait was well worth the wait. When The Dirty Heads started playing on the East stage the sound mix was close to excellent. With some reggae roots hidden underneath a rock and hip-hop sound, the band got the crowd feeling good vibes and dancing in the street within the first song. Grounding the two stylized flavors together was the use of a standard rock drum kit and an entirely separate bongo kit. The percussionists were surely the heartbeat of the performance. The Dirty Heads’ radio favorite, “Lay Me Down,” was solid. They sounded gratefully close to the recording, which is always rewarding for the audience that is aching to sing along. The harmonies were tight as they could get and the bridge had everyone cheering. All together, they were a good act whether you came to the festival just to see them or not.
Among some of their originals was “Until We Die,” a chill ballad with a smooth melody interrupted by a breakout rap verse. They played a collection of tunes from Any Port In a Storm. All selections were quite enjoyable even if they did bleed into that stereotypical so cal reggae/punk at times. The band did a few covers, one of which was a slick performance of “Paint It Black.” Bushnell rapped and the band took instrumentation liberties that reinvented the song into their own style. This was the fun-in-the-sun band the festival was craving. Beer tabs started adding up, Facebook statuses were updated and little dance parties were rocking Sunset Blvd.
To find out how to see The Dirty Heads live, hear their new tunes, and discover their cool new merch, go to http://www.dirtyheads.com.
Quite possible the most anticipated act of the festival (perhaps, aside from Mötley Crüe) took us all by surprise more than we were even hoping for. Bush came on stage and struck their first chord to their first song, “Machine Head.” To start the set off with their mega-hit sent a little shock through the audience and we all had to take a moment to collect ourselves before the applause could ignite. Right out of the gate, this band was as strong as it had ever been. It was as if no time had passed. Gavin looked the same, and his vocals hadn’t changed one bit. He sounded as amazing as always and his vocal endurance was stunning. As he sang, “breathe in, breathe out,” as far as the eye could see, smoke was inhaled and exhaled on cue all throughout the audience. A moment of unity spanned across the crowd, which was now over a block long and building-to-building wide. I’m going to guess people heard ‘weed in, weed out’ and just did as they were instructed.
“All My Life” was their second song, a single from their upcoming album, The Sea of Memories. After the appreciated “Machine Head” performance, the audience had nothing but grateful attention for the new material. Gavin hasn’t lost one rock n’ roll move. As the set continued he got bolder and bolder. The hair came down, he utilized the entire stage and he was the first artist of the day to take on the middle pit that was sectioned off from the public and had split the crowd all day. It ran straight through the center of the audience from the stage to the sound booth 15 yards away, and Gavin took his guitar and mic and ran to sing straight to the crowd and shred some mind-blowing guitar solo. What could we do? We ate it up like candy. Female screams and camera phones filled the air every time he snuck back in the crowd to do some more vocal gymnastics.
The set continued through the playlist of hits that were performed incredibly close to the recordings. “Glycerine,” however, was sweet and emotional, including a verse sung entirely a cappella. Then the full band came in and they ended as they played the song at a slower and slower bpm… until, of course, in perfect unison, they rocked it out as hard as possible until the “real” end. Another crowd pleaser was their cover of the Beatles song, “Come Together.” Done in their style of grunge rock, of course.
Watching Bush perform on Sunset Blvd. as the sun was setting behind them was nothing short of nostalgic. And, at that point, the best set of the day. To order the deluxe edition of Bush’s new album, The Sea of Memories, and to buy tickets to their tour starting in September, go to http://www.bushofficial.com.
Standing and waiting for the headliners to set up after a long day of shows was just short of miserable. There was a field of people that had turned out as far as the eye could see. By this point, half the crowd was drunk and everyone was a pushing/shoving mess. Even the roped off V.I.P. area seemed to be slightly uncomfortable, though they tried to play it cool. Just as we were all about to be completely restless, an announcer broke through. The stage was covered with a huge tarp so that no set-up was revealed before the show started. At first I thought this was a bit ridiculous, but my agitation might have been instigated by the collection of irritated people around me.
Mötley Crüe was announced, the tarp fell from above and the stage was transformed into a light show complete with pyrotechnics that wow’ed the frustration out of the crowd. Full-on fireworks celebrated the band’s first chords, and the smoke was so thick on stage that it made the visual of Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee look like rock n’ roll gods.
Vince spoke of fond memories of walking up and down Sunset Blvd. back in the day, posting flyers for their little band when they were first trying to make it. Another story of a time gone by was told before a beautiful solo on a disco-ball-designed piano at the beginning of “Home Sweet Home.”
This show had no shortage of stunts. Tommy Lee gave his carnival style stunt of playing his drums upside down at the top of the stage. Even though we were told what was going to happen, it was literally hyped all day long. The screen behind Tommy displayed a huge hand that grabbed around him as he was playing and swung him up and around the rigged roller coaster until he was at the top, fully upside down, still drumming, never losing one beat. The song ends, flares explode, the big, demon hand lets go, Tommy dives into a free hang, the lights go out, the lights come on, the smoke clears, and there is Tommy hanging straight down, a drum stick in each hand reaching for the ground. After Tommy Lee’s decent to the ground, he invited up a surprise guest and took Deadmau5 for a ride upside down at the top of the stage. The one other major stunt to note was a guy who seemed to fall straight from the rafters and was only kept in the air by a rope around his ankle. For a good ten seconds, no one was quite sure if this was a stunt or a tragic mistake.
Mötley Crüe played hit after hit after hit, including necessities “Girls, Girls, Girls, ” “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” and “Wild Side.” The fireworks kept exploding, fire kept shooting out in patterns from all over the stage, the screen kept giving the appearance it was melting, and the boys sang and played and rocked out to the bitter end. They closed the show with a couple buckets of red “blood” thrown on the few rows close enough to get gooey and soaked.
Truly a showstopper, Mötley Crüe’s still got it. To get upcoming tour dates (starting in September), merchandise, tunes and to become part of their community, go to http://www.motley.com.