LOS ANGELES, CA- It was a gloomy Tuesday in Southern California when I decided to visit a trio of witches at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. But before you start imagining spells, broomsticks and cauldrons, you should know that I’m referring to the L.A. based garage rock band, L.A. Witch and that is was night one of two in which them and Japandroids would rock the cemetery for two sold out nights here amongst the dead.
The house lights in the Masonic Lodge, which is located inside the Hollywood Forever cemetery, dimmed before smoke and the grainy VHS like visuals — which alternated between a live feed of the stage and a display of the band’s name — set the stage with a gothic atmosphere. Right away, I could feel the weight of their instrumentals as they shredded through their intro. It was heavy, dark (the all black attire from Sade Sanchez and Irita Pai really sent it home too) and very rock n roll.
The intro flowed seamlessly into the sets opener “You Love Nothing” which further set the tone of their music with the opening lines “I see a darkness in your eyes. I feel a darkness in your mind”. Mid way through the performance, Sade (vocals/guitar) ran into minor technical difficulties which prevented her from tuning her guitar correctly for “Untilted” but she powered though without the track taking too heavy a hit.
For a band that literally has “L.A” in their name, they haven’t been performing here too often lately but that isn’t a result of laziness. L.A. Witch have been on tour for the better part of 3 years and it took me just about as long to see them live after I discovered them. Their debut record was only released just last year but, somehow, their name has been haunting the streets of Southern California for much much longer than that. These darkly clothed sirens may originate from the sunshine coast, but don’t disregard the possibility of them showing up in a town near you to embrace your soul with their badass brand of rock n roll.
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