LOS ANGELES, CA- In an unassuming, beat up factory space in downtown Los Angeles, the do-it-yourself spirit of rock and roll reared its resilient head to give life and art a swift kick in the butt to get its mojo in gear. On July 28th, friends and fans of the local music scene congregated to this space to celebrate Dave Fearn a/k/a SH!TSHOWDAVE, and the numerous portraits of the some of the local musicians who share his DIY mentality, Their black and white visages are now permanently installed on the walls thereon, and the evening was filled with loud, killer music, overflowing booze and a camaraderie rooted in the creation of unfiltered art.
To help celebrate the occasion, several of the bands whose faces now adorn the venue’s walls, and are also featured in Dave’s latest independently released photo magazine, graced the hand built stage in the non air-conditioned room.
I arrived a little later in the evening and missed an apparently kick-ass performance by Cat Scan, so the first group I was able to see perform live was DIE GROUP. This trio consisting of Eric Big Arm (guitar), Reuben Kaiban (drums and lead vocals) and Natalie Grace Sweet (bass). This was a special night for DIE GROUP, as they were also celebrating a special occasion: the release of their latest album Disease Control.
Loud and aggressive, the temperature in the room only increased as they started their set. Their brand of garage punk had bodies bumping into each other, getting my evening started off proper. I watched in awe as Eric Bar Arm shred for most of the set while wearing zipped up, double breasted leather jacket, contemplating his level off bad-assedness because I would have funking passed out because of the heat. That visual aesthetic was pretty funking punk.
By the time they concluded their set, a shirtless Reuben fell off his drum stool and lay sprawled on the stage in a puddle of his own sweat as Natalie, who had also taken off her own shirt teased him with a concluding bass riff. They may have been personally exhausted, but they turned to party atmosphere up a notch and had the room buzzing with adrenaline.
The next band to melt my face off was Prettiest Eyes. This trio consists of Pachy Garcia (drums and lead vocals), Marcos Rodriguez (bass) and Paco Casanova (synth), and they were the only band on the evening’s roster that I was actually familiar with. I had heard a lot about the kinetic intensity of their live shows and the two-fisted sonics of their synth punk. Their performance did not disappoint.
Their wild mix of garage, synth and psychedelic sonics punched me in the face. In fact, there’s a photo of my floating around on the interwebs where I’m proudly giving a stank face while staring at Marco’s bass as he thumped out his lines. That bass line was just ominous as fu… shut your mouth!
I obviously noted that this was another band where the lead vocalist also assumed lead vocalist responsibilities. Maybe Dave has a penchant for singing drummers?
As I reviewed the number of photos that I had of Prettiest Eyes, I noted that I didn’t actually snap too many photos of them. That’s because I spent most of their performance giving a stank face and bumping elbows with moshers in the pit. Definitely looking forward to catching this band again.
The final act on the roster was a band called Melted Bodies. I hadn’t heard of them before, but when I asked a photographer buddy of mine what they were like, his response was that they were like a mix of Dead Kennedys and Devo. Needless to say, my imagination kinda ran amuck with that, but as soon as they started playing I wanted to add Mr. Bungle to mix. Melted Bodies free form rock was perhaps a little more on the darker side compared to Mr. Bungle, but it was just as eclectic and eccentric as Mike Patton’s experimental rock outfit.
Like a whirlwind, Melted Bodies’- who are Ben (keys), Houda (bass), Andy (guitar and lead vocals) and Scott (drums)- schizophrenic sonics swept through packed room giving the attendees one last mosh before evening came to a close. Their funky, weird music packed a serious punch and was performed with a confident gusto that made it all that more enjoyable.
Melted Bodies’ music seemed to encapsulate the DIY ethos of the evening. You’d be hard pressed to hear their music on traditional radio formats, but with the support of the community around them who recognize that theirs is a music that is non-traditionally brilliant, they’ll be able to continue making the eclectic music that they so clearly love.
It was a gloriously, sweaty evening of art for art’s sake, and amongst the bodies moshing and freely flowing booze, there was the an obvious sense of communal love that filled the room. It was a safe space for all to let their freak flags fly, and it could’t have been better summed up than by the man himself…
Follow Dave Fearn a/k/a SH!TSHOWDAVE on Instagram.
