So two weeks ago Kenny and I moved into our (his) new apartment in West Hollywood. We've been blessed with a wonderful location, as it now takes both of us under 20 minutes to get to work, and traffic is never nearly as bad as it is on the 405. But that's not the best part about the new place: We now live less than a block from the Sunset Strip, and that means shows every night.
Kenny and I were lucky enough to spend last Friday at a VIP booth in the back of the Roxy for the pop rockers Hot Hot Heat...more
They were loud, they were fun, and best of all, they brought the house down with their catch hooks and sing-a-long lyrics.
More on them in a moment. Before venturing to the Hot Hot Heat set at the Roxy, we spent some time in the Key Club, watching the openers for hellogoodbye. First up were the Arizona band Good With Grenades. A slightly harder rocking group with a frontman that could really belt.
Next, Kenny, (SCOPE Alums) Ryan Knipp, Adam Brille, and I sat back and watched one of the bands Brille reps, The Hatch, perform a short set. If you end up checking them out, and notice their lead singer looks familiar, it's because he's Michael Keaton's son. Knipp, who'd moved out to LA only a week or so before, and I, had our first real "Hollywood" moment, when Batman elected to stand next to us for most of the show.
After briefly talking with the Hatch's guitarist, Jessie, we headed down to the Roxy to check out the Hot Hot Heat show. We caught the very end of the Deadly Syndrome set, and I must say, from what I saw, I wish I would have headed down earlier. They ended their set in true rocker fashion, with all four band members donning drumsticks and slamming away in unison on a single trap set.
Finally came Hot Hot Heat. Their show was energetic, fun, loud, and intense. The stage was decorated with dozens of large white ballons, cardboard cutouts (a cowboy and a horse, both donning a zorro mask), and a giant "Hot Hot Heat" banner. Their frontman, Steve Bays, really knew how to hold a crowd, and was jumping up and down on amplifiers and running around in circles about the stage. They played just about any song you'd ever heard of (including "Bandages", "Psycho Killer", and "Goodnight, Goodnight").
Here's my favorite song of the night, the catchy sing-a-long "Psycho Killer":
2 comments:
how was keaton's kids band, THE HATCH? you didn't say...
So this is about two weeks late, my apologies to blote, but:
The Hatch played a great set. They had some technical difficulties (the keyboards were turned way down for the first three songs and you couldn't even tell Keaton was playing), and they looked a little stiff onstage (I'm guessing nervous about opening for hellogoodbye). Also, I didn't really like their outfits, as small of a judgment as that is. The longsleeved button-ups and jeans made them look like bored frat boys.
BUT, musically, they were fantastic.
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