Love and a .38

On November 10th, 2012, The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles, CA, hosted several local acts that will one day be as famous as the street they’re playing on. Love and A .38, Vayden, and Warner Drive rocked the Roxy and showed us that the future of Rock and Roll is here.

Love and A .38 play traditional Hard Rock, but they’re unlike any other hard rock band currently on or off the radio. One of the key items that makes this band truly different are the vocals. Vocalist Ryan Hudson gives a raw and powerful performance with vocal abilities that would match and even surpass Myles Kennedy or any other hard rock singer currently out there. If you were to close your eyes for a few seconds, you would think Slash is on stage playing his signature style of rhythm and blues guitar riffs. In fact, it would be extremely interesting to one day see Slash and Love and A .38 collaborate and make an original song. Each member executes their role in the band to it makes you want to just rock out and have a good time; and isn’t that what rock and roll is all about? The crowd interaction was great as it made the ladies dance while the guys rocked out. Their cover of “Sunglasses at Night” should be studied by bands who want to pay tributes and cover songs; they made this song their own and added so much more to make a cover song very enjoyable and fresh. As their set came to an end, the band left fans with the feeling of wanting to hear more and kept them excited to see them put on another killer show.

After a short set change, the Roxy’s announcer introduced Vayden, a band that could very well be the modern day Led Zeppelin of this generation. Modern day because there’s some Seattle grunge influences in some of their songs, but its not so overwhelming where it sounds repetitive and dull. One of the things that sticks out about this band is the extraordinary guitar playing from guitarist Armin Peterson. Armin’s guitar playing is absolutely brilliant, it gives you the feeling that your soul searching while listening to him play. Have you ever wanted to be a man and bust out in tears because of a guitar solo was so divine? If you never felt this way, then introduce yourself to Vayden and invest in an album and concert ticket. Vocalist Curtis Casey also plays a special role in Vayden that makes them truly different from any band in any genre. His vocals, along with the guitar work, is a perfect fit for the style of music that they put out; it’s just ridiculous to think how well they go together. Vayden has played a lot of the Phoenix, AZ festivals, and it is now clear why they are huge out there in the desert. The music is simply addictive and very well put together.

The show was closing in near midnight and the band everyone was here to see finally hit the stage. The curtain rose and stood Johnny Law, the lead singer of Warner Drive, smiling and playing the guitar. If you’ve read the Facebook posts by Johnny and Warner Drive, you’ll know that his smile is because they are back home playing their first show after returning from a 6 week tour out in Europe. The night consisted of many new songs that the crowd hasn’t heard yet because the crowd was a “guinea pig” to test out new songs for a new album that will be recorded in 2013. Unfamiliar music at concerts always has a crowd kind of just standing there listening to the new material, but not with Warner Drive fans. You can see everyone having a good time and enjoying the new material, but when the band played all the fan favorites, that’s when the crowd really came alive. From “The Scarecrow,” to the band/crowd choreographed “The Shocker,” the fans were eating up every moment of the band putting on a great show. Unfortunately, some of the bands equipment (mostly microphones) were having technical difficulties. The microphones would cut in and out on 2 or 3 songs and would worry some people and sort of kept them from fully enjoying the show. Other than that, Warner Drive’s set was entirely enjoyable and made their last home show of the year a great experience. When you have a band and fans who are smiling throughout the performance, its hard to wait for another show, but the wait will be worth it.

So there you have it, 3 local bands showing that the future of rock is here. Honestly, all these bands that we reviewed tonight should already be bigger than they already are. They should all be on the radio, because their music is far better than what’s currently being played. So in the time being, go out and support these local Los Angeles bands and buy a ticket next time they’re playing in town, you won’t be disappointed.

Review by: Alex Lucero

And now, check out these photos of Love and a .38 backstage at The Roxy before they performed!