Coven
February 18, 2018
The Regent – Los Angeles, CA
Coven is a psychedelic rock band from the late 1960’s. They are recognized to be the first band to introduce the “sign of the horns” that’s now commonly used in rock and metal culture. Their lyrics deal with Satanism, witches, covens, and the occult. The band originally broke up in 1975, but reformed in 2007. Since 2017, Coven has a whole new lineup with only singer Esther “Jinx” Dawson as the only original member. Coven announced a really short set of three dates in the USA with all three being on the west coast with one of them being in Southern California. On this cold Sunday night, the Los Angeles rock and metal community came forth to witness one of rock and metal’s original satanic-themed bands.
Progressive metal band Hammers of Misfortune were the first band to start the night. They quickly got the audience hyped up as they played their impressive musicianship of prog, heavy metal, and thrash. Hammers of Misfortune would play songs from throughout their catalog including their newest album, Dead Revolution. The band had a great stage presence which had the fans head banging and throwing their horns in the air. Being the opening band, they had a short 30-minute set, but every minute was energetic making sure that the fans would have a good time. Hammers of Misfortune finished their set then took their leave.
Four men in hooded robes brought a casket on stage and it mysteriously stood there until the stage lights went out. The lights went out and the audience cheered as the robed men came back on stage and opened the coffin to reveal that Dawson herself, was in the casket the whole time. Dawson went center stage and was revealed to be wearing a mask covered in diamonds and only showed her eyes. Coven started the show with Out of Luck and has the perfect gloomy intro with Dawson’s vocals backing it up. It served as a great opening song and set the mood. The second song played was Black Sabbath and is one of the band’s best songs and is also the opening track for the band’s 1969 debut album, Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls. The third song played was another fan-favorite, White Witch of Rose Hall and it tells the story of Annie Palmer, a legendary story of a haunting in Jamaica. Even after all these years, Dawson still sounds as good as she did many years ago. Coven played hit after hit and fans could be seen singing along as they played classic like Coven in Charing Cross, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, and Wicked Woman. Coven left the stage and fans chanted their name to come back out. Coven listened and came back out for an encore. Dawson thanked the crowd for coming out and ended the show with another of the band’s most popular songs, Blood on the Snow. The band came together and bowed before the audience as they left the stage once again.
Review by: Misael Ruiz
Coven
Hammers of Misfortune
