Club Lush showcase

Local Music Showcase @ Club Lush, Santa Monica, CA. July 27th, 2003. Plan A, Double Clutch, Silenced Youth, Hidden Warriors, Next to Impossible and The Curve.

To much of my amazement L.A. traffic wasn’t as horrible as usual and I arrived to the venue, which was hosting the night’s showcase of local talent, a half hour early. Club Lush (located in Santa Monica), DVS Shoes and www.mylocalbands.com put together a line up of Southern California’s freshest music. The exceedingly diverse line up which consisted of The Curve, Next to Impossible, Hidden Warriors, Silenced Youth, Double Clutch and Plan A made for an interesting night of local talent.

The Curve, an all female band, took to the compact leopard print stage at about six o‘clock to begin the festivities. The foursome of teenage girls decked out in their graphic print t’s began their set with a rather mellow number. Expecting an energetic group of girls jumping around with vigor, I was quite wrong. The Curve, which consists of Liz Bizkar on vocals, Eliza Smith on the guitar, Savannah Chonis on bass and Erin Schnider on the drums, played a set of mellow tunes. Bizkar’s vocals, which reminded me of a young Jewel, are definitely the biggest asset to the group. The set included the first song that the group ever wrote, which would have been more entertaining if it hadn’t sounded like the three songs before it. The audience seemed to enjoy the trance like melodies as they swayed along to the music, matching the very non energetic movement of the girls on stage. The Curve closed with the very creatively titled “The Bass Song,” which got its name “because there’s a bass solo.” Overall, The Curve contains a promising vocalist, yet lacked basically everything else that is needed to form a successful girl band.

Almost asleep from the sedate sound of the previous band, San Diego’s Next to Impossible took to the stage. The trio of UCSD students brought the first punk sound of the night to Club Lush. After a rough start on their opener, Next to Impossible woke up the crowd with their lively songs. The shouting/singing of Matt Fradkin, who also adorned the audience with his guitar skills, livened up the crowd as a miniature mosh pit broke out. Coming into the third song bassist Mike Schenebeck animated the set by making an appearance in the pit, being the only significant movement by the guys that night. The following song, in which the band failed to mention a title, consisted of an amazing intro including a killer drum solo by Conor Murphy that was broken by the dissonant vocals of Fradkin. Next to Impossible finished up the set with “Rain,” a smooth, fast punk tune with a rad bass solo. This energetic punk trio contains a very talented bassist and creative musical ideas; with work on the vocals it wouldn’t be impossible to see this band rise in the punk scene.

Emerging from the depths of Club Lush, the Hidden Warriors began their inventory of songs at around seven thirty. Not knowing what to expect from this band, which includes two members whom appear to be hardy Goths, decked out in mesh shirts and hair that covered their make up dressed eyes and the two others that didn’t seem to care what they looked like. The confusing image of the Hidden Warriors reflected the multi faceted style of their music. The band, which was made up of Jeremy Hydes on the mic, Jeff Liberty on the guitar, Justin Turner playing the bass and Kevin Rigan on the drums, brought a hardcore sound with some anthem punk and even a little emo thrown in there. Opening with “No Juliet” a very energetic, get up off your feet and jump song, the crowd of somewhat die hard Hidden Warrior fans did just that. Hydes definitely has what it takes to be a lead singer, wrapping his microphone cord around his neck as he serenaded the crowd, even bringing himself down to the adoring fans for most of the set. Although Hydes' vocals were repetitively monotonous and slightly off key at times, the band had a good sense of their “sound”. The slow drum beats set the mood for the songs and while Turners bass was out of tune during the whole set, his skills along with Liberty on the guitar fit together well. The guys showed their emotional side with the fan favorite, “Tremble,” in which Hyde leaned out to the audience and caressed his body as he poured out his soul with lyrics such as “love is all I want,….love is all I need,” showing me that even boys who wear make up just want to be loved. Concluding the set with “Down” a few fans made an appearance on stage with the band. Hidden Warriors fought their way through the intriguing set and surprised me with their musical style.

Brought to you from Palmdale, CA Silenced Youth, who was not so silent yet very youthful, took to the stage. The band began with an instrumental song as the singer stood and unenthusiastically watched his band-mates play. Instrumental songs are great, but by no reason should you begin a set with an instrumental unless it is by far one of the most amazing instrumentals known to man, and this song was no such thing. Silenced Yout,h who dubs themselves Me-nk, a combination of metal and punk, was led by Adrian on the vocals, Arturo and Cory playing the guitar, William on the bass and Anthony playing the drums. As I am a big fan of movement on stage, I was tired of watching bands non-enthusiastically play their set. When Silenced Youth began with “Staring at the Void” I felt like I was staring at a band which was void in a number of departments. The band brought the shouting instead of singing vibe back to Club Lush. Even the T.S.O.L cover that the band played didn’t seem to enthuse the 4-5 fans that stood towards the front of the stage. The combination of metal and punk is a great idea and could have great outcomes, but Silenced Youth needs to work on the musical aspect of it. After a fake ending of the set, the band came back on stage to play another song. Asking the audience what they wanted to hear someone suggested “play the transplants” and I wish that they had. Ending their set with a song that sounded identical to the previous 5 songs before, Singer Adrian stage dove to a crowd of 4 mid-aged men obviously placed their for the purpose to catch him. A decent ending to a set that could have been better.

The “Pop punk kick in the nuts from San Diego” also known as Double Clutch shifted into gear next. Taking the stage at about nine thirty the band kicked off their set with “The Way it Should,” which energized the venue for an array of awesome pop punk tunes which the line up had been so far lacking. “Fade Away” one of the harder approaches to the pop punk style, launched by a killer guitar solo from guitarist Efrem Rubio was played next. Although the crowd had thinned from the beginning of the show, these guys didn’t cease to rock out harder than any of the other bands that had graced the stage earlier. The catchy pop punk harmonies with a harder edge to them were performed excellently by the San Diego foursome which consists of Drew Lawton on the mic and guitar, Efrem Rubio playing lead guitar, Michael Coe strumming the bass and Gavin Runyon hitting the drums. Lawton puts down his guitar for “Welcome to my world” off the bands soon to be completed debut album of the same name, in which Lawton’s charismatic and emotion filled stage presence is seen in its entirety. As the band played the audience participation required song “Midnight Star” bassist Coe brought the show to the rather empty floor, taking advantage of the space by playing a number of songs on the floor then stating “thanks everyone for coming tonight, cause you could have been at home watching the Doggy Fizzle Televizzle show”. Obviously the only reason anyone would want to miss Double Clutch rock out. Unlike the other bands that played the show that night Double Clutch brought variety to their set with songs that didn’t resemble each other, including the catchy, head bopping “Keeping Score” about Lawton and drummer Gavin Runyon’s rejection filled love life. All in all, the vivacious stage presence, well written songs and exceedingly dynamic energy of the band, made for a heck of a show. Without an unentertaining moment, the guys ended with the hard edged melody “Runaway.” Not your typical pop punk ensemble, Double Clutch brings variety to the ever growing pop punk world. I would surely brake to see a show of these guys again.

Plan A, reigning from Los Angeles finished up the night of So-Cal’s freshest music at Club Lush. The bad set up of the stage had finally taken its toll, when the drummer bashed his head onto the retro Lush sign behind his drum set. Waiving his blood covered hand in the air he declared, “it just knocked me to my skull, but I’m gonna play anyway.” Now that’s true punk rock spirit! The trio played a lively first song, despite the lack of crowd, that didn’t get any bigger throughout the set. Plan A, who we spotted chillin in the parking lot drinking some forties prior to the show, brought the street punk sound to the club that night, achieving the shouting rather than singing sensations, that the other bands there that night tried so hard to do. The bands following songs were filled with energetic shouts of “HEY, HEY” by the entire band. The drummer, who remained as nameless to the crowd as the rest of the band, brought an incredible amount of energy to the stage, despite his injury. In between the groups third and fourth song the bands guitarist reveals, “Ah, here we are” to the small yet hardcore collection of fans that gathered to watch the band play. The next three songs brushed street punk out the door and if there had been a crowd there that night, it would have been going insane. It made me happy to see this trio of men, out there to make music they love and have fun while they’re at it. After finishing their set, with their obviously biggest fan running up on stage and singing with them it was time to get the man behind the drums rushed off to the ER.

After a long night of spanking new local music I was rather exhausted. A wide-ranging show ranging from deranged girl bands to pop punk sensations showed me what L.A. and So-cal has to offer. Some of the nights acts would have been better off sticking to playing in their garage, when others are likely to be seen more of in the future. All in all, the talent is out there and made for a pleasurable night of entertainment.

-Review by Katie Plourd