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Rating: A concert on Sunset Blvd can be a disorienting experience, in a positive sense, I mean, eh. You see people dressed as vampires, Indian tourists taking your picture while you're in line outside the venue thinking they've captured something incredible, cowboys who look like they've stepped out of a Robert Frank photograph, inappropriate cars like a fully decorated and equipped Jeep Wrangler for a new Vietnam, you get the idea. Speaking of cars, here in Los Angeles everyone tells you "you should buy a car" because of the traffic, both mind-boggling and excruciating, a subtle wordplay quite truthful. My pre-set response for weeks is "you should give me some money", unfortunately, it hasn't yet had any effect on potential benefactors. Due to the continuous warning about getting stuck in LA's urban trenches, I decide to take the metro bus well in advance, as there isn't much distance from the university to the Roxy Theatre, and at least I get to enjoy the sunset on Sunset (ah-ha) while waiting for my friend Brennan who, due to work, has to brave the war of intersections and traffic lights. I arrive at the venue very early, and a few steps down there's the Whiskey a Go Go where I almost get hit, well, details. Right, but who's playing tonight? Since this is a live report, it should be important to say. There's Gates (which I'll discover directly live), Loma Prieta, and Pianos Become The Teeth closing the evening as the headliners: it's the tour in support of "Keep You" reaching the West Coast. But, you know, I don't mean to upset the guys from Baltimore, but I'm mainly here tonight for the ones playing in the middle slot, Loma Prieta. If Califano were next to me, he'd start singing "e tutto il resto è noia". Quoting Califano in a live review...so what kind of live? The offer is intriguing. Loma and Pianos are antipodes, opposites that do not attract and who, with repulsion, interpret living their music viscerally in their own way. However, the concert for me begins when the soundcheck ends, and the venue staff starts letting us in. You might wonder why. Well, because I stop at the merchandise table where the Loma Prieta side is managed by them, DIY everywhere. There's Val (the drummer), he asks how it's going, and I tell him I'm Italian, excited to see them on Californian soil, at their home. Open heavens, a fifteen-minute conversation begins about the latest effort by Raein, the Italian music scene, my tee from Birds In Row, basically, we talk about everything, and in the meantime, Brian Kanagaki (the guitarist) joins us, and open heavens pt.2: we start chatting about photography, and words flow like rivers. Inside, I think "no way, this isn't really happening". And yet. Minutes pass, I buy the t-shirt they reveal to me depicts the cover of the next record coming out this year, and I wish them to scorch the stage.
As I get close to the front row, clinging to the stage and still dazed by the encounter with the two Lomas, Gates start their set. What can I say, a half-hour where the delicacy of liquid arpeggios alternates with a voice that explores the right melancholic cords, supported by the tumultuous reverberations of the three guitars the group brings along. They give it their all on stage, and it's clear that Loma has almost nothing to do with the evening, in fact, the coordinates here veer much more towards the Pianos Become The Teeth side. Though Gates' proposal is simpler and more straightforward, I might say compact, with songwriting that sometimes leans heavily on clichés and other times manages to emerge with eclectic openings that could be rewarding if well developed. I'm like a child on Christmas day when the Roxy lowers the curtain announcing the arrival of Loma Prieta on stage. It's a descent into hell, without mincing words. If Gates opened the evening with subdued melodies and rhythms that were impactful yet hopeful, Loma Prieta decided to raze any remaining debris. I could list each song they performed, though there were a couple of unreleased ones enough to make mouthwatering, hoping mom Deathwish will soon put some details online about the new full-length, but the verb incinerate sums it all up. Loma is in battle mode, they unleash a thick cloud of stage smoke almost as if to emphasize the caustic impenetrability of their sound. No breaks are given, in thirty minutes they leave nothing but crumbs, it's more of a neurotic apnea that they consume, live, gain strength from. Saucedo drums relentlessly, while Kanagaki/Leary churn out scorching layers of gain on the guitars, and as if the heart-wrenching screams weren't enough. I thrash around like a madman, but few follow, it's clear that almost everyone is there for Pianos Become The Teeth and the faces on the rafters of Loma's crushing pieces are ones of admiration, but also shock. The Californian combo is a stunningly destructive force, and towards the end, they just pause to say a "We are Loma Prieta, from San Francisco, thanks", before filling the gaps between songs with noise - ambient effects - playing with the equipment, really trying to enhance a continuum built on the sharp ruins they themselves provoked. Time flies and it's time to close with "Fly By Night" screamed by me with heart in hand. But don't worry, I'll return to Loma eventually.
Just a couple of minutes to adjust the change from Loma Prieta's :artworkmisterioso: to Pianos Become The Teeth's logo, when the band led by Kyle Durfey takes center stage. It's the perfect anti-climax to the abyss we had sunk into, from the darkest shadow, they arrive with a "Keep You" to showcase live, displaying all the fragility their music can explode with. The headbangings are no longer as furious as with Loma Prieta, but liberating, as our friends on record have decisively transitioned from screamo shores to emo/indie/whatever/post-rock realms, mainly due to Durfey's clean vocals, but live you wouldn't even remotely notice. And to say that their setlist will predominantly feature "Keep You", with very little room reserved for "The Lack Long After", and "Old Pride" left in the closet. The one who elevates their performance is clearly drummer David Haik; even in more intimate pieces, he delivers an energy as if covering an old track from their portfolio. If the nostalgic fragments of Pianos' melodies evoke echoes of groups like The National, when things start getting more vigorous, their chaotic spirit takes over, dragging the entire audience into sing-alongs and emotional explosions immersing in an inevitably heart-wrenching mood. The skill of our friends lies in avidly playing with reflective balances, carefully avoiding delving into overtly cheesy moments. If on record "Keep You" could be misleading regarding this, Kyle Durfey live is of a verve that sweeps away any doubt. He grabs the microphone and begins to live what he's singing. I sincerely believe that's the winning edge of an introspective performance deeply felt, injecting all the drama and anguish that Pianos Become The Teeth in a play of chiaroscuros create with disarming ease. Yes, very little can be said about their songwriting. After the escalation of "Hiding", it's already encore time; as the lights slowly dim several times throughout their set, almost symbolizing a last gasp of flame, "Say Nothing" arrives, whose seven measured minutes are magnetic and hit as hard as the old Minerals used to do. The Pianos thank once again and the evening at the Roxy comes to a close. Ends?
Well, when I'm about to leave the venue, I feel a hand on my shoulder, it's Brian nodding, greets and gives me a Loma Prieta pin. What to say. What to say. What to say. What to say. An epilogue I'll remember for a long time and will try to relive, even now as I'm standing on a platform awaiting a bus to take me home, with the cool breeze of the thermal losangelina excursion. Yes, maybe I should really get a car, but I'll settle for a pin for now. Roxy, we'll see you next time for Modern Life Is War, and I already know you won't let me down.
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