Debut Show For Both Bands At The Whisky A Go Go On June 25th

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All Photos By Genji Keen/@koolg71

I found myself at the Whisky for the debut show for 2 bands. One that apparently has had a little bit of hype stirred up, and the other that just seemed a mystery but had enough talk surrounding them that a good chunk of the crowd was also in character. VERONA ON VENUS (or simply VOV) featuring ex-DEVILDRIVER guitarist Mike Spreitzer and FNG (or FAITH NO GWAR) featuring Matt Montgomery, aka "Piggy D", (ex-ROB ZOMBIE, current MARILYN MANSON).

So Mike Spreitzer chose to leave DD, put down the guitar and leave the Metal behind to pick up the mic and venture into this gothy artistic venture. Perhaps an itch he's had for some time, admittedly being a fan of New Wave and Industrial music. Those influences weren't too obvious enough in his music that simply sounds like a lot of the current Los Angeles style, mixing guitars and synth and backing tracks. As such and what seemed to be drawing influence from the look that BEHEMOTH's Nergal has played with (but nowhere near Black Metal), VOV's style was Melodic with hints of Industrial. I applaud him for giving this a shot exploring a music style that not many knew he was into, while simply a preceding reputation will grant him some spotlight, any other random band would get lost in the similar oversaturated genre of that scene. Aside from CHIMAIRA drummer Austin D'Amond and Troy Doebbler of WEDNESDAY 13 (who happened to be in the crowd), there were a couple of local faces in his band that I recognized. Unseasoned players whose lack of stage time shows didn't do much to gain the energy from the crowd. Someone needs to teach these guys to be more lively on stage. Sure, most of The Whisky's small stage was taken up by Mike's ego-box that at one point actually worked as a hoist that lifted him another 5 feet or so above the stage - but normally bands find a way to move around.

I was actually here for FNG who were rumored to cover songs by both GWAR and FAITH NO MORE, vocally not an easy task to tackle at all. They went through a great selection of deep cuts and while the focus for many was Piggy D, the rest of the band did well in 'clowning' around and energizing the crowd with clown noses getting tossed around and other various props and souvenirs. All decked out in clown make-up, Giggles The Clown, Piggy D's persona this night was backed by the local band LORDS OF SIN and they also managed to dish out an original song titled "Hank". They were thoroughly entertaining and fun to watch, which helped if you happened to like FAITH NO MORE and GWAR, but if you're only reason was Piggy D, you probably have no clue about the bands they were covering. Nevertheless, entertaining.

Now I'm all for artistic expression but if you're trying to have your band's MUSIC stand out, try something different and do not just simply pop in some eye-contacts and dress up like a black metal band when you're not. For a long time, the "music" in the "Los Angeles music scene" has taken a backseat to backing track sampling, costumes and make-up. It's the crutch and easy go-to for bands that believe this will gain them followers. A night full of acronyms, a common thing new bands are also trying, people are easily distracted by the stage make-up, not really giving any effort into really listening to the music. All this an experienced music fan like me sees right through it and won't gravitate to. But in this case, for what it simply was, FNG gave a live show that was fun to watch, engaged the crowd, literally gave them something to take home aside from the memory. VOV I hope was taking note.

Check out some more photos from the show!
All Photos By Genji Keen/@koolg71