John's Disses

I was in high school when I first discovered the music of Hanoi Rocks. It was probably their tragic association with Motley Crue that prompted me to check them out, but once I did, I knew they were a superior band to most of what was rock in the ‘80s. They had a new wave thing happening with their rhythm section, a glam look, a tinge of The Rolling Stones in their sound and catchy-as-fuck songs with quirky titles like “Mental Beat” and “Lick Summer Love”. Vince Neil killed their drummer before most of us got a chance to see them live. When I heard that their former lead singer, Michael Monroe, was coming to The Viper Room for his first LA show in 20 years, with Ginger of The Wildhearts on guitar, I bought a ticket the day they went on sale. I think it was $17.

I got there early enough to stand in line for 30 minutes, buy a Corona at the bar and get a decent spot near the front, on which I hoped was Ginger’s side of the stage. I wanted to test out my new camera. I overheard the door guy say the show was sold out. I had no concept of how packed the place got until later.

Vains of Jenna opened and they were great. Singer/guitarist Lizzy DeVine has a perfect voice for rock n’ roll. They were tight and the only down-side to their set was that they didn’t play their Tom Petty cover. Most of the songs were from the new album, The Art of Telling Lies, which I really like. They played a couple older songs I didn’t know.

The crowd was moving in at this point. I finished my beer and stuck the bottle in my back pocket as there was nowhere else to put it. I should have known better than to even bother getting a beer. It was crowded and I don’t like crowds, but it wasn’t bad as most of the people around me were pretty girls. The murderous thoughts didn’t come until later in the night (a beer bottle in my back pocket didn’t help those thoughts).

I saw a guy make his way from a back room to the stage with guitars, then another with Michael Monroe’s saxophone. Many minutes later I finally saw the band members moving through the crowd. When the curtain came up, I was glad Ginger was on the same side as I had chosen to stand.

They opened up with “Nothin’s Alright” and then “Hammersmith Palais” from the Demolition 23 album. Those were the highlights of the set for me. I had only heard the album a few weeks ago for the first time on Michael Butler’s Rock and Roll Geek Show podcast. I found a copy online and have listened to it a few times since, and those are my two favorite songs on the record.

When Monroe did his first harmonica solo, it was so loud, all I could hear was distortion. No pitches at all. But the distortion was not coming from the PA, it was in my head. Something had burst in my left ear, not sure what, hopefully it wasn’t my eardrum. I suffered through a few more songs and snapped as many photos as I could, then decided to move back to the bar where I thought I’d get some breathing room, and give my ears a break as the PA was only a few feet away from my left ear which at this point was completely shot.

As I made my way back, I realized how jam-packed the Viper Room was. I had to fight my way back, and as I got to the bar I found there was less room to breathe there than up in front. I found myself in an extremely awkward spot, surrounded by dudes with very bad breath and body odor. I was a few hundred degrees less comfortable than I had been next to the girls up front. But my ears felt a bit better.

The guy behind me was fucking with everyone that passed by, tugging at their hats, pulling their hair, shit like that. He was trying to impress some girl and it seemed to be working. Dumb, 40-something, drunk, rawk dude, leaning against the bar. Everytime he’d flick someone’s hair, he and the girl would laugh hysterically. I felt something a few times, I’m sure he was doing it to me too. It was all I could do to keep from taking that bottle out of my pocket and breaking it over his fucking empty head. I also entertained the idea of holding it against him like a gun and making him think that I’d blow a hole in him if he didn’t chill the fuck out. But I maintained calm and waited for a space to open up against the bar where I could at least lean back and have some breathing room. That didn’t stop a drunk woman from dumping her entire drink on my camera while attempting to say something to me, I have no idea what.

The band played some new songs that I look forward to hearing on the next album. I don’t do well with new songs most of the time. I’ve learned my lesson about judging them on first hearing, so I won’t comment. But they did play some of my favorite Hanoi songs: “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”, “Back to Mystery City”, “Malibu Beach Nightmare” and my third favorite song of the night “Taxi Driver” (which was the encore).

I was curious how Ginger would be onstage playing guitar for someone else’s band. He is one of the greatest living songwriters. Since discovering his music, and that of The Wildhearts, I’ve gotten my hands on almost all of what he’s done over the years and it’s been a life-changing experience. I haven’t heard a more perfect blend of rock n’ roll and pop since Nirvana. I was pleased to see him having a good time, and I had the most fun watching him rock out. I missed his singing and great sense of humor between songs.

I saw Ginger play two solo shows last year at the Viper Room (the second I reviewed here), and I must say, those were far superior to this. I wasn’t feeling all that much last night. The Hanoi tunes sounded ok. The best ones were the Demolition 23 songs. I think it’s partially because of the pain I was in.

At one point I realized that Michael had made his way to the bar and was standing on it, rocking out right behind me. He’s pretty good at walking the tables (I think Ginger called it the “monkey walk” when addressing the audience before the encore. Monroe had done the “monkey walk” off stage, and the band stayed on). I tried to get a shot of him on the bar but there wasn’t enough light and I wasn’t quick enough with the new camera to turn the flash on in time. After the last song, I thought for sure he did a stage dive into the crowd, but I blinked and he was back onstage. Not sure what really happened.

Michael Monroe is a rock veteran and virtuoso front-man. I’m happy he never stopped and that I got a chance to see him do his thing live. I am hoping to catch them again at SXSW next week. His solo albums that I’ve heard are almost as good as Hanoi Rocks. They rock harder but the new wave element is gone, which I kinda miss.

I especially enjoyed watching the positive onstage vibe between Ginger, Sami Yaffa, Michael and guitarist Todd Youth (I couldn’t really see drummer, Jimmy Clark, but he sounded great). It felt like they are a band who get along, and are having a good time. If the sound situation hadn’t fucked me, maybe I’d have a different feeling about the music. There is loud, and there is abuse. This was the latter. I would go to tomorrow’s show in Redondo, but I have a gig on Wednesday and am already afraid I won’t have my hearing back by then. I’m the last guy to wear earplugs, there is nothing less rock n’ roll than that. But if everyone in the room has earplugs, the sound needs to be louder, and a guy like me ends up deaf. I hope not. I was pretty worried last night as I drove home. My own voice was distorting in my head when I talked. I’ve never had that happen before.

I uploaded all the photos I took here if you’re interested. Here are the Vains of Jenna pics.

UPDATE: I am listening to Michael Butler’s review of the San Fransicso show and he says that Todd Youth is already out of the band, replaced by Steve Conte of the NY Dolls (Sami Yaffa was also in the NY Dolls, as well as Hanoi Rocks). Also, drummer Jimmy Clark has too been replaced already, by the drummer of The Chelsea Smiles… To hear Michael’s review and a re-play of an interview he did with Michael Monroe back in 2007, check out Rock and Roll Geek Show #393. Thanks Butler for setting me straight!