John 5, Living Colour & The Violent Hour Headline The Observatory

The Violent Hour

Well, it was Friday night and I was ready to rock, so after a full day of walking around the NAMM convention in Anaheim, it was time to head out and go check out one of many different rock shows of the weekend. I chose to check out co-headliner’s ”Living Colour”, “John 5” and opener “The Violent Hour” at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA. I was actually pretty excited because the show was going to be a blistering mixture of metal, guitar rock and funky blues rock. I was very much looking forward to this show, not only because I was going to be taking photos and writing my first review, but I am a fan of all 3 of the bands. It is nice to go to a show where I knew all the bands were going to be awesome.

When I arrived at the venue, there was a long line of fans going through security, working their way in to secure a spot for an awesome night of great music. It was nice to see so many people out to see this show. Most people, including myself, that were coming to the show, had walked around NAMM all day. The NAMM show is a music convention that provides great opportunity to check out all of the new music products that seemingly every manufacturer you can think of was showcasing. It is also a place to hang out with friends and make new ones. Once I got inside, I saw that the venue was already at near capacity and the show was close to starting. The Observatory is a great venue to check out a show. It is primarily standing room only that has multiple tiers that allow great viewing for concerts.

Opening the night were The Violent Hour, a newly formed all female metal band made up of five super talented beauties. Carla Harvey on lead vocals from @lordsofacid and formally Butcher Babies, sisters Kiana (lead/rhythm guitar) and Sasha De Leon (drums) – both from @farbeyondhostile & @VixenVendetta, Jewel Steele on bass from @theneedtoknowofficial, Allie Kay on lead/rhythm guitar from Jason Charles Miller band and Mistress of Reality.

I was fortunate enough to see The Violent Hour for their 2^nd show ever at the Whisky in Hollywood a few months back, who were fresh off of a month long December tour supporting Steel Panther, so I knew we were in for a killer show. I’m not sure how much the audience knew it, but they would find out soon enough. When the lights dimmed, the girls took their spots and unleashed a fury of chaos that just about blew the roof off the place. They played a 7 song set made up of 4 tunes from their new EP and a couple of cover tunes. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought they were the headliners because they absolutely commanded the stage and took no prisoners. I’m telling you, hair was flying everywhere from all the head banging! These girls put on a blistering set of rock and metal that had everyone screaming for more. It was an incredible performance, and the music, especially the originals, were kick ass!

The Violent Hour

Set list:

Violent intro

Screenager

Hell or Hollywood

Nice Girls

Sex & Cigarettes

The Violent Hour

Sick Ones

John 5

Next up was John 5, who I would call a super technical guitar virtuoso with a super cool horror theme. He’s performed with many artists including David Lee Roth, Rob Zombie, and Marilyn Manson and is currently the guitarist in Motley Crue, replacing the retired Mick Mars. He is also known for his solo work, having recorded 11 different guitar albums.

The lights dimmed and John 5 hit the stage with a huge roar from the crowd and took everyone on an amazing journey of instrumental badassery. If you’ve never seen him live, most of the show is just him along with a drummer. The stage had TV’s on the left and right side that flashed snippets of old black and white monster movies and horror themed visuals which added a uniqueness to his show. John also paints his face to sort of resemble a skeleton, so along with a very colorful lighting, it really made the show pop. At one point during the show, he had his tech guy toss out a bunch of specially designed guitar picks out to lucky members of the crowd while he hung out by the drummer and jammed out a tune. A few songs later, he performed one of his songs using many different guitars. His guitar tech would help him swap out guitar after guitar which I had never seen an artist do before, which I thought was super cool. He closed out the night with a righteous Motley Crue medley, playing snippets of 8-10 different riffs which had the crowd cheering and screaming the lyrics as he played. Super fun show!! While talking to the crowd in between one of the songs, he said he was very humbled and thankful that people actually want to pay money to watch him play guitar.

John 5

Set list:

First Victim

Season of the Witch

The Ghost

Six Hundred and Sixty Six Pickers in Hell, CA

Howdy

Strung Out

Fiend

LA Express

Crank It – Living With Ghosts

How High the Moon

I Am John 5

You Me and the Devil Makes Three

Deviant

Que Pasa

The Black Grass Plague

Moon Glow

Motley Medley – Live Wire/Too Fast For Love/Shout at the Devil/Looks That Kill/Home Sweet Home/Wild Side/Girls Girls Girls/Same Ol’ Situation/Dr. Feelgood/Kickstart My Heart

Living Colour

To close out the night, the legendary Living Colour graced the stage and treated the crowd with a delicious mixture of funky smooth rock and roll. I thought they were polished and completely owned the stage working the crowd magically. I swear these guys do not age! Lead vocalist Corey Glover was dressed in a crispy black and white checkered suit and sunglasses and sounded as good as he did back in the 90’s. Wow, such an amazing voice! Keeping everything moving was Vernon Reed on guitar and Doug Wimbish on bass and both were as smooth as ever and absolutely having a blast up on stage, along with drummer Will Calhoun pounding away. The set list was so good that it was impossible pick a favorite song of the night. The crowd was in awe watching these guys do their magic! Their rendition of Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song was spot on, and the crowd absolutely loved it.

Set List:

Leave It Alone

Ignorance is Bliss

Immigrant Song (Zep cover)

Pride

Living Colour

Funny Vibe

Nothing Compares 2U

Open Letter (To a Landlord)

White Lines

Love Rears Its Ugly Head

Drum Solo

Type/Police and Thieves

Time’s Up/Get Off Your Ass and Jam

Cult of Personality

There is nothing like the live concert experience and being able to see amazing bands rock the house. The show was amazing and I could tell everyone had a rockin’ good time from start to finish. Do yourself a favor and check out all of these bands, especially when they play live!