|
CLASSLESS ACT Setlist
CLASSLESS ACT Tour Dates DEC 22 BLACK SHEEP COLORADO SPRINGS, CO DEC 29 VALLEY BAR PHOENIX, AZ DEC 30 KNITTING FACTORY NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA DEC 31 BEAUMONT'S SAN DIEGO, CA Read More
|
On the longest night of the year and with winter weather approaching from the West, it took a new Los Angeles rock band to show Lawrence why it’s still The Most Wonderful Time of The Year, as Classless Act rolled into downtown for a mid-week show at Lucia.
The downtown bar is a somewhat recent addition as a local venue to bring in area and occasional national acts on to their stage at the back end of the room, somewhat replacing the Jackpot Music Hall (down the next block and across the street, closed in 2018).
The front 2/3rds are a typical bar and booth setup and when weather warms, the location also offers an open biergarten section for additional seating. In terms of sound, it can get shrill here and there, with the east wall being brick and the narrow confines requiring some careful fine tuning, but the beer menu is plentiful and staff is generally friendly and accommodating.
===
The evening opened with a forty-minute set from local trio, LYXE(pronounced “likes”) who released a new EP, Everything You Could Ever Want in September, recorded in KCKS earlier in the summer.
Self-described as “pop-driven party rock”, the threesome (Ryan Wise [of The Sluts]- guitar; AJ Knudson- bass; and Jimmy Girod – drums) have an alternative bend to their sound as well, that makes the case for them to be the natural next heirs to mid-90’s area indie bands like Kill Creek, Paw, and others that started turning national heads. While we’re not entirely sure about their spelling/pronounciation, it does make it easier for any online search.
===
With separate origins in Poland, Hawaii, Los Angeles, Argentina, and Dallas, rising Los Angles rock band Classless Act came together just a few years ago, consisting of five former strangers who met via social media (Derek Day-Vocals; Dane Pieper– Guitar; Griffin Tucker-Guitar; Franco Gravante – Bass; Chuck McKissock- Drums), but they caught attention quickly, released their debut single “Give It To Me” in summer 2021, and hit the road soon after with Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard on their Summer Stadium Tour.
Their debut album, Welcome to the Show (via Better Noise Music), was released this June (with guest appearances from Vince Neil and The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins) and to end the year, they’ve (re)issued a unique holiday cover and a new acoustic single “All That We Are”, from a five unplugged-song/video collection, due out this week, that also includes stripped-down versions of songs from their debut.
It was clear from the beginning notes of their seventy-minute performance, that this was an in-your-face rock show, with an energy sorely missing from most live acts today, and a quartet that obviously has fun performing on stage, and would give their all, and transmit that feeling back to the audience.
Singer Day proved early-on that he can hold a note and has a vocal range similar to ex-Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach and guitarists Tucker and Pieper were restless with pent-up energy from their respective sides of the stage, as Gravante and McKissock worked in tandem to keep a solid beat throughout.
Following a driving “Walking Contradiction”(not to be confused with the Green Day song), “Made in Hell” started out slow and gentle enough, quickly ramping into something much darker, faster, and more aggressive, and McKissock’s pounding beats intro’d the anthemic “all That We Are” with Day not taking long to jump out and dance among the crowd.
Tucker’s guitar riffs would prove irresistible, as on the opening of “Time to Bleed” (we’re thinking inspired by former MN Gov / wrestler Jesse Ventura) and he would show off his equally formidable drum skills later in the show, as well as his vocals on their faithful cover of “Under Pressure”.
Bassist Gravante proved himself also adept on piano, with his intro on “Thoughts of a Dying Man” and an acoustic “Little Drummer Boy” guitar riff was injected at the beginning of “Circles”. The building “Storm Before the Calm” with Day’s soaring vocals shook the walls, as outside (as if on cue), temps were dropping and the light mist was turning into a winter snow mix.
The band’s title song “Classless Act” started with guitarist Pieper up front to begin its undeniable riff and showed off some of Day’s harmonica skills at the bridge, while maintaining a “Live Wire”-era Crüe vibe, no doubt helped on record, by the guest vocals of Vince Neil.
As if a game of musical chairs had then begun, each of the five members then swapped their instruments for a kicking cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” punctuated at the end by (now drummer) Tucker’s very Bonham-esque booming ending. Then, skipping ahead, the evening would end with their Andy Williams holiday cover, a version doused with nitro, flipped upside-down, and shaken vigorously before being served.
It will a badge of honor for anyone that was present- to have been “Classless at Christmas” – saying a few years from now when they’re regularly headlining much bigger venues, that you saw Classless Act in a relatively small bar on a Wednesday Winter Solstice night in NE Kansas. But for now, it adds to truly being The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and an exclamation point to the return of live music in 2022.
(click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| John C ♥ johnc@weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
Comments