Dia De Los Muertos. The House of Blues on Sunset. Psychobilly. Sounds like a terrifyingly good show right?

To start off, Psychobilly is a genre of music that mixes Rockabilly (rock/swing) with punk. The instrumentation includes Double Bass, (which is slapped) Guitar, and Drums. They sing about monsters and taboo subjects like sex, drugs, and violence. Bam. Psychobilly in three sentences. Back to the show…

We arrived late, and ended up listening to a few songs by the opening band, “Fangs on Fur.” They weren’t psychobilly, but more pop punk. Basically, for an opening act they weren’t half bad. Next up, the Guana Batz. Probably known as one of the original psychobilly bands, they have been around for twenty- seven years releasing 9 albums, (4 of which reached top ten positions of the UK charts.) Pip Hancox, the front man, absolutely stole the show. He was cheeky and fun, commenting that the mosh pit was wimpy, flirting with the girls in the front row, and making fun his own age. Their bassist absolutely wailed, spinning the bass and competing with the drummer.(He played a lefty bass…very rare) The Guana Batz played through some of their hits like “I’m on fire” but also performed a few covers including “Johnny Be Good.”  The audience was captivated and excited to see this iconic band, and their performance alone made the show a hit.

The HorrorPops came out in style. They had their faces painted in honor of Dia de los muertos, and had a get up to match.

They jumped into the set, kicking the show off with a favorite from their first album, “Julia”. They continued the show, altering between fan favorites (Walk Like a Zombie) from their earlier albums to a few new tracks (Thelma and Louise) from their latest album Kiss Kiss Kill Kill.

Front-woman Patricia Day is the shit. How many girls do you know who can play their tattooed upright bass in heels? Her sultry stage presence and bewitching vocals accompany the old school riffs and anthems perfectly.

The HorrorPops know how to put on a show. They had amazing visuals, fantastic stage presence, and are great musicians. They connected with the audience, and made me a little less bitter about the fee from ticketmaster.

The show/music was fantastic. The venue… not so much. There wasn’t anything technically wrong with it. The sound was fine, and the crowd wasn’t too wild. However, the milieu in the house of blues is contrite and corporate feeling. In-between sets, a screen came down over the stage and a projector advertised upcoming shows. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the psychobilly culture, if you are at a HorrorPops show, you are probably not going to attend a Kaysee and the Sunshine Band concert. There is nothing special or interesting about the venue. There are no distinguishing characteristics, and nothing memorable that could possibly augment the performance. True, it didn’t take away or hurt the music itself, but the overall feel in the House of Blues is a resounding “blah”.

P.S.- Kim Nekroman(the guitarist) can steal your soul just by looking at you. It’s a fact.Beware.

DJ Double J (Jessica Jones)
Wild Mountain Nation Wed. 2-4