WITCH HUNTED

The SUPERGOODMUSIC Halloween weekend started with our favorite frequently costumed indie-rock band, Saint Motel at one of our favorite venues, The Roxy.

Before I'd even crossed Sunset to enter the doors - someone was hooting "Rolling on the River" to my girl @stephiebri in her amazing Tina Turner outfit. What followed from the bands was worthy of just as much hooting a hollering...

Performing as part of a stellar line-up that included Nico Vega and Imagine Dragons, Saint Motel held down the middle slot with old material, new material and lots of holiday energy (I came after Imagine Dragons had finished). Their new material sounds better with each performance and possesses the fun vocals, dance-worthy rhythm and indie melodies that should propel this band to be on the tip of music enthusiast's tongues in places far from Los Angeles. I can only hypothesize how tight their show will be come the end of their November tour with the above-mentioned artists.

Highlights of Saint Motel's set included a riveting "Dear Dictator," a ninja bassist later revealed to be normal bassist Dak (pictured below) and an intimate (and cute) stage theatrics between guitarists A/J and Sharp and the industry heavy audience, which included a handful of the cities indie rock radio personalities.

A long hiatus ensued before Nico Vega - in no short part because Saint Motel is such a hard act to follow. But Nico Vega appropriately brought the terror to the stage. Their set began with a bright-eyed Aja Volkman summoning the crowd with a pseudo-vocal chant (she was singing).

Marching around in her white dress (which was later ripped as part of a theatrical mock execution ceremony), Aja shared her organic and raw vocals as Rich and Dan backed her energy. The crowd, slightly thinner than during Saint Motel's set, fervently thrust their fists into the air and those who knew sang along for almost the entire forty-five minute to hour long set.

Much of Vega's music was unfamiliar to me, although I did pick out a few recognizable songs and knew the raucous encore Beast. The night ended with a good post-show gathering of fans outside, including some fun photo play with Dak from Saint Motel and Tina Turner....who wouldn't stop talking. LOL

If Witch Hunt is a sampling of what these two bands are offering on their west coast tour, than I'm even more sad that I'm not accompanying them for the whole damn thing....