Fu Manchu, Big Elf, Chelsea Smiles Concert Review© Marianne Moro
May 22, 2005
Rock 'n' roll took over L.A.'s Knitting Factory on Friday May 13 as Fu Manchu, Big Elf and Chelsea Smiles performed on the main stage. Fu Manchu hails from Southern California with a sound that is the hard rock soundtrack for cruising around on a Saturday night in a surf town. Singer Scott Hill formed the band along with guitarist Brad Davis in 1990. Known for their live show and constant touring, Fu Manchu has a loyal fan base, the same crowd that favors bands like Kyuss, (Kyuss founder Brant Bjork drummed for Fu between 1996 and 2000) Queens of the Stone Age and Monster Magnet. Fu Manchu headlined a show at L.A.'s Knitting Factory last week, rocking hard with a 17 song set that featured a few brand new tunes (the band is currently in the studio recording their new album.) Fu's set captured rock loud, hard and fast. Their sound is on the cusp of speed metal, with just enough melody to keep song structure intact and not veer into endless riffage.
Opening band Big Elf's Mellotron rock, a cross between Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Gentle Giant. While song titles such as "Bats In The Belfry" and singer Damon Fox's Mad Hatter persona may invoke Spinal Tap like images, Big Elf's song are more progressive metal. Fox makes his way between two keyboards, and plentiful devils horns arise from those in the small but enthusiastic crowd. The much hyped Chelsea Smiles played next. Their short tight set rocked way harder than their cute Ramonesque haircuts and tidy suits indicated. And no wonder-singer/bassist Todd Youth played with Danzig, Motorhead and D Generation before forming Chelsea Smiles. Fresh from gigs opening for the New York Dolls, Chelsea Smiles has just signed with Capitol Records and are working on their first album. A group of trendy 20-something girls showed up in their Hot Topic clothes to see Chelsea Smiles, quite the counterpoint to the jeans and sneaker clad mostly male audience for the other bands. The Hot Topic girls left when Chelsea Smiles set ended. Fu Manchu played for well over an hour, featured songs from their first as well as some unreleased "We Must Obey" and "Hung Out To Dry" from the new album, as well as best known songs like "Written In Stone" and "Mongoose." The sound was loud, the band's laidback stage manner was more like a band playing at your friends backyard party than a big rock tour. Although lumped in with the Monster Magnet, Orange Goblin stoner rock crowd, these guys sound more like Sabbath or AC/DC although lyrically, their songs are about cars, rebellion and life in general than doom, sex and drugs.
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