On Friday night I had the pleasure of watching Red Circle Underground rock out at the Air Conditioned Supper Club in Venice, California. Yes, I have had a little road trip!
It was my first introduction to the LA scene of music, so it was super cool to begin with, without the bands even starting. The club was a fairly tiny place, but inside its had a pretty cool vibe.
Shattered Sons opened up the night; they were pretty cool. They had moments of coolness, so I gotta support them.
Costa Nova also played before RCU. They were also pretty good, definitely with some more moments of greatness as well. I liked them more than Shattered Sons. They all rocked it pretty great, and they also totally supported all the other bands playing as well, which was super cool to see.
Then came on Red Circle Underground. My friend that invited me to the show had previously played me some of their stuff, and I was already a fan, but when I heard them sing live and got to see them right there, I was amazed. To me, they stood out from the rest easily. Just their sound, creative juices you could feel. Props to all the fellas of the band, you guys killed it.
Kevin J. Witucki on the drums was just amazing. Rattling off very cool beats that most definitely weren’t something you buy in plastic wrap. Jonah Grey on vocals also took the stage with the same fury. He has a killer set of chords that I think take this band higher.
They did however share a lot of the vocals, and Ali Mills, who by the way had some killer moccasins on, added a very good twist, further amazed me with the quality in Red Circle.
Jonathan Stipp held the band together with some very solid bass, squished into the corner with Britton Sparkman killed it on lead guitar that when mixed with the harmonica of Dylan Grey gave RCU not one moment of suck, purely enjoyable music these guys and gal put out for my ears.
I felt this venue was to small for this band to be honest. Their sound is way larger than what they were packed into, and they needed more space to fully explode their sound, and let it fully be heard. I can’t wait to hear more from these guys. However, due to the size of the venue, I was able to hang with a few members of some of the bands afterwards. Totally great group from RCU and Costa Nova which I totally felt all the love that these guys have for one another and the scene they are apart of. So much support, I’m amazed with and happy to see.
After Red Circle played their set, a few burlesque dancers came out and did a couple fansy numbers. I’ve never seen this before, and I think that this is something that should be done a lot more in more venues. Totally adds a whole new spice to the show, and makes it super cool in between sets, while the band takes down and sets up for the next. I want to make a note now also of apainter who was doing live paintings as all the bands and the hubbub was going on around him, right in the club, who was eager to talk to me. His art was super cool, and I’m definitely going to be watching his stuff gain in value. I wish I would have been able to buy one of his works that he did, totally had a Bua feel to it.
Nu Savant came on after. They had some moments of glory where they totally nailed it as well.
To be honest, I felt that Red Circle Underground stole the night. I’m super excited for what they’re doing, and am proud to call them my friends. Can’t wait till they come to a town closer to me!
All the coolness of the night was bottled and packaged by a crazy cool photographer Angela Holtzen, who took some amazing photos, that you must all check out. The photographs on this page are all hers.