Show Review: Wisteria Residency Night 2 w/ CD Ghost & Active Decay

 Show Review

Wisteria Monday February Residency Night 2

w/ CD Ghost &

Active Decay

@ Zebulon Los Angeles, CA.

   Back for night two of the Wisteria residency- since it wasn't in the middle of the biggest rain storm in a generation, this night drew a bigger crowd- maybe also down to the fact that this line up could have just as easily drawn a paid crowd with the same bill (maybe not on a Monday night, but on a Friday for sure).   After 15 years of going out in San Diego, where Monday night bills are a mark of death unless you are a legit touring act (and even then they are rough), I've been astonished at the size of the Monday night crowds in Los Angeles.   Los Angeles is, by every indication, a much more fertile ground for local bands trying to put together a following.

   

  Openers Active Decay put out a record on local indie Lollipop Records- who got Crocodiles an NFL wear sync that made it all the way to the Super Bowl broadcast- opened.  I would say they are a work in progress.  They performed as a three piece with a dude in a tank top playing bass, a lady singer and a guy who sang and played guitar.  There was a drum machine, and a pretty big sax element that was done with backing tracks.  The guy and the girl both performed songs, sometimes backing one another, sometimes not.  I think the crowd reacted more positively to the songs sung by the dude, but the set was politely received by the already voluminous crowd.  The sound was gothy/romantic/new wavey with definite songs and lyrics, though said song writing and lyrics varied in quality from song to song.  I can certainly see where they are headed, and I'd wager it comes off smoother on record.  Anyway, all local bands are blessings, and all local bands deserve fervent support for the very fact of their existence and artistic will.

    Thankfully Wisteria played second tonight, sparing me the conflict of wrestling with the prospect of Tuesday's 4 AM alarm.  Finally! Wisteria.  I feel like I've been trying to see them for years.  They had a really striking visual set up- performing with no lighting in front of a bright white screen, which gave them the appearance of silhouettes.   A neat way to play off the fact that neither one of them are going to win any beauty contests. I thought the singer had a really interesting voice, like I'm going to go and listen to their records on Spotify now because I was so intrigued.  I thought having the other guy play drum pads on his synth set up was a good move- that should be a requirement for synthy two pieces- either you are singing or playing a guitar/bass or doing a drumming thing to break up the visual monotony of two guys behind matching synth arrays. 

   But my thought is that there is songwriting talent worth developing and that the live show backs it up- nothing stopping Wisteria from being a full-on national indie touring band if that's the direction they want to go. 

   It was my second time playing CD Ghost- they were outfitted more formally from the last show at Rubycon, where they looked like they had fallen out of a van fifteen minutes before show time.  The crowd was packed.  I respect the fact that they are self-released but I think a label with a good vinyl reputation could really help them get national level attention.  Looks like they have a national tour lined up and booking here and in the EU, so, if you are thinking about going to catch a show of theirs you should.