VS COLOUR
Los Angeles, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2012 | INDIE
Music
Press
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing hometown favorites Warpaint in Los Angeles (or anywhere for that matter), at some point in the evening, things turn into a ritual, almost tribal-like feel. Things were no different Sunday night at The Roxy Theatre, and this was surprisingly the first time these four had graced the stage of the infamous West Hollywood venue.
“So excited to be here at The Roxy!” shouted Wayman midway through the set. “Fucking amazing, never played here before. I don’t know why we haven’t played here before — it’s much better than anything we have over in Silverlake, right?”
Nobody layers vocals in a live setting the way Emily Kokal, Theresa Wayman, Jenny Lee Lindberg, and Stella Mozgawa have perfected the art.
An enthusiastic audience turned out for the show, which was presented by Jukely, the new subscription-based concert service that rolled out in Los Angeles last month. The audience was very familiar with the catalog of tracks that were performed Sunday night, and the band fed off their energy all night.
After the brilliant “Undertow,” Wayman crowd surfed during the breakdown portion of “Love Is To Die” early in the set, and she surfed right over me. Wayman said she “alwayd wanted to do that” and thanked everyone for not dropping her. You could catch all four members smiling at regular intervals — even the usually game-faced Mozgawa, who is this band’s backbone behind the drums. Lindberg never fails to send reverberating chills down your spine with her bass lines, and Kokal and Wayman have tremendous chemistry as guitarists and the band’s lead vocalists.
The favorite part of any Warpaint set for me personally is when they play “Intro” as a lead in for “Keep It Healthy.” Mid-way through the set became just the first of many times the band would go off on a tangent and extend a jam, much to the delight of the crowd. A large majority of the audience kept themselves moving from the first note all the way through the end of their encore.
After an extended “Disco/Very,” the mesmerizing “Billie Holliday” capped off a four-song portion of the evening where the band played three songs from their debut 2009 EP Exquisite Corpse. The others were deep-cut favorites “Burgundy” and “Krimson” (that aren’t as common) and an extended version of “Elephants,” which never fails to be the most rousing song of the night. When Kokal sings “I’ll break your heart To keep you far from where All dangers start” you can’t help but follow Lindberg’s lead on the bass and feel the music through every bone in your body.
The trajectory the band has been on and the loyalty of their fan base signals that the best things are still ahead for these four certified badasses. They’ve honed their craft and have perfected their live show and the fun they’re having on stage always seems to follow into the crowd.
One of the keys is that no Warpaint show is the same. The setlist might be the same some nights, but the band is capable of playing a wide range of their songs with varying arrangements. On Sunday, “No Way Out” had a different opening and many of the songs had more beefed up solos than their studio-version counterparts.
Make sure you’re one of the lucky ones that see them on Feb. 28 at Fais Dodo in order to catch another one of their haze-filled performances.
Echo Park-based VS Colour served as the evening’s appetizer, jamming through an energetic set. The bass player was especially into the performance, rocking a long sleeves dress shirt with the sleeves unbuttoned and hanging loosely while he felt the vibe. There’s little information out there on this band, but they definitely fit quite well with Warpaint’s fan base. - Grimy Goods
Just when we thought it would be awhile before we heard Warpaint live after the mesmerizing Echoplex show back in early November, we were bestowed with another live show at The Roxy. Diehards were lined up early to be up close to their favorite band once more. The set was strong as Emily, Jenny Lee, Theresa and Stella blended their musical talents to form sounds the crowd swayed to. Fans in the front screamed and professed their love. Early in the set, Theresa Wayman did a quick crowd surf and it became like a big family party. Warpaint created an atmosphere with dreamy and vibey beats under the hazy lights. The crowd, of course, threw back as much energy as the band gave.
Don’t miss them at Fais Do-Do on February 28th for a special show raising money for Youth in Rock for John Marshall High School.
Supporting local band VS Colour started the grooves. - L.A. Record
“Yeah, I’m more of a 12pm waiting-for-the-doors-to-open kind of guy,” was Travis Shettel’s response to a fan’s suggestion that there be an after party at The Gold Room following Shettel’s intro to a song that pays homage to the local favorite bar. His newest band Fakers, alongside brothers Joey and Andy Siara of the now (semi) defunct band Henry Clay People, will be rocking the Echo all month with their well-deserved residency. Without wasting a second, each song was better than the last. This is truly a band of equals, switching positions up throughout the set, even with the awesome surprise of drummer Benji Heywood manning the mic for a song. Beer was poured (and not just in cups) and equipment was climbed. Toward the end of the set, Andy Siara began scaling the stack of amps next to Heywood, stopping at the highest one and remained kneeling on it for the remainder of the song and precariously climbing down as it ended. Be sure to catch Fakers during their next three residency shows and next weekend at Echo Park Rising. If you attend one of the residency shows, you can pick up Fakers’ brand spanking new 7″ Personality Voices!
Following Fakers, VS Colour treated those who stuck around with some funky, yet rocking jams. Plus, how can you not want to stick around to see what a guy dressed in Dorothy costume will do?
Afternoons drew a pretty substantial crowd of their own. Fans danced and sang along with their exuberant indie-pop songs, perfect for a warm summer night – or afternoon, even.
It takes some serious chops and stage presence to pull off being an instrumental opening band. Four-piece Barrows certainly had no trouble grabbing and holding the early crowd’s attention with some intricate and ear-catching riffs. - L.A. Record
When we first heard Vs Colour live last year, a friend whispered “This is the least same-ol’-same-ol’ band you will see around here.” And indeed, at first blush the disparate musical elements of the L.A. underground faves are like unmatched socks, and maybe frayed at that. There are the jazzy riffs over the funky bass in an unvarnished bricolage narrated by singer Joe Bates’ unsteady but entirely believable wounded art-rocker voice. Just when you think you might have figured out a song structure, Vs Colour gets soft, or freaks out, or plays some chord you swear you’ve never heard before. Bates and his bandmates — guitarist Alex Belmonte, drummer Ivan Wayman and bassist Wolf Woodcock — do it all in punk-as-hell fashion, leaving you to pick out the pretty parts when they’re not making an unholy racket. Last year they released their seven-track album “9-9-D9,” which includes “Golden Years” (a wink at a late rock icon, we imagine), and they’ve been showcasing some new tunes during this month’s residency at the Hi Hat. - Kevin Bronson (Buzzbands.la)
Discography
9-9-D9 (2015)
Photos
Bio
VS Colour (Echo Park, LA) fuse different styles ranging from Hip Hop to Rock bottom. Formed in 2012; the band consists of singer/instrumentalist Joe Bates, guitarist Alex Belmonte, bassist Wolfgang Woodcock and drummer Ivan Wayman.
Their debut album "9-9-D9" was recorded and mixed by Wayman at Redstar Studios where he had earned studio time to experiment with techniques learned from his production mentor Dave Jerden (The Rolling Stones, Jane's Addiction).
Having played various shows and festivals in 2014, the band began this year with a sold out show opening for Warpaint at LA's famous Roxy Theater and are playing regularly at other local venues such as The Echoplex and The Bootleg Theatre.
Currently, the band is also writing and recording new material to take on the road and further their rise out of LA's Underground.
Band Members
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