Diamond Bodine-FischerWhat: Lords of Acid
Where: Club Nokia
When: March 2nd, 2011
Lords of Acid are everything you would expect from a band called Lords of Acid. It's a zoo, and what the crowd sees is just the beginning. Maurice Engelen (better known by his stage name Praga Khan) makes intense eye contact and calmly proclaims, “You can expect anything”. And it's absolutely true.
Their Club Nokia show was the first show of the new Lords of Acid tour so of course it was a truly Los Angelesesque trainwreck:
Everyone involved with the band and their personal assistant was there to play rock star and drink the band's booze. Before too long the friends and crew had all made their way to front of house.
The direct support, Angel Spit, took the stage, despite multiple near misses. Vocalist Amelia, coming from the UK didn't receive her visa until Tuesday afternoon and her flight didn't land at LAX until after 3:00 on Wednesday afternoon.
Wether or not Angel Spit was good would be impossible to tell. Their vocals were turned up to 10 and the music down to 2, leaving them to sound like cheerleaders, no fault of which was the band's. Maybe it was the sound guy's lunch break?
By the time Lords of Acid went on Praga Khan had ingested enough booze to tranquilize Zakk Wylde. Looking like a demented, cracked-out Ginger Fish he proceeded to kick off the show, truly a lord of acid. New vocalist Mea stomped onto stage for her first show with the band. It was a pretty universal sentiment that there was really no comparing Mea to the previous vocalist, Lacey Connor–their vocals as well as performance styles are too different.
Lords of Acid at Club Nokia; Credit: Diamond Bodine-Fischer
The rumors were that practices hadn't sounded too great but those quickly proved to be false. In fact, DJ Mea was hands down the best part of the show.
According to Engelen he's most excited for this tour because it's an opportunity to talk to fans, get their feedback and see what they want more of. He's planning a new album and wants to let the fans inspire it, insisting “I'm not one of those musicians in an ivory tower, I want to be judged and I want to know!”
Despite a fierceness on stage that would blow Miss Tyra out of the water, DJ Mea remained soft-spoken and gracious behind the scenes, Smiling and whispering”this is just all too perfect, there has to be some force out there that brought us all together as a group.”
BONUS VIDEO (from YouTuber Hipster73):
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