It was a thrilling back to back nights for me in the Los Angels music scene. I got to reconnect with two favorite bands that included an introduction to their new music. On Thursday (Nov 20th), I went to The Goldfish to catch Ramonda Hammer and then on Friday I saw Holy Wars. These are two of my favorite Los Angeles based bands, but it had been awhile since I last saw either one of them.
 |
| Ramonda Hammer at The Goldfish |
This music post focuses on Ramonda Hammer so the last time I saw the band was back in Oct 2023. That was an interesting night for me, because I misread the street address to the house party. I read the address as being 1610 blah blah blah street. Some people might do some Internet sleuthing and will look at the poster and say, "Well, obviously that is not 1610." My counter-argument will be that the poster you are finding on Instagram is not the online flier that was initially sent out to many of us.
 |
| Ramonda Hammer at The Goldfish |
I did not really question the 1610 street address, because I had gone to a house party in that area before. When I got to the area (and I don't believe there is actually a 1610 address on this particular street), I started to get suspicious, mainly because I was hearing silence. In the back of my mind, I started to think, "This is how people get shot, because they knock on random doors in the middle of the night." Anyways, I took another look at the online flier and decided that maybe I was misreading the number. I guess it only took me two years to finally forgive the band for that mishap and catch another set.
Honestly, I was probably the only fool who misread the address.
 |
| Ramonda Hammer at The Goldfish |
Comment of the set: "A kind of fun fact, we haven't played here since it used to be called The Hi Hat. It feels really nice to be back." Interestingly, the first time I saw Ramonda Hammer was at The Hi Hat.
The band was celebrating their four song EP Wake Up, Play Nice. Those are the opening lyrics to the lead-off track "Eyelash." The three piece band has Devin Davis on vocals and guitar, Justin Geter on guitar, and Andy Hengl on bass. As for the drummer, he was told with humor, "Don't f*ck up, Joey" that followed with the apology, "They have me on a mic, man."
 |
| Ramonda Hammer at The Goldfish |
Two years had passed since I last saw a live set, but the grudge band still knows how to hit all those sweet spots for me. The band dedicated the middle section of their set to playing their EP from beginning to end. That meant starting off with "Eyelash," which per an Instagram post was just a "silly" placeholder title. The song is about things taking a negative turn in the "blink of an eye." A relationship is ultimately doomed, but there are moments of hope that aren't reality. The song veers the band into a metal opening with vicious instrumental guitar riffs and hair flings.
 |
| Ramonda Hammer at The Goldfish |
Fake nice, new high, new hell
"The Panic" is an example of that sweet spot for me where all three members went wild on stage during the back half of the song. I should say that Hengl was dancing around the stage throughout the song so give him props for putting in the extra effort. Not only does their stage performance hit that sweet spot, but this band knows how to compose addictive rock tunes, be it during quiet moments or explosive (and especially those explosive) moments.
 |
| Ramonda Hammer at The Goldfish |
Next up, Geter was playing "Hush Money" with such intensity that his baseball cap went flying off his head. The band closed out the EP portion of the setlist with "Quite Lovely." The song has Davis singing with more subdued and restrained vocals -- not that she doesn't throw in her patent visceral screams towards the end. Davis mentioned that it was a rarely written love song. Who is the subject of affection? She dedicated the song to her dog.
Setlist: Big Hands, Empathy, Eyelash, The Panic, Hush Money, Quite Lovely, All For What, Everlasting Love.
No comments:
Post a Comment