Eagles of Death Metal w/ Living Things 2.4.09 | The Fonda | Los Angeles, CA by Joe Cortez photos by M'Lou Elkins/www.Skip2Photography.com "Are you ready for rock and roll?" Think now for a moment of a that band exists in this new millennium which revels in the excess and decadence of a bygone era in rock. Now consider that said band is no parody, no mere satire but rather an honest, and dare say earnest, attempt at bringing back some of what has been lost in the "indie-fication" of rock over the past decade or so and deliver to the masses nothing less than a pure, unadulterated rock show. Enter Eagles of Death Metal. Jesse Hughes has a reputation for being a charismatic front man and this night's performance did not disappoint. Decked out in a shimmering cape, he sprung out from backstage to the song "Magic" by Pilot. The rest of the band quickly followed Hughes on stage and proceeded to launch into an impressive set that rarely let up. I gather there aren't many ballads or slow jams in the Eagles' catalog and that's probably just the way their fans like it. What the band does deliver in spades are hard driving tunes. Perhaps Hughes himself said everything that any critic could ever say about the band in so many words after performing a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" by announcing, "That is the song every other Eagles of Death Metal song is based on."
The show itself had everything your mother warned you about concerts: marijuana smoke filling the air, tattooed boys and girls and crowd surfing fans that had little regard for their own bodies, much less anyone else's. And I don't think I've ever seen the infamous Ronnie James Dio metal hand sign thrown into the air so much without the slightest hint of irony before this night. It was exhilarating in its own way to see true rock fans congregate in their own environment, among their own people. Making the night truly special was the appearance of the band's very own Baby Duck in Queens of the Stone Age front man (and Eagles of Death Metal drummer) Josh Homme. His appearance only served to further bait the crowd and entice their mania.
Opening for Eagles of Death Metal was Living Things, a band dressed in black leather and drenched in attitude whose lead singer insisted on calling themselves the "Fucking Living Things." He proceeded to congratulate members of the audience that had lost their jobs and told them they were better off without one. Try telling that one to their creditors.
[LIVING THINGS]
I could bemoan the lack of depth found within the songs this night, the gravitas and emotional heft missing from the set but doing so would only miss the point. It's easy to admire a band like Eagles of Death Metal in the same way I admire a band like Oasis. Neither makes any apologies for their love of rock in its purest form and each excels at what they do. There was something gleefully freeing about watching Eagles of Death Metal perform. The show was, in a word, fun and that counts for a lot to me.
Check out our full set of Eagles of Death Metal and Living Things concert photos.
Related EoDM articles, videos and photo galleries: Eagles of Death Metal performing "Brown Sugar" at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA on 2.3.09.
MishMashTV interview with Jesse Hughes, including live performance footage from their show at the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles: