Article and photos by: Matt Stasi
There’s nothing pretty about a Radio Moscow show. There’s no song and dance numbers. They don’t dress up in the latest fashions. And to them the term auto tuning is something their mechanic suggested for their touring vehicle every six months/ 3000 miles. On the contrary their sound is unapologetically raw, mean, and it’s guaranteed that you by the end of the night you will have temporary hearing loss as well as an impending trip to the chiropractor for neck stiffness. And this is precisely the reason that once you see them for the first time live you will undoubtedly be back for more.
They rolled into Los Angeles Thursday night to play a gig at the legendary Viper Room on Sunset Blvd. Providing the pyschadelic visuals for the evening was the mad alchemist himself, Lance Gordon, with his analog liquid light show. This array of constantly changing lights, shapes, and colors provide a fantastically trippy backdrop that gives you a sense that you are entering a parallel world created by Timothy Leary himself. A perfect touch for Radio Moscow’s hard-driven psychedelic grooves. The electricity in the place was palpable far before anyone even touched the stage. Opening up the night were Babylon, JOY, and Mondo Drag. No time was wasted in blasting the amps up to 10. Guitars crunching, drums exploding, singers belting…the three bands each whaled away for a rapidly growing crowd that was eating it up note for note.
Then it was time. Radio Moscow was next up. The already intimate venue was packed full of anxious fans ready to let their long hair fly. And Radio Moscow didn’t disappoint. From the second they took the stage to the last note they played they were shredding out a laundry list of all of their crowd favorites with all of the Raw Power of the early Stooges coupled with the groove of a Zeppelin, or Hendrix. Leading the assault was Parker Griggs. To say he is a lead singer would be a bit misleading. It’d be more accurate to say that he growls his notes with a pitch perfect ferocity. As for him on the guitar…forget about it. I don’t envy his guitars. He’s not nice to them. He plays with an equal amount of blues-driven viciousness that at several times left myself (as well as the rest of the packed full venue) standing in awe of the notes that he was bludgeoning out of his poor instrument. On the bass Anthony Mier drove out notes that implanted themselves in your chest as they kept the rest of the auditory chaos in perfect rhythm. And as for drums, Paul Morrone should be thrown in jail for assault. Because that’s precisely what he did to his drum set the whole night.
Make no mistake, Radio Moscow is not for the feint of heart, or weak of ears. They play loud, and they play hard. You will sweat, your ears will ring, and your neck will hurt. And in the process you will see one of the best damn live shows you will ever see. And you’ll be back for more.
On a bit of a more personal level I was able to run into Parker Griggs before the show at a convenience store near the viper room. I was behind him in line, I believe he was grabbing a pack of smokes or something. I let him know that I was looking forward to seeing the show that night and he couldn’t have been more genuinely happy to hear kind words from a fan. Pretty cool to see that someone with such staggering talent can still be humble enough to have a simple conversation with someone he doesn’t even know. I found out later that it was his birthday that night..so Parker, I’d like to extend a belated happy birthday out to you brotha (and fellow Iowan)! And thank you for melting the faces off a room full of crazy ass fans.
Check them out here for more info on tour dates, etc.: http://radiomoscow.net/tour