March 15, 2007 Freakhouse at Club Vodka All Access Magazine
By Maya Dawn Henderson Photos by Manrique Photos
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Disco never really died, it just became dance music. The same can be said for Heavy Metal. It never really disappeared; it just became Nu-Metal... it essentially became Freakhouse. Wandering around Joe Sutton’s “nicely-packed-with-rock ‘n roll pretty people”, “Club Vodka”, at Hollywood’s Knitting Factory, we found the first stage along with the four slightly-deranged individuals about to take it; Rob Escher on vocals, Matt Clark on guitar, Scott Freak on the bass and on the cans, the crafty Sean “Cappy” Topham.
Freakhouse frontman, Rob hollered out about the insanity going on outside the building (the Oscars were right next door at the Kodak Theatre the following day). “F#** the Academy Awards... this is reality...” They opened the night’s set with their self-titled track, Beautiful Misery, which carried a Cypress Hill-like chorus, “ Get Up! Jump! Jump! “ Get Up! Jump! Jump!” This opener was sonically perfect with grunts in all the right places. They whipped the audience into party-mode right away, delivering sounds similar to Infectious Grooves, done with energy and charisma.
They played Man or Machine next. It was played with technicality and intensity of metal-core, but with enough breakdowns to appease the hardcore moshers in the crowd. The band showed it’s ability to keep fists pumping, hands clapping and heads banging. It was right about then I was distracted by lot of people coming in and piling in front of us and inevitably ruining the view from the comfy club couch we had just swooped on. Many end up to be friends, causing yet, more distraction. Former W.A.SP. axe-man, Chris Holmes plunked down next to me and insisted on writing his perspective in my notebook. It read only a little legibly. “First of all there were too man f#%& people in the front and for the first 3 songs, all I could see was Ass. I mean people’s Ass. It kind of pissed me off. But put me in a real pissed off mood! Now I’m ready to stand up and kick some Ass to see them!” Another classic Chris Holmes moment.
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The evening rocked on. Freakhouse played a tune I fully loved upon first live listen, called Peel Away The Skin. It exhibited the band’s experimental variations that were similar to the sounds of hardcore revolutionaries The Disturbed. They played a punchy song named No Way Down. There actually wasn’t a single slow moment played during the band’s entire 60-minute performance. Not a ballad in the house.Thank God. Rob’s voice reminded me at times of Graeme Bonnet.
Summing it up, this heavy rocking band teamed up on a Saturday night for a flurry of fast and furious tunes. Each one pulling the crowd tighter into their talented web until the final notes right up till the last song, Liars, Inc. rang out and the house filled with applause and screams of approval. This was the most interesting song they played and it’s also the song chosen for their current video. The tune contains an awesome guitar riff which the drums complement perfectly. The song also heads up a tasty lead solo and solid bass lines, resulting in an unforgettable sonic mix of massive hard rock thunder and powerfully dark melodies. Freakhouse are a real live, rock and roll band. These guys look, live and smell like a rock band, they sweat, bleed and literally ooze the stuff, whatever it is…Whatever it is, you are sure to know it when you see it or hear it or smell it, for that matter. Punk in it’s attitude, dance in its grooves and one hundred percent heavy metal in it’s riffs and intensity. Freakhouse is a fine example of modern metal that no one dares call metal.
Look out for the mighty, mighty Freakhouse on tour this summer. Check their sites for upcoming shows. www.freakhouse.com
~ Maya Dawn Henderson ~