AMERICAN GOTHIC

at The Roxy

By Al "The Limo Man"

On a rather blustery Saturday evening, I decided to take up on the invitation of both Marino Soundwaves and DRZ Entertainment's invitation to see this show. I have seen MARINO SOUNDWAVES before, but they're the kind of instrumental powerhouse group that one can never quite get enough of. Marino is perhaps one of the most gifted guitarists on the circuit today. His playing style is reminiscent of early Al DiMeola or Jeff Beck. He has such a fat tone on his instrument. On a large stage, such as The Roxy, he is most enjoyable to watch. Most of the material he performed on this night was from his second full length release entitled, Angels On Earth, Volume One. Note for note, his performance duplicates the sound of the recorded material almost perfectly. With a great mix of percussion and stylized instrumental guitar melody lines, Marino Soundwaves hypnotizes the audience. There is a definite connection between one's own sense of spirituality and the music they write. As a musician, writer and composer, Marino has reached heights on the creative level that can be matched by very few either in L.A. or around the world. My favorite tunes from this group are "Transoceanic (Angel Light)" and "Rainbows and Gypsies." If you are ever fortunate enough to receive an invitation to one of Marino's live shows, don't ignore it...

On the same bill that night, was a group you've read about in RCN before, called AMERICAN GOTHIC. The vocalist in this band has one of the draculian stage presence I have ever witnessed. He was able to mimic facial expressions of the dead as well as body contortions that would symbolize immense pain leading up to final extinction. I don't know if there has ever been an era in music when such a scary and intensely powerful stage presence was in demand. In the late '70s there was a group on the scene called Sorcery that utilized a black magic theme as their stage show. There was also a group back then called Acrobat, that utilized a set of trampolines in front of the stage where they did spins, flips and twirls while playing their instruments wireless. Their career came to a sad and crashing end on a spring night in 1980 at the Troubadour when one of the band members bounced just a little too high and smashed his head through the light rack and was seriously injured. In today's world, no insurance company that handles night club policies would approve of such an act. Insurance companies might not approve of American Gothic either. The risk of sudden heart attack from watching their frightening yet symphonic stage show would seem rather high. As for the music itself, it was well performed, but there were few strong hooks to the music. Music like this has a specialized market place. Fans of this style are generally more sophisticated than the average listener. For this band to establish a fan base world wide, they would have to do something so scandalous and possibly sick and disgusting that it would put their name into the world headlines. Ah! I've got it. I'll set up a blind date between the singer of this band and Courtney Love. Could there be a necromance in the offing?