I saw Hypnogaja...

 by divadavoo on 08. Nov, 2009 | 1 Comment

The last Hypnogaja show of the year, and we caught it ~ for FREE!  The band on Facebook will send out invites and then if you RSVP or print out the invite, you get into the venue for free.  Very nice, although I would pay to see this band.  They are a rock band that makes playing live look fun and easy.  This show was at The Viper Room on Sunset Blvd. in LA.  They have been together for a long time and it shows in the music, the lyrics and the performance.

At this show they did mostly songs from their new album, Truth Decay (2009).   It included songs such as Dark Star, The March, Rusty Moon, Things Will Never Be The  Same and Welcome To The Future (my favorite, I think).  Strangely in the middle of the set the band performed “On The Radio” originally performed by Donna Summer (1979).  It was a fun sing along and with the sweet harmonies of singer Jason “Shyboy” Arnold and Keyboardist Mark Nubar Donikian it proved to fit in the line up well.

As seen in this picture (left), the band sported a second guitar player (to the right).  The regular guitar player (on left) has a great mellow, rock star quality about him adding to the “this is easy” feel of the band.  I am not sure if the band is growing, or this is just the live set up for the band…. but on the CD it just lists 4 band members.  Either way, during one song, both guitarist played the song together sporting a deeper sound and rockin’ intensity ~

Hard to see, but not hard to hear is drummer Adrian Barnardo.  I am a big fan of drums knowing that sometimes, especially in rock, it can be overwhelming live.  Adrain doesn’t let you forget that he is there, however, allows for each of the other members to be heard during each song.

They ended the show with Worship Me (I’m On TV) ~ not my favorite song on the CD, but the one that is mostly likely to get stuck in my head for days!  The lyrics are very appropriate for LA and our culture of TV obsession….

Overall, a great band!  I was so glad to see them for a 2nd time and look forward to shows in the future.  And until then I will rock out listening to their CD in my car on the way to work.  ~

Tags: Adrian Barnardo, Dark Star, Donna Summer, Facebook, featured, Hypnogaja, Jason Arnold, LA, Mark Nubar Donikian, On the Radio, Rusty Moon, Shyboy, Sunset Blvd, The March, The Viper Room, Things will never be the same, Truth Decay, welcome to the future, Worship me Im on tv