HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD

LIVE @ THE MOD CLUB

FEATURE EDITORIAL REVIEW

2013

By: Fridae Mattas

It has been a few years since I first saw Hollywood Undead live at the Sound Academy, they have recently dropped a new record “Notes From The Underground” released January 8th 2013, a review for that album will be published in the near future. This was the first official show of 2013 for Fridae TV, I chose to cover this band once again last Wednesday January 23rd because the people love them! From the day I published the 2011 editorial HU has been searched every day and the review is still one of the top viewed on Fridae TV. What the people want, I try my best to give. It was a sold out show and the people were already hype and ready to see Hollywood Undead in action. Too funny it was, the scalpers were asking everyone if they had extra tickets for them to buy. One scalper was so mad that this woman wouldn’t give him her extra tickets, I was laughing as he bitched about it to some chick.Once they let me in I wandered the venue to find a spot to shoot from, no pit for this one. The venue was the Virgin Mobile Mod Club which usually never has a pit. I brought different size lenses for that reason, there was no way I was going to shoot from the front of the crowd. The HU set in 2011 was insane, bodies were flying before they even hit the stage! This show was a little calmer but that didn’t stop the crowd from moshing and surfing, sometimes even a few of the band Larries dove in. As the crowd waited for the band, I was trying to find the perfect camera settings but that didn’t matter because majority of the lighting was red, I hate red lighting. Anyway, the crowd started to chant and the band eventually hit the stage kicking off the set with their hit tune “Undead” after an instrumental intro.

They mixed the tunes well in their eighteen track set with a variety of new and older material. The crowd was mostly males but I did see quite a few females and people of all ages, at the last show it was a much younger crowd. I loved the boys who were near me, so polite and helpful. They also rocked out hard and knew every word to majority of the tunes. It’s always fun seeing the fans reactions as they watch their favorite band live in the flesh. There were moments when the whole crowd started chanting the song that they were to play before they even played it! Yes, the venue was smaller but the band and the fans tore it up like they were at the ACC. Vocals by the whole band were pretty good considering this was the last show of the tour. I heard a few pitchy notes and some cracklies from Danny but that is understandable. He did throw it down with plenty of energy, truly engaging the crowd as every frontman should. All of the MC’s were on point but I wish a few would have a little more conviction. However, I must say, they all have improved vastly and I noticed they are looking healthier and have more stamina. George Ragan “Johnny 3 Tears/J3T” who I thought is the most improved wasn’t so out of breath, his flow is getting pretty slick and he interacted with the crowd a lot more. Charlie Scene – Jordon Terrel held it together by rocking that axe and rhyming! He does need to be a little tighter and give a little more attention to the fans even with the axe in hand. They had two fantastic drummers Daren Pfeifer who is always behind the kit while Matthew St. Claire “Da Kurlzz” floated around and rapped when he wasn’t drumming. I wish there was more visibility from Funny Man he was lingering in the background while the others took command of the stage, I noticed the same thing last time. He needs to gain more confidence and come out of his shell. They all have some phenomenal masks, the coolest ones being those that light up like J-Dog’s mask “Jorel Decker”. My favorite part of the set was when Danny pointed out a fan in the front who was decked out from head to toe like Charlie Scene and brought him up on stage to rap with the band. I’m sure it was the highlight of his life so far and for a little white boy he wasn’t half bad. Like all of the fans, he knew every word to the track. I love it when bands randomly do things for their fans because they are the most important part of the show and so many artists and bands forget that.The newer tracks sound pretty solid but one track they played “Another Way Out” totally reminded me of a Backstreet Boys tune and I’m scratching my brain trying to figure out which one, my fourteen year old self would have known! The last track of the set before the encores was “Hear Me Now”, the crowd was so loud I wasn’t expecting those high decibels. I watched the set from every angle of the room and once I reached the back there was one man who stood out, he looked about fifty or so and was rocking out hardcore joining the teens and twenty somethings head banging to the beats! They closed the set with their first single off of their new album “We Are”, another crowd favorite. Hollywood Undead did it again, their fans love them and I’m sure people that went to the show not knowing who they were are now guaranteed fans. They finally stopped talking about their dicks every five minutes and now can be taken seriously as legit musical powerhouses in the making. Thanks to the fabulous folks at Live Nation for being so amazing! If you can and haven’t yet, I recommend you go see Hollywood Undead live and grab their latest record here.