"We've got quite a set here," announced MUTEMATH vocalist and keyboardist Paul Meany. "We've been around for eight years. That's a lot of songs to choose from!" Quite a set it was. Making an unconventional entrance from the back of the venue with instruments and Christmas lights in tow, the New Orleans electro-alt rock band went on to do a little face-melting for the packed house at Ace of Spades Wednesday night. The Grammy-nominated four-piece put on a sonic and visual spectacle, covering a massive setlist over more than two hours and sampling a bit from all their studio albums and EPs, including all 13 songs from their latest release, 2011's "Odd Soul." Aided by tons of frantic, colo

Vacaville natives Papa Roach certainly know how to make an entrance. Friday night at Ace of Spades opening bands Track Fighter and Will Haven had just finished their sets. As Queens of the Stone Age's "No One Knows" played on the PA during the set change before Papa Roach came out, something on stage (a light?) blew with a loud pop, giving off small plumes of smoke and triggering the fire alarm. Cue the firefighters walking through the sold-out crowd a few minutes later, but there was no indication that it was anything more than a precaution. Thankfully it turned out to be a non-issue. The show went on as planned, and guy-linered frontman Jacoby Shaddix and company came out to much love

The extensive gear set up inside Harlow's Monday night foreshadowed a serious rock show taking place for the gathered crowd of 200.  Drum kit and amp stacks on the stage covered in black cloth, two extra soundboards at the back of the house and side-stage, multiple guitar road cases – this band was here for here for some in-your-face rock. In a performance promoting its new record “The Trouble with Angels,” Filter returned to the "Short Bus”-era formula that worked so well the first time around in the mid-’90s and gave fans the hard-charging riffs they expected to hear from the former alt-rock chart toppers. Taking the stage dressed as the Unabomber, the former Nine Inch Nails guitarist

Jackson Road, an indie alt-rock band that originated in Sacramento, has taken a leap of faith. Their sophomore album, 'Take Flight,' was released late this year amidst the bandmates' sprawling personal ventures. You may even question whether divinity had a hand in the matter when you consider that the album took shape while Lead guitarist Ted Weldon began a bold and ambitious new series of artwork, drummer Christian Peters embarked to Southern California to begin an intensive music study, and Singer/Guitarist Nate Weldon re-teamed with the Tahoe Hotshots - an elite group of wilderness firefighters. While many of the songs on 'Take Flight' do reflect the feel and rhythm of the bands' first

A week ago, I fell in love with new music for the first time since I stole my brother’s worn copy of Led Zeppelin’s Song Remains the Same album. I was fourteen and was smitten. Recently, a friend who road manages (I love his life), texted me, said he’d be in town with a new project at Marilyn’s on K Street, said he’d put me on the list—Tracy plus one. Normally, I avoid club bands I’ve never heard of, because they’re a dime a dozen and the best you can hope for is good in a sea of mediocre. But my LA pal is cool and has good taste, so I said why not. I wasn’t there five minutes, settling into a cush-backed chair, sipping refreshing water with bubbles, when they began to wail, and I felt tha