Those Damn Bandits: RX Bandits at The Fonda Theatre

The RX Bandits came to the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles Saturday July 6 for the second night of their 10^th anniversary of the album The Resignation.  Equal Vision’s Northern Faces came along with them to open.

They came, they saw, and those damn bandits conquered that night.

Walking into the Fonda Theatre by Hollywood Blvd., one could feel how classy the venue was.  Maybe it was the moment they took away my gum for safety purposes, maybe it was the man in the bathroom handing me not one, but two paper towels.  Maybe it was the fact that they had a full bar on every story, or maybe it was the elegance of the stage, general admission, and very comfortable seated admission.  Either way, the stage was set, both literally and figuratively, for a high-energy, jaw dropping night.

When Northern Faces took the stage, the crowd was amped up and ready to hear some music.  They were in for a treat, and although Northern Faces’ songs were not as well known as RXB’s, their edgier-than-Mumford and Sons yet folkier-than-Black Keys sound easily turned a whole new audience into fans that night.  They are a band to look out for; their newest single “Under My Skin” definitely got under the crowd’s skin the way everyone danced and sang along.  They closed with the song “Finding Hope”, where the hook “finding hope is all we know” became the anthem of their set.

Everyone was hyped up off the energy of Northern Faces awaited the return of the legendary RX Bandits by the bar or by the outdoor second story smoking level.  Once the snare drum was being sound checked, the bar and smoking area were both desolate.  The general admission was rowdy and the seated area was too packed to seat everyone.

At that moment the long awaited Rx Bandits started playing.  They seamlessly played all the tracks from The Resignation with literally every single person in the room screaming along at the top of their lungs.  They didn’t stop to let themselves or the audience rest; they really only stopped to say how great it was to be back.  The feeling was inarguably mutual.

They left the stage after playing through all the classics like “Decrescendo” and “Never Slept So Soundly”, but they knew and we knew it wasn’t over.

After about five minutes of relentless chanting and clapping, RXB took the stage yet again to play some of their other songs.  Their energy continued to crescendo, causing the crowd to reciprocate with more playful pushing and soulful singing.  Songs from …And The Battle Begun melted the minds of many with a solid groove by bassist Joseph Troy, bewildering drum-work by Christopher Tsagakis, shredding guitar-work by Matt Embree and Steve Choi, and soaring vocals by Embree.

AND HORNS!  I forgot to mention how unbelievably great it was to hear them with their trombone and saxophone again.  Although these songs were extremely well rehearsed, they had life to them with the horn section adding a certain fullness that was previously lacking when they were no longer in RXB.  Solo sections and improvisation sections were also tastefully integrated and added a new and more organic sound to their songs such as the widespread sing-along “Only For The Night”.  They played one song from Progress, but finished the night with more from their latest album …And The Battle Begun. 

They certainly gave the crowd more than what they were looking for yet left them wanting more, as they always do.  The ending seemed almost bittersweet, as I assume The Resignation Tour might be their last, but then again the tour before this was supposed to be as well.  I’ll keep hoping that there will be more performances from the legendary Bandits, since their albums “can make me better, but only for the night.”

Keep an eye out for RX Bandits Resignation tour as it makes it’s way throughout the US.  See https://www.facebook.com/rxbanditsofficial for details.

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