Show In Review: San Diego Takes Over The Boxx

by Annie · December 4, 2019

Pre-Show Shenanigans

I wouldn’t count sleeping most of the day and watching Netflix for the other half of it as shenanigans but that’s what I did before getting ready for this bad boy.

The Venue

The Boxx is off East Harris Ave and North Nellis in a strip shopping center. The venue looks night and day compared to the last time I was here. The Couches that were previously by the stage for the show I attended back and March had been replaced with bar height tables and chairs to seat more people with a view of the stage equal to that of someone standing as to not detract from the experience. The stage now had better lighting and space complete with mic stands. And the staff were all extremely friendly and helpful. Drinks were quick and cheap to come by and you were able to go in and out of the venue with ease.

They now had a kitchen called “The Pit” where steak sandwiches with chimichurri sauce could be ordered for $7.00 during the show. And might I say mine was pretty spectacular and went perfect with my Whiskey and Coke.

This venue is expanding it’s show hosting portfolio to include more metal shows when the opportunities present themselves. For the most part they host Rap and Hip Hop shows and the occasional comedy night. It is nice to see the come out of their comfort zone to try to dip their feet into a watering hole of a different nature.

The Show

This $10 night of entertainment was brought in by Poison the Weak Productions run by Alex Garcia out of San Diego, CA who also happens to be the Vocalist for End Thy Species and former vocalist of Know The Ending . He brought out some great talent from San Diego to share with the Vegas masses.

First band up was Kalani a local instrumental project fronted by Kalani Jones. Despite the major feedback I was getting at the front of the crowd it was less of a punch to my ears the further back I went towards the merch tables. If it was turned down a tad it would have been a slightly more enjoyable experience that I could appreciate more that being said there is some clear talent here. Stage presence was put on the back burner to focus more on execution of their instruments. I would have liked to see some smiles, more movement, just a little bit more to go off of to keep me engaged and make me a fan of the artist and not just the artistry.

Vetivs on 2nd had a comical take on sound issues as their first song was basically all drums or at least that was all you could hear and then we got guitar but no bass. Overall their set up is pretty fucking neat. They had game play on a projector for each game that the songs corresponded with to add extra depth to their performance. It was pretty cool. Chris was joined on stage by the drummer and bassist from fellow local band Omniversa. All and all after the sound issues were fixed it was a pretty epic set for melodic death metal fans and gamers alike.

There set list contained Super Mario 3 – Airship Theme, Street Fighter 2 – Guile’s Theme, Kingdom Hearts – Hollow Bastion, Zelda Ocarina of Time Medley, Final Fantasy XV – Hellfire and Pokémon Gold/Silver – Battle Champion .

They have 2 bit shows coming up in early 2020. February 22nd they will be at the Hard rock for a new Video Game/ Cosplay event that will be held with Ghost LV. Following that they will be playing at VGM Con March 608 in Minnesota.

Defy The Tyrants with their new vocalist Bill Sanders came on next. Their first song the house music was still playing in the background but they let the sound guy know and then they just had to fiddle with the drum kit here and there during the set. Bill did a great job of engaging those in the audience while body banging in between his delivery on the mic. Hopping off the stage and even letting Nox part of the ITPWA team and guitars and vox for Draugr growl with him. The exchange was fun to watch (and get video of). One of these lovely bromantic exchanges occurred during their 2nd to last song in its live debut “Red”. They expect to have this song recorded and released to the masses for all their streaming pleasure come early 2020.

In addition to their new song’s debut they also did a cover of Sic by Slipknot as well as Thrones, Salvation In Ruin, By My Hands and Negation of their EP release Asylum from earlier this year.

Facebook Live Footage: https://www.facebook.com/IntoThePitWAnnie/videos/465503024087652/ & https://www.facebook.com/IntoThePitWAnnie/videos/1189176764606239/

The owner and operator of the bar, John Nelson, had to leave abruptly during the Defy The Tyrants set to attend to a family emergency and we hope that everything ended up being okay.

Mynas of course never disappoints …although their vocals could have been turned up and Mark’s mic could have not fallen in a bucket of ice …despite all that it was still pleasant to experience live so short a time after their show with In Flames.The vocals are a plus but the music behind the voices is what has me hooked

Once again playing songs off their latest album released earlier this year. Raged out on stage to their masterfully written songs off their 2019 LP drop Dead to the Unknown with A Time to Fall, Tearing Down the Clouds, Worse for Wear , Tyrant , Emptiness In Me, Into Silence and Until I Go and brought back some older material with

Facebook Live Footage: https://www.facebook.com/IntoThePitWAnnie/videos/734146520426388/

Warpath closed out the night. This is an all Native American metal band I had the opportunity to see play at The Merrow in San Diego, CA a few months back. Their drummer had another gig he had to run to so unfortunately there wasn’t much for introductions that time around. The members hail from the Santa Ysabel & Barona Indian Reservations and bring the some aspects of their culture on stage with them. This really helps them stand out and gives them a unique edge as artists, not in the sense of a gimmick but as part of their identity. At the end of the day if you stripped away the war paint and beaded garb you would still have 4 dudes that know how to tear up a stage.

They released as self titled EP “Warpath” earlier in the year. During their set they played it through its entirety. While all the numbers are great I especially enjoy No Mercy and Leech. They also included a cover of Sober by Tool as well as Pantera’s Domination where Bassist Danny Trujillo and Vocalist Chance Perez lept off stage and Drummer Dean Osuna Stared down the crowd while pointing his drum sticks at us much like Vinnie Paul would have done. And lets not forget Harrison Whitecloud who adorns his face with a white hand print for war paint. He shreds away providing backup vocals while whipping his long locks around. It was a great way to close out the show.

Their next live show is December 12th with Feed The Vulture, Osmium and Know The Ending at The Merrow in SD thanks to Rising Lotus Promotions & King Batt Entertainment if you are in the Southern California Area and want your live music fix go check them out.

Facebook Live Footage: https://www.facebook.com/IntoThePitWAnnie/videos/969977226699245/

The Headbang-Over

After the show came to a close Warpath’s drummer Dean gave me a set of his sticks and even signed them before I proceeded to say my long goodbyes to my former Georgia Metal Alliance International brothers and make the drive home to seek the comfort of my bed.

In the morning after some sleeping in We made our way to Ely’s for some breakfast followed by ice cream from La Flor de Michoacan Ice Cream Shop in the same parking lot. I’ve been in this city 7 years and still am discovering little spots that bring me joy like these.