The first band to hit the Viper Room’s stage was the ass-kicking Deconstruct. (Not to be confused with the short-lived Eric Avery / Dave Navarro side project Deconstruction) After seeing this band, I’ve decided that I’ll be going to the jewelry district this weekend. I intend to purchase a nice, fat, prong-mounted rock to keep in my pocket for the next time I see someone like Deconstruct’s bassist, Venessa. I mean, think about it… if you love hard rock, I mean really fuckin’ love it, then what more do you need in life besides a hot rockstar wife? Seriously -- kids, retirement, life-threatening diseases – all that shit’ll work itself out later. It requires a certain je ne sais quoi to wear faux-diamond studded, bellbottomed hiphuggers, glitter and a silver Mardi Gras-style harlequin mask and still pound out on the bass. Why am I commenting on her wardrobe decisions? C’mon, it’s not like she was wearing a navy sweater-vest and overalls. She’s an adult of sound mind and body and she knew what she was doing. Deconstruct balances out metal with hard rock a la Disturbed or Velvet Revolver, riding the fence out of choice rather than for lack of talent. Behind all the black clothes, eyeliner and hair, it was nice to see that there was some bluesy and melodic substance behind the imagery. By the way, in addition to working with a loud Gibson 6-string, guitarist Joe also practices law, but shhhhh… don’t tell anyone. Maybe he can annul my marriage to Venessa if it doesn’t work out.

I was turned on to Drip Licorice last year purely by chance, while clicking through a Pissing Razors website. Their former singer Jason, apparently tired of screaming out the lyrics to titan-heavy “Forktongue,” needed a change. Despite my keen appreciation of brutal metal, I very much dig the offbeat yet heavy Drip Licorice. They’re able to move freely in and out of several genres without stagnating in any one: emotional without the emo, hard rock without the hesher, psychedelia without the directionless haze. They projected some vague images against the wall throughout their set, which very much enhanced rather than detracted from their performance. If you’re into Tool or A Perfect Circle, definitely give Drip Licorice a listen. Incidentally, they’re the nicest bunch o’ guys in the world as well – all approachable and well-spoken.

Next to take the stage was BlueRoot -- the first of two bands from DoughMain Records to finish the evening (the other being Pensativa). The five members of BlueRoot delivered consistently thick, uptempo and upbeat grooves, akin to Sum 41 -- the kind of music you can’t help but bounce your head to and smile (and perhaps even pogo, had it not been for the Viper Room’s imposed coolness). Their beat remained steady without becoming predictable; their sound was bar-friendly without sounding like a “bar band,” their energy was optimism without attitude. This same optimism enabled their bassist to play on undeterred, despite breaking a string straight out of the gate.

The evening concluded with Pensativa’s blending of hip-hop, jazz and funk, similar at times to NYC-based Candiria. Not as simplistic as Sublime and not as tranquilizing as trip-hop, this caucasian conglomerate is talented, pure and simple -- no frontin’. These guys were just doin’ their thang for the better part of an hour. Their loose-panted bassist kept his eyes closed, hypnotically stepping-in-place as his fingers slid up and down his fretboard. Their keyboardist contorted his face as he put feeling into his backing vocals. Midway through the set, their beanie-hatted frontman tried out some of his new material on the audience; quickly translating his own scrawlings from a wrinkled sheet of notebook paper. I can only imagine the emotional reward this must produce. How many of us have thought to ourselves at least once, “hey, I could do that!” – especially when the payoff includes a smiling, highheeled Tia Carrere lookalike swaying in the audience.