Review written by Beau Croxton with photography by Merissa Blitz

L.A. WITCH at TV EYE by Merissa Blitz

L.A. WITCH has had quite an iconic new era with their gothic-leaning album DOGGOD, and we have been excited to cover it and watch all the magic unfold. On May 9th, L.A. WITCH played an outstanding set for their second night at TV EYE to a sold-out crowd and Occult is here for the live review- In Concert: L.A. WITCH.

I arrived just as Daiistar was kicking off their set . The band has a killer 80’s/90’s neo-psych sound with similarities to Spacemen 3, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Jesus and The Mary Chain. They sounded great, and they definitely pull from a lot of sounds that mesh well with L.A. WITCH’s early material. They brought out L.A. WITCH’s drummer Ellie English or some percussion on the final tracks. The room started to get hot and immensely packed towards the end of this set, as it was completely sold out.

PLAY WITH FIRE

L.A. WITCH arrived after much anticipation as the sold-out crowd squished their way to the front. Of course, in typical L.A. WITCH fashion, they were all decked-out in the coolest threads; bassist Irita Pai was legit wearing a top made of chain mail. They opened with my very favorite song of theirs, “Dark Horse” from Play With Fire, which set a marvelous tone for an unforgettable set. I spoke with singer/guitarist Sade Sanchez after the show and apparently they haven’t been playing that song much at all (yet) on this tour, so it was a rarity and a special moment for NYC. “Dark Horse” is a knockout; it's a gorgeous, moody and triumphant song that mixes spaghetti-western vibes with the phrygian scale in a luring and grand way. The band launched into “Kiss Me Deep”, which got the crowd moving and “Eyes of Love” took off triumphantly before dissolving into its unique and poetic ruminations.

Sade Sanchez of L.A. WITCH by Merissa Blitz

The entire evening was emboldened by vivid psychedelic visuals provided by Space Octopus. The visuals worked beautifully to uplift the L.A. WITCH set, without detracting at all. The first throwback to their self-titled album was “Drive Your Car”, with its pumping rhythm and sliding bar chords, which was very well received. The scuzzy title track of their new record, “DOGGOD” sounded even better and more beasted-out in live setting, full of fuzz pedal rock-outs and ethereal keys provided by their touring live member, Lauren Andino.

“Lost at Sea” sent the crowd into a trance, and the psychedelic visuals really worked their magic during these slow-burner tracks. L.A. WITCH went on to tear through a trio of Play With Fire tracks, ripping through badass rockers like “Gen Z” and “Sexorexia”, but it was “I Wanna Lose” that got folks rocking the most . After the previous hypnosis of “Lost at Sea”, these tracks were well set up to make a big impression and they sure did.

In a similar fashion, “I Hunt You Prey” brought the crowd into a dark hypnosis before another trio of nice and busier tracks. Irita Pai's fuzzy bass served as a meditative foundation for Sade and the rest of the gang to instrumentally expand “I Hunt You Prey” . The slow burners from DOGGOD bring a great new arc to their set that showcases their ability to excel in many different moods.

Irita Pai of L.A. WITCH by Merissa Blitz

“Icicle” was a highlight of the night; it's just a real tune. The track took off with an energetic burst of new wave, and the crowd was dancing and highly appreciating its speedy strut. “777” came ripping down the doors, riffing madly. This is a personal favorite and it was just as great live, if not better- what an anthem.

When performing, L.A. WITCH managed to keep their poker faces for the vast majority of the show, looking cool and very dedicated to their craft. However, at some point during these three tunes, something happened that made singer Sade and drummer Ellie English get truly silly- they were turning around, smiling and laughing with each other, it was pretty wholesome. They were cheesin’ at each other pretty hard. After all, friendship is important chemistry too!

Ellie English of L.A. WITCH by Merissa Blitz

“Icicle”, “777” and “The Lines” were all a huge peak of the night, as this trio of songs are all popular singles from DOGGOD. As I mentioned in my review, on the track “The Lines”, the instrumentals take off in an intense and show stopping way, especially Sade’s lead guitar. “True Believers” is a bad-ass and empowering song, and it was a perfect choice to follow “The Lines” in the setlist. The tempo and bass are quite similar in these tracks, and “True Believers” extended the high-octane energy of the previous track.

“Baby in Blue Jeans” was a nice choice for a closing track, all gorgeous in its psych-garage Brian Jonestown Massacre-esque glory. The visuals paired beautifully with the slow-mo moment of the song, and bassist Irita Pai expanded the tune with some pretty and melodic bass lines on this particular rendition.

Sade Sanchez of L.A. WITCH by Merissa Blitz

ENCORE

“SOS” was the first encore, a personal favorite of mine from their new record. The song’s outro was perfect in an encore format; the explosive drum fills and crescendo allowed the band to explode, sending the evening into another crescendo, to perfectly set up the final song.

“Starred” from Play With Fire got cooking with its killer break-beat and eventually turned into a total sonic wig-out full of feedback, veering out of control. It essentially doubles down on the off-the-rails type vibe that SOS brought forth before, bringing a chaotic, awesome and heightened conclusion to a very tight set.

It’s really fantastic to have L.A. WITCH back with another great record and performing live again, and we can only hope that their next round of record/tour comes sooner than the 5 year gap between Play with Fire and DOGGOD. L.A. WITCH are a truly killer band and now with three fantastic albums in a row, they are well on their way to modern indie-garage rock royalty.