You can’t go wrong with Butch Walker, you really can’t.  I don’t think I’ve had as much fun at a concert as I did last night when Butch brought his band of Black Widows out for a night of wreaking his usual havoc on Los Angeles.  We’re talking Butch climbing to the edge of the stage and threatening to dish out his adrenaline on a guy that happened to deliver a not so nice F bomb during a heartfelt verse, Pink dazzling as an accomplice to Here Comes The Heartache, a stage full of fun mini lights, a drummer in a police hat, the bass player laying it down while simultaneously playing a tambourine attached to his foot…it was like a trip to Vegas, minus the next day hangover.

The show unfolded with a shorter-haired version of Butch, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, on guitar and bonding with his audience over Closer to the Truth and Further From the Sky.  From there, Butch asked the crowd for a big “California scream” and acknowledged the audience while explaining that: “LA’s full of good people.  We get a bad wrap sometimes because of Kim Kardashian.  There is not enough bottle service to bring her to the shows.”  From there, the band went into fan favorites like Uncomfortably Numb, Laid, Joan, Ships in a Bottle, Cigarette Lighter Love Song, Ponce De Leon, The 3 Kids in Brooklyn, as well as selections from the new album titled, I Liked You Better When You Had no Heart.

The new album is a punchy follow-up to Sycamore Meadows, and is yet another testament of Butch Walker’s ability to deliver honest-to-goodness lyrics and take you on a journey through his musical mind.  The boys covered quite a bit of the new tracks on Monday, charging through catchy titles like Pretty Melody, Canadian Ten, Trash Day, She Likes Hair Bands, and Temporary Title.  Butch made sure to thank those that had already picked up the album and looking thru the moving lips of the crowd containing pierced lipped rockers, Hollywood elite, and baseball caps, it appeared that most attendees already had a copy in their car.

It’s refreshing to see musicians that ooze with passion when performing, that don’t recite the same rehearsed lines night after night to crowd after crowd, who break 3 strings on their guitar mid-song and keep right on playing, and who can laugh at themselves on stage.  At one point, Butch took a shot of vodka straight from a bottle thanks to Matt his “alcohol tech.”  Several minutes later, technical difficulties spurred during She Likes Hair Bands as Butch stopped the song and said, “I just did that in the wrong key. You’re fired Matt. “ Then he pretended to be sending a text message and said: “Man, Butch is really sucking.”

Talk about a group of talented musicians.  All the instrument swapping on stage made you feel like you were at a White Elephant Party.  In addition to guitar after guitar, there were keyboards, maracas, back up vocalists, mandolins, even an appearance by a horn, trumpet, and sax player trio from The Jimmy Kimmel Show.  The band ended with a sassy cover of Rich Girl, as I ducked out prematurely to beat the crowd.  Exiting The El Ray, several camera flashes sparked and I realized I had been part of a paparazzi test shot.  Never a dull moment at a Butch Walker show.

Words by Nicole Pajer