AT THE WORLD FAMOUS WHISKY A GO GO WITH A JAM PACKED AUDIENCE ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2024
Growing up in the late 80’s and early 90’s and listening to a lot of different types of music, especially hard rock and heavy metal (not necessarily power/speed metal bands), I’m accustomed to seeing an all male cast in a heavy metal/hard rock band. In fact, I don’t even think I have ever seen an all female hard rock/heavy metal band perform live on any of the stages of the venues on The Sunset Strip during that time. I seriously can’t recall a single heavy metal/rock band I saw back then in these small venues. Granted a lot of these all-male hard rock bands on the Sunset Strip all looked like females all glammed up just like Poison and Motley Crue. So maybe that’s the reason why I never saw any all-female hard rock bands back then at these smaller venues. Ha!
Written by Don Marcelo
Fast forward to today, the music industry has grown tremendously once again with the amount of great hard rock bands emerging in these smaller venues. More importantly ,all-female cast/heavy metal/power metal bands are popping up left and right and not just in this country but every where around the world. Just in the last few years, I have seen and photographed more all-female cast bands (not just hard rock/heavy metal). And it’s about time that the Ladies of Rock and Metal get the accolades and the recognition they deserve. In fact, as a music photographer, I prefer watching, listening, head banging, photographing, and rocking out to the the Ladies of Rock and Metal than their male-counterpart because they are more dynamic, more energetic, more engaging with the crowd, more fun, can sing those high notes a lot better, and the Ladies of Rock and Metal are just more badass on stage than their male-counterpart (of course this is my opinion).
And it was no exception on this night when BURNING WITCHES literally lit the stage on fire with their badass music and stage presence. The music, power and speed metal. The guitars and bass, electrifying. The drums, hard and heavy. And the vocals, pure insanity, pure genius, pure hard rock infused with angelic melody that only one can hear from a female’s voice; BUT PURE METAL to the core…that’s what BURNING WITCHES delivered on this night. They rocked out hard from beginning to the end with non-stop energy and fun full of smiles and engagements with the audience.
This night really was Epic and Fun. Lots of hair twirling and head banging by the ladies all through out the evening. The two queens on guitars, Romana Kalkuhl and Courtney Cox were always on point and in sync with their axe and shredded them like there’s no tomorrow, along with Jeanine Grob, the badass bassist slapping and picking on her bass. Lead vocalist, Laura Guldemond entertained us with her powerful vocals and beautiful smile and explosive shouts. Laura often reached out to the fans with her mic to help her sing some of the chorus (I love it whenever I see the lead vocalist get the audience to participate and sing. Makes the show more fun). At one point, Laura even came down the stage and had some great moments with the fans who helped her sing and shout some lyrics (See some captured moments I got of Laura and some fans in the photo gallery). And we can’t forget the fans’ favorite on this night, Lala Frischknect. I say this because fans would always shout “We love you Lala” or they would chant continuously and shout her name “Lala! Lala! Lala!”
This is the first time I have heard of BURNING WITCHES and the first time seeing them on stage. And most likely it won’t be the last. Thanks to SLR MAGAZINE who told me about BURNING WITCHES and who got me on the list to cover this show. What a great night this was. One word to describe both their music and their stage presence: SPECTACULAR.
In conclusion, I became a fan on this night because of their music and their stage presence. If you love Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Hard Rock music with an all-female line up, then I highly suggest that you check out BURNING WITCHES live shows. In fact, as I write this, BURNING WITCHES is still currently in the middle of their U.S. North America tour. Check out their website for more information on which cities and countries they will be performing next:
https://www.burningwitches.ch
FOLLOW BURNING WITCHES and the members on all their socials for the latest and greatest news about the band and each member. Long Live Rock and Metal!
Photo Gallery of the performance by © Don Marcelo Photography 2024
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