A strange one this for me – I didn’t know they were in town until I saw a gig list in Classic Rock magazine 12 hours earlier. So bought a ticket and at £14 an absolute steel for a band I’m sure are set for much bigger things.  I decided to go based on their ‘Do Me a Favor’ single and their great band logo!  Apart from that I know jack about these LA boys.  Also I’d never been to the Black Heart either, and as I discovered it’s a proper RnR bar with an upstairs capacity of 170 which sold out. A low ceiling, poor lighting, suspect mixing (drums out did the guitars) and crowd face to face with the band made the evening quite interesting.

The stage is tiny, and with 2 supporting acts – Circus 66 and White Raven Down there was lots of squeezing around the kit. It was good to see the support bands loading/unloading their kit, reminded me of the old days.  White Raven Down looked interesting but pressed for time they only played 5 songs which were a good introduction to this hard rock power trio.  Worth delving deeper.

So it turns out my intuition was right, The Bites look the part, they kick ass, they have top riffs, they have a charismatic lead singer, they are a bit tongue in cheek, they look like they are having the time of their lives – living the dream – they may well be the next big thing in rock n roll.

The band consist of: Singer – Jordan Tyler; Drums – Mark Highlander, Guitars – Dustin Coon, Jono Richer, Bass – Zack Currier.  All accomplished musos on a mission to be the next Motley Crue/Poison/GnR. It’s all about the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll lifestyle!! They are indeed a good time party band with a gratitude to their audience!

So they played their Squeeze LP in full tonight and they attacked every song with attitude and vigor. Given they had very little room on stage they managed well to take centre stage with the twin guitarists vying for attention with Jordan and even the bassist coming out of his tiny corner occasionally. Every song is high octane delivered with maximum pleasure, the raw energy and enthusiasm are commendable.  Jordan has all the hallmarks of a great frontman, tattoos a plenty, swagger, audience interaction/participation, the moves etc. I’d love to see him work a bigger audience.

The engaged audience knew the songs and sung along when requested.  The young girls next to me were loving it and headbanging away to most songs.  An interesting mix of audience to be fair, old rockers to teenagers – so they have appeal to a wide demographic.  You can’t help loving watching them strut their stuff without a smile on your face. So to pigeon hole them it’s a bit of 70s glam, 80’s hair metal/sleaze, and retro rock meddling the present and the past together nicely.  As I didn’t know the songs prior to the gig It’s hard to say what the highlights were – lets just say not a dud number all night.

‘Do Me A Favour’ extended into a 10 minute affair with band introductions and oh no a drum solo 😊!  Now Jordan may be full of bravado but hyping up Mark as the “the greatest RnR drummer of our generation” may be a bit wide of the mark, good as he is!

Setlist (click on link to see YouTube videos)

1. Knockin’ on the Door
2. Squeeze
3. Dirty City
4. Medley – inc. Black Sabbath’s ‘War Pigs’
5. Love Affair
6. Wild Animal – Bad Bad
7. Good Love
8. Cold Clean Lady
9. Heather Leather
10. Do Me A Favor
11. Pretty Boys

At the end of the gig they took the time to chat with the audience, sign stuff and pose for photo’s and were very polite and friendly and engaging in conversation.  I think they would be a good bunch to got out  for a beer, or 8, with.

So to sum up – big riffs, big solos, big attitudes and big ambitions.  A gig bursting with energy throughout which connected with the audience and created a party atmosphere.  Their single ‘Do Me A Favour’ is as catchy ass as anything you’ll hear.  After a very promising start it will be interesting to see if their next LP can continue the solid base they have built.  I think they have a bit of The Darkness about them – lets hope they make it to the next level – routing for you guys!

Marko [9 December 2023]

PS – Thanks for signing the vest and posing for pictures!