RVNGE

expect something different each time from our live shows. One day we might be playing live with the film composer that produced the record or one day we might just play the songs with no backing tracks at all. No matter what, everyone can always expect us to be crazy.

Did you get to play the Green Jelly Jam Fest at the Royal Vista Club right before the pandemic, and if so, how did the show go, and did you get to meet the band? The Green Jelly Jam Fest was the last show we played before everything shut down! The show was very fun, I had a great time with everyone that played that day. I did get to meet the guys actually! Our guitar player Brandon was in touch with Nathan in Green Jelly and he was the one that ultimately booked us for that show.

What has it been like to play the legendary venues on the Sunset Strip such as The Whisky and The Rainbow? Playing shows on the Sunset Strip has been amazing, it’s truly a surreal experience. Playing The Whisky and The Rainbow have been my favorite because of how at home we feel over at those venues. I love the sound crew so much at The Whisky, they always make sure our sound is correct and I can’t thank them enough for that.

If RVNGE could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why? I would want us to open up for Bring Me The Horizon because I feel like our sound would be great with theirs. Without a doubt that would be a killer show for everyone.

If the music of RVNGE was a donut, what kind would it be and why? If our music was a donut I think it would be a classic Krispy Kreme. Delicious and fluffy, but deadly if you don’t control yourself.

What do you hope the rest of 2021 bring for you, for RVNGE, and for the music world in general? I hope the rest of this year brings new opportunities to the table for both me and the band, and I truly hope the rest of 2021 brings revenue to small venues that are struggling.

Things will always get hard, but you have to keep going, even when you’re at your lowest point. If you really want success, then don’t back down. The world is yours.

Review by Ken Morton

Way before the legacies of Bon Scott and Brian Johnson, the legendary AC/DC started their hard rocking dynasty in 1973 with lead vocalist Dave Evans at the helm. And while the collaboration was relatively short-lived, Evans would go on to have his own brilliant career as a solo artist and within various other bands such as Rabbit and Nitzinger. In 2019, right before the Covid-19 pandemic changed the lives an entire world, Dave Evans and his band went on the Lightning & Thunder Tour, raging across the wilds of South America enrapturing their hard rocking fan base. And now thanks to the folks at the MR Records compound in Australia, this live documentation is now available worldwide. With Dave Evan’s wickedly wonderful performance, his tight as hell band, and the rapturous reaction of the live audience, Lightning & Thunder presents a dazzling display of hard rocking talent. Heavy on the AC/DC, this live recording is a testament that is not to be missed. experience. Dave Evans played at the Whisky on the Sunset Strip in 2019 – here’s hoping we see the former AC/ DC vocalist back on the road again when these pandemic days come to an end. www.melodicrockrecords.com LIT SOUL LIT SOUL MBM Music LLC

Review by Ken Morton

Rob Chevelle and his melodic hard rocking LIT SOUL has been captivating the Los Angeles music scene with their thought-provoking studio recordings and raging live shows since 2009. And now with the unveiling of a Self-Titled album, Chevelle and company are ready to absolutely explode into the stratosphere. With legendary producer Bill Metoyer (Slayer/Armored Saint/Sacred Reich/Fates Warning) at the helm, LIT SOUL has unleashed their most ambitious and fully realized work to date. From the haunting refrains of the instrumental Andromeda merging into the raging You’re Not Well, Chevelle and LIT SOUL mean some serious business here, and the results are absolutely inspirational.

Opening the show with the landmark Can I Sit Next To You Girl, the AC/DC single that featured Dave Evans on lead vocals in that was released in 1973, the historical significance and sheer brilliance of the song presented in this live setting is beyond compare. Next up is a live rendition of a never recorded AC/DC tune called Sunset Strip from their early days, reworked by Dave Evans with an infectious bluesy spirit. Rock and Roll Singer from AC/DC’s High Voltage is another jamming highlight, a song Evans’ introducing saying he sang it years ago with the band and that it was written about him.

In addition to all of the wonderful AC/DC mayhem, other songs featured on Lightning & Thunder include a rousing rendition of the Animals’ classic House Of The Rising Sun and Revenge from his days fronting the John Nitzinger Band. But AC/DC treats also keep on arriving, from the obscure Rocking On The Parlor that was the B-side of the Evan’s era Can I Sit Next To You Girl – as well as a supremely kickass rendition of the classic Highway To Hell. Straight Into The Sun is a groove psychedelic rocker that completely scorches the senses. Dark Crucifix is dynamic and intensive, demonstrating just how imaginative Rob Chevelle is as a songwriter and performer. When I Die presents LIT SOUL very alive and compelling within the realm of an acoustic selection featuring Jewel Steele of Stereo Love on guest vocals as well as Juan Cardenas on flute. Feast On The Fire (American Metal) penetrates the mind and soul with an intriguing darkness. Something From Nothing is wickedly sludgy and lyrical pungent while Wish Upon A Grape is acoustic blues that once again shows how wonderfully sublime the LIT SOUL experience is.

And as an added bonus, Rob Chevelle closes the album with a message to the “rockers, ravers, lovers, sinners, and freedom fighters” of the LIT SOUL family, an eight minute spoken word Credits, where he documents the making of the sixth official LIT SOUL album from Skull Seven Studios in the heart of North Hollywood, California. “I’ve been rocking a long time and I’ve been loving every Advocating liberty in a modern age, LIT SOUL remains minute of it. And I’m gonna live for a thousand years one of the most exciting bands flying under the radar today because…” Evans says in the intro of the final track Only and their Self-Titled album is a truly impassioned endeavor The Good Die Young – an original from his Sinner album well worth seeking out! and a glorious conclusion to the Lightning & Thunder live www.mbmmusicllc.com 62 April/May 2021 HIGHWIRE DAZE