Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – The Bones UK duo of Rosie Bones and Carmen Vandenberg hit my radar starting in late 2016 when I caught their set at the Bootleg Theater here in Los Angeles. They were bold and defiant on stage. I remember talking to a local blogger that night who wondered if they could just relocate permanently from the UK to Los Angeles. Those songs that I fell in love with made their way onto the debut, self-titled album, which included the Grammy-nominated song “Pretty Waste.”
Fast forward to the present day: Bones UK played the Greek Theatre in support of the Loaded Greatest Hits Tour with Bush.
Check out Bush review + photos here.
They had their second album, Soft, to support, which came out just a couple days prior. This night also represented the final night of the tour and the band must have been hyped. With five minutes to the 6 p.m. start time, lead guitarist Vandenberg could be seen behind the drawn curtain on stage right, looking eager to start the set. The band’s drummer, Aaron Mathews, was hanging out on stage left, talking with their photographer.
Vandenberg, with right hand casually in her pants pocket, walked towards her guitar. Mathews took his place behind the drum kit. The two band members started their opening rock riff. Vocalist and rhythm guitarist Bones then walked on stage to join the jam session, chewing on her guitar pick. That set the moment for the lead track from their Soft album, “Bikinis.” With twangy opening notes, it is a song that most definitely belongs on Quentin Tarantino next movie soundtrack.
They switched to their debut album for the second song “Choke.” Then, addressing the audience, Bones said, “Hello LA, it’s been awhile.” Yes, it was way too long.
A return to their new album was made with the retro rock song “Won’t Settle.” It is a song that turns Bones’ snarl of a vocal into pure bliss with the lyrics “I won’t settle for anything other than everything.” The band needed a breather and slowed the beat down with “Knee Deep.” The song might be slower than their others, but it didn’t slow them down. Bones put on some showmanship, going down on her knees and bending backwards.
The band ended the set with two songs from their debut album. The mesmerizing “Beautiful is Boring” had the band imploring the audience to accept imperfections. The set closed out with their Grammy nominated song “Pretty Waste.”
In their press release about the new album, Bones has this to say, “It’s everything you loved about the first record, turned up. Keeping things scrappy, raw and real, with enough electronic beats to keep our industrial dance-heads happy and enough heartbreakers to keep our romantics listening.”
Another song from that album that needs mentioning is “Fix.” The band scratches through the song with punctuated vocals that has you wanting to slam your way onto that industrial dance floor.
It should be mentioned that Vandenberg kept busy on this night, playing briefly with the other opening acts: Jerry Cantrell and Candlebox.
Bones setlist: Intro, Bikinis, Choke, Won’t Settle, Knee Deep, Beautiful is Boring, Pretty Waste.
Listen to Bones UK here:
