Rain, Beats and Rock and Roll.

You know how you can tell you love music?

When you hit the Sunset Strip on a rainy night in Los Angeles with a broken toe and 3 hours of sleep in your system. Not to mention the fact that you hit more than one club with 3 different types of music.

The amount of eye candy my brain took in tonight has to be lethal in some countries.
Speaking of countries, every band I saw tonight was from a different country!

Pulling up to the Viper Room, I have to admit I was slightly ticked off because the usual $10 parking lot was overfilled and they were charging $20..for the best reason ever, "it's hectic and it's raining tonight" the attendant tells us. Really, Sherlock?? It's Oscar weekend on the Sunset Strip...with strange moisture falling from the sky...no shit it's hectic. This doesn't give you the right to charge double for parking spots you no longer have vacant.

Sadly for him, in the midst of all the chaos, he actually forgot to charge me. So, free parking for us tonight. Win.

With literally seconds to spare, we made it into the darkness of the Viper room to watch Gina and the sexy block. Ya, I changed the name. It's gonna be official...at some point.

Here comes a confession, I was a bit afraid that the last time I saw them, I may have gotten overly excited. I told myself tonight would be a test to see if I'm really that gungho about them, or if it was just a phase.

Well, I not only confirmed my love for them, but I think I may have become a groupie. No thongs thrown on the stage (yet) but I actually danced. I don't dance.
This music purely and simply boils my blood and makes me move. Everything is in such perfect blend. Deaf people would move to the beat of Marc's drums! It's incredible to see the absolute passion and how much he, Todd and Gina submerge themselves in each song. A herd of elephants could walk across the stage and neither one of them would notice. And neither would I. If anyone from the band caught me staring, I apologize greatly.

My point? I don't know how their music manages to make me go bonkers but it does. It's distortion, earth moving drums with a touch if dirty vocals. I'm a sucker for pleasure pain and this seems to do it from the inside. I feel like I'm at a strip club and they are the 3 hottest strippers lap-dancing my ears. And if this makes sense to you, we should definitely hang out more.

I had no clue who was coming on after Gina, nor did I really care. I was outside, getting soaked by the downpour and I was loving it.

A short walk to the Whisky was in my plans. 3 minutes and a full white girl fro later, we were in the Whisky. I hadn't been here in nearly a decade and the last time I was there I was thoroughly wasted. I must say, it's a much nicer venue than I remembered. Much less blurry and much more fun.

We walked in when the Vains of Jenna were setting up. A few go-go dancer asses in my face later they were up and running and holy crap did I not expect what I was about to hear. I've never seen them play, but I've heard a bit of hype about Vains of Jenna.

 These guys have their shit together!! They LOOK like rockstars, they ACT like rockstars, and most importantly...they SOUND like rockstars! I was ridiculously skeptical about hearing them play. Usually when guys have long hair, guy liner, tight black pants, studded belts, and glammed out shirts (if any at all)...they end up sounding like a broke ass, wanna be 80s rock band. Well, I was pleasantly slapped in my face by REAL rock, REAL vocals...and I mean ROCK vocals! Did I mention that every single member (and stand in member) were stupid hot?!

Their front man needs to be detained and handcuffed (and immediately sent to see me). That kid's charisma and smile would break even the coldest of hearts. Anyway, I'm hooked. Its safe to say I'll be back at the Whisky to see Vains of Jenna.


Up next were the boys I came to see. Juke Kartel minus Todd? Must figure out where they've hidden him and why. I miss his golden locks flailing around as he molests his guitar.

With a few technical difficulties (which they handled like pros by simply going a cappella) they killed their usual set and threw in a new song called "Shadow". I'm still obsessed with Throw It Away and Save Me so it's gonna take a while to get me used to new material. Toby refuses to take his shirt off no matter the amount of encouragement I throw at him. One day.

The Whisky also threw in a Juke Kartel signed Gibson guitar at the end of the night. A lucky birthday girl won it with her raffle ticket. Though I was tempted to tackle her and steal it, I went against my impulses, as I'd like to return to the venue in the near future.

At 2am, my eyes, ears and brain were thoroughly overloaded with happiness and goodness. Gina and her sexy block, hot rock boys, sexy Ausies. It was a bit unfair. It was like baby Jesus sprinkled some sexy with that rain that fell upon us tonight. I wondered what other places did since all the pretty people seemed to be on the strip tonight.

I'm still yell-whispering. My ears are ringing. It's my favorite sounds to sleep to.

Good night and thank you Los Angeles for a beautifully perfect rainy night of music.