erhaps best known for the Angel theme song and their guest appearance on Buffy, Darling Violetta has become a well-known name among Buffy and Angel fans. Having played at such events as the Buffy Posting Board Party, DV has established a solid fan base from the West Coast, all the way to Europe. However, they have been noticeably absent from the live scene for quite a while. On July 17th DV made their triumphant return to the stage at Los Angeles' famous club The Gig on Melrose Avenue. CityofAngel.com was there to witness the event and snag some comments from the band about the show and their new album.
WHEN GIGS UNITE
Jymm, Cami, and Gerri front the stage and get things rawkin'
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The Gig, located in Melrose, is known for hosting the best of the Los Angeles area talent. Seven nights a week it showcases bands of various styles, proving to be one of the liveliest clubs in the area. While small on the inside, The Gig offers a quaint, lounge like atmosphere. Decorated with chairs and couches, fans can get some drinks at the bar and relax while listening to the bands. However, there is a central dance area for anyone feeling the urge to party a bit harder. The crowd on the 17th was littered with a mixture of people, from punk rockers, to the more casual clubber. At around 8:30 the first band, a local punk band called The B-Flix, took the stage. They combined hard power chords with harmonious vocals, producing a unique and entertaining sound. A solid set, both their loyal fans and newcomers enjoyed their act. Afterwards, while DV was setting up, a DJ changed the tone with some old school hip-hop beats including EPMD, L.L. Cool J, and Grandmaster Flash.
A little after 9:30 the crowd, which contained many of the B-Flix's fans, became anxious to hear Darling Violetta. Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the stage became illuminated. Faint music could be heard from behind the massive red curtains. Then they lifted the curtains and DV immediately rocked the crowd with an edit of the theme from "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." With multi-colored strobe and spotlights, the mood was intense and drew a huge reaction from the crowd. After thanking a fan that came all the way from Europe, they went into their next song "Candy Jones" from their new album Parlour. Followed by "Cure," "A Smaller God," and "Jessamine," the entire band was performing at their best. Cellist Gerri Sutyak drew audiences in with her strong yet graceful playing while bassist Michael Renninger provided staccato, rhythmic notes. The core trio, guitarist Jymm Thomas, drummer Steve McManus, and lead vocalist Cami Elen, continued to captivate the audience with more music from the new album including "Star Shoes," and "Beautiful." Steve provided precision beats while Jymm secured DV's classic hard, but not too hard, guitar sound. His solo's remained clear and impressive, even when going up to ridiculously high notes. Finally Cami, in her flowing skirt and scarf, mesmerized everyone with her astounding voice and gypsy-like melodic dance moves. The audience was literally glued to the stage until DV finished their last piece, "Second Skin."
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"The title sums up the feel of the record. It's like you're hanging out in someone's entertaining room in the old, old days; their 'parlour' if you would." ~ Jymm
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Treated to a well-deserved applause, DV thanked the audience and set up a small shop to sell their new album and T-shirts. Jymm hopped off stage to generously mingle with the new fans and pass along the DV word. Afterwards CoA was able to briefly pull aside Jymm and Cami to get a few comments. Both were extremely pleased with the outcome of the show. "The show was really cool and went pretty rocking," Jymm said. "I thought it went really good because we had a lot of new people out come to see us for the first time." Cami agreed with Jymm's enthusiasm, "I thought the show went great. Although, it was rather hot," she laughed. "Unbelievably hot. I'm a southern Californian native but it's been sweltering. But I thought the show was great." Despite the heat, Cami was very pleased with the performance, "We had a lot of energy, the songs sounded great, and the crowd was great. We had a lot of people here that I don't think knew us. But I think we made a lot of converts which is good." Jymm was also excited to obtain new fans, "It's great just getting out there, playing a whole bunch, and turning people on to Darling Violetta because there's people that like Angel that don't know who we are!"
Gerri Sutyak lays down an incomparable bass ambiance
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Darling Violetta's set was comprised of almost all songs from their new album Parlour, which has been the reason for their long hiatus, "We're getting back on the scene. We've been recording the record for the last, about, two years," Jymm said. Extremely proud of the album, both Jymm and Cami were excited to discuss it, "Parlour is our third record and our first full length. It just came out a couple of months ago. We're most proud of this CD so far. It kind of shows the growth in the band if you listen to the last couple of records," Cami said. Perhaps their most intricate album, both Cami and Jymm found it difficult to describe the general feel of it, "In Parlour you kind of follow journey. There's different characters in the different songs. It's kind of a concept album but it didn't start out that way," Cami remarked. Jymm also gave a unique description about the tone of the album, "It's really cool. The title sums up the feel of the record. It's like you're hanging out in someone's entertaining room in the old, old days; their 'parlour' if you would. Just like sipping some cognac and listening to some music, just chilling out with some good friends. I really like the flow of it."
Constantly drawing in new fans, Darling Violetta' popularity is rapidly increasing. People looking to catch DV in the near future are in luck. In a change of pace, on Saturday August 9th DV will be playing an acoustic show at Hollywood Boulevard's The Knitting Factory in the Alterknit lounge, in Hollywood. It is an all-ages show and tickets can be bought ahead of time or at the door. With their new full-length album out and a return to the live scene, Darling Violetta is undoubtedly back in the spotlight.
Written by CoA Staff Writer, Jeff Ritchie
CityofAngel.com would like to Rawkingly Thank Darling Violetta, especially Jymm and Cami, for sharing their time and generously giving us exclusive comments to share with the fans!
CoA would also like to Thank John Campbell for the screen captures from the video of the show.
Visit the Official Darling Violetta Website at DarlingVioletta.com
If you have any comments for CityofAngel.com regarding this 'Happenings' feature, we would love to hear from you. Just email us at: comments@CityofAngel.com
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