The Los Angeles-based rockers made the short jaunt up to Santa Barbara’s Velvet Jones for a slot opening for Sweethead last Thursday night. So why is this article titled after the opening act instead of the evenings headlining entertainment? Because I’m a snob, and Nico Vega just sounded way better. No offense to Troy Van Leeuwen (of Queens of the Stone Age fame) and his side project, but Sweethead just did not bring the same level of enthusiasm to the stage as the members of Nico Vega. I think the audience would agree with me, because the crowd actually peaked in numbers during the energetic opening set. The key to Nico Vega’s contagious excitement is lead singer and sultry front woman Aja Volkman. It wasn’t a huge crowd that night, but I would venture a guess that everyone in the audience was there to see her in action. It was funny to watch a group of young girls adjacent to me jumping up and down yelling every single word to every single song, only for me to look over and see a few 50-year-old men doing the exact same thing. I had to laugh, but I was the only one that was distracted and not totally caught in the moment, being sucked into the spell of Nico Vega.

This was one of those amazing shows that inspired me to do my research in reverse. I knew absolutely nothing about Nico Vega before I walked into the venue (except that my girlfriend liked a few of their songs), I didn’t have a decent camera, and I was in the mood for stiff drinks. None of this would normally equate to an act of journalism, but as soon as they played their first song I was snapping shots with my iPhone and trying to remember every song name that I could so that I could write something about it. It was too captivating not to. Vocalist Aja Volkman took a half-empty room and filled it to the brim with her energetic vocals and fierce rock-n-roll presence. She made it her task to put every single person in the audience was under her spell, locking eyes with fans in a fierce, unblinking gaze and pointing at them while belting out lyrics with her amazing vocal range. Her lyrics and vocal style have a retro rock/soul sound to them, which gives the music a slight tinge of nostalgia, but the fast guitar and hard drums keep it sounding fresh and new. There is a fantastic energy between Volkman, guitarist Rich Koehler, and drummer Dan Epand. The two fellas of the band try to keep their focus on their instruments while Volkman does her best to distract them, dancing around them like a succubus and occasionally banging on the drums herself. Their aggressive style works well for them, and it was epitomized in their live performances of “Gravity” “Burn Burn” and “Beast.” The crowd also served as guinea pigs for their new song “So So Fresh,” which was so so good. Volkman warned the crowd before that it was only their second time performing the song live, but there were no kinks left to work out and it sounded like some of the better rock music I’ve heard live in awhile. In fact it sounded just like this:

 

As their show grew to a close, the crowd began dissipating and it was time for me to get a slice of pepperoni pizza and another pint of Guinness. I could tell that there wasn’t a disappointed soul in the venue, except maybe the next band when they saw that people were starting to leave. Whether it was the group of young girls bouncing around and singing along, or the 50-year-old man screaming “Aja” in between songs and playing an extremely awkward air guitar, people loved it. I guess there are two kinds of people in this world; people who like Nico Vega and people that haven’t heard them yet. Try to avoid being part of the latter and check out their MySpace to hear more of their stuff and check out their tour schedule.

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