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Live Review: Prohibition Rose — The Viper Room, Los Angeles

There's nothing more exhilarating than watching a band on the rise.

Prohibition Rose are the best new band to hit the Los Angeles scene in years, and they proved that fact on stage at the Viper Room this past Tuesday night.

Armed with razor sharp guitar riffs from Tanner Bean and Erich Lennig, Prohibition Rose was primed to explode from the first note of their set. Riffs curled and wound around Andy Bonura's propulsive backbeats during a sexy and strangely enchanting "Come Out Racin.'" All of a sudden, the crowd was firmly clenched in the band's collective palm. "Come Out Racin'" burst at the seams with a primal power, but it was only the beginning…

At the center of Prohibition Rose's diabolically delectable sonic tapestry, singer Emily Belgard reigned supreme. On "Vertigo" and "Slippery Slope," her voice enchanted the audience, seesawing vulnerable verses to a torrent of emotions on the choruses. She stirred up a whole cavalcade of feelings with each and every lyric. However, her delivery was just as poetic. Dancing across the stage with a unique elegance, the singer exuded a mystique all her own.

That mystique is equally matched by her band mates. Mia Heldt builds a bass foundation that's impossible to break through, while every groove that Andy creates could ignite even the most tepid crowd. The band debuted one brand new song, "Rock the Boat." The track bled the same sex appeal and passion that all of their other cuts do, and its first live show appearance was just as special as the rest of the show was.

Prohibition's debut EP, To the Wolves, will be available soon, but the band needs to be experienced in the live setting. [Matt Sorum did a hell of a job behind the board producing the EP too] Watching Prohibition Rose close their set with "Retrograde," one thing was clear.

They're climbing their way up, and they'll be on everyone's iPod sooner rather than later.

—Rick Florino
11.12.09

Check out Rick Florino's new novel Dolor available now for FREE here…