Review: Hot Load's Zebulon Night Has This Reviewer / Photographer Experiencing Flashbacks

I love the music residency. Pre-2020, I used to rotate between the Bootleg Theater, The Hi Hat, Silverlake Lounge, The Echo, and The Satellite on Monday nights. It was my must go out music night of the week. Unfortunately, music residencies aren't as ubiquitous as they used to be, but one can still find them going on around town. 

Hot Load at Zebulon

For the month of January, Zebulon hosted the Hot Load residency. I managed to make it out to the final night of the residency. It was a set of drunken craziest led by front man Matthew Trejo. Okay, now honestly, I'm not sure he was all that drunk even though he was constantly being given beer cans from the audience. Fans / friends handed him beer cans throughout the set, he'd drink up and then spew it all over the venue floor. It seemed that most of the beer was spewed versus consumed. Performing a significant portion of the set bare-chested, Trejo and band performed punk songs that were short in nature and turned the venue floor into one large circle pit.

Hot Load Fans at Zebulon

I had immediate flashbacks to fellow Los Angeles band Pu$$y-Cow. Now lead singer Joe Dana of Pu$$y-Cow doesn't spew out beer into the audience, but he does take rolled paper streamers and sends the streamers flying through the crowd. By the end of the sets, paper streamers are all over the venue floor, hanging from ceiling lights (or anything else hanging from the ceiling), and even clinging to the venue walls. Both Trejo and Dana love to entertain the crowd while showing off a whole lot of skin (Trejo a touch more than Dana). 

The Killing Floors at Zebulon

This night really did cause me some additional pleasant flashbacks. Opening the night was The Killing Floors, which has a 60s pop / rock sound that had me immediately thinking about another Los Angeles based band called The New Fidelity.  As a note, The New Fidelity ended their run in 2012 (that kind of gives an indication of how long I've been hanging out in the Los Angeles music scene for). Both bands let the organ take center stage with the pop / rock beats. Joel Giron on organ had his fingers flying across the keys while his feet danced the stage floor. Lead singer Jorge Martinez has the throwback vocals to blend seamlessly with their 60s sound. I loved how the bassist spent most of the night playing at a 15 degree angle. 

The Killing Floors at Zebulon

Oog Bogo was up next. This band had the buzzing electric guitar play as the bass drum kept the pace. There were punctuating vocals that hit the tender notes when needed. When the guitar play went with the heavy metal notes, it got people bouncing. To end the set, the drummer slapped his kit to the stage floor. 

Oog Bogo at Zebulon

Hey, this article is about flashbacks and I got some hints of Los Angeles band The Letter Openers in Oog Bogo. Back in May 2024, I did a US Rocker review of their Go With The Atmosphere album release party (that you can read here).

SWEAT also played the night. I actually wrote a specific blog post on that band that you can read here. 

Here's a little wink wink for those in the know: Pu$$y-Cow, The New Fidelity, and The Letter Openers all have something in common. Way back when, they all played together in a DIY scene called Kiss or Kill. So yes, this night at Zebulon had me flashbacking in a serious way.

Oog Bogo at Zebulon