Comparing the size of the audience between the Nico Vega set and the Soundtrack of Our Lives set is act of futility, as it seems like a bus brought in an entirely different crowd for the latter half of the night. Don’t get me wrong, there were booth shorts and soul patches in the crowd all throughout, but it was the diehards who threw themselves at the mercy of whoever was up on stage.

Right before Nico Vega (the best kept L.A. secret band, because really, they should be bigger by now) there was electricity in the air, the crowd responding to the soundcheck like a school of sharks getting a drop of blood. People wanted to dance the night away, but just before the curtain rose, two older men in their 50s sauntered up to the front, both sporting leather jackets, both trading ‘dudes’ and ‘bros’ and lingo suited for a narc. But when Aja and company took to stage, it was a frenzy, beer was spilled (my apologies to that one lady who I bumped into), the too-cool-for-school L.A. crowd actually moved. Aja (pronounced Ah-shia), mascot for the raging machine known as Nico Vega, has a booming voice that could start avalanches, Rich treats his guitar like a bass, like a woman, like a multi-tool and Dan leaps from his drum set, the beat always keeping on track. Yeah yeah, lots of buzz words for this band, but did they keep the promise to rock the sox off? Yes and oh yes. There are the familiar diddys, like “Beast” and “Gravity” which boldly vibrate the filling in people’s mouths.

Nico Vega performed at the El Rey on 02/26/10.