Cockpit formed in Hollywood, California, coming together as an all-female hard rock outfit under the direction of drummer Rachael Rine. Cockpit formed in 2003 and hail from Hollywood, California when drummer Rachael Rine decided to form an all female hard rock band. Cockpit was originally conceived as a cover band, as Rine felt this would be a good way to help secure a line up that would still prove to be a rotating door with close to twenty different members before their reign ended in 2010. By the time the group settled into its most recognized configuration, Cockpit had solidified permanently as a band in 2004, with a lineup of Linda Lou on vocals and guitar, drummer Rachael Rine, Terri Kiing on bass and Alicia Blü on lead guitar , giving the band the classic hard rock quartet shape that would define its identity throughout its run.
The band built its reputation less through studio output and more through the stage, cultivating a devoted following on the Los Angeles club circuit. The band itself was highly regarded for their high energy guitar laden rock, and even with only one EP to their name, they became known for their live shows. That breakthrough recording finally arrived several years into the band's existence when after years of concerts and rehearsals, they presented in 2008 the EP "Mission To Rock," a demonstration of heavy rock with quality. Critics took note of the release as well, with music outlets covering the EP upon its arrival that summer. The stable, hard-touring lineup of Lou, Rine, Kiing and Blü became something of a fixture on the rock and metal scene, with the band frequently classified alongside other Rock, Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, and Female Fronted Metal acts of the era.
Over the course of its active years, Cockpit carved out a reliable presence on stages across California and beyond, amassing dozens of live dates. Cockpit has had 42 concerts documented across its touring history. The band's history of shifting personnel around its core rhythm section gave it a reputation as a launching pad and proving ground for musicians passing through the LA rock underground, even as the four members most associated with its sound, Lou, Rine, Kiing, and Blü, carried the "Cockpit" name through its most productive and visible stretch following the 2004 lineup solidification.
By 2010, the band's run had reached its natural conclusion. In 2010 the band decided to call it a day, and they all moved on to other things. Despite the relatively brief active period and a discography limited largely to the one EP, Cockpit left behind a footprint as a hard-charging, guitar-driven live act that embodied the grittier, female-fronted corner of the mid-2000s Los Angeles hard rock scene, remembered by fans and archivists of that era's club circuit for the energy of its performances more than for chart success or mainstream breakthrough.
It is that same live energy that made its way into Wayne Dennon's lens. Wayne photographed Cockpit at a single show in 2008, right around the time the band's "Mission to Rock" EP was making the rounds, capturing a snapshot of the group at the height of their club-circuit momentum. Those images, 20 photographs in total, remain part of the waynedennon.com archive today, and they have drawn 16,189 views from visitors exploring the site's tribute to Wayne's concert photography, a small but enduring record of a band that lived for the stage.
