Lightning Bolt: The Show That Wasn't- Wednesday April 11, 2007

It's so rare that LA has a band from my hometown playing here, or rather, it's rare that there's a band from my hometown that I care about who is playing here. Last night in Los Angeles, Lightning Bolt- hailing from Providence, RI played a secret show,unfortunately it was so secret that it turned out NOT to be at Pehrspace, or the Smell, but rather a warehouse on Alameda and 6th which I cannot place.

Boo. Last night ended up turning into reminscing adolescence as five of us parked it on a couch outside Pehrspace drinking warm PBRs and listening to the shows going on inside- hoping upon hope that Lightning Bolt would show up and play next (well, I think me and one other guy were hoping to catch them as I believe we may have dragged people along just to force them to watch). The suck part being that NO ONE could confirm or deny said show... people were taking the "secret" part a bit too seriously.

HOWEVER- it was finally leaked out that tonight, the 12th, they are playing the Smell. Unless someone was trying to be deceptive, again, to which I will be very, very pissy about if I show up downtown and wait and get yelled at by a homeless guy who wants my shoes or wants me to pay him because he made sure no one stole my tires. Fingers....are...crossed.

GREAT Bodies of Water (like great balls of fire...nevermind...) @ Pehrspace March 30, 2007

Bodies of Water, again? Yes. By way of logic, BoW are from Los Angeles, they play here... a lot and they are friends of friends of mine, so I have a tendency to catch them on a monthly basis, oh- and they are fun to watch and you can clap your hands with the music and not feel like a dork, promise.

The other reason for this post is to talk about the space they performed at, Pehrspace. I was told by one of the incredibly nice volunteers (whom I'm pretty sure was Alice from Eagle and Talon) there that the place is an art gallery, a performance space, cheap, and that they run a record label out of there as well, very multifaceted type of thing, the kind of space I wish I could make therefore I'm jealous as hell of it. It's reminiscent of the Smell with it's all ages access but it has plenty of parking and the neighborhood is not so scary (the location, albeit hard to find, is in a strip mall just south of Echo Park hidden by a palm tree and its neighbor is a strip mall "church" which I find amusing because at 10pm that night I could have gotten my feet washed...no joke).

Space inside, once everyone starts to show up, is a bit cramped, and it got HOT in there. God knows what existed in that space before hand, the white paneled drop ceiling with fluorescent lights are still present, but thankfully they don't turn them on and instead opt to use colored accent lights sporadically placed and even use tea lights (possibly a fire hazard, but pretty nonetheless). Walls were covered with art from whatever show was going on at the time, so your eyes never got bored if they happened to drift off while sitting in what seems to be plastic bus station seats. I rarely use the term "cozy" to describe music venues but in this case it fits nicely.

Bodies of Water did a short set, they were a 5 piece this time (last time I saw them there were 8, although the core of the musicians are 4) with their second percussionist. They played These Are the Eyes, We Are Coexistors, Friends, Doves Circle the Sky....and maybe another one, but I forget. I have yet to be disappointed at one of their shows, and tonight they were brimming full of energy as always. Whoever said gospel rock should stay in churches deep, deep in the south is wrong, dead wrong. (Oh, and BoW were not the only bands playing, Eagle and Talon played as well as Bark Bark Bark, however my ride home was tired so we didn't stay. Hoping to catch Eagle and Talon at some point.)