Chromeo, Chromeo...Where for...: Chromeo and Flosstradamus @ the Echoplex July 26, 2007

Where the hell was everyone last night? Or actually, where were the bands? With a door opening time of 9pm I was kinda expecting nothing to really happen till like, 10:15 or something, not 12:15. Tonight was my first venture beneath the Echo to the "Echoplex". Didn't they use to throw parties down there and just not advertise it? I'm pretty sure they have. The Echoplex, as it was remarked upon by a friend of mine last night, looks like a war-era ballroom turned Hollywood. It's MUCH more expansive than the Echo, but somehow still made me kinda claustrophobic. Perhaps it was the DJs, playing exceptionally bad early 90's hip-hop, a la O.P.P. and Momma Said Knock You Out. OR, the fact that the "smoking patio" was filled to capacity with what a passerby referred to as "Did Cinespace close down or something and all those kids filter here?". OH, yeah.

Way back last year when I saw CSS upstairs with what I guess would still be a "dance" type indie crowd, I don't remember it being so god awful. And they started at a reasonable time. At some point close to midnight I even went up to the soundboard guy and asked him if he had any clue as to when someone was going on. He shrugged and said maybe 15 minutes.

Now, what I heard, and this is completely going off of some random person, was that Flosstradamus were supposed to go on first, but they threw a fit or something about not wanting to go on early. So, I'm guessing they came on at four in the morning.

All I know is that after several whiskeys, and the smell of that many people cramped into such a hot space made Chromeo's performance not as outstanding as I would have liked it to have been. Oh, do not get me wrong, they were fun to watch. Although, it was hilarious to watch hordes of 18 year old girls practically screaming for Dave 1 as he started singing. They were also screaming the lyrics out, to electro-hip hop songs, what? Yes, odd. I tried to dance a little but the crushing heat of the place was too much. Our troop tried to stick it out, but, oof- the smell was a bit much in there. We left towards the end of the Chromeo set, sometime close to one I think. Can anyone confirm that the Echoplex/DJ shows usually start really late? Just for future reference, and the ability to avoid standing in line for 45 minutes in the will call line.

**end rant**

Staring at My Shoes: Adam Franklin @ the Echo July 17, 2007

I admit that once Swervedriver was no more, I never got into Adam Franklin's other projects. However, a couple weeks back I found out he was putting out a solo record in his name and that it was sorta a throw back to the older stuff but really just plain amazingly good. Turned out it was (you can read my review on Little Radio if you'd feel so inclined). So I looked to see if he was touring here to support it, and by chance he was. Cheers all around.

I didn't recognize the other bands on the bill. Although I found out at the last moment that the Black Lips were playing a midnight show. But, I'd seen them before and had to get up early the next morning for work, so... Trying to show up later, we still got there just as the first band (Benni Hemm Hemm I believe) was finishing. It was kinda neat to enter the Echo to a blaring horn section. After hearing them close I wished I'd made the effort to show up a bit earlier, but oh well.

The second band, The Black Watch (almost positive I'm not mixing these two up), made me think to myself, "this is all such a very British night". They just reminded me of a band coming out of the mid-90's Brit Pop scene, but with a more brooding looking. It sounded decent enough but we opted to sit this one outside.

When Adam Franklin hit the stage I was suddenly drawn back into a time warp, and it felt so good. Either it was the whiskey I'd been drinking, or it was the fact that it's been so long since I've been to a show of this type, I dunno, but I was just all warm and happy hearing the music. Franklin creates these wonderful swirling melodies that layer up real nice and make you feel like you're swimming in the music. He played tracks (I believe all of them) from his newest release Bolts of Memory, which I would suggest picking up. Another thought I had while listening is if people still look for make-out music, because this would probably fit pretty well into that category. However, I can't actually remember going out of my way to do that since high school...

Oh, and sorry for the grainy film still photos here. Camera is on the fritz, could not possibly be the photographer. If you want some color shots of Adam, click on over here.

All It Takes is a Little Harp- The Decemberists, Andrew Bird, and Band of Horses @ the Hollywood Bowl July 7, 2007

Sorry about the pun. I thought of it while watching the Decemberists' set and it stuck. They did have a harp playing, along with all the other wonderful instruments that make up the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Tonight was my inaugural night this summer for attending the Bowl, and it did not disappoint in the least.

I'd recommend a box seat if you can when going to the Hollywood Bowl. You get a table, so while you're trying to be all fancy drinking your wine out of clear plastic Solo cups, you can put out a cheese spread and not have it all go in your lap. Pretty sweet. Oh, and the view's not so bad either, well, up until it gets dark it's kinda fuzzy, cause they don't turn the t.v.s on till then so Band of Horses is just a bunch of guys with beards and no other distinguishing characteristics, except perhaps that one guy had a much longer beard than anything else.

All three of the bands tonight I've never seen live before. I've wanted to... it's just that opportunities have come and gone and I always miss the boat. While it was still light out, Band of Horses was up first, and yeah, pretty much every guy up there was all beards and apparently no faces. I was a little wary of their performance going in, I was told they could be spotty, but tonight I really didn't have much to complain about. They had more guys on stage apparently then they usually do, so it was a better sound live, especially for the Bowl, which, unless you're a full-on orchestra, your band tends to sound a little distant with all that space around. I guess my only complaint would be that they tended not to move around much on stage, but I guess playing at such a venue as this would make dancing around kinda odd- unless they're always like that in which case they need to lighten up a bit. Anyways, they played several tunes off "Everything All the Time", including Great Salt Lake, Monsters, and, of course, the Funeral. They played one new tune and a cover, neither of which I can recall, but if you point your mouse to You Set the Scene, you can get a little more info on songs covered.

Next to the stage was Andrew Bird, who, admittedly, I didn't know was more popular than Band of Horses. I while back (like, several years) I was given a copy of The Mysterious Production of Eggs and found it both fascinating and delightful. But then I don't remember hearing anything else by him until recently while watching t.v. there was a hotel commercial with a song of his playing in the background. He put out a new album this year which is supposed to be on everyone's top 10 list so I feel it my duty to check this out. Anyways, Bird and two other guys played however you would have sworn it was a dozen had you not been looking at the stage. They make full use of delays to create some amazing layered songs that seemed insane to me that they were able to do it all and make everything in time. Behind Bird was this quite large double gramophone thing that would twirl like crazy when they would play; it was really hypnotizing and made me a little dizzy when I watched it on the big screens.

I feel like this post is starting to get too long, and I let it sit for enough time for everyone else out there to have written a review, and possible much more comprehensive than this. But, I will say that having an orchestra back the Decemberists was probably one of the smarter things for them to do. However, never having seen them live before this I could be very wrong on that. Regardless, I found the two a perfect match. Highlights for me being that they played a couple tracks off of Picaresque which is hands down my favorite by them, and when Colin Meloy decided to prance about attempting to do an air guitar solo on the crescent wall that surrounds the pit in front of the stage I realized they're much more lighthearted than their 18th century suicide characters portray. One thing I found funny was in listening to the lyrics to "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" and seeing the crowds reaction. Now, I am familiar with the lyrics and their somewhat biting review of the city I live in, but whatever, it's a catchy tune. However, seeing a crowd cheer on the song every time he sung the city's name, I'm pretty sure not all these folks were quite listening to what was being said. Anyways, they did come out for an encore- "The Chimbley Sweep" which, when I saw the accordion was hoping it the Mariner's Revenge Song, but no. Then again, maybe not everyone would have enjoyed an 8+ minute song about whales and killing some seedy guy.

Overall I was quite pleased with everyone's performance tonight and hope that all of them on their own come back for much more intimate shows. Except for the Decemberists, who I am quite aware that I missed my chance for intimate performances from them for many years to come. Oh, and I took some shots of the show, however it was with a "real" camera so I need to get my ass down to the developers; in the meantime enjoy some generic shots.

One Bad Muthaf*cker- Andre Williams, Flash Express @ Safari Sam's June 29, 2007

I can be crass; I will unabashedly tell a dirty joke while certain friends of mine will redden in shame; Those same friends are also the ones that will remind me that children will be present and please refrain from using the word fucknut. However, I will never be as crass as Andre Williams, never ever. For a man nearing 70 something, he will sing "Give it to me baby" and make me blush. Tonight, in what you guys must see as a trend here, I showed up as the second band was ending their set, which left Flash Express and then Andre Williams.

Ok. I need to put a caveat on here. I was told that the band before Andre Williams, and who also ended up being the backing band, was Flash Express. HOWEVER, there is a Los Angeles band called Flash Express as well and I cannot seem to find any info to prove that this band I saw perform was in fact Flash Express. So, please, if you look at the band in the photos and know that, Yes- this is totally Flash Express, or Uh-no this is definitely not the band, then please tell me. Thanks.

Anywho, with all that blah blah aside, they were not the most exciting/original band to see. It was only after three songs in that I started to bop my head a little. The crowd that was enjoying them though was bordering somewhere along the lines of the Rockabilly scene and guys who like Monster Trucks. It reminded me of hyped up lounge music or really fast "white guy blues". The guys though could play, I will give them that. I think what bothered me the most is how many times the singer wanted to put motherfucker into the songs; you can only do that so many times before I stop taking you seriously. The funniest thing here though was the one guy who got the job of wearing shades on stage, doing back up vocals and shaking either a tambourine or a maraca, or both, and almost never in time with the actual music. I felt like he's the friend of the band who just got out of rehab and needed something to do.

Now, once you took away the lyrics and they had to start playing Andre Williams songs, all the showiness was scraped away and they were a great backing band. Now... on to the man.

Andre Williams started off by walking through the crowd to get up to the stage. He actually seems a little intimidating walking through, what with young girls throwing themselves at a 71 year old. And it's not like a rich old man thing, he doesn't really have much money, he's just that cool. Sauntering on stage with what looked like a complete satin suit of royal blue and red, he crooned "Give It to Me Baby" over and over into the microphone. While covering songs off the last couple of releases, including "Agile, Mobile and Hostile" and "I Wanna Be Your Favorite Pair of Pajamas", he gave smooches to anyone up in front of the stage, regardless of sex.

It was apparent though that Williams was getting up there in years. In between songs, or when the band started jamming, he had to take a sit break, or lean up against one of the band members. But I give him an incredible amount of kudos just for getting up there and doing a compete set. And the show was entertaining and I danced and had fun while this cool old guy sang about bonin' and cussing. Oh, and if you're still not convinced, there's a movie/documentary coming out about him so I suggest that for future viewing material.

Hey Mister Tambourine Man, Could You Put a Couple Down?- Brothers and Sisters @ Spaceland June 25, 2007

I took a little breather lately from going to shows in case you've been wondering what had become of the site for the last two weeks. Mainly I had a crap load of stuff interfering with my ability to get to shows or stay up past 10 o'clock on a weeknight. Alas, Spaceland had a free Monday night residency for the Deadly Syndrome with Brothers and Sisters, and goddammit an unannounced appearance at midnight by the Pity Party, who I keep trying to get to see but always have my plans upended when it comes time to see them. Including this night too unfortunately.

We arrived just as Brothers and Sisters started and we stayed right up till they finished, mostly in part due to an exhaustive day which made me ok with leaving cause I at least got to see ONE band. So anyways, Brothers and Sisters is outta Austin, TX (one of the best places right now for new, awesome music, besides L.A. that is) and actually does have brothers and sisters in the band, namely Will and Lily Courtney who lead and sing. They also answer the question of "Can one band have too many tambourines?" Um, yeah, actually they can. At some point during the show the numbers on Spaceland's tiny stage seemed to have doubled as people came on solely to play tambourines, a bit too much if you ask me. It's just asking for "parody" to be stamped on to them.

Anyways, the music sounded pretty good, nothing really new, even perhaps calling back to some good ol' seventies country rock. They did have a steal guitar, which for me is always a plus. Actually, the guy playing it also played about five other instruments as well including the keys and the guitar, and maybe a tambourine that I might have overlooked. Everyone on stage looked to be enjoying themselves as their bopping along to the music spread out audience wise so that I found myself swaying as well (and into a couple of people with full drinks too, sorry about that....).

Tonight was also the last night that Brothers and Sisters would be here in L.A. I believe that they were here for pretty much the whole month. They are definitely worth checking out if you're into the whole alt-country scene, and not afraid to venture knee deep into the freak-hippies that attach to bands such as these like moths to a bare bulb.

Ah, and one thing about Spaceland: free show = no parking. Which also means having to wait 20 minutes for the valet to find your car and almost get you run down in the street.

SUMMER CAMP! with the Raveonettes and the Little Ones @ Little Radio June 10, 2007

Going to see bands perform in the daytime is always a sorta surreal experience. Especially when the last band has played and you walk out the door, and suddenly your eyes are being blinded from intense sunlight, even though it's now 6:30 in the evening. Ouch.

Today was the second installment of this summer's Summer Camp, organized by Little Radio. Boasting a water slide, free food and drinks, and FREE MUSIC, you can't go wrong with this much entertainment. Today was especially important to be there because I missed the Raveonettes Friday night. This seemed to be a recurring curse that was finally lifted as of today. Over the last two or so years, every time they came to play out here in LA I missed them for some reason. Plans would be made, money in hand, and then SOMETHING had to go wrong. Not this day, finally.

We really didn't have so much time to hang out there so we didn't pack bathing suits for the pool. Really, they had a pool there too. So standing outside drinking Dewars even under the tarp canopy in jeans was proving to be too hot for us. Inside was somewhat cooler, and we had wandered inside to catch the Little Ones (having missed the opening band Brothers & Sisters).

I couldn't for the life of me remember if I'd seen the Little Ones before. I recognized the name, and they sounded familiar, but.... Anyways, the best word I can think of to describe them was HAPPY. They were all smilies and whooping and yelling and they even had what looked like choreographed drumming and keyboard playing. That's always pretty neat. They also liked to play musical instruments(like musical chairs.. get it?), which for whatever reason is always entertaining to me. Like going to see Bedroom Walls where you never seem to know which one of them will be on what instrument. The Little Ones make me think I'm listening to a British band; there's something in the lead singer's voice and maybe the sunny poppy tunes that seem lined with slight sad notes. But they're not, they're from here.

I'm not sure if everyone knows that the Raveonettes acquired their name from the Buddy Holly song "Rave On"-they did by the way if you didn't know that. So, it was fun to hear them start up their set with "Everyday", one of my favorite Buddy Holly songs (one of which I also wanted to do a cover of, but dammit, theirs was pretty great). Today's show had them performing as just a duo; in fact, I believe their tour was called the Electric Duo tour. At least it was until the newer songs, then they had help on drums by Sandra Vu (from Midnight Movies- so pissed I missed them Friday) for the rest of the set. After "Chain Gang of Love", their second song into the set, something technical went wrong with an amp or along the lines of that nature and they had to fiddle with stuff for a bit. After a few they were back up and played "Love in a Trashcan". For just the two of them (at least for the first half) they sounded amazing to me and still kept their signature sound regardless of having only two instruments playing at a time. When the both of them sing, it's very hypnotic to me and also odd that I know there are two people singing, and yet it's hard to pull out the separate voices.

In another odd turn of events, I actually kept track of most of the songs they played, which included: Attack of the Ghost Riders, the Candy Song, My Tornado, Dead Sound and some new ones including (I believe) Lust and closing with Aly Walk With Me. One thing I must try and do when writing these things down is write legibly. Then I can be a bit more accurate with these things, sorry guys.

Dance Dance With Your Pants Off: Anavan, The Shark That Ate My Friend, and Bloody Robots @ the Scene, June 6, 2007

Firstly, a big thanks goes out to la-underground for putting on this show (except for the scary clown poster, jesus I hate clowns). I don't think I've shaken that involuntarily since I was stuck on a bus in below zero weather with no heat. But this was the good shaking, the boogie kind.

Tonight was a weird blend of noise, keyboards, helmets, lizard people and testosterone. The girls tonight were very underrepresented, which I don't get cause I had quite an enjoyable time. Also, it's funny that the more I've gotten out to these things, the more people I start to recognize; I'm pretty sure the drummer for the Monolators was here tonight. Anyways- the show:

Started off SO FUCKING LOUD with the Bloody Robots. It sounded like three people, but upon closer inspection it was only two. We couldn't figure out how the guy was getting his bass to sound like a guitar but thought that was pretty cool. Anyway, they played some very aggressive, brash, heavy sounding music that left my ears almost close to bleeding. With earplugs. And standing outside. Damn.

After my head finally calmed down, The Shark That Ate My Friend were up second. Coming out of Orange County somewhere these youngsters were introduced to me, on a musical level, not very long ago and I was pretty excited by what I heard. First of all, there are two keyboards and drums, nothing else. They make this incredible happy dance music that just sounds really cool, kinda reminiscent of the Unicorns. And then occasionally interjected with bizarre video game noises. OH, and the drummer played so fast I thought he was going to break the kit. They were overall really entertaining to watch. Too bad they're all the way inland.

So, the poster had Anavan headlining however they were third instead. Not to sound biased, but this band is one of my favorite LA acts so already I was beaming to see them. And man do they put on a fun show. Donning hockey helmets with microphones, this three piece makes some sick elctro-dance-noise music that you can't help shaking too. One guy in the audience looked like he was convulsing, but he was smiling so there was no need to call an ambulance. They use their own spot lights, have a smoke machine, and at one point a man wearing a red lizard/dragon suit came crawling off the stage. Fun folks, fun. And they like to get personal with the audience too, pants did come off at some point. I'm not entirely sure as to which songs they played, although I'm pretty sure they did belt out "Mingle". It was just so frenetic that I was lost in the beats, and not due to more poor memory of such things.

I was exhausted in all respects after their set so I did not stick around to see the Mormons, but I hear they're a fun band. Supposedly they wear helmets when they play too. Which is also entertaining.