Tag: featured
Photo Recap: Kingdom Come at the Whisky-a-Go-Go
Janky Smooth Central Command
February 7, 2020
It’s been over 30 years since the Monsters of Rock but every band has stayed alive since that epic Los Angeles festival. Of all the bands, perhaps the one that holds a soft spot in my heart is Kingdom Come. A metal band with transcendent power and soul. When they announced a reunion for their 30th anniversary, I made it to the Whisky to see the incredible band showcase their talents to a packed house. The people did not forget. A year later and the band is still going strong. They returned to the Whisky for a stop on a three show tour and every member of the band shined. The Kottak attack ala James Kottak was savage, Keith St. John wields one of the most powerful voices in rock and roll, Danny Stag’s lead guitar-work was Godly, Rick Steier’s rhythm guitars brought the house to their knees, and Johnny B. Frank’s bass was frankly, thunderous. We’ve got pics from the show where you can see the ear candy just oozing out of every pixel. Photos by: Dillon Vaughn related content: Return to the Old School: Kingdom Come At The Whisky
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Music Video Premiere: Kira McSpice’s “Fates”
Janky Smooth Central Command
February 7, 2020
Kira McSpice is an artist in rare-form. Her transcendent singing conjures up emotions and ideas both ancient and modern to simultaneously soothe and discomfort the listener. With “Fates”, a single off her latest album, Prodrome, we feel the unstable anxiety that resides at the core of her soothing, raw, and transparent nightingale tone. The lady bugs in her music video for “Fates” crawl up and down her body and face, as if almost under her skin, to make us feel like something is deeply wrong, whether we can put our finger on it or not. With the minimalist aesthetics of the Dorchester Art Project as the setting and 5,000 lady bugs put to work, the video, directed by Ruben Radlauer and filmed and edited by Kit Castagne, captures a pivotal memory from Kira’s childhood that she utilizes as a metaphor for her present. Kira would receive a box of lady bugs from her grandparents for her birthday every year as a child. She claims she learned about sex and the cycle of life from watching the lady bugs copulate and hatch eggs. This is how she began obsessing over cycles of all kinds. Her Bi-Polar disorder diagnosis has made mental health an
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Take This: Win Two Tickets to Bane’s World on Valentine’s Day at 1720
Janky Smooth Central Command
February 3, 2020
February is for lovers and few Valentine’s Day outings are as romantic as a concert with your other half. The using of Bane’s World is sure to fill the air with love and here at Janky Smooth, we want to be responsible for some babies coming into this world with a ticket giveaway to the show. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO BANE’S WORLD FEBRUARY 14TH AT 1720 Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Bane’s World Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON FEBRUARY 10TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Music Video Premiere: Plasmic’s “100Rx”
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 31, 2020
Plasmic has returned with another banger to get stuck in your head. “100Rx” is about the horror show that is the medical industry and her personal experiences with a shitty doctor. In an age where we’re told so much can be cured just by taking a pill, Plasmic challenges the status quo with a song that ironically could force an entire club onto the dance floor with a more pop and electronic evolution in the production than Plasmic’s previous recordings. This sounds like deconstructed club music and a bubblegum nightmare all wrapped in one. The song was written and produced by Plasmic (like all her work) and mixed and mastered by Ed Donelly. With a mind melting music video directing by Bobby Jauregui, Plasmic takes us on a journey of the highs and lows of prescription drug use from dependency to withdrawal with desaturated downs and overly saturated ups. The filmmaking captures such personal woes as anxiety, depression, and a disjointed self perception.
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Call to Action: Incendiary at 1720
Rob Shepyer
January 23, 2020
I swear, you could slap the name Sound and Fury onto any show flyer and the crowd will be in a state of mind that makes them destroy everything in sight. I guess you could call it Sound and Fury culture, the way these kids slam and stage dive harder than any other scene or genre of music in Los Angeles. related content: Boston Calling: Sound And Fury 2019 Incendiary‘s set at Sound and Fury 2019 was one of the more insane but honestly, I felt something was lacking in the sound mix, at least from where I was standing. A few years before that in 2016, the band played both the main festival and Five Star Bar for an after show. Those shows were insane but it was this 2020 performance at 1720 warehouse that was their best show in Los Angeles since they’ve been playing here. This night featured six bands altogether and the first one to go on was the most insane and that was Gulch from San Jose. Made up of members of Drain, this band represents the kind of hardcore that the real gnarly street mother fuckers make, the kind the jock hardcore kids are
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The Mother Dome Connection: Funk Legends at Wisdome.LA
Rob Shepyer
January 22, 2020
As hard as people try to make sure the funk never dies, it is often hard to find in Los Angeles. Yet, one evening under Wisdome.LA‘s “Mother Dome” brought together numerous legends of the genre to jam and pay tribute to Funk history. No other form of music brings people together quite like funk does, you can’t reason why we all shouldn’t get along if you’re too busy gettin’ down. related content: Long Live The Funk: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic At The Observatory I remember when the property that the multiple Wisdome’s sit on was nothing more than a few warehouses you might pass by on the way to The Resident. It’s amazing how they utilized the space for an immersive experience with so many different things to do on the premises from admiring art, tripping out to dome visuals, listening to live music, watching sporting events, food and drink, and plenty of psychedelic and new age things to buy or gaze at for burners, trippers, Desert Daze or Lightning in a Bottle kids. The potential for this venue is limitless, once they start booking major psych acts like King Gizzard or Mac DeMarco, they will really have something
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When Quaint Gets Core: Home Sick 3 at the Glass House Pomona
Rob Shepyer
January 21, 2020
I remember the long drive from Los Angeles to Petaluma I took for Home Sick 1 in 2018. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a small Northern California town and wondered why it was chosen to host a hardcore/goth rock festival like Home Sick. After a stroll around town, it didn’t take long for me to figure out. The venue, the Phoenix theatre, as punk and skate friendly as it is, couldn’t have been the only reason. Petaluma is a quaint, breezy getaway, a place where harp music fills the streets and bookstores are held sacred. Something about it feels like the age of Aquarius is dawning. This is where rich old hippies settled after the horrors of a career. There was total chillness around every corner, except Home Sick’s. related content: If Ever A Band Was My Home: Ceremony’s HOME SICK Festival At The Phoenix Theater Pomona is more or less the closest thing Southern California has to a Petaluma. I got the same feeling walking through downtown to Home Sick 3 as Home Sick 1 even though they were hundreds of miles apart. There’s something so joyous about knowing that in the middle of quiet Pomona, bands
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Take This: Win Two Tickets to Bad Rabbits at the Echo
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 20, 2020
Bad Rabbits are an incredible band. Their mix of funk, R&B and hardcore make for some of the most passionate performances you could ever see. To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their EP Stick Up Kids, the Band is playing only a few select dates including The Echo with straight edge LAHC band Dare. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO BAD RABBITS JANUARY 31ST AT THE ECHO Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Bad Rabbits Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON JANUARY 27TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Rock and Roll Shit Show: King Khan & BBQ Show at the Teragram Ballroom
Rob Shepyer
January 16, 2020
Rock and roll still reigns supreme as the wildest, most fun form of music you can make when you plug in an electric guitar. The father of so many subgenres, true rock and roll, in the vein of Chuck Berry and Little Richard, is the real punk rock. You realize this the moment King Khan and Mark Sultan start riffing away together. It’s an old sound but it’s more unchained and crazed than this younger generation knows how to tap into. A certain level of sloppiness heightens the experience, we want to see the artist let loose, even at the cost of professionalism. related content: King Khan And The Shrines Bring Fans To Their Knees At Echoplex The show was presented by Cretin Hop, LA’s resident rock and roll and garage dance night that takes place at the Short Stop every third Saturday of the month. This is the best place to dance, hear Don Bolles DJ, and meet fellow rockers. It’s the closest thing So-Cal has to a Burger Boogaloo vibe. The cretins were out in full force for the first band, Covina’s The Night Times who were a rock and roll dream come true. Every member pushed themselves to
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100% Banger: George Clanton’s NYE Spectacular at the Lodge Room
Dillon Vaughn
January 16, 2020
New Years Eve is both a blessing and a curse for anyone looking for a good time in the city: most people opt for overpriced cover charges to enter the same shitty bars they frequent every other night of the year while a significant group of others gather for house parties and closely knit hangs. Truly special events seem to be few and far between (what person with any sense of taste would choose to attend an electro-swing dance party and why do these things happen every year?) With 100% certainty I can say 100% Electronica assembled the most wild, intense, and sincere event to close out the decade with this show at the Lodge Room and I can’t imagine spending the night any other way. related content: Silver Lake Perris: Desert Daze 2019 Support for the evening began with Death’s Dynamic Shroud, a duo collaging all aspects of digital culture to produce a warped take on R&B, as well as the solo act VAPERROR, whose inverted spin on trap catapulted my music tastes ahead to 2050. Perfectly fitting choices for the lineup as these are two acts who’ve proven time and time again to be holding it down and
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Take This: Win Two Tickets to Funk Legends feat. Bootsy Collins at Wisdome.LA
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 15, 2020
Legendary bassist and funk icon, Bootsy Collins is turning Wisdome.LA into the funk thunder-dome on January 19th for a special evening that will blow your mind and shake your ass. Whether it be with James Brown or Parliament Funkadelic, Bootsy’s career will be on full flex at this show as he brings his funk legend family on stage with them as the master of ceremonies. These fellow funk legends in attendance include Bernard Purdie, James Gadson, Fred Wesley, and Norwood Fisher. There will be a speaking panel, concert and groovy, trippy, funky visuals to melt to. We give you a taste of the underground here at Janky Smooth but now we’re giving you a taste of outer space. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO BOOTSY COLLINS JANUARY 19TH AT WISDOME.LA Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Bootsy Collins Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON JANUARY 17TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Take This: Win Two Tickets to Home Sick at the Glass House
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 13, 2020
For the last two years, Ceremony’s Anthony Anzaldo has been putting on one of the Bay Area’s most unique festivals with Home Sick. Originally taking place at Petaluma’s Phoenix Theater, I roadtripped out for the festival’s first installment. Because of its popularity, Home Sick has now grown and evolved into two single day festivals, one at the Glass House and one in the Bay. So Carl’s version of the fest will feature the likes of Drab Majesty, Full Of Hell, and of course, Ceremony. As forever huge fans of Ceremony, we love the fact we get the chance to host this giveaway. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO HOME SICK JANUARY 17TH AT THE GLASS HOUSE Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Home Sick Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON JANUARY 15TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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