Tag: featured
Hip Hop Oasis: Day N Vegas 2019
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 12, 2019
Words by: Mario Chavez Photos by: Rodney Campos “In the desert you can remember your name cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain…” “A Horse with No Name” by AMERICA was the soundtrack on repeat in the back of my mind as we made the trek towards the Las Vegas desert oasis, on our way to the rookie music festival, Day n Vegas. This was a first of its kind gathering on the northern part of the strip, where Hip Hop and R&B can live & breathe as one in one of the entertainment capitals of the world. related content: Rolling Loud SoCal 2017 Doses The Youth With The Latest Opiate Of The Masses Day 1 On its inaugural day, we entered knowing only that it was a Dreamville takeover line up, but all that was yet to be seen. Later, a long-awaited set by Lil Uzi Vert was about to commence. He began his set with his hit “XO Tour Life” and it was off to the races. In true Lil Uzi Vert fashion, he became a tangible part of the show, jumping in to the crowd while performing songs amongst his fans. The Philly
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Gore Obsessed: Exhumed at the Hi Hat
Rob Shepyer
November 10, 2019
This Halloween concert season was remarkable. There were incredible shows to go to form metal to punk to goth within the two week late October/early November span that saw people partying all over Los Angeles. Upon this chosen Sunday, I had numerous options as to where I should bleed my ears but if I wanted to capture the true spirit of halloween, it was going to be with gore and the goriest there is is a little death metal band called Exhumed. They quite literally rip, both on the guitar and on the chainsaw. I arrived at the Hi Hat to see BrucexCampbell, a brutal and crusty grindcore band that absolutely crushed with every belching lyric. This hulking sort of core could’ve only been produced by Angelinos that came from a tough upbringing with a true connection to the underground. Posers beware, this band will bite your fucking head off. Next up was a band I feel will one day be as spoken of in the same ranks as legendary bands like Sepultura and that’s Necrot, a blackened death metal band from Oakland, California. The songs absolutely ripped the Hi Hat to shreds and indispersed with the musical brutality, the singer would tell
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Take This: Win Two Tickets to The KVB at the Constellation Room
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 10, 2019
English post punk duo, The KVB, wow’d the crowd at Desert Daze and now their bringing their nocturnal sounds to Orange County for a show at the Constellation Room. We’re giving away two tickets to the show so you can experience the glory. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO THE KVB NOVEMBER 13TH AT THE CONSTELLASTION ROOM 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 THE KVB Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON NOVEMBER 11TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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The Preacher Man Cometh: Wovenhand at the Echo
Rob Shepyer
November 9, 2019
David Eugene Edwards has always struck me as a maverick in the current musical landscape. Not just in his current band, Wovenhand, but in every project he’s been a part of. I first discovered him from watching a 16 Horsepower video where I saw him play the accordion with more soul stirring spirit than I’ve ever seen anyone. With that band and with Wovenhand, he’s found a way to make music that incorporates so many different sounds and ideas from across the world and across time periods while maintaining a quality that is positively American. His music and presence is ripe with beautiful contradiction, the good kind, symbols that are often considered in conflict find harmony within Wovenhand. Americana and Native American imagery and culture, East vs West, Christianity and glam, David Eugene Edwards paints his face and nails like a Native American warrior but with silvery colors as if he’s also the reincarnation of David Bowie. related content: A High And Beautiful Wave: Psycho Las Vegas 2019 Perhaps the strangest thing about Wovenhand is David’s stage presence. If he wasn’t onstage, perhaps you’d think he was schizophrenic with his wild gestures to invisible characters and his speaking in tongues. What
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Take This: Win Two Tickets to Sleater-Kinney at the Observatory
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 9, 2019
Sleater-Kinney is one of those bands that only needs the bare bones requirements to absolutely wow a crowd. Pure rock fury, that’s what they are, with more heart than just about anyone. I hate to compare them this way but of all the bands that empower women, the riot girl bands, this is by far the best in this humble editor’s opinion. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO SLEATER-KINNEY NOVEMBER 13TH AT THE OBSERVATORY 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 Sleater Kinney Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON NOVEMBER 11TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Spontaneous Combustion of the Soul: Dinosaur Jr. at the Fonda
Jonathan Reyes
November 8, 2019
There’s a call to the rocks. The siren isn’t calling you your doom. It’s calling you to feel the pain of everyone and then feel nothing. The silvery wizard inside the Fonda, inside his tower built with Marshall Amplifiers, his spellbook is prolific, his voice…his voice tells you it’s suffered, it’s telling you it knows you have too, despite the suffering and loss you too can wear a Mishka tee and baseball cap while shaking the rust off the bones of what seems to be everyone who didn’t die in the 90’s alt-rock scene that has gathered inside the theater made by Morgan, Walls & Clements. related content: Silver Lake Perris: Desert Daze 2019 The fall brought the Mount Rushmore of sad bastard music to Los Angeles. Rob Smith claimed Pasadena, Nick Cave DTLA, J Mascis Hollywood, Billy Corgan Highland Park, Moz was here too but we pretend he wasn’t. It’s something in the air. Santa Ana’s, with the help of PG&E, lit forests like candles in a vigil. The days when the only crises you had to worry about were existential are gone. All that remains is the music and the people who don’t seem to mind. Myself included.
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The Three Night Cotillion: William Patrick Corgan at the Lodge Room
Rob Shepyer
November 8, 2019
Traditionally Southern, a cotillion is a right of passage for young people to display their manners, discipline, and maturity. Now a veteran, legend, and elder statesman of rock and roll, William Patrick Corgan‘s 3 night stint at the Lodge Room in Highland Park showed just how much he’s matured as an artist in his three decades of making music. His upcoming solo album, Cotillions includes songs inspired by his children, songs about social hardship, and good ol’ fashioned artsy songs done acoustic. Any of the three nights was an exclusive and special event. The first of which I missed to see Bauhaus at the Palladium, meaning I missed out on hearing “Tonight, Tonight” and “Disarm”, but still, I was blessed to have made it the second night to see James Iha join William on stage to perform “Blew Away” (which Iha sang), “1979”, and “Blue Skies Bring Tears”. The third night had William pulling from a different bag of treats with a totally different setlist. I think that’s the sign of a true master at their craft, William has such a large catalogue to choose from but it almost feels like he could pick any song and perform it on
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Dark Entries: Bauhaus at the Hollywood Palladium
Rob Shepyer
November 8, 2019
Entire schools of music, fashion, art, and world views owe themselves to a single English band known as Bauhaus. The music of which is noisy, wild, sexual, raw, bleak, and upsetting to any status quo the world over. So, it should be remarkable that a band like this, and the music they created, is so beloved that upon the band’s reunion, they sold out two shows at the Hollywood Palladium with fans flying across oceans to see it. Those who have been playing close attention might’ve had the feeling that Bauhaus would come together once again. Peter Murphy’s last tour was an ode to his old band and featured former bassist David J. Haskins. So, perhaps bad blood wasn’t the reason this took so long. Fellow art world nightcrawlers would see Kevin Haskins and Daniel Ash out and about in Los Angeles from time to time, whether it was onstage as Poptone or just enjoying the Los Angeles night. Who knows exactly what was the catalyst for these two shows taking place, perhaps Peter Murphy’s heart attack forced him to look into the abyss and rather than just see himself staring back at him, he saw his band. related content: Becoming
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Tearing Down the Orange Curtain: Social Distortion at Five Point Amphitheatre
Dave Unbuckled
November 7, 2019
It has been forty years since Social Distortion burst onto Orange County’s rising punk scene, originating out of Fullerton house parties and small, legendary clubs such as The Cuckoos Nest and Safari Sams, but tonight they headlined the Five Point Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA. There’s something to be said about a ‘punk show’ in Irvine, one of the nation’s wealthiest zip codes, with no indication of a punk scene anywhere in sight. For one, a ‘punk show’ in Orange County is usually limited to a 200 person capacity club or bar, with a small stage. If you’re a veteran band, maybe you’ll be fortunate enough to share the stage at the Observatory. However, when you’re Social Distortion, one of the genres most successful and longest lasting groups, and you’re back in Orange County, you play the largest venue available — and bring a lot of your legendary friends to open up. The lineup for the show was respectable, but a little excessive, considering bands like Bully and Mannequin Pussy who opened the show, barely had anyone in attendance. It could also be that the capacity for the venue was up to 12,000 and there was roughly only 8,000 people day
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Becoming the Night: Substance 2019
Rob Shepyer
November 7, 2019
Taking every kind of music into account, the genre that best fits Los Angeles has to be post-punk, or better yet, goth. Why exactly? Perhaps it’s the way the shadows hit the concrete, or the loneliness of a city where people think being neighborly only causes more trouble, maybe it’s the genre’s long tradition from the Sunset Strip to the barrio. Goth has always stayed strong whether it’s the biggest scene in the city or not. Given all this, an annual goth festival where people can wallow and dance the night away is a necessity. In previous years, Cloak and Dagger was the go-to festival for such affairs but as of 2019, Restless Nights and Spaceland’s Substance festival which took place at the Los Angeles Theatre, is now the premiere goth festival in Los Angeles. What I found most interesting about this festival, beyond the actual music, was the fact that every major goth promoter had a hand in it. Along with Restless Nights; Part Time Punks, Das Bunker, and Lethal Amounts were also in the mix. The common threads between all the bands present at the 2 day event were darkness and electronics. Everyone wore black. related content: Cloak
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Japanese Day Dream: Shintaro Sakamoto at Terrapin Crossroads
Dillon Vaughn
November 6, 2019
Finally seeing an artist you’ve been following for a decade has a strange, dreamlike feeling and it’s compounded by the film of “otherness” that coats anything and everything about cultures separate from your own. Language barriers add a level of mystique you could never attain through ultra savvy, targeted press or gimmicks with masks and an aversion to interviews. Effort is required to understand the finesse beyond the purely sonic: lyrics mean nothing when words themselves (or at least an english speaker’s understanding of them) are stripped away and you’re left with the surface appeal of a melody, devoid of any metaphor or meaning to juxtapose conflicting themes. The quality of songwriting is the key to elevating artists like that to a point where they can succeed in the west. Following a growing appreciation in America for his contemporaries, Shintaro Sakamoto, the visual artist/designer and former leader of the band Yura Yura Teikoku finally made his US debut with two sold out shows in the San Francisco area to dazzle everyone in attendance. related content: UFOs From Tokyo: California Flashback At The Lodge Room Terrapin Crossroads is kind of a strange place; part venue, part farm-to-table restaurant nestled behind a Porsche dealership just a short
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Take This: Win Two Tickets to Helmet at 1720
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 6, 2019
Helmet is celebrating their 30 year anniversary with 30 shows and 30 song setlists for each. For fans of this genre-blending and defining band, this tour cannot be missed. People are going to mosh and headbang until their bodies plain give out. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO HELMET NOVEMBER 9TH 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 Helmet Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON NOVEMBER 7TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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