Tag: featured
Take This: Win 2 Tickets to Ministry at the Fonda
Janky Smooth Central Command
December 6, 2018
Uncle Al is back and just in time for the holidays. Celebrating 30 years of The Land of Rape and Honey, one of their finest albums, Ministry is playing two nights at The Fonda Theatre and we are giving away a pair of tickets for each night. Opening for Al will be Carpenter Brut and since Al has a special keen sense of picking the best bands to open for him, I’m sure they too will burn down the house. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO MINISTRY DECEMBER 20TH OR DECEMBER 21ST AT THE FONDA THEATRE 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 Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook MINISTRY Posts WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON FRIDAY DECEMBER 14TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Industrial Avalanche: GODFLESH at Brick by Brick
Janky Smooth Central Command
December 5, 2018
Words and Photos by: Rebecca DiGiglio When I was walking up to Brick by Brick to see GODFLESH, there was already a line formed and I heard INTRCPTR sound checking. I thought I would’ve arrived right at the sweet spot time slot to brazenly walk in and shoot the first band, so it seemed like things were running a little behind schedule. related content: Cold Waves LA: Heaven For Industrial Kids After talking to a friend in line, I came to find out that some key gear of GODFLESH’s didn’t arrive in time, and instead was flown into Los Angeles. Coming to the rescue was Travis Ryan and co. of Cattle Decapitation, who offered up his bass and guitar to the duo. The Brick crew worked their magic, and with a little help from some friends, the loaned gear arrived, and a makeshift laptop/projector setup was made on the floor of the stage to at least have some manner of dark and brutal imagery throughout the set. The show must go on, so they say, and go on it fucking did. related content: Different Shades Of Black: Adult. And Plack Blague At Soda Bar INTRCPTR (members of Pelican, Ancient Lights)
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Off Without a Hitch: Elvis Costello and the Imposters at House of Blues Anaheim
Maggie St. Thomas
December 5, 2018
Words and Photos by: Maggie St. Thomas I was escorted into the Anaheim House of Blues by Professor Steve Nieve himself, who came out to greet his daughter, my date for the night. We walked into the venue and backstage through production to the Green Room, adorned with english teas and candies, and just under a 1/2 dozen Elvis Costello mugs and Grether’s Pastilles on the table. A man walked by who I introduced myself to. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it. My eyes lit up when I saw him enjoying a small cup of espresso in the greenroom. I asked if I too could get a cup, and within seconds a tiny mug of espresso was in my hand. I am almost too embarrassed to admit I thought this was a roadie due to his friendly and accommodating demeanor, I figured it out long after my espresso had kicked in, when the man I mistook for a roadie walked onstage to the sold out venue to take the microphone, and the band kicked into “This Year’s Girl.” related content: Falling In Love All Over Again: Sparks At The Palace Theatre The Anaheim House of Blues didn’t keep fans
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Redbull Music Festival 2019: An Experiment in Concert-Going
Janky Smooth Central Command
December 4, 2018
Redbull Music Festival always provides a lineup that lets you see interesting artists ininteresting settings. This year in particular gives audiences the chance to see artists in venues that perfectly act like conduits to that artist’s music. San Cha in Viviana church will be an emotionally religious experience for all those that attend. Heartbeats: A Night With Rae Sremmurd and guests will be a stellar evening of trap wildin’, the likes of which Los Angeles has yet to see and with a venue like The Reserve hosting, it will feel like an elegant, VIP experience gone a-wall. And what I’m most personally excited for, Illegal Civ‘s Pink Motel Skate and Music event will be absolutely insane. I already see it in my head, a motel pool filled with drunk and insane skaters while Show Me The Body is tearing up the stage. This one will go off the rails without question. Tickets for Red Bull Music Festival Los Angeles go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, December 5th at 12pm PT via www.redbullmusic.com/los-angeles. Stay tuned for more programming announcements and festival details to be shared in early 2019.
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Shrine to a Goddess: Tash Sultana Sells Out the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles
Rob Shepyer
December 4, 2018
I first heard about Tash Sultana a few years ago from a friend giving her high enough praise to crown them a genius, always the skeptic, I gave her a brief listen and certainly heard something special but didn’t pay it the mind I should have until this year. Tash’s first time playing Los Angeles in 2017, they had an audience of 300 people. Not bad for an artist that earned their chops the hard way, busking back home in Melbourne, Australia. This time around, after the release of 2018’s phenomenal Flow State, Tash sold out the Shrine Expo Hall to a lucky lot of Angelinos who got to see what was nothing short of a goddess in our presence. related content: The Queens Converge At Outside Lands 2018 I say this with as little hyperbole as possible, Tash Sultana embodies bliss and transcendence to a point that they vaguely have a quality that is not human or of this Earthly plain. Identifying as non-binary, Tash rejects labels like female, so perhaps goddess doesn’t serve them any better but because a God is not a he or she but rather an it, I will submit that a goddess is just as much an
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Heaven on Earth: Perry Farrell’s Kind Heaven Orchestra at the Teragram Ballroom
Janky Smooth Central Command
December 3, 2018
Words by: Maggie St. Thomas Photos by: Jessica Moncrief Perry Farrell is a visionary artist, human rights activist, and is most famous for being the lead singer of Jane’s Addiction and Porno For Pyros. He was also the mastermind behind Lollapalooza and seems to have a Midas touch where as just about anything and everything he touches turns to gold. His newest musical venture is a spectacular embodiment of sound and vision with state of the art instrumentation by an astounding team of musicians including Matt Chamberlain on drums; Jane’s Addiction’s bassist Chris Chaney and Matt Rohde on keys; guitarist Nick Maybury, and Etty Lau Farrell on vocals. related content: Your Vagina May Catch Fire By The End Of This Song: Death From Above At Teragram The tall and charismatic front man entered the stage of the packed Teragram Ballroom with his Kind Heaven Orchestra and trademark bottle of red wine hoisted high in his hands to the cheering applause of his adorning fans. The set had an eclectic mixture of sound right from the beginning, from the symphonic strings of violins and backup singers to funky disco pop tunes that made you just want to get high and love somebody. related
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Photo Recap: Inner Wave at Marty’s on Newport
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 29, 2018
Inglewood’s own Swamp rockers, Inner Wave took their power house rock and roll show to the intimate mad house that is Marty’s on Newport. With support by Lucy’s, the evening was a memorable one that is sure to leave plenty of swamp rock spirits in the walls. Photos by: Rodney Campos Lucy’s Inner Wave Crowd
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Obscured by Art: A Perfect Circle at Honda Center
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 28, 2018
Words and Photos by: Maggie St. Thomas The packed crowd at the Honda Center in Anaheim stood in anticipation of a remarkable evening, and that’s exactly what they got with an amazing set of solo and Massive Attack tunes by Tricky, who cast a spell on his audience with a dreamlike setting. His opening song “You Don’t Wanna” was from his Blowback album released in 2001, a high instrumental ride perfect to open with. He then went into “I’m Not Going,” from his Skilled Mechanics release in 2016. These two songs proved to be a wicked multi sensory experience from the artist. related content: Falling In Love All Over Again: Sparks At The Palace Theatre Moving on to the headliner, A Perfect Circle was a mind bending work of art with a sound that speaks for itself. Lead singer Maynard James Keenan is notorious for shrouding himself in the darkness behind the lights of his live sets. Tonight he stood at the back of the stage the entire time while delivering his soaring notes brilliantly with depth and complexity. They started out soft, almost like a composition in their performance opening with “Eat The Elephant”, from their latest release and then followed with
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Midnite Communion V: Los Globos Doom Spa With Bongzilla and Bongripper
Jonathan Reyes
November 27, 2018
The best part of every metal song, but now it’s the whole song, scratch that, now it’s the whole set. It’s the metal equivalent of a “drop”, a slow and steady build until the crowd’s eyeballs vibrate inside their skulls then a downstroke into a solo. I told someone about this show, Midnite Communion V, and they recommended me some fancy earplugs like I was complaining, I haven’t been afraid I was going to die at a show in a very long time. Thank you Bongs Ripper and Zilla and of course, the show’s promoter, Midnite Communion. related content: Prophets Of Doom: Yob And Acid King At Teragram Cloven – Long Beach represent. There’s a little house in the middle of the city where a slim man, a slender man, with a thick Rasputin-y beard resides. Just like the namesake, his distortion won’t die. I love when an opening band sets such a heavy tone. There could be 5 people in the crowd, doesn’t matter. Cloven came through. Cult of Occult – They are masters of suspense, it would be cool if they wore executioners masks to play into the name. But that’s the easily distracted youth in me needing a
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Perfume Genius at W Records Release Party
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 22, 2018
Photos by: Lindsay Arth To celebrate the beginning of W Records a venture by W Hotels, the newly formed record label had Perfume Genius perform for a select and lucky few in West Hollywood. Prior to the show, Perfume Genius premiered his latest, self-directed music video for Not For Me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-kHx59QWcE With a small stage and audience, the performance was a hushed and intimate affair meant to penetrate the heart with pure emotion and moving music.
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Falling in Love all Over Again: Sparks at the Palace Theatre
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 22, 2018
Words and Photos by: Maggie St. Thomas It’s easy to fall in love with Sparks, the witty baroque pop/art rock duo made of siblings Russell Mael on vocals and Ron Mael on keys. Spanning the past five decades, they have masterminded musical masterpieces that have reached universal acclaim. related content: Dirty Reggae, Smooth Ska: Hepcat And The Aggrolites At The House Of Blues Anaheim Their songs are delightful, catchy, and some have been featured on cult films like Valley Girl and Kick Ass. Sparks have always stayed true to their sound while mixing elements of various stylistic periods in all their releases. Promoting their 23rd studio album Hippopotamus, Sparks were finishing their tour of Japan and Denmark, and getting ready to crash Mexico City just a few days after they hit the Downtown Palace Theatre in their hometown of Los Angeles. November 14th and 15th were their only two nights in North America and I had to be there on the first night. Sparks delivered their hits and new songs with a glorious and perfectly inventive mix just as one would expect. Their characteristic musical performance needed no time to grow on the audience, as Sparks were immediately all-consuming and fun
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Ben Lives!: Ben is Dead Zine 30th Anniversary with Jawbreaker at Catch One
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 21, 2018
Legendary Los Angeles punk rock magazine Ben is Dead celebrated their 30 year anniversary since first being published in 1988. As a punk rock blog ourselves, we give all due respect and praise to Ben is Dead for what they’ve done for punk rock and Los Angeles journalism and this contribution didn’t go unnoticed by bands as well. The artists that this event was able to assemble was rather remarkable considering how rare they were to see, not just at any show, but in a club like Catch One. Hot off headlining Riot Fest and selling out the Hollywood Palladium for numerous dates, Jawbreaker was set to headline the anniversary show. Also billed to play were the extremely rarely seen Skatenigs and Kieth Morris’ Midget Handjob. Those that were in attendance were treated to a show they will never forget and those that didn’t go are mostly likely never going to experience anything like this. Photos by: Jessica Moncrief Jawbreaker Midget Handjob Skatenigs Savage Republic
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