Tag: modest mouse

The Pixies at The Hollywood Bowl by Jessica Moncrief

Pixies and Modest Mouse: Clash of the Indie Titans at Hollywood Bowl

Sunday night, Sept 17th at the Hollywood Bowl was a clash of the titans, with powerhouse artists in Modest Mouse and Pixies gracing the stage and concluding their joint North American run together. The lineup had prompted many in the lots and the shuttles playing the guessing game of figuring out who each person was there to see. There was almost an even split of fans there for either Modest Mouse or Pixies, but despite the split each fan was still excited to see the other. Overheard were fans recanting the first time they ever saw either band. Stories ranging from old university lounges to small clubs across the country and down to the couple who first met at a Modest Mouse show and are now seeing them for the 20th time since then.  Cat Power also played but unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the venue in time. It was my second time seeing Modest Mouse, with the last time being at the smallest venue in Riverside about 7 years ago where they ripped through a banger of a set and came back for multiple encores. So I was more or less prepared for what the Modest Mouse who would

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Gwen Stefani at Beach Life Festival 2023 by David Smith

Beach Life Festival 2023: On The Shores of Greatness

Beach Life Festival made its annual return to Redondo Beach, this past month, bringing its strongest line up to date in tow that included The Black Keys, Modest Mouse, Gwen Stefani, The Pixies, Band of Horses, The Black Crowes, Sublime w. Rome and Rock n Roll legend, John Fogerty…among many others. Beach Life has continued to include intimate solo performances from local favorites including Johnny Two Bags (Social Distortion), Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks), Jim Lindberg (Pennywise) while providing up and coming touring acts such as The Beaches and L.P. Humongous audiences of new fans to win over. The most impressive aspect of Beach Life seems to be the atmosphere it provides attendees with its varying level of comfort options, varieties of local food trucks, art installations, and selections of top shelf alcohol including Kokomo Spirit: The Official Canned Cocktail of Janky Smooth (unsubstantiated). These amenities go far and beyond the normal festival faire, which makes this year’s event itself so impressive given its A grade lineup, a noticeable improvement from previous years. Friday’s offering of The Pixies won the crowd early on, especially after a slow start by Kurt Vile, that saw the Tennessee native alternating guitars through his first

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Heaven’s Not Cruel: Just Like Heaven Festival

Goldenvoice’s second go (this week) at nostalgia, came in the form of Just Like Heaven, a welcome return to the pre-covid music festival vibe. The indie rock festival of “headliners with no official headliner” offered a full day of entertainment, though a twelve-hour festival day honestly feels excessive, after having gone so long without enduring crowds. I guess I’d rather one day than two especially when most of the two-day fests are cluttered with filler hype bands (in my day we called them buzz bands), but Peaches in the afternoon doesn’t hit the same way Peaches hits at night. These are the sacrifices that are made when filling an entire day with indie rock royalty. related content: Photo Recap: The Teaches Of Peaces At The Observatory North Park Though Peaches crushed her set at 2:05 pm, nearly half of the attendees hadn’t even arrived. The forever queen of electro-filth still managed to steal the early half of the day, as did Wolf Parade’s performance of “Apologies to Queen Mary”, especially their rendition of “I’ll Believe in Anything”, which remained part of the highlights of the even as a whole. The Shins, who had one of the best participatory audiences (over

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The Growlers

The Growlers Lose The Beach Goth Battle But Won The War This Weekend

We had already survived a dead car battery in record breaking heat, when our ride dropped us off at Bolsa Chica State Beach for Punk in Drublic, in Huntington Beach. This was a fitting location to pre-game for Growlers Six, happening twenty miles up the coast, as it was the show I had intended to cover, but the promoters seemed less interested in our intention of reviewing the fest, than assisting with late promotion through our social media. For this reason alone, we felt it necessary to stop by and “sample” some of the 100 local craft beers being distributed amongst the festival goers, then ditch the divorced-dad-fest, as we cruelly nicknamed it, and go straight to Beach Goth. related content: Beach Goth 4: The Party Of The Year We attempted to count and review each beer, but by the time we arrived at the mid-twenties, I was already tripping over my shoelaces and bumping into patient patrons, hiding their disgust at our unruly entitlement, and surly demeanors. It also didn’t help that the more I drank, the more negatively critical I became with each beer, while my partner and photographer became more friendly and outspoken with the pourers and

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