Category: SHOWS

Photo Recap: Parquet Courts and Snail Mail at the Constellation Room

Janky Smooth Central Command January 27, 2019

Parquet Courts and Snail Mail took their tour to the Constellation Room and brought down the house with their funk inspired art punk. People felt the rhythm and the groove, dancing around to all the hits that made Parquet Courts one of the breakout bands of 2018. Photos by: Albert Licano Parquet Courts Snail Mail

Photo Recap: Judas Priestess at Catch One

Janky Smooth Central Command January 27, 2019

Psycho Entertainment brought a night of female-led cover bands to Catch One with Judas Priestess and Cowgirls From Hell. Both bands delivered a new, heavy, and fun take on classic metal songs. Photos by: Anthony Mehlhaff Judas Priestess Cowgirls From Hell

Rebels of Wrestling: PCW Ultra 3 Year Anniversary

Jonathan Reyes January 25, 2019

For how popular independent wrestling has become, it’s still at the edge of the map, on the outskirts of the mainstream, that’s where PCW Ultra grows. In the dark, like a mushroom, unsuspecting and complex. Outcasts and rebels with a super chill attitude. Cultivated in the San Pedro bay, to describe the organization as such is to describe the city. While I mean it romantically, if you ask Johnny Ultra who grew up on the other side of the hill in Palo Verdes he’d call it “the place where he throws his trash” and “people with cars who can’t make it up the hill”. Right from the start this felt different. To start PCW ULTRA’s third year anniversary show Shane “Swerve” Strickland the first person to carry the PCW Ultra LHW champion and PCW Ultra Heavyweight championship came out to address the crowd. To let them know to ignore what the internet might say. To let them know that there is nothing, not contracts, not rumors, not weight class stopping him from achieving his goals. He is the newly designated PCW ULTRA champion as he relinquishes the PCW ULTRA light championship with a challenge to the ULTRA light division, try

A Return Full of Firsts: Deerhunter at The Lodge Room Highland Park

Janky Smooth Central Command January 23, 2019

Words by: Krista Anderson Photos by: Dillon Vaughn On a cold Thursday night when January’s torrential flood had finally let up over Los Angeles, the band, Deerhunter brought in the eve of their newest album, Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? Deerhunter’s atmospheric presence mesmerized the excitable, full house at The Lodge Room in Highland Park. related content: The Universe Smiles Upon Khruangbin At The Lodge Room Opened by Confusing Mix of Nations, a New York and Los Angeles based duo with spacey vocal melodies and harsh, analog dance beats, the night was an exploration into sounds both vast and aggressive. Listeners anticipating the album’s midnight release swayed and bobbed while bathed in swirling guitar melodies and whimsical rhythms. Deerhunter’s unpredictable and provocative performance spoke to the experimental nature of the Atlanta based group. Among the haziness of several esteemed favorites such as Halcyon Digest’s “Helicopter” and “Desire Lines” (2010), the band launched two new songs for the very first time before the keen, Los Angeles audience. related content: Creep Or Charmer: Alex Cameron At The Lodge Room The penultimate track of the new album, “Plains,” was revealed mid-set. Synthesizing the cutting rage of Monomania (2013)

Satan’s First Born: Possessed at the Whisky

Rob Shepyer January 18, 2019

Anton Lavey’s church of Satan could’ve only happened in San Francisco. They have a certain way of playing with ideas in Northern California that they can deal in evil and sin while not taking themselves too seriously but also not being perceived as jokes. Anton Lavey’s dream of a new world based on humanist principals was so unapologetic that it could invert any cross. It’s no wonder, that these two forces, satanism and good ol’ fashioned San Franciscan California dreaming, contributed to the birth of death metal in a band called Possessed. related content: The Battle Of The Bays: Obituary & Exodus Clash At Teragram Ballroom Whether you debate death metal crawled out of the San Francisco bay or Tampa bay, we are all in agreement that Possessed’s singer, Jeff Becerra is an icon of the genre. You feel power and wisdom emanating from him when he’s working a stage. His vocals shoot out in bolts, they’re not quite guttural but it’s certainly signature death. It delivers the satanic, thought-provoking, and ominous lyrics home, as if a dark wizard were singing. related content: Morbid Angel At The Regent: A Lesson In Death Possessed began in 1983 and after breakups, reformations, lineup

Photo Recap: Mick Jenkins and Stock Marley at El Rey Theatre

Janky Smooth Central Command January 17, 2019

Chicago hip hop sensation, Mick Jenkins, brought his Pieces of a Man tour to the El Rey theatre for a sold out show with support from Stock Marley. The album of the same name as the tour was released in October 2018 so the city came out in force having anticipated this show for awhile. With old school, underground beats that highlight Jenkins’ loose, free, lucid lyrical flow, the fog and vibe at El Rey were of legendary thickness. Photos by: Rodney Campos Mick Jenkins Stock Marley

Trip-hopping into 2019: Tigercide at the Echo

Aria Silva-Espinosa January 10, 2019

It takes a day or two to get your bearings in a new year. It was hard to find the motivation to leave the comfort of my heated apartment but we headed out to The Echo on the second day of 2019, drawn by the allure of some dark, brooding electronic music to match the early sundown city vibe I’ve been feeling lately. Something about the residual Christmas lights still adorning a few random houses and the dying pine trees collecting on the sidewalks reminds me that the festivities are over and it’s time to come back to the usual grind. I needed a good show to start the year off right so the ethereal, trip-hop duo Tigercide seemed like an obvious choice for my first show of the new year. related content: Los Angeles On Mushrooms: Infected Mushroom At Exchange LA Before the show, vocalist Shexist and accompanist Saint Brended chatted amicably with us on the green room couches. Optimistic about the upcoming year but still feeling the pre-show jitters, Shexist inquired about the audience size. It’s hard to draw people out of hiding after the holiday season and even the biggest bands have trouble filling a venue when

Flowers and Oysters: Yasiin Bey at the Observatory

Jessica Moncrief January 9, 2019

I missed Yasiin Bey‘s set at Smokin’ Grooves over the summer and deeply regretted it, so when the opportunity arose to see him perform in an intimate setting like The Observatory, I was elated to redeem myself for one of my biggest FOMO moments of 2018. related content: Black Is Beautiful: Smokin’ Grooves Festival At The Queen Mary Before Yasiin made his way out, his DJ spun iconic songs that have since been sampled in modern day hip hop, Joe Simons “Before The Night Is Over”, which you may remember was sampled in Outkast’s “So Fresh So Clean”, was one of many. Perhaps to signify love and his soul’s active presence in creation, Yasiin prepared the stage by sprinkling rose petals all around it, he then spray painted the word “Oysters” on a white sheet as he began his set. During his first song, Yasiin Bey took one look at the two of us in the photo pit and requested for the house to dim the lights. The photo journalist in me accepted the challenge to “get the story” regardless of the lighting situation, however the human part of me struggled with the inherently dirty feeling of photographing someone who

The Legend of Magic Sword at the Echo

Dillon Vaughn January 7, 2019

Los Angeles has no shortage of synth-wave acts rolling through the city: venue calendars are littered with events hosting artists both well known and up and coming, but the quality is sometimes questionable in a genre that so easily falls into one-note nostalgia. Not too long ago, I didn’t care for the sub-genre much but I’ve since seen the light and witnessed quite a few acts that truly blew me away. I’d heard quite a bit about Magic Sword from (mostly metalhead) friends who praised their intense live show and use of live instruments and knew this would be an event I had to see for myself. related content: The Protomen: Mega Men on a Mission at the Echoplex The night began with a set by one of the most surprising acts I’d seen all year: the local one woman project Death Hags. Self described as “hypnotic art-pop,” Lola Jean’s act beautifully mixed elements of trip-hop with synth-wave through a gentle minimalist lens. Shifting from synths to bass guitar and more all while singing in both english and french, it’s hard to believe Death Hags isn’t yet a household name in the city. related content: Decibel Metal & Beet Fest After Party: Ghoul At El

Los Angeles on Mushrooms: Infected Mushroom at Exchange LA

Rob Shepyer December 30, 2018

I have a long history following Infected Mushroom as a fan. I used to see them all the time, from EDC back when it was in L.A., to New Years Eve at the Hollywood Palladium, to Christmas Eve at Avalon, to Vegoose music festival watching them against a glossy Las Vegas desert background. Most of these shows were a decade ago and at that moment in music, EDM was taking over America. Infected Mushroom, with their live band component and Israeli sensibility, offered a unique style of trance that was exciting, metallic, and electrifying to inspire more than just dancing. Infected Mushroom was like the musical realization of the greatest video game ever that has yet to be made, it’s like Castlevania meets Zelda meets Mario meets Final Fantasy… on mushrooms. related content: The Protomen: Mega Men On A Mission At The Echoplex Most Jews I know hold a special place in their heart for Infected Mushroom, the most successful Israeli group of all time. When you travel to Israel and come to know the people, you can see how Infected’s sound could’ve only come from that culture. It’s a sound that has an appreciation for all others cultures, whether

… And We’ll Pretend it’s Christmas Day at the Roxy with the Garden

Rob Shepyer December 25, 2018

The Garden‘s popularity with Los Angeles’ young and woke is a phenomenon that cannot be understated. I had yet to see the band before this 2nd show they held at the Roxy to close out the venue’s Jingle Bell Roxy series. I knew though, that this was a band I had to see if I wanted to understand the scope of rock music in this decade. The line was thick, long, and underage, running down Sunset boulevard as I approached. They all dressed and dyed their hair within the subtle mythology ascribed to the woke philosophy. The way wokeness is a deconstruction of normalcy, the Garden’s music is a deconstruction of rock and roll. Twin brothers, Wyatt and Fletcher Shears play instruments but often find themselves rabble-rousing all over the stage, prancing around violently, dramatically, and without a care. The music doesn’t stop when the playing stops though, the band realizes grabbing onto true freedom on stage supersedes actually playing at any given moment. That’s not to devalue their instruments though, when Fletcher’s behind his kit, he’s an absolute beast. When Wyatt’s on strings, he grabs an audience and doesn’t let go. related content: NSA Fundraiser and Launch w/The Garden

Return to the Land of Rape and Honey: Ministry at the Fonda

Rob Shepyer December 25, 2018

Donald Trump is the subject of many musical endeavors, lyrics fling his way like shit, staining his image and legacy forever amongst fans of underground music. I imagine it’s hard being a Trump supporter and being a legitimate music fan, for the first few years, you couldn’t go to a heavy rock or hip hop show without seeing your president smeared and made a mockery of. If you’re not totally dogmatized by the Donald, you will most likely side with an artist over him or any politician. Ministry has been one of the most politically vocal bands of the Trump presidency. Bands that are young and angry seem to fall short of Al Jourgensen’s impressive political grumpiness and angst. In the world of metal, punk, and the genre he popularized, industrial, Al is a beacon of light and truth to look up to. He’s not polarized left or right but he unabashedly admires Antifa and also has a history of mingling with Alex Jones in the past. He’s a political maverick, in other words, so don’t try to pigeon hole him to give your side any extra points. related content: Ministry Make Bid To Be Official ANTIFA House Band AT

Category: SHOWS

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