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Spending Wednesday Nights in a Pirate Bar with Name The Band
Aria Silva-Espinosa
March 28, 2017
The Name the Band residency at Redwood Bar & Grill has been very popular, which is evident in the number of people who showed up early for the third Wednesday of March’s show. The bar itself is punctuated by a large neon sign in the middle of 2nd street’s 300 block. Inside looks like the hull of a ship complete with ropes, portals and a giant deep sea diving mask. The stage sits at the back of the long, rectangular room. Booking bands who’s sound is designed for an intimate performance space and the available acoustics can be tricky but the lineup for this week promised a good time. The space itself isn’t very big so it caused quite a bit of commotion as Gatto Di Morte took the stage with three drummers, a saxophone player, keyboardist and various other assorted ensemble members. The whole entourage was costumed in everything from a sequin Santa suit to a giant prosthetic worm head. Assorted props were strewn across the stage as the band began tuning their instruments and running soundcheck, or so I though that was what was going on. Before I proceed, I must say I am a true believer in not
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Wu-Tang Clan Pack The Observatory Beyond It’s Capacity
Janky Smooth Central Command
March 26, 2017
The Evolution of Wu-Tang Clan and Orange County As I walked up to the Observatory, it hit me that Orange County wasn’t the suburban utopia it’s fair skinned pilgrim settlers envisioned when they fled the cities so many moons ago. I can’t remember the last time I had seen such a diverse group of people at a show in Orange County- if you’ve ever been to a show at The Galaxy then you know what I’m talking about. First step into the venue and the room was already near capacity. Fat-Lip of The Pharcyde was spinning 90’s throw-back jams while people were already starting to bunch up. The anticipation level for Wu-Tang Clan to take the stage was at full boiling point by the end of the DJ set, with people chanting, “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin’ ta Fuck Wit” at high decibel. I decided to ditch the side stage before the band came on, and left to view the set from the upper balcony, joined by my close friend Donny– Wu-Tang, like the drugs they rap about, is always better shared than alone. related content: Method Man & Redman: Observations in the Key of 90’s Nostalgia The Iconic Sounds of
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James Chance and the Contortions Play First Show in L.A. Since 1984
Rob Shepyer
March 23, 2017
James Chance and the Contortions Zig and Zag, Jig and Jump at The Echoplex This Past Sunday for Part Time Punks Gig Sometimes punks become so punk that you can’t even call them punks anymore. Sometimes punks become so punk that they turn punk into jazz. But before they dive head-first into crate-digging for Japanese pressings of Thelonious Monk records, they discover the bridge between the two genres: No Wave. Punk rock saxophone has always held a special place in my heart. Whether it be Steve Mackay playing on my favorite album, The Stooges’ Funhouse, or it be Derf Scratch pouting out “New York’s Alright if You Like Saxophones”, or if it be X-Ray Spex ripping through “Oh Bondage, Up Yours!” The Saxophone always seemed to me to be a superior phallus to the guitar that can make any punk sound peak into pure Dionysic release. Never has there been a better practitioner of punk rock saxophone than the man, Part Time Punks just wrangled to play The Echoplex. It only took 33 years but on Sunday March 19th, James Chance and the Contortions finally made it back to Los Angeles. I had been waiting and hoping for years that this would
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My Meat Puppets Misconception at The Echo
Janky Smooth Central Command
March 21, 2017
I Thought Whiskey Would Be Garnish for A Meat Puppets Show “Hey…you wanna buy some acid?” The voice came from the direction of a gangly teenager, standing with his cohorts, a few doors down from The Echo. This took me by surprise because…well, just because. In my mind I had the Meat Puppets pegged as some hard-living punk-rock band, not as a bunch of hippies. That’s one of the reasons why I jumped at the chance to join photographer, Jessica Moncrief in an outing to review their live show. Of course, I knew the Meat Puppets, but I’d never seen them live and only a few of their tunes were well known to me. Words: John Montgomery Photos: Jessica Moncrief I always kept the Meat Puppets in high regard, but I really didn’t know what the hell they did to occupy such a space in my mind. Shit, maybe I was a poser after all? Time to make things right! The sold out show was the hot ticket on this March weeknight and it was starting to feel like the night would even be better than eating tacos. related content: The Brian Jonestown Massacre in L.A.- Music Snobs & Fentanyl
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My 1st Show at The Echo With Old Pals & New: Surfbort & Feels
Jesse Fox
March 18, 2017
As a photographer who primarily lives and works in the midwest, covering a show at The Echo was a bit of a check-off from my unofficial venue bucket list. Living in Ohio, you’re oftentimes passed over on tours (shocking, right?) So, upon finding out that not only would I be able to see my friends in Surfbort, but that I’d finally be able catch Feels all in one place, it made covering this show a highlight of my recent trip to Los Angeles. The difference in vibe in the lineup might be part of the reason that every other band that played, including headliners, The Molochs fell a little flat for me. Sorry guys. related content: Spending the Week w/ Feels Debut Album from Castle Face Records Surfbort: Innocent Punkers or Deranged Occultists? Brooklyn based four-piece Surfbort kicked off the night and the first show of their west coast tour. Despite being jet-lagged, singer Dani Miller’s energy was contagious as she interacted with both the crowd and her bandmates. Erratic dance moves and a giant smiley face mixed with her yelling and at times, laughing vocals, had me wondering if she was an innocent little punk just havin’ a little
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The Significance of Japandroids Unknown to The Observatory Security Staff
Janky Smooth Central Command
March 17, 2017
A Hockey Game: An Acceptable Canadian Excuse to Be Late For Japandroids Set at The Observatory I arrived at the side of the Observatory stage for Japandroids at 10:11 pm, soaked in sweat from the glory of winning a hockey game that ended 20 minutes earlier, and dealing with the security guards at The Observatory. Despite proof of credentials, I still found myself waiting outside the venue in front of a closed box office until the staff of seven security guards at an empty door gave in and let me through. Nevertheless, I was reassured that none of the staff had any idea who I was, or why any publication would care to cover this show. Observatory Suggestion Box: Hand Out Press Releases To Security Guards Like Daily Specials to Waiters Yes, perhaps they were just doing their job which didn’t include taking note of the endless accolades Japandroids had garnered over their first ten years as a band. Were they truly oblivious to the fact that Spin Magazine had only five years earlier called them Band of the Year in 2012? Perhaps they had never known about Japandroids dominance on top ten lists for when their second studio album, Celebration
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Desert Daze Takes It’s Caravan On The Road
Danny Baraz
March 15, 2017
Here we are, almost 6 months after the Desert Daze festival took place at The Institute of Mentalphysics in Joshua Tree and we still can’t stop thinking about it. It’s the type of experience that AEG exits are made of. A festival that is rich with so many memories of once in a lifetime sets and lifelong friendships that began that weekend are burned in our brains forever. related content: Desert Daze 2016- Quantifying the Physics of a Good Time The folks at Moonblock are not your stereotypical musicians and artists. You know, the ones from paradigms past that lived off their stripper girl friends and never had a job. No, they are part of this new, global artist community renaissance that is characterized by entrepreneurship and hustle. They fill the vacuum left in the ruins of the major record labels with a balance of bands, indie record labels and booking agencies like Phil and Julie Pirrone have with Desert Daze, The Space Agency and their respective bands, JJUUJJUU and Deap Vally. They are filled with family. It’s in this vein that the Pirrone’s put together the Desert Daze Caravan that has been touring since February and are currently stopped in
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Dr Octagon: 20 Years Later, Kool Keith & Crew Play 1st L.A. Show
Jessica Moncrief
March 14, 2017
Hip Hip lovers rejoiced when The Teragram Ballroom announced that Dr.Octagon would be playing the first ever live performance in LA with the original trio of masterminds that gave us “Dr. Octagonecologyst.” In 1996 Kool Keith’s alter ego Dr.Octagon along with Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and DJ Qbert brought forth one of the most epic cult classics in Hip Hop history, yet never once played a show together. More than 20 years later the elusive group surprised everyone with a handful of reunion shows. An Iconic Project from an Iconic M.C. Kool Keith took a different eccentric approach to hip-hop. While he always has maintained his roots from the The Ultramagnetic MCs days, his lyricism wasn’t what the typical hip hop artists of that time were on. He was on some bizarro lyrical shit, garnering him a huge cult like following of weirdos and freaks from every end of the spectrum. Witnessing Hip Hop History at The Teragram Ballroom Blogger, Cesareo Garasa’s online reaction to the news was totally on point, he wrote “This terrifies me. His music terrifies me on some unknown level. I can’t listen to it– even though I enjoy it– without being filled up
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A Camera, Notebook & A Foul Disposition for Sinkane at The Bootleg
Todd Anderson
March 14, 2017
There’s no way to write about last night without it being personal, deeply personal. While in the midst of a debilitating depression, of which I am prone to, my friend and my girlfriend dragged me into the Bootleg Theatre, minutes before Sinkane was to take the stage. I had my camera, notebook, and a foul disposition… attempting to focus on shooting something… anything to get out of this funk that had ahold of me and secretly planning to leave at the drop of a hat. As Sinkane’s 8 diverse members found their places on the stage, I had no way of knowing I was about to be transformed, changed, grooved right out of the deep darkness I was in. I look up and see the drum reads Sinkane, and right below Kulu Shi Tamaam- but I’ll get to that later. By the end of the first song, I realize Sinkane has mastered the art of build up. I’m uneasy and still not quite sure of what is going on. I snap some photos, grateful for the task. By the third song, I feel it- that indescribable feeling you get when music transports you somewhere else, somewhere good, somewhere so far
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Wand Secret Show at The Griffin w/ Dreamdecay
Danny Baraz
March 9, 2017
It’s not that the shows over the last couple years at The Griffin are “secret shows”, per se. The Ty Segall and the Freedom Band gig a month ago before Segall’s latest album dropped, had a line stretching around the alley behind the Griffin with a couple hundred fans that didn’t make it in. I weep for those poor souls. But “Secret Show” sounds infinitely doper than “unpromoted show”. This past Monday it was Cory Hanson’s band Wand that ignored the most important rule and defining trait of a secret; Loose Lips Sink Ships and Snitches Get Stitches. What we got was perfectly populated place of Wand worship and an opening band that ditched the psych rock dogma to create a unique style; PsychCore. I know, I know- shoot me in the face if ever say that word again! The Religion of Rock n Roll and it’s Testimony at The Griffin Monday night’s at The Griffin are starting to resemble Sunday’s at church. Familiar faces amongst the congregants privy to the message being delivered in the sermon, captivated by the clergy and the message of rock and roll delivered to the flock who revere them. related content: Shannon and the
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The Brian Jonestown Massacre in L.A.: Music Snobs & Fentanyl Lollipops
Danny Baraz
March 8, 2017
This past Saturday night, I gave it another go when Anton Newcombe and The Brian Jonestown Massacre took the stage at The Fonda Theater in the land of Fentanyl Lollipops and sickly sweet sizzurp. Thoughts were rushing through my head while frequent Brian Jonestown contributor Miranda Lee Richards opened the show in support of the iconic, occult-ish and earliest figures in the current psych rock insurgence taking place in the global underground. But much like Jerry Garcia himself, the imagery of BJM’s early work summoned acid flashbacks while the hustle was about “getting well” behind closed doors. Here comes a tangent. I’m reliably and uncharacteristically tribal when it comes to my loyalty to regional pride in any form. West Coast Rap, West Coast weed, (obviously). Echo Park music (don’t say ‘scene’) over Williamsburg and, of course- The East Coast girls ARE hip and I dig those styles they wear…but the West Coast has the sunshine and half naked well tanned women in the winter- even if I do dig a pale complexion with jet black, bangs cut as high as the depth of character. related content: The Brian Jonestown Massacre Play 3 1/2 Hour Set at Teragram But when it came
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Meet Moon Duo At The Crossroads: Rock Rebranded At The Echo
Danny Baraz
March 2, 2017
The moment I first saw the imagery and themes from the new Moon Duo album, Occult Architecture vol. 1 released on Sacred Bones Records, I knew that Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada were communicating in a language I could understand. That’s why I peeled myself out of exhausted comfort this past Friday to attend their gig at The Echo, even though I was burning out quicker than Crowley, strung out in London. Apologies to the opening bands. Moon Duo has been on line-ups of shows and festivals I’ve attended in the past but sometimes, a shiny object is required to draw your attention in a time when there is more new music and less strict guidelines in adhering to people’s pre conceived notions on what kind of music they pledge their allegiance to. It would be easy for rock purists to overlook the magickal, mystical incantations and spells Moon Duo cast on their new album, Occult Architecture, Vol 1. But I’m more curious if there are any rock purists left under the age of 25 and what is the measuring stick of “pure rock”? The Rolling Stones? Robert Johnson? The Sonics? Zeppelin? How about GunsNRoses or even, Ty Segall?
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