Category: SHOWS

Ty Segall at The Smell shot by Julien Kelly

Ty Segall Unplugged at the Smell

Danny Baraz May 9, 2015

The sky was illuminated by a brilliant flash of light followed by a loud and ominous rumble. The rain was coming down on me as I walked down the alley behind Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles approaching The Smell. As I got closer to the entrance, I saw Jason Finnazo of The Birth Defects nervously smoking a cigarette in the rain. He had been the opening act of the evening in which the band Feels and Ty Segall were trading in their face melters for acoustic guitars. “Did you feel naked up there?” I asked him as he took a deep pull off of his smoke. “Yeah, everytime I do this, I always say that I’ll never do it again”. He proceeded to go through the inventory of issues he had and I kept thinking how musicians were like chef’s- always pointing out where the meal was too salty and never giving any credit to the deliciousness of their creation. I was bummed I missed his set because I love The Birth Defects and one thing that is hard to imagine is The Birth Defects unplugged. It’s exhilarating when artists go out on a limb. I did make it

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Detonate at The Echoplex

Taylor Wong May 8, 2015

It was a rainy Thursday night out here in Echo Park. I could imagine no other acceptable way to spend this rainy evening than at the John Spencer Blues Explosion show at The Echoplex. Now I’m a noob when it come to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, but what I have heard is that they put on an explosive show. Pun intended. So a little fact about me- I’m compulsively early to almost everything I do. This came in handy this specific evening. There were only 2 bands scheduled to play this last night. Opening for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was a band by the name We Are Hex. About 15 minutes before they went on I realized, being human and all, I had forgotten something necessary to cover the show. I was able to rush home and back by the time they were 2 songs into their set. I was extremely glad I made it back in time, not only because I still had a job to do but because We Are Hex were simply incredible. Front woman Jilly Weiss reminds me of a grungier Exene Cervenka of X mixed with a little Brody Dalle of the Distillers. She awkwardly/adorably danced around

Desert Daze 2015: The Festival for the 21st Century

Danny Baraz May 5, 2015

It was 4:30am on Saturday morning. I pulled the Janky Smooth RV into a dusty parking lot. I had been driving this carbon spewing behemoth since 1am, after the hour it took to load it up with instruments, sound equipment and beer- The essentials that would push me through a crazy 36 hours in the Mojave Desert for Desert Daze 2015. There were hints of blue shading the dark desert sky at the edge of the horizon that peaked over some sleepy mountains. A sense of dread washed over me at the sight of this beautiful event. It meant I only had a few hours to get a little bit of sleep before setting up the DNA Vapor sponsored, Janky Smooth Jam Lounge in preparation for our open jam after party. I knew I shouldn’t have taken that dab before loading up all that gear. After being led to our lakeside cabana by a sleepy eyed angel named Art, it became clear that we were the first ones to plant our flag in this particular patch of land. By the time I woke up a few hours later, the deserted road I parked our camper on was swarming with

The Dead Milkmen Over Deliver at The Troubadour

Danny Baraz April 27, 2015

Words: Danny Baraz Photos: Taylor Wong If listening to The Dead Milkmen doesn’t instantly put a smile on your face and get your foot tapping then you are completely dead inside. For 32 years, The Dead Milkmen have taken a genre that can take itself too seriously and made a mockery of it and every other taboo and sacred topic known to man. Just like most other coveted punk bands of their era, they have recently reactivated to write new music and tour. Last night, I had a chance to see The Dead Milkmen at The Troubadour and remedy the fact that I have never seen one of the funniest bands in the world play live before. I got to The Troubadour around 9:45. Unfortunately, I missed a great local band. Johnny Madcap & the Distractions had just finished playing when I arrived. I waded through the crowd of salt and pepper patrons and parked myself next to the bar and ordered a beer. Without delay, The Dead Milkmen took the stage. “Rodney Anonymous” Linderman charismatically connected with the crowd instantly as they opened with the song “Nutrition” off of Big Lizard in My Backyard. The Dead Milkmen un ceremoniously

Fuzz Unleash Distorted Heavy Overdrive On El Rey

JustinThomas April 25, 2015

Words: Justin Thomas Photos: Taylor Wong Last night Ty Segall, and his longhaired trio, Fuzz headlined the sold out El Rey Theatre in West Hollywood with support from Endless Bummer and CCR Headcleaners. Heads were banged, faces were fervidly melted and stoner jams tirelessly ensued. News Flash: Mr. Ty Segall knows his way around a fucking drum set, Ladies and Gentleman. Arriving just after 9 PM on a Friday night, with the venue nearly one third full, Endless Bummer were already creating mass amounts noise in the realm of psychedelic bong-rip friendly jams. The Los Angeles locals, Endless Bummer, carried the torch of the thriving garage scene well. Like Fuzz, as a three piece they did an efficient job producing a wall of noise while working in the ambit limitations of two dudes hammering guitars and a girl ripping the drums apart. Next up were the San Francisco five-piece CCR Headcleaners. The Headcleaners set the pallet well for Fuzz and warmed the waters for the crowd that was beginning to trickle in. CCR had some stand out moments during their set, one of which included a stoney version of Free the Freaks off their 7 in. split with Fuzz, LAMC

Faith No More Wind Up The Wiltern on Opening Night

Danny Baraz April 24, 2015

Words: Danny Baraz Photos: Dirt Junior If I HAD to list one musical influence that could encapsulate my love of listening to, creating, performing, critiquing and obsessing on music, without hesitation or pause, I would tell you Mike Patton. Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk, and Lovage. His dynamic vocals, the musicians he plays with, the uniqueness of his sound, his twisted lyrics and commentary and the prolific nature of his creative output are everything I aspire to as an artist and the measuring stick to which I compare all others. To say I am a bit biased on this subject would be an understatement. Faith No More were a part of a musical awakening for me and were also the gateway to discovering my favorite Mike Patton fronted band, Mr. Bungle. I was 14 years old when Faith No More’s, The Real Thing was released. I had never yet and still to this day, heard anything like it. You can imagine the excitement and trepidation I experienced when a new Faith No More tour and album were announced last year. Last night, Faith No More played the first of 3 sold out shows at The Wiltern. I was

Coachella: No Sense of History in your Hate

Danny Baraz April 23, 2015

Words: Danny Baraz It’s funny how hating Coachella is the cool thing to do now. Every year, almost everyone you know talks trash about the Coachella lineup, patrons and prices and every year the festival sells out two consecutive weekends. Countless articles are written about how the people who attend Coachella are the worst kind of people and other such dick-ish, click bait non-sense yet, almost every music lover you know attends either weekend 1 or 2. The festival commentary is filled with more hate each and every year and the reasons for the hate are as diverse as the musical lineup and the attendees of the festival themselves. I could just as easily make this a standard review about the performances that took place on weekend 2 of the biggest festival in America. I could talk about what an amazing year for hip hop this was- how Run The Jewels steals the show of every festival they play. How standing between the two stages that hosted Lil B and Ab-Soul playing the same time slot revealed a huge discrepancy of talent between the two men. It deepened the Based God mystery to me and why that dude has

The Replacements at The Palladium- Shot by David Evanko

The Replacements: Alt-Heads, Why the Palladium sucks and Whole Foods Blues

Brent Smith April 18, 2015

Words: Brent Smith Photos: David Evanko I typically bemoan the fact that kids and grownups are listening to the same music nowadays. Where that’s not annoying is in the case of seeing The Replacements live—that notoriously ‘unpopular’ no-band band. They’re hard to pin down. I mean what do you call The Replacements? They’re a formidable mix of hard rock, punk, blues, maybe a hint of new wave, etc. which is why they were ultimately pigeon-holed as the godfathers of ‘alternative rock’ and opened the door for the bands that dominated the 90s. I attended the ‘Mats second consecutive sold out show at the Hollywood Palladium, the fourth pit stop on their 2015 Back By Unpopular Demand tour, wedged between both weekends of that big festival thingy happening in the desert (those of you who caught it last year know they rocked it on Day 1 to a scanty crowd). I arrived dodging traffic and bad noise. 7pm is an ugly time to get anywhere in Los Angeles, especially Hollywood, where they’re currently building L.A.’s New Great Slums in the form of corporate-living skyscrapers with shopping malls for lobbies. The last time I saw a show at the Palladium, embarrassingly enough,

Chet Faker, White People and Masturbation at Club Nokia

Taylor Wong April 16, 2015

Words and Photos: Taylor Wong The other night I got the chance to cover a show that I normally wouldn’t attend but I was blessed enough to witness Nicholas James Murphy aka, Chet Faker’s second show of two that were sandwiched between two performances at Coachella. Now i’m not saying I wouldn’t cover it because he sucks, because that’s just not true. I am just not that into electronic music. The only way I would be down to see something electronic is if it were something bass-y like Chet Faker or Flume. Those kinds of acts take the electronic production and mix it with live music in the most fascinating way. I am writing this review from the perspective of some one who had no expectations. Aside from listening to him briefly on Spotify the day of the show and stumbling upon him at Fyf Fest last year, I was in the dark. Even before arriving at the Club Nokia, I assumed Chet Faker had a predominantly white, female demographic- around the age of 20 to be specific. As soon as I entered the venue I took not of how empty it was for a sold out show. I’ve noticed over the course of this year that it seems like people

A Night at the Museum with Cherry Glazerr and White Fence

Savannah Peykani April 11, 2015

Words: Savannah Peykani Photos: Taylor Wong Where can you find dinosaurs going hard in the pit on a Friday night? At the Natural History Museum, of course, as part of their First Fridays program, which last night featured Cherry Glazerr and White Fence. First off, I have to say how genius the First Fridays’ concert series is. Science is always cool, Los Angeles rock is better than ever and the audience has never been to a venue with a floor this clean. After navigating LA traffic from Orange County, I eventually made it to the Hall of North American Mammals to mosh with some stuffed gray wolves and Clem Creevey, Cherry Glazerr’s lead singer and guitarist. I’ve seen Cherry Glazerr a handful of times, most recently when they opened for Sky Ferreira in November. Six months, a new single and dozens of shows later, Clem is an entirely different performer. Once a pixie teenaged hipster, now Clem is more punk demon ready to take on anyone who dares call her and her band “cute.” Shrieking, gut-busting vocals unleashed a fury of angst throughout the crowd. Their brief set, of which I only saw the last half, was enough to get

Tom Morello at the Concert For Social Justice

Concert for Social Justice: Can Music Still Change the World?

Lawrence Rengert April 10, 2015

Words: Lawrence Rengert Photos: Rebecca Sapp Driving into Hollywood is strange; it still feels weird after all these years, creepy and dirty but also a part of my history, my childhood, my home. I’ve lived in New York and New Orleans, Paris and Amsterdam and nothing is as perverse and life shattering as Hollywood. It’s like driving into the worst and best part of your life all at the same time. I am permanently scarred from the years I lived there but the memories, friendships, loves and tragedies left another kind of mark; the kind that elevated my ability to rapidly adapt and survive. I am grateful that Hollywood forced me to reveal my character at such a young age (more out of desperation than any kind of nobility), but I kind of hate that I can still go back there. Some places are better left in the rearview mirror. The truth is…I was actually really looking forward to seeing Jackson Browne at The Concert for Social Justice tonight. I grew up with the Running on Empty album and he’s remained a guilty pleasure of sorts. You probably remember Jackson Browne as a sort of late 70’s American soft rock. What

Marmozets Move The Crowd at the Echoplex

Taylor Wong April 8, 2015

I’m about to get a little personal with all of you, probably to the point where you may want to just punch me in the face. This past week has been one of the most hectic weeks of the year for me. Between covering shows almost every other day, one of which was the 2 day, Burgerama festival and moving from Redondo out to Hollywood; I also work at a bar 5 days a week. Just writing that made me exhausted. During this hectic week, I ran into my buddy Brandon Blaine from Plague Vendor at Burgerama on my way out of the festival. I grabbed his photo and caught up for a bit. During our little conversation, he mentioned that his girl friend, Becca Macintyre would be playing The Echoplex with her band, Marmozets that Thursday of that gnarly week. Not realizing how beat up I would be by then, I told him that I would come check them out. Boy, was I glad I did that. It was a much needed break from moving boxes. Marmozets have been playing shows since 2007 and have played in the past with such bands as Funeral For a Friend, The Used,