Category: SHOWS

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,

The Shrine and Dirty Fences Support Olivia Jaffe’s Obey Collab

Taylor Wong April 7, 2015

Friday night- Olivia Jaffe had a photo gallery that was over run with bikers and rock n’ roll vixens that could make a grown man cry. The show was backed by sponsors such as Pabst Blue Ribbon, Sailor Jerry, Obey, Dice Magazine, Rolling Heavy Magazine, Death Lens, Ashbury, and L.A. records, making this one epic party. Oh, did I also mention Dirty Fences and The Shrine played as well? Andrew Huggy wasn’t fucking around when he put this one together. In the past, Huggy has brought us some fantastic free shows with fantastic open bars, some of those previous shows had headliners such as Restavrant, Divola, and Jesus Sons. Although these parties are usually hosted at some secret motorcycle garage between DTLA and Echo Park, this specific show moved locations to a place called The Paper Agency. The Paper Agency is an awesome little art studio a couple shops over from The Well. With a line up like this and free booze you could only expect one thing, Bikers, babes, and a shit ton of hair. The street in front of the venue was lined with motorcycles and vans straight out of the 70’s. This was my kind of show.

Burgerama 4: Burger Food Poisoning

Danny Baraz April 2, 2015

Almost every place in the world now breeds the type of angsty teens that pick up guitars to butcher some out of tune power chords. What is it about Orange County, California that continuously, for the last three generations in a row, forms and re forms these amazing scenes that surround dozens of good local bands? Many bands that eventually rise to international fame or at least, notoriety. Decade after decade the youth of Orange County reject the status quo, vandalize their strip malls, piss in their pools and rock the fuck out. Once the music industry crashed and burned, you would think that those kick-pedal-carrying kids would remain in anonymity in the solitude of their own bedrooms, never to move out of their parents homes. Rising from the smoke and the ash of a music industry unwilling to adapt to the digital age comes Burger Records bearing, of all things, cassette tapes. They are here to service this generations’ insatiable thirst for angst, sex and adolescence. Burger Records was formed in 2007 by Sean Bohrman and Lee Rickard. They allowed all their artists to retain complete control of their works and primarily, all of their releases have been on cassette.

Panache Spring Fling at The Echo: Jacco Gardner, Ultimate Painting, The Entrance Band and more…

Lawrence Rengert April 2, 2015

Two nights ago I was at one of the most unglamorous dive bars in Ventura, a show organized for label mates of Jacco Gardner, The Miseries. The place was dark and smelly with dartboards and bikers, prostitutes (I may have only imagined them), a guy even took off his pants going full frontal and a bartendress showed up late, but just in time to direct security around the bar as girlfriends threw Q balls at boyfriends heads. Los Angeles garage sensations The Cigarette Bums were opening up but there was something special about that night and the willingness of the bands to play a show there, in that semi-dangerous and remote spot. There was something special about it because nothing was being handed to anyone and each band would have to work the crowd (most of whom knew nothing about these bands or the musical styles they played), fight to be heard, deal with the worst sound equipment imaginable, everything was running late and it was still an unknown if the last band of the evening would even have enough time to play. There was something tragic, yet beautiful and romantic about it, it was a great show. Today I

Depth Test for Broncho, Girl Band and Blair at The Echo

Danny Baraz April 2, 2015

I made my way over to The Echo on Thursday night to check out a sold out show with headliner, Broncho. Irish noise rock group, Girl Band were my real motivation for attending this gig but I certainly was intrigued by seeing what the Broncho buzz was all about. Just a few hours earlier I got to cross an item off my bucket list after a marathon interview with Jello Biafra. I mention this only because it was relevant to the affect it had on my perception of all the bands’ performances that night- an affect, which reinforced the gut feeling I had about Girl Band and completely undermined the way I reacted to Wyatt Blair, also on the bill. So here it goes. The venue was dead silent as Girl Band took the stage. I could tell what type of audience this was going to be right away- beautiful and boring. The type of audience that attends a sold out show for a one hit wonder band although, that’s not fair to Broncho- I’m rather sure they’ll be around for a long time after Thursday night’s show. I’m referring to the fact that Broncho’s latest single, “Class Historian” seems to be amplifying out of a lot of people’s speakers

Palma Violets and No Parents: Clear Your Head With Chaos at The Echo

Savannah Peykani March 27, 2015

Time was not necessarily on the crowd’s side last night at The Echo but that didn’t stop anyone from having a rocking, raucous, even ridiculous time as UK rising stars Palma Violets headlined the night, with LA’s No Parents opening. People lined up outside the Echo well before the 8:30 door time, as fans itched to get their hump-day music fix via Palma Violets. Leading up to No Parents’ set, the Echo was restless, peppered with well-dressed, effortlessly hip punks and rockers alike. We all were ready for the show to start but No Parents and Palma Violets, of course, had other plans- since there’s nothing cool about being on time. With Palma Violets playing at Burgerama this weekend, last night’s show was their introduction to California’s “Burger World” and who better to facilitate that than No Parents? Front man Zoe Reign literally had a stripped down performance, taking off his clothes by the second song and only wearing some very flattering gray boxers for the remainder of the night. Immediately everyone understood just what kind of guy he is and what kind of set they would play. No Parents play short, fast, no-nonsense punk music, with track highlights being “Die Hippie Die”

Rubblebucket & Vacationer join the circus at The Echoplex

Taylor Wong March 25, 2015

It’s a Tuesday night and I found myself waiting for the doors of the Echoplex to open. I’m a bit out of it from working non-stop all week and packing as I am in the midst of moving. All of a sudden I hear a loud thud and some one scream. Someone just hit a person with their car under the bridge right next to the Echoplex. I walk over to the scene where the driver had stopped to call 911. I looked for a while and walked back to the line a little shaken up but knowing that some one had already taken the responsibility of calling for an ambulance. There was nothing in my power that I could do to help this person at this point. No one else in line even knew what had just happened. I didn’t lose my appetite. I walked in and ordered a couple of slices of pizza and a Red Bull. I was unable to drink to drink due to antibiotics, so you know I am not making any of this up. The bill for the night was a co-headlined show by Vacationer and Rubblebucket, with opening band SWIMM. SWIMM took the stage around 20

Don’t Think, Just Drive: Deap Vally Always Worth The Trip

Danny Baraz March 25, 2015

For the past few weeks, Moon Block Monday’s has been a recurring event at the Continental Room in Fullerton. Week after week, the lineups have intrigued me but I have been unable to muster the energy for the drive from LA to Orange County at the end of a weekend of covering shows. Luckily, Moon Block’s last show at The Continental Room fell on a Sunday. Even luckier than that, Deap Vally was the headliner. The show also featured L.A. Witch and Summer Twins. I didn’t make it in time to see Globelamp. After interviewing Julie, Lindsey and Phil Pirrone of Moon Block/Desert Daze a couple of weekends ago, I realized that not only are these people talented musicians and relatable song writers but I found out that they are also genuinely nice and hospitable people. It makes it easy to be a loyal fan. There is nothing worse than meeting artists you respect and finding out they are douchebags. I made my way down to Fullerton California on Sunday evening. I got to the venue and ordered a beverage. The trio of women that call themselves L.A. Witch took the stage quietly but that quiet didn’t last long. The battery of

Tijuana Panthers Rock Teens and Their Parents at The Echo

Danny Baraz March 23, 2015

Teens and parents alike congregated to see Tijuana Panthers at The Echo for a pseudo-matinee show courtesy of KXLU 88.9. With the sun still shining outside, I nestled into the cave-like venue around 6:30 PM, which felt a little strange. The bar tenders were drinking coffee, the patio atmosphere seemed abnormally void of booze, and my pizza order was, for the first time, a sober and conscious decision. The vibes were surely a bit off but a promise to see Tijuana Panthers for my first time kept my spirits high. I arrived just in time to see openers Wounded Lion. While it was merely 7 PM, Wound Lion seemed to pay it no mind and ripped right through their quick set, which the lead singer boasted/cautioned would only last 27 minutes. After each song, the band members would rotate instruments, while their resident hype man screamed along and persisted the white man can’t dance theory. Taking the stage at 8 PM was Tijuana Panthers. Before I even heard their music I loved them strictly because of their name. Tijuana is a bat shit crazy place I frequented as a teenager where morals are extremely low and the price of a

Category: SHOWS

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