Category: SHOWS

Friday Night In LA: A secret show with Ariel Pink at OP and Kurt Vile at First Unitarian Church

Danny Baraz November 22, 2014

Los Angeles is the best place in the world to have a love affair with music. Aside from the occasional, low energy, scenester transplants that fill up some of our venues, it is the perfect city to go see shows. There was so much going on this past Friday night that it made the head spin with possibilities. Janky Smooth attended two events: Kurt Vile and the Violators headlining the First Unitarian Church and a surprise and semi secret Ariel Pink show at Over***, L.A.’s seediest, most exciting rock and roll speak easy/after hours. It is L.A.’s worst kept secret and is surprisingly celebrating it’s 3 year anniversary. Amazing it hasn’t been shut down yet. The night started at The First Unitarian Church for another amazing Red Bull Sound Select installment of 30 Days in L.A. Kurt Vile on stage in a religious sanctuary was draw enough to worship at this opulent altar of Rock and Roll. Red Bull brought in some extra sound and some elaborate lighting to fill up the palatial sized ceilings with more audio and visual. The night featured two more solid Red Bull Sound Select artists, Air Review and Little Tybee. Air Review gave a

Future Islands at The Wiltern: Torn Shirts, Gargled Roars and Bouncy Blue Orbs

Amir Kashani November 22, 2014

On the 20th night, Red Bull’s 30 Days in LA gave us Future Islands to continue the trend of one great show after another. It was obvious everyone was driven to The Wiltern to see Future Islands and their lead man, Samuel T. Herring aka Hemlock Ernst. However, two upstarts with a very similar vibe took the stage first. The first band, Speak from Austin, took the stage to an almost empty room. They opened with just a drum machine and synth. The young, black clad upstarts are interesting but the two gentlemen on strings sort of reminded me of a younger Skolnick and Gilbert from the Lambda Lambda Lambda fraternity. The lead’s voice is high and reminiscent of a younger Ezra Koenig, at times. It took him and his crew about five or six songs to be adopted by the crowd but for the most part this crowd was saving up for the next course on the menu tonight. I went out for a popcorn and came back to a much fuller room of jihadi hipster beards and the stronger scent of quickly smoked, fermented barley. I hurried back to my spot and noticed 4 guys take the stage

The Sexy People Came Out to Funk at Red Bull’s, Not Your Mama’s Roller Disco

Janky Smooth Central Command November 20, 2014

Not Your Mama’s Roller Disco at Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale was a complete home-run for #30DaysInLA. Navid Izadi, Lonely C of Soul Clap and Baby Prince of Wolf + Lamb brought DJ sets that would make John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever break a sweat. Midnight Magic filled a roller disco live act void perfectly. The Red Bull vodka drinks were flowing and the crowd was swimming in circles on the rink. It was an amazing night. The entire evening seemed to be quite industry studded – a priority over the General Admission RSVP list, which was okay, because the people who should be in the room were in the room. It was an unsaid nod that we were all in the home stretch of the #30DaysInLA and the energy was ablaze in everyone. I tried to get out on the rink, but after falling more than once, left the Janky Smooth skating to our flawless photographer Dani Meigel. Each DJ played a set of upbeat house, disco edits and crowd-pleasing 80’s anthems. They all danced along to their sets and almost knew how high in demand they were, as the security ended all admission to the packed roller disco.

Real Estate at The Belasco with special guest, Rivers Cuomo

Justin Cornwall November 20, 2014

Oh, Red Bull – you’re running us ragged with this month of shows. Luckily, last night provided a bit of a necessary lull in the energy of the month. Beach Party, Pure Bathing Culture and Real Estate brought their talents to The Belasco in Downtown Los Angeles, to a crowd of eager fans. Personally, I was very much looking forward to another set from LA locals Beach Party. I’ve gotten to know this band as friends over the last year and I’ve never had to fake being into their music. These guys always put forward a wave of high-energy surf/punk/rock that is exactly what you’d expect from a band called Beach Party. Their stage presence is as strong as their drinks and they didn’t skip a beat flowing through their set. They played a few newer tracks and teased they are currently wrapping up their full-length album. Their lyrics lament of bad decisions and debauchery, I believe the smart choruses played a big part in winning the crowd over. This was their last show of 2014 and they were well received by the mellower Real Estate crowd. Red Bull Sound Select has mismatched sounds on some of these lineups this

PPL MVR surprise performance at Red Bull’s screening of Spinal Tap

Danny Baraz November 19, 2014

Who the hell are PPL MVR and where did they come from? All gimmickry and showmanship aside, their music is pretty fucking awesome. They are a metal version of one of my favorite, new bands, Fartbarf and the first time I saw them at the Sunset Strip Music Festival I was skeptical but intrigued. No one knows who they are or why Atlantic Records signed them to a record deal with no established presence or fan base to speak of. One thing is clear- Someone is banking on them and sinking a lot of money into making sure that people are exposed to this band of yeti like creatures with metal guitars and vocoder vocals. PPL MVR were the “surprise guest” at The Electric Dusk Drive In Theater for a screening of one of my favorite movies, This is Spinal Tap. This was yet another interesting special interest event that was a part of the diverse, 30 Days in LA by Red Bull. It was a beautiful night and setting in Downtown L.A. I set up a beach chair on the astro turf in front of the movie screen. Red Bull promised a special performance at an intermission and part

50 shades of Spooky Black: Models, Partiers and Real Hip Hop Heads at The Well

Taylor Wong November 18, 2014

LA got spooky this weekend at The Well. Saturday evening we were blessed with the first ever Spooky Black and The Stand4rd performance in LA, and who better to put the show together other than the people at The Well and UNIF? I was pretty stoked to have been able to cover this show after our access to Chance the Rapper was cut down to just a writer. Spooky Black was definitely a rare and worthy replacement for Chance the Rapper. I had no prior knowledge of what Spooky Black sounded like before this weekend. I mean I did check him out on Spotify Friday night, but prior to this I always thought he was just some white rapper from the butt fuck middle of no where. After doing some research I was pretty excited for this party. The dude has talent for a 16 year old Minnesota boy. He reminds me of a young softer version of How To Dress Well. Other than the fact that they had great performers for the night, UNIF threw a kick ass party. The bar was open all night with Colt 45’s, Vodka, and Gin (at least thats all they had when i

Dum Dum Girls Headline Night 16 of 30 Days in L.A.

Janky Smooth Central Command November 18, 2014

November 16th, night 16 of the Red Bull 30 days in LA. Well I made it, the back end of the month of November. Boy has it been exhausting. This night we were given a performance by Lowell, Tapioca And The Flea, and Dum Dum Girls. I wasn’t familiar with any of the bands other than my boys in Tapioca, so I was pretty excited to see what was in store for me. As soon as I got there I saw a lot of familiar faces. It was a cool mix of people I had met over the course of the 30 days and a large group of supporting friends were there, shit even my ex-girlfriend was there. The venue was The Well, a small clothing store in DTLA with a artist warehouse space in the back. The show never hit capacity which shocked me seeing as how it was a sold out show. I got to the show a bit early so we took advantage of the free pizza and prize give away. I’m pretty stoked on my new ear plugs I won. These ear plugs actually came in handy as soon as Lowell started playing. I definitely wasn’t

Them Howling Bones Record Release at the L.A. Fort

Taylor Wong November 17, 2014

Punk fuckin’ rock! That is how I would describe November 14th’s Them Howling Bones EP release Party at The LA Fort. The LA Fort is this cool little artist collective over in bum fuck LA- I’m serious bums are actually fucking on the street outside The Fort. I have to go into more detail about the venue for you to understand just how punk rock it is. There are absolutely no bathrooms or running water and the entire place smells like BO mixed with shit and bad breath. Last time i was there was there was for Pangea and FIDLAR which was way too legit, minus the part where I was flat tired by a shoe with dog shit on it. Even last night I was approached by a fat crack head prostitute when i was getting ready to drive off in my car. This place just bleeds punk rock. I got to the show a bit early which was perfect since I found parking right in front. I didn’t want to have to pay homeless joe another 5 bucks to watch my car. Getting there early was also smart because they had an open Colt 45 bar for the

Chance The Rapper And My First Hip Hop Show by Justin Cornwall

Justin Cornwall November 17, 2014

I’d never been to a hip-hop or rap show prior to setting foot in the House Of Blues Hollywood last night. Chance the Rapper, Azizi Gibson, Kamandi baptized me into a new world – and I couldn’t be happier with the lineup. After some confusion with the House Of Blues and the Red Bull team, I eventually made my way into a sold out night and settled myself up on a balcony. Kamandi is going to be huge. The New Zealand native performed his first show in America, in Los Angeles, opening for Chance. He may have underwhelmed the crowd, but he left an imprint on me that I won’t soon forget. He fits the exact same vein as Flume, but more aggressive and gritty. He got under my fingernails and had me digging for more. Bass heavy creations flowed from his laptop through the PA and caught the ear of those with fine taste. The majority of the crowd was full of “basic bitches”, as many nowadays would say, and for the most part shrugged off Kamandi’s set. However, he ended his set with a reworking of “Return Of The Mack” which pulled everyone into his universe for the

Death From Above 1979 at The Regent Theater

Two Nights of Death From Above 1979 and MSTRKRFT in L.A. and The O.C.

Danny Baraz November 16, 2014

Death from Above 1979/MSTRKRFT: Night 2 in LA. Within the 20 minutes between opener, Hustle & Drone leaving the stage and Death From Above 1979 taking it, the house went from sparse to capacity. The night was filled with false fire alarms and a few sound issues of the newly opened and opulent Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles- A gorgeous venue that is still working out the kinks. The P.A. was filled with the sounds of Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and other old country classics as a surprisingly eclectic and beautiful crowd filed in to witness a show by the experimental thrashers from Toronto. I myself discovered DFA in 2008- a good 2 years after they had already broken up. O.G. DFA fans love to separate their fan base into a B.C and A.D. category- a snobbishness I have been guilty of myself on many occasions. Now it appears there is a third category of fans that have discovered the band after their more, commercially friendly, reunion release of The Physical World in September of this year. This was my first time seeing DFA live after devouring the catalog for the past 6 years with no satisfaction or release

Run The Jewels: Taking Hip Hop Back at The Echoplex

Danny Baraz November 14, 2014

It’s been years since anyone in hip hop has released an entire album of “destined to be classic” tracks, much less two. Over the last couple years rappers like Danny Brown, Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q have released some classic tracks but the entire body of work leaves much to be desired. Weak beats and lazy lyrics dominate the landscape in the mainstream and the underground. B-boys have all but disappeared in this era of club bangers. Graffiti is now called “street art” and dance crews now have large shows in Las Vegas. Then on April 9th, 2013 a self-titled album called “Run the Jewels” dropped and changed the game. Jaime Meline, a.k.a. El-P is not only a dope M.C. but the beats he produced with Little Shalimar and Wilder Zoby are the foundation of not one but two instant classics- Run The Jewels and Run The Jewels 2. On Thursday, November 13 El-P and Killer Mike played the Echoplex as Run the Jewels for Day 13 of Red Bull Sound Select’s, 30 Days in LA. The anticipation was thick moments before Run The Jewels took the stage. There was a buzz of speculation on some special guests and the Echoplex

Reignwolf at the Mint: Madman of Rock ‘n Roll

Danny Baraz November 13, 2014

Jordan Cook sat on a drum throne with a drum stick in his picking hand, a guitar in his other and the mic chord wrapped around his neck. Just minutes earlier he moved the entire drum kit from the stage to the middle of the floor at The Mint in Los Angeles. The time it took to set this up was inconsequential to everyone but the sound guy because when Reignwolf plays your venue, you should be prepared for every boundary of your audio system to be stretched to it’s limits. Microphones rubbing against guitar strings that are boosted by overdrive, sustain pedals, octave pedals, body parts and sweat. Foot on the kick pedal, pumping rhythms, one hand on the fret board playing licks and the other tapping the snare as an audience member unwraps the microphone chord from his neck and hold it up to Cook’s lips. Then he gets antsy again and stands on top of the kick drum and makes way for drummer, Joseph Braley and all-around utility man, Stitcx. In an instant, the entire band is melting faces again, surrounded like Baptist preachers on a soapbox in the middle of a barren swampland, surrounded by congregants.

Category: SHOWS

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