Dave Unbuckled, Author at Jankysmooth

Dave Unbuckled

Gwen Stefani at Beach Life Festival 2023 by David Smith

Beach Life Festival 2023: On The Shores of Greatness

Dave Unbuckled June 16, 2023

Beach Life Festival made its annual return to Redondo Beach, this past month, bringing its strongest line up to date in tow that included The Black Keys, Modest Mouse, Gwen Stefani, The Pixies, Band of Horses, The Black Crowes, Sublime w. Rome and Rock n Roll legend, John Fogerty…among many others. Beach Life has continued to include intimate solo performances from local favorites including Johnny Two Bags (Social Distortion), Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks), Jim Lindberg (Pennywise) while providing up and coming touring acts such as The Beaches and L.P. Humongous audiences of new fans to win over. The most impressive aspect of Beach Life seems to be the atmosphere it provides attendees with its varying level of comfort options, varieties of local food trucks, art installations, and selections of top shelf alcohol including Kokomo Spirit: The Official Canned Cocktail of Janky Smooth (unsubstantiated). These amenities go far and beyond the normal festival faire, which makes this year’s event itself so impressive given its A grade lineup, a noticeable improvement from previous years. Friday’s offering of The Pixies won the crowd early on, especially after a slow start by Kurt Vile, that saw the Tennessee native alternating guitars through his first

Heaven’s Not Cruel: Just Like Heaven Festival

Dave Unbuckled June 2, 2022

Goldenvoice’s second go (this week) at nostalgia, came in the form of Just Like Heaven, a welcome return to the pre-covid music festival vibe. The indie rock festival of “headliners with no official headliner” offered a full day of entertainment, though a twelve-hour festival day honestly feels excessive, after having gone so long without enduring crowds. I guess I’d rather one day than two especially when most of the two-day fests are cluttered with filler hype bands (in my day we called them buzz bands), but Peaches in the afternoon doesn’t hit the same way Peaches hits at night. These are the sacrifices that are made when filling an entire day with indie rock royalty. related content: Photo Recap: The Teaches Of Peaces At The Observatory North Park Though Peaches crushed her set at 2:05 pm, nearly half of the attendees hadn’t even arrived. The forever queen of electro-filth still managed to steal the early half of the day, as did Wolf Parade’s performance of “Apologies to Queen Mary”, especially their rendition of “I’ll Believe in Anything”, which remained part of the highlights of the even as a whole. The Shins, who had one of the best participatory audiences (over

Late Night Brekkie: Japanese Breakfast at the Regent

Dave Unbuckled October 5, 2021

Words and Photos by: Dave Unbuckled When Michelle Zauner took stage Saturday night at the first Japanese Breakfast show in LA since the pandemic, the frenzied crowd hurled applause that rivaled any audience I can remember at the Regent Theater. Moments later, as she hit a gong to bring in “Paprika”, the opening track from Japanese Breakfast’s new album Jubilee, the lights fluttered blue & pink and I am CERTAIN that her applause was LOUDER than any show ever held at the Regent. This was my first real indoor show since March 2020, and ironically, covering Japanese Breakfast in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was supposed to be my next assignment when the world turned off. Zauner, better known to her fans as J. brekkie, entangled the audience in an 18-song career-spanning set that featured nearly all of the tracks from Jubilee, as well as set highlights, “The Woman who Loves You”, “Heft” and “Roadhead”. It was no surprise as I watched the dominantly multi-racial crowd lock into first time LA performances of “Savage Good Boy,” “Slide Tackle” and “Be Sweet”. Jubilee is getting praise from all angles, and each of Zauner’s songs seem crafted in their own unique way. Zauner exudes joy

A Formula for Lots of Green: One Love Cali Reggae Fest

Dave Unbuckled February 24, 2020

Now in its fifth year, with a nearly solidified lineup, One Love Cali Reggae Fest has simply mastered the formula for a successful reggae festival that continues to grow, despite a lineup that stays almost identical. One could ask, “Why mess with a winning formula?”, but I went into the festival confused on how this continues to work. Nearly all the domestic bands performing at the festival make routine trips to Southern California throughout the year, and nearly every attendant we spoke to was returning from the previous year or years. I was told the festival grows a little bit annually both in crowd, as well as adding new food vendors, including my personal favorites, After’s Ice Cream and Slater’s 50 /50, as well as a few artists each day. The rare blend of hip-hop on Friday, with returning performer Atmosphere, seemed a highlight, in addition to Sublime With Rome and the evening’s headliners, The Dirty Heads. This will likely be the last show Sublime doesn’t headline in Long Beach, as they still have managed to retain, as well as grow in popularity, even if it’s a little more noticeable in Long Beach, than other neighborhoods. related content: Smokin’ In

Tis the Season for Boston Alt-Rock: Letters to Cleo at the Hi Hat

Dave Unbuckled November 27, 2019

Letters to Cleo returned to the Hi Hat last Saturday to a well-received crowd for what’s shaping to become their annual LA appearance. In addition to a career spanning twenty song showcase, the set contained new tracks from the group’s freshly released Christmas EP, OK Christmas including “Father Christmas” by the Kinks. related content: Bot Pop: Jonathan Bree at the Lodge Room Kat Hanley and crew’s set stayed hi-energy for its entirety, sprinkled with familiar alt-rock songs from their nearly thirty-year trek. Though at one time considered one of the East Coast’s most popular female fronted bands, Letters to Cleo have since slowed down their former heavy touring schedule, and now perform in Southern California once a year, so seeing the band keep the crowd of 300 singing and dancing for the entirety of the performance was impressive to say the least. There’s also something to be said about the band performing a smaller intimate show, solely to their fan base, opposed to joining the retro festival circus that comes around this time of year. Demon Rock kicked off the evening, which also featured two songs from the group’s breakout LP, “Big Star” and “Here and Now”, in addition to

Tearing Down the Orange Curtain: Social Distortion at Five Point Amphitheatre

Dave Unbuckled November 7, 2019

It has been forty years since Social Distortion burst onto Orange County’s rising punk scene, originating out of Fullerton house parties and small, legendary clubs such as The Cuckoos Nest and Safari Sams, but tonight they headlined the Five Point Amphitheatre in Irvine, CA. There’s something to be said about a ‘punk show’ in Irvine, one of the nation’s wealthiest zip codes, with no indication of a punk scene anywhere in sight. For one, a ‘punk show’ in Orange County is usually limited to a 200 person capacity club or bar, with a small stage. If you’re a veteran band, maybe you’ll be fortunate enough to share the stage at the Observatory. However, when you’re Social Distortion, one of the genres most successful and longest lasting groups, and you’re back in Orange County, you play the largest venue available — and bring a lot of your legendary friends to open up. The lineup for the show was respectable, but a little excessive, considering bands like Bully and Mannequin Pussy who opened the show, barely had anyone in attendance. It could also be that the capacity for the venue was up to 12,000 and there was roughly only 8,000 people day

Sand in my Sax: Back to the Beach Festival

Dave Unbuckled May 13, 2019

I voluntarily didn’t arrive to Saturday’s show until minutes before Reel Big Fish took the stage at around 4:00, which gave me plenty of time around town to observe the legions of bat wielding ANTI-FA members, as well as the brigades of MAGA hat wearing Trump supporters, that had gathered at the Huntington Beach Pier. I still haven’t found out if this was some coincidence or planned meet up or perhaps if some Ska against Racism club just showed up early with bandanas and baseball bats to walk around town, before going to skank to their favorite band. Regardless, the crowd inside seemed arguably worse, and considerably goofier than I had anticipated, but I suppose this should be expected when three of the four festival headliners (Aquabats, Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger) were nineties-era ska bands who’s music was more prevalent in between Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows than they were on Punk Comps. related content: Offspring In The Air: Sabroso Taco & Music Fest I shamefully grew up listening to Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish and Blink 182. They were my gateway drugs into the underground as I entered adolescence, and YES there was a time in the mid-nineties, outside of

Offspring is in the Air: Sabroso Taco & Music Fest

Dave Unbuckled April 24, 2019

We arrived in Dana Point to swarms of sunburnt bros in Black Flag tees just in time for the Adolescents to take the stage. The festival’s audience was starting to accumulate and the free ‘sampler’ beer glasses riddled the grass to indicate festival-goers had already switched to larger cups. It was early and the taco lines started to get backed up, so we hustled to Holy Smoke and got BBQ before we jumped in the pit. It should be noted that after attending at least 20 of these large punk festivals in the past five years, I get as impressed by the food as I do by the performances, and am probably more critical. related content: The Adolescents & The Dickies: Peckerwoods Gone Wild In Orange County Holy Smokes did not disappoint, I’m going to keep an eye out for them next summer. The Adolescents didn’t disappoint either. They’ve had a major resurgence in the past year, bookended by some of their strongest touring in decades and the tragic passing of long time Bassist Steve Soto. Highlights of the Adolescents’ set were their performances of “Who is Who”, which will be turning 40 soon, “Queen of Denial”, and a rare performance

So Close Yet So Far: Bring Me The Horizon at the Forum

Dave Unbuckled March 5, 2019

Let me start by stating the obvious: I’ve never voluntarily listened to Bring Me the Horizon. I’ve seen them three or four times throughout their notorious career, and I’ve never been sold on their batch of melodic metalcore, though I recognize musicianship when I see it, and they have it. After revisiting the band’s back catalog for hours in the days preceding the show, a shifting trend in production quality and attention is immediately noticeable. This is no more so obvious than on Bring Me the Horizon’s most recent album, AMO, that at the time of the performance, was ranked at the top of the UK album charts. I can no way discredit the band’s achievement in charting at the peak — it’s a magnificent feat for any rock band regardless of genre, but from a subgenre of metal and hardcore, it’s nearly unheard of. I’d also like to note how at the time of publishing this, the album has completely fallen off the charts. Though the band is currently experiencing a large deal of attention and success typically reserved for Pop stars, their stage show has transitioned, as it has grown, and the band’s performance has literally shifted to

Gimme Gimmes for Christmas: Interview with Spike Slawson and Joey Cape

Dave Unbuckled December 13, 2018

Before Me First and the Gimme Gimmes took the stage at the Fonda to perform an epic set for the Holiday season, I had the chance to sit down with Spike Slawson and Joey Cape from the band and discuss everything under the sun. related content: Me First & The Gimme Gimmes Janky Smooth Sessions W/ Spike Slawson Dave: Hey guys. We’re sitting down with Joey Cape and Spike Slawson from Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Welcome back to LA. “Santa Baby” came out today…we heard it on the way over. Joey: I saw the link but I don’t do the social networking thing anymore. I think someone sent me a link to it. Spike: I took Facebook off my phone…it was getting aggravating. Dave: Is this a single song drop…is there a Christmas album in the future? Are you going to start doing this stuff more? Spike: For now, just the song… maybe a few more (songs) to play live. I don’t know if there are that many Christmas songs that I would want to do. Joey: This is an obvious thing that a cover band should do, and it’s come up over the years a few times.

POC OC: Tropicalia Music and Taco Fest at the Queen Mary

Dave Unbuckled November 6, 2018

If the crowd of over 10,000 mostly white attendees at Surf City Blitz in Huntington Beach was anyone’s attempt to portray the demographic of Orange County’s aging local hero music scene, Long Beach’s Tropicalia Festival certainly flipped that turtle on its back. Tropicalia, now in it’s second year, has usurped the beach goth crowd from its predecessors, and has established itself as Southern California’s premier Latino influenced music festival, with one of the most diverse lineups I’ve ever seen. The mostly early twenty-something Latino-American crowd sold out the two-day weekend fest’s $200+ ticket capacity and brought an energy with them that recent Southern California festivals have been lacking. related content: The Growlers Reclaim Castle Beach Goth And All Is Right With The World Again With a lineup that boasted Morrissey and Mazzy Star, in addition to The Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr. and Kali Uchis, Tropicalia presented a full day’s worth of entertainment for its attendees. Younger crowds showed up early to watch local favorites Tropa Magica, The Hurricanes, and Jurassic Shark play on much larger stages than the bands usually get the opportunity to perform on, and each enjoyed a well-received set. related content: Janky Meets Marty: The Dwarves At

Teen Angst Never Dies: Alkaline Trio at the Observatory

Dave Unbuckled October 11, 2018

There’s really no point in beating around the fact that the average age of attendees at the shows I look forward to has well surpassed their mid-20s hipster cred and are slowly blending in with the crowds of parents — most are looking for a safe night out that can reinvigorate some of their teenage angst. Tonight, however, was a culminating difference in the obviousness of this dilemma, made apparent by the leagues of mothers rushing outside in between sets, to call babysitters, and make sure everyone at home finished their homework and chores. On Thursday, October 4th, Alkaline Trio headlined their second sold out night at the Observatory OC, with openers Sharp/Shock and Together Pangea falling mostly onto deaf ears. Though there might have been a few in the audience who closely follow lead singer Matt Skiba’s personal endeavors to recognize Sharp/Shock as one of the few bands on Skiba’s Heart & Skull label, most waited patiently for the headliners to show their face on the main stage. related content: When We Were Young Festival’s Most Dominant Demographic: Mine Sharp/Shock held their own with Together Pangea, and have cemented a worthy ability to share the stage with many of