by Brad Roberts
Things start to pick up in the Post-SXSW world this week. Some out of town bands, stopping by L.A. on their way back home, and returning local bands jumping right on some local dates.
Things start to pick up in the Post-SXSW world this week. Some out of town bands, stopping by L.A. on their way back home, and returning local bands jumping right on some local dates.
Great Northern take their new sound to The Roxy for the KROQ 'Locals Only' event as they rev up for a cross country tour during May. P.J. Harvey will pack the El Rey with ecstatic fans. Gliss bring their experimental psychedelic sound to Spaceland, Friday, as they continue their ferocious tour schedule and Chad VanGaalen brings his thought provoking musical genius to the same stage the following night. And Thursday is a musical smorgasbord where only your own personal taste can tell you what to do.
This week also saw the release of the Hollywood Bowl (image above) summer schedule, and, just like last year, the opening bands outshine the headliners for me. The New Pornographers, who gave me one of my best ever concert experiences when I saw them in '07 at The Fonda, are opening for Death Cab For Cutie (with The L. A. Philharmonic) and Tegan and Sara on July 5. Blitzen Trapper, whose recent CD, Furr, is not only one of the best CD's last year, but maybe one for the ages, open for Ray Lamontagne the following week, July 12. I guess I'll have to shell out the bucks, 'cause I don't want to miss either one.
Now let's take a look at more of this week's shows in LA:
Monday, March 23
- Cary Brothers, Greg Laswell, Jessie Baylin, Griffin House, Tim Fagan, Rusty Fagan, Asa, Mayaeni @ Hotel Cafe
- Angela Correa, Joe Eckels, Mike Vitale, Lucy Schwartz @ Room 5
- Bishop Allen @ The Troubadour
- Nico Stai, The Temper Trap, Oh Land, Rosie and the Goldbug @ Spaceland
- PJ Harvey & John Parish, Howie Gelb @ The El Rey
- Aushua, Parade of Lights, Yellow Red Sparks @ Detroit Bar, Costa Mesa
- Dark Meat, Long Legged Woman @ The Smell
- LoveLikeFire, French Miami, Legs on Sale @ Silverlake Lounge
- Mi Ami, LACO$TE, American Gil & the Major Dudes, Explode Into Color, Ganglians @ Pehrspace
- Summer Darling, Vosotros, Love Grenades @ The Echo
- Christian Miller, Secret Alphabet @ Juanita's
DECISION:
P.J. Harvey teams with her A Woman A Man Walked By guitarist/collaborator, John Parish, to performs selections from that CD live at the El Rey. Isgoodmusic.com likes Secret Alphabet who are an interesting up and coming local band with a nice trancy indie rock at Juanita's. Singer/songwriter Nico Stai for free at Spaceland seems like a compelling choice, though if you were deciding between going to see him play this week or next, we should point out that Timothy James from is performing at the next.
Tuesday, March 24
- Horse featuring Wintersleep @ Echoplex
- T Model Ford, Dark Meat, Grampall Jookabox @ The Echo
- Manhatten Murder Mystery, Chores, Divisible, Franco Near Death @ Mr. T's Bowl
- Mike Stinson & Dave Gleason @ Redwood Bar
- The Spinto Band (pictured below), Maps and Atlases, Light FM @ Spaceland
(2 pairs of tix giveaway - here... Thanks, Joel!)
- The Minor Canon, The Western States Motel, M. Barkley Green's Working Jazz Trio @ Home Restaurant
- The Proclaimers @ Hotel Cafe
- Judy Henske & Craig Doerge @ Largo at the Coronet - The Little Room
- Vincent Minor, Ceci Bastida @ The Bordello
- Bart Davenport, Sugar and Gold, The Botticellis @ Silverlake Lounge
DECISION:
Judy Henske (folk/bluegrass singer from '60's, influence on Grace Slick), performs at Largo at the Coronet. I was aware of her because of her presence on the soundtrack album of the old 1963 Cinerama film, How The West Was Won, where her clear, bell-like voice rang out. The Minor Canon and The Western States Motel is a great double bill at a reportedly nice new spot to catch music, and of course, there's the loud and beautiful wonder that is Manhattan Murder Mystery, Great chance to catch The Spinto Band (pictured above) in the confines of Spaceland as they stop by after SXSW and play with local darlings, Light FM ! And we at RFSL have two free pairs of tickets to giveaway (here). Also, Mike Stinson is back again at Redwood Bar.
Wednesday, March 25
- Evertheory, The Fabulous Miss Wendy, The Big Booty Party, Beatnik Jr., The Dharma Bums, Brown's Lovely Daughter @ Mr. T's Bowl
- No Kids, Parenthetical Girls, Black Gold @ Spaceland
- Marnie Stern, Starfucker, What's Up @ The Echo
- Wildildlife, Thickets, Sasqrotch @ Echo Curio
- Jenny O, Marnie Herald @ Home Restaurant
- The High Society, Black Fortys @ The Bordello
- Thee Oh Sees, The Fresh and Onlys, Restavrant, Ty Segall @ Silverlake Lounge
- Idyllists, Spider Problem @ Boardner's
- Desolation Wilderness, The Kris Special, Devon Williams, Walk, Infinite Body @ Juanita's
DECISION:
Jenny O sounds promising, from what I've heard, Spider Problem (w/Jax from Rock Insider filling in on bass) are getting a lot of buzz lately, I listened to some of Desolation Wilderness on myspace and it sounded great, like Stevenson Ranch Davidians mixed with The French Semester.
Thursday, March 26
- Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Ditty Bops, Van Dyke Parks @ The El Rey
- Kenan Bell, Illinois, Dot Hacker @ The Echo
- EZ Tiger, Renfield, Out of Town @ Mr. T's Bowl
- Great Northern, Lemon Sun, The Jakes @ The Roxy
- Alaska in Winter, New Villager, Juliette Commagere, Dr. Rosen Rosen @ The Bordello
- Tommy Santee Klaws, Cave Country, The Preacher's Son, Josh Hedlund, Slings @ Hyperion Tavern
- These Armes Are Snakes, Tera Malos @ Echoplex
- Fishtank Ensemble @ Home Restaurant
- Stalkers, Mack Winston, Agent Ribbons, Hot Panda @ Silverlake Lounge
- POST-PUNK JUNK / Urgh! A Music War @ Silent Movie Theatre
- Early Man, Red Fang @ Spaceland
- Sierra Swan, Carina Round @ Largo at the Coronet
- The Mae Shi, PRE, Past Lives, Foot Village @ The Smell
- Beep Beep, Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains, The Show is a Rainbow, Princeton @ The Knitting Factory
- Tallest Man on Earth, Emily Wells @ The Troubadour
DECISION:
This is a terrible embarrassment of riches! Great Northern on Sunset Strip, Fishtank Ensemble are in the gypsy punk style I love, The Mae Shi (who NPR covered at SXSW) speak for themselves, Indie pop greats Princeton at the Knitting Factory, but my heart goes out to Tommy Santee Klaws and their singularly beautiful choral/orchestral live show. The chance to see them acoustic, unmiked again at Hyperion Tavern is a musical event not to be missed, at any cost (and It's free). Also recommended: Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks are a band I loved in the early seventies (still have their records). How can you not love a band with a song entitled "How Can I Miss You, When You Won't Go Away"? I always think of them when I hear the Silver Jews sing "How Can I Love You, When You Won't Lie Down". And they're playing with another legend, Van Dyke Parks.
Friday, March 27
- Gliss, The Takeover UK @ Spaceland
- Catwalk, Sea Lions, Watercolor Paintings @ The Smell
- Dave Palmer @ Largo at the Coronet (The Little Room)
- Jon Brion and Friends @ Largo at the Coronet
- Marvelous Toy, Go West Young Man, Seasons, The Shade @ Pehrspace
- The Gibbs, Top Critters, The Eternal Triangle, Rhombus, Coolzey, The Lieutenants @ Mr. T's Bowl
- Pedestrian, Caitlin Crosby, Kyler England, Lindsay Ray, Zee Avi @ The Hotel Cafe
- Stab City, Brant Bjork, Carnage Asada, The Stains, The Beeters @ American Legion Hall
- "Heard of Elephants" presents Pride of Kenya,The Nocturnes, Voice on Tape, Rory Vallis @ The Unknown Theatre (Radio Free Silver Lake is offering a pair of free tix here)
DECISION:
I haven't seen Gliss for a long time so I got a ticket to see them at Spaceland. I love their woozy, spacey reverb/rock. Otherwise I'd be at the Marvelous Toy, Seasons show at Pehrspace, and I just wanted to show their great flyer. (People have been saying good things about the third band, Go West Young Man, too.) I also want to catch another Isgoodmusic.com recommended band, Pedestrian, soon.
Saturday, March 28
- Chad VanGaalen, Women, The Boat People @ Spaceland
- AIDS Wolf, White Mice, Bipolar Bear, Okie Dokie @ The Smell
- Hungry Beat! @ Pehrspace
- The Grates, The Gibbs, Top Critter @ Silverlake Lounge
- The Library @ Bardot
- Z Berg (of The Like), Michael Runion, Blake Mills @ Home Restaurant
- Boo and Boo Too, Band of Outsiders, Spider Problem, Fun Machine @ Echo Curio
- Michael Miller @ The Hotel Cafe
- The French Semester, What Hands Are For @ The Airliner
- KSCR Fest with yOya, Avi Buffalo, Tijuana Panthers, Blank Blue, Mika Miko, Happy Hollows, Crystal Antlers @ USC Campus from 4 - 11 PM
DECISION:
Back to Spaceland to see Chad VanGaalen, who authors some of the smartest songwriting around. Two bands I love,who seem influenced by his music, are The Ruby Suns and Le Loup. Another chance to catch Spider Problem, and The French Semester have a suddenly announced date. (update: I just heard about the KSCR Festival at USC and the lineup is killer!)
Sunday, March 29
- Seasons, boxViolet @ Space 15 Twenty (1 PM)
- The Starlite Desperation, VOICEsVOICEs, Jesus Makes the Shotgun Sound, Duhkha @ The Smell
- Neil Hamburger, The Fuxedos @ Spaceland
- Part Time Punks - The Homosexuals, Silver Apples, Shark Toys @ The Echo
- Radar Bros., Le Switch @ The Echo (1 PM)
DECISION:
Looking forward to Seasons free show at Space 15 Twenty in the afternoon. And at night there's VOICEsVOICEs with their wonderful, somnambulant space rock, or enjoy the easy country rock of The Radar Bros and the soulful pop of Le Switch, fresh from SXSW. (Oop! That last one is an early show and a Kidrockers one at that, so take your little brother or cousin or something.)
Now, we bid a fond bon voyage to Joe as he ventures forth, I'll end with his familiar refrain:
That's it. Did we miss anything. Please let us know at: RFSLshowlistings@gmail.com
We've got some free tix left for the These Arms Are Snakes/Tera Malos and Early Man/Red Fang shows tonight at Echoplex and Spaceland, respectively - go to www.cityofdevils.info
Posted by: Yeti | March 26, 2009 at 11:32 AM