The L.A. Show Low Down (Or "The Longing Lasts Forever Changing Shape as You Go Along, Oh, And Nothing Gets Easier, Even Though The Weight Will Make You Strong...")

by Brad Roberts

De Lux (at right) has been the talk of the local music scene since late last year when they floored fans with their electric live performances and the homemade EP they handed out at their first shows. Their January 9th show at The Echo was my first chance to see them and the impression was that here is an outstanding and innovative new band with a firm grasp of popular music history. Post-disco dance music with a brain. Haven't heard a single negative word from anyone. They are riding the crest of a wave at the moment, and it is sure to grow with the release on Tuesday of their nine-song full-length album debut, Voyage, on a label smart enough to grab them up so quickly, appropriately named Innovative Leisure.

Thursday appears to be De Lux day in Los Angeles with two performances by the band, a free in-store at Amoeba Music at 6 PM and their album release party later that night at The Echo. They'll be selling out venues of this size before you know it, so now is the time to catch them, up close and personal. Comparisons to Talking Heads are inevitable owing to Sean Guerin's David Byrne-esque vocals, but the genre-defying style of the band renders that determination too limiting.

There are other shows this week as well including turns by Boys School and DA & The Jones at Hotel Cafe, and Miss Absurd at Skinny's Lounge on Tuesday, Nacosta having a homecoming party at Silver Lake Lounge on Friday, Saint Sea Hat are at The Smell Saturday night, and yOya play Bootleg on Sunday. The Grand Ole Echo starts up again on Sunday afternoon at The Echo.

And David Crosby begins his make-up concerts at An Evening with David Crosby at The Troubadour starting Sunday and running through next Friday. This legendary performer must be so happy to be alive after the numerous health issues that have tested his strength all these years. Tickets, of course, are gone for these historic shows.

Monday, April 7

- Moscow Rosco (formerly: Harper Blynn), The Wyld @ The Satellite

- Banta, HC Smith, Basement Babies, Crown Plaza @ Silver Lake Lounge

- "School Night!" w/ On And On, Pompeya, Walking Shapes, Dead Times @ Bardot

- Mystic Braves, Froth, Adult Books, Drinking Flowers @ The Echo

- Lawrence Rothman, Cotillon, Kauf, Steffaloo @ Bootleg Bar

- Shyboy, Kelsy Karter @ Hotel Cafe

- Gold Star, Tara Fox @ Harvard & Stone

DECISION:

Another great Monday night free show at Harvard & Stone with Gold Star and Tara Fox. Lawrence Rothman opens a residency at Bootleg Bar with Cotillon, Kauf and Steffaloo, and offers some terrific bands all through the month. Moscow Rosco, who used to go by the name Harper Blynn, are starting an April residency at The Satellite, with The Wyld this week, and Mystic Braves launches their run at The Echo with Froth, Adult Books and Drinking Flowers.

Tuesday, April 8

- The Golden Ghosts, Carnations, No Silver Bird, Slow White @ The Satellite

- OFF! @ Amoeba Music

- Summer Camp, Fenech-Soler, The Mercy Beat @ The Echo

- Jenny Hval, Mark McGuire @ The Church on York

- Sanwich, The Elemenohs, Son of Stan, Future People, Doap Opera @ Los Globos

- Badass Bands Blog presents Down & Outlaws, Great White Buffalo, Young Creatures, The Echo & The Sound @ The Viper Room

- Katie Herzig, Amy Stroup @ The Troubadour

- The Drop: Ingrid Michaelson @ The Grammy Museum

- FKA twigs @ The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

- Mizz Absurd, Scott Schultz @ Skinny's Lounge

- Face Tat, WRMS, TS & The Past Haunts, Layman @ Silver Lake Lounge

- Sierra Swan, Boys School, DA & The Jones, Heather Pocaro, Shayne Blue @ Hotel Cafe

DECISION:

   Sierra Swan, Boys School, DA & The Jones and Heather Pocaro are presented on a quality bill covering one of the two Tuesdays that Aaron Embry alternates with others during his April residency at Hotel Cafe. Mizz Absurd is appearing at a show that also features storyteller Scott Schultz in No. Hollywood at Skinny's Lounge, while TS & The Past Haunts have a gig at Silver Lake Lounge. Badass Bands Blog presents a show at the legendary Viper Room in West Hollywood with Down & Outlaws, Great White Buffalo, Young Creatures and The Echo & The Sound.

Wednesday, April 9

- The Dead Ships, Warships, Dream Boys @ The Satellite

- Rone, Napolian @ The Echo

- Boy & Bear, Wildlife @ The Troubadour

- An Evening with Ingrid Michaelson @ The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

- EMMY EP Release Show, Make Believe, Winter, Jesse Macleod @ Los Globos

- "Desert Nights" w/ Lauren Barth, Maverick Watson, Rob Carter @ The Standard

- John Fulton @ El Cid

- Girlpool, Girl Tears @ Bootleg Bar

- Dylan Reynolds Record Release Show, Toby Rand w/ London Cries + Bryce Soderberg & Komox Kids, Kai Exos @ Hotel Cafe

DECISION:

Girls and ships make thematic connections at two shows tonight with The Dead Ships appearing with Warships at The Satellite and Girlpool performing with Girl Tears at Bootleg Bar. EMMY is holding an EP Release Show at Los Globos with Winter on the bill as added enticement. "Desert Nights" is starting a new thing with Lauren Barth taking every Wednesday night as a residency at The Standard.

Thursday, April 10

- De Lux @ Amoeba Music (6 PM)

- De Lux Record Release Show, Rare Times, Earth Like Planets @ The Echo

- Big Freedia @ Echoplex

- Nina Nesbitt @ Bootleg HiFi

- together Pangea, The Garden, Chad & The Meatbodies @ The Troubadour

- Katrina Parker, Amie Moriello, Anna Renee, Justine Dorsey, Aaron Witzl @ Hotel Cafe

- Honky Tonk Hacienda: Travis Howard, Fleeting Heart @ El Cid

- Potter, Joseph King, Kayla Starr, The Porcelain @ Silver Lake Lounge

DECISION:

  De Lux (left and right) starts out their evening with a free show at Amoeba Music at 6 PM and then head up Sunset for a record release show at The Echo. Especially pleased because they're bringing Earth Like Planets (below) to the stage of The Echo after Sean Guerin covered sound for Brian Cooper's art/music project both times he performed at Lot 1 for my Feed Your Head shows last year. He deserves a far wider audience for his combinations of academic dissertation and heavy, atmospheric musical patterns blended with his subtle vocals and backed with the imaginative and confounding images that he projects on a screen as he performs. They block out anything else that may be going on around Los Angeles.

Friday, April 11

- Charlie Parr, Tom VandenAvond, Moonsville Collective @ The Satellite

- Jail Weddings, Holy Folk, Death Valley Girls, Paul Bergmann & the Fair Moans @ The Echo

- Tyrone Wells, Joe Brooks, Ty Mayfield @ The Troubadour

- American Tomahawk, We Are The West, The Tulips, The Long Fall @ El Cid

- Vows, Zaptra, L.A. Girlfriend, Intimatchine, CNN666 @ Los Globos

- La Santa Cecilia, David Wax Museum @ Royce Hall

- Switchfoot, The Royal Concept @ The Wiltern

- TÜLIPS, Lilacs @ Pehrspace

- Ruby Friedman Orchestra & Feral Kizzy, Sweetwater & The Satisfaction, Everly Snodgrass, Myra Flynn, Audi & Aaron @ Hotel Cafe

- Nacosta, The Crazy Brave, Thieves & Gypsies, Green Jerry @ Silver Lake Lounge

- Peter Walker, Bob Frank @ McCabe's

DECISION:

Haven't heard anything from Nacosta (right) in a while, so they're having a homecoming party at Silver Lake Lounge tonight. Thieves & Gypsies are also on the bill. Jail Weddings, Holy Folk, Death Valley Girls, Paul Bergmann & the Fair Moans carry on at The Echo.

Saturday, April 12

- MOVITS!, The Dead Men The Satellite

- Kneebody @ Bootleg Theatre - Turnpike Troubadours, Clarke Edward Andros @ The Troubadour

- Street Joy, Banshee Boardwalk, Saint Sea Hat @ The Smell

- Super Soul Saturday w/ Jason Joseph & The Spectacular, Redwood Stills, Joe Firstman, The Bright Silence @ Hotel Cafe

- Bruce Cockburn @ McCabe's

DECISION:

Street Joy, Banshee Boardwalk, and Saint Sea Hat (right) make an appearance at The Smell tonight, on a night that seems especially slow for a Saturday.

Sunday, April 13

- Grand Ole Echo w/ The Jolenes, Smooth Hound Smith, The Get Down Boys @ The Echo

- Knower, yOya, The Donnies The Amys @ The Satellite

- An Evening with David Crosby @ The Troubadour

- Candy Warpop, Nocona, Corima, BODYSNATCHERS @ The Smell

- Bruce Cockburn @ McCabe's

- Korbee Record Release Show, Eric Benjamin, Bandito Royale, Erica Elena @ Hotel Cafe

DECISION:

The Grand Ole Echo starts up it's traditional run again with bluegrass from London's The Jolenes, the folk/blues of Smooth Hound Smith and The Get Down Boys, another group of musician who passed through Boston's Berklee College of Music (just how many of that particular school's alumni are out here anyway?) at The Echo. These shows start at 5, run till 9, and are free. Check it out. The Satellite has a real great show for a Sunday night with Knower, yOya and The Donnies The Amys. An Evening with David Crosby is taking place starting this week at The Troubadour to make up for the forced cancellation of this engagement a couple of months ago.

 

 

Comments

[Ohjasonj]

Thank you so much for continuing to run down all these shows week after week. You are my main source for what's going on in town and discovering new bands. I can't thank you enough. Tonight, so stoked to be seeing Dead Ships again.