Re-Experience. Here’s a brief quote about me in the intraffik.com contributors section: “. . . you’ll occasionally see him at music venues across Los Angeles – from Mr. T’s to The Key Club and various in between locations.” It occurred to me that I’ve given a lot of love to North-East Los Angeles recently. Now this is mainly driven by the fact that I live near the music venues in this area and so it is just easier for me to see bands at Spaceland versus say The Key Club. To provide some proof, here’s my column “What I Listened to in February” with venues assigned:
Seamonsters: Silverlake Lounge
Venus Illuminato: Silverlake Lounge
The Muddy Reds: Silverlake Lounge
Rich Podgur: Kibitz – the farthest west of the bunch
Open Hand: Spaceland
Year Long Disaster: Spaceland
Obi Best: Spaceland
Eastern Conference Champions: Spaceland
Asa Ransom: Spaceland
Hockey: Spaceland
My January list has a broader music venue scope, but it also has a high focus on bands playing in North-East Los Angeles. Kibitz was once again the farthest west I got. There was also Club Moscow at Boardners (Hollywood) and Fox and Hounds (Studio City), but then North-East Los Angeles popped up with regularity: Spaceland, El Cid, Echo Curio and the Bootleg Theatre.
Do you see where I’m going? It was time to head to the Sunset Strip.
Three years ago, I was heading to the Sunset Strip on a monthly basis. Those trips started to dwindle over the years, but recently I found myself there three times in a period of a week.
First Trip to the Sunset Strip. Viper Room
Off to see Honey Honey.
A friend’s cousin was in town. She sent out an e-mail to a group of us, asking what was going on around town. Well . . . I had an answer right off the bat without even doing any research. Honey Honey was playing at the Viper Room. My friend, who also likes Honey Honey, was quick to agree that this was where she would take her cousin.
I mentioned that I attempted to see Honey Honey in my “Notes from Vivace: (15) Days of Summer” article. It took awhile, but I was finally heading off to check them out in early 2010 – just a few months late!!!
I got to the Viper Room before my friend and her cousin did. The first band I saw was The Truth. I enjoyed their set. At this point, the Viper Room was already getting packed. My friend and her cousin arrived shortly after The Truth (pictured left). And then we waited. For some reason, there was a rather long wait between sets. I think we waited perhaps forty five minutes before Honey Honey came on stage. They opened their set with “Little Toy Gun.”
I have to admit that conversations Suzanne Santo had with the audience were more interesting than the music this time around. She was just funny.
One of the comments that will perhaps secure Honey Honey (pictured below) in the hearts of many Cleveland fans: “I’m from Ohio. Our sports teams aren’t that great. Baseball. Football. But I’m secure in that.” Someone yelled out that the Bengals were doing okay and so Suzanne clarified, “I’m from Cleveland, not Cincinnati.”
Comment two: “We’re playing another creepy song. Think about us in October when you’re throwing your Halloween party.”
Comment three as she was introducing the band: “And I’m Suzanne Santo . . . that’s with an O at the end, as in Oh My God.”
(click on images to enlarge)
Seen inside the Viper Room. I noticed someone obviously not from Los Angeles lighting up a cigarette. His friends quickly told him to put it out.
Photographer/parking. I did the meter parking thing. I put in some quarters, but not enough so I later walked back out to put additional quarters into the meter. As I was walking back to the Viper Room I saw a photographer I’d seen in the Viper Room walking up the street towards me. I figured she’d been there to just photograph The Truth. Later, during the Honey Honey set, I saw her taking photos. I guess she was doing the same thing I was doing, feeding the meter.
Check back next Tuesday for Part II of III of Notes from Vivace’s Re-Discovering the Sunset Strip series.
