OUT TO SEE: SILVER LAKE JUBILEE (DAY 1)
Day 1
Jubilee Weekend 2012 was jam packed with bands. Day 1 was spent cramming in thirteen bands. That’s a lot of bands so let’s start if off…
Wildcat! Wildcat!
Wildcat! Wildcat! eased us into the music groove. Comment of the set, “That’s a lot of reverb.” I couldn’t help but notice that the photo pit was jammed, which was a theme for the day.
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Leslie Stevens
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Leslie Stevens & the Badgers included only one Badger on this day. The result was the wistful sounds of acoustic Americana. Lyric to remember, “Falling in that deep dark hole.”
Comment of the set, “I like that the stop lights are still working.”
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A stop was made at the Molossus reading where I do believe I heard Mandy Kahn’s poetry reading. “Why do you fish?” the sheep asked the fisherman.
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DUNES
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It was off to see Dunes next. The thought that came to my mind while watching them, “They are driving it home.”
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XBXRX
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Did the lead singer of XBXRX break a guitar string during sound check?
If so, bonus points, but they really don’t need any. The band started their set with a bundle of energy and didn’t stop. To start the set, the lead singer immediately stormed the stage. All of us photographers immediately took notice. Glancing through their Facebook page, I saw the word “mayhem.” That perfectly describes their set. In order to force a mosh pit in the audience, one of the band members jumped into the crowd to help get it started. If something needed climbing, they climbed it: the stop light pole worked just perfectly. Two friends of the band dressed in animal costumes wrestled away during the last song. We also had hot-balloon inspired fashion. They came prepared to give us a memorable set and they succeeded. Award for best stage show of the day goes to XBXRX.
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Moses Campbell
I remember watching photographers at prior festivals running from band to band and I would think about how unfortunate they were. To me,a band’s set is like a story. If you miss a significant portion of a set, it is like listening to half an album or reading half a book. I got caught up with that “running from stage to stage disease” (. . . that’s probably too harsh of language).
It started with Moses Campbell, which provided us with The Smell attitude.
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JJAMZ
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It was then off to JJAMZ, which my friend over at Picksysticks suggested that I check out. All he had to say was that the lead singer was from The Like and I was there. After catching a very short portion of their set (and luckily they’re the residency band at The Satellite for June so I’ll be able to catch a full set soon enough.
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LA VAMPIRES
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I sped over to El Cid to catch LA Vampires and their psychedelic sound. For a moment, I wasn’t able to recognize them –I previous saw them nearly two years ago – and was thinking, “The lead singer is blond and looks different. It sounds like LA Vampires, but I’m not exactly positive.” Since this is only my second time seeing the band, I think my confusion can be excused. Go see them.
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Virtual Boy
From there it was off to see Virtual Boy who gave us some synth-pounding joy.
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THE MO-ODDS
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The Mo-Odds played at a jam packed Eagle Bar. I noticed going through the photos that the lead singer had a flower behind his ear to start off the set. It didn’t stay there long. His clothEs didn’t stay on for very long either as he stripped for a girl who was at the front of the stage. I’m convinced that if someone had given him one more drink he would have gone nude for us all. A side story: I was off to the side when the door guy came rushing through. He is a large guy and I literally had to speed walk to an area with more space so that he could pass by me. After he rushed pass, I and another The Mo-Odds fan gave each other a what-was-that look. After their set finished, I walked out of the Eagle Bar and as I was walking pass the door guy he said, “Sorry about that. I’m a big guy.” That is a perfect example of the Jubilee weekend,the friendly neighborhood vibe.
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LAS CAFETERAS
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I headed off to Las Cafeteras. As they mentioned on stage, their music is inspired by the sounds one would have heard 300 years ago. It was one great history lesson in music. A second side story that shows the friendly neighborhood vibe of the Jubilee: I was in the photo pit and I felt this hand nudging me. I turned around. A young woman was pointing, tugging at my jacket that I had clipped to the side of my camera bag. She looked at me and said, “Sorry, I thought your jacket was falling out of your bag.”
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Letting Up Despite Great Faults
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“Letting Up Despite Great Faults gave us soaring calmness.”
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Autolux
Autolux has a drummer that rules.
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Kinky
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Kinky ended the day for me. Their set was in Spanish, but it really didn’t matter that I don’t speak Spanish. It was just a great way to endt he night. The band closed out the night in style. I watched the audience and this band gets the award for the best audience of the day. Their fans were dancing like the night was nowhere near the end.
PART II of Notes from Vivace’s Jubilee adventure will be up tomorrow
FILM SCREENING TONIGHT – ‘WITHOUT A HOME’
TONIGHT!
Join Hollywood 4FWRD for a screening of Without A Home at 7 p.m. at ArcLight Hollywood.
Tickets (available online) are $35 and include admission into a screening and reception.
All proceeds will benefit Hollywood 4WRD. The group – Hollywood 4WRD (4 Walls, a Roof and a Door) aims to end homeless in Hollywood by 2018. The rationale is that it is less expensive to end homelessness than it is to manage it. Hollywood 4WRD also believes that ending homelessness helps to create a safer neighborhood for residents, businesses, visitors and our homeless neighbors.
The film, directed by Rachel Fleischer, follows her journey to understand the homeless issue in Los Angeles. Fleischer documents the lives of six homeless individuals and families struggling to survive on the streets, over the course of four years.
Rachel Fleischer will also be a guest on InTraffikRadio’s Show “Youth Arts Underground” in June.
OUT TO SEE: SUE SCROFA, SOFT WHITE SIXTIES, HARRIET
A recent Monday night at Bootleg Theater introduced me to a trio of bands.
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First up was Sue Scrofa, a band that currently resides in California, but comes to us from Alabama. Were there any indications that they come to us from Alabama? Sure. A question about college football allegiances was tossed out. And I couldn’t help but notice a “Gone with the Wind” inspired Barnes & Nobles bag was on stage – okay, so “Gone with the Wind” was based in Georgia, but the two states are neighbors. I went to the Bootleg to catch Sue Scrofa as the Intraffik editor suggested them. They have a fun catchy sound.
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Next up was The Soft White Sixties from San Francisco, who shifted the music from Southern inspiration to rock ‘n roll. One of their friends came up to me and we had a conversation about cameras. I learned that his interest in D-SLR cameras was driven by that fact that he is going on a 40 day pilgrimage from Spain to Portugal. I wish him well. (Side bar: I recently submitted a travel write-up about Lisbon, Portugal so you’ll get a taste of Portugal soon.) I’m not sure that doing a 40 day pilgrimage from Spain to Portugal is up my alley, but I do think that a 40 day trip through Europe catching various local bands would be interesting. I say Intraffik should set that one up. I can write the music version to Bill Bryson’s “Neither here nor There: Travels in Europe” book. – If only I had the insights of Bill Bryson.
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The final band for me was the residency band, Harriet. I feel guilty about a brief conversation I had with one of the band’s friends. A guy came up to me since he noticed me with a camera and asked if I was photographing for the media. I did a quick calculation and said, “No.”
Why did I say “No?” I didn’t intend to write this article for Intraffik. I was there just to have fun.
So was it a lie or not? I don’t know. I didn’t want to give the false impression (at the time) that I was going to be doing a write-up on them. I figure a good lawyer could differentiate between me being somewhere with the intent to write for Intraffik versus me just showing up at a venue to catch some bands. Right? Why the change of heart regarding writing an article? When 35-40 minutes passes without me even realizing it, I know it was a good set. When I’m surrounded by fans who are intently listening throughout, I know it was a good set. When I notice the door guy ignoring the door and instead watching the band, I know it was a good set. When they open up with an acoustic song that blows me away, I know it was a good set. When they end with letting the drummer close it out, I know it was a good set. And so with all that said, I changed my mind and decided to switch from being there just for fun to being there to do a write-up.
I did buy their merch so hopefully that makes up for the fib . . .
SILVERLAKE JUBILEE PREVIEW
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Time flies.
It is now the third year of the Silverlake Jubilee Music Festival (click here for tickets) and the weekend is packed with bands. There are likely Los Angeles music bloggers out there who can tell you in all honesty that they’ve seen 90%+ of the bands. I cannot make that same claim, but here are some of my humble suggestions. Since I am biased towards Sunday, I’ll just start off with Sunday.
Sunday
Get to the Jubilee early on Sunday. Seriously. NO starts Sunday off at 1:00 p.m. over at the Sunset Stage. This band is amazing, this is my opinion, and hopefully it becomes your opinion. (Note: in my Intraffik post in April, I may have a fact wrong about the band. I saw a NO Facebook comment that listed May 9th as their 6month anniversary. In my post, I mentioned two years as their time as a band. I did do some research when I came up with that two year estimate, but obviously not enough. Smiley face, right?)
Lonely Wild has a 1:25 p.m. set time at the Hoover Stage with the Silverlake Contemporary Ballet. That should be an interesting combination.
Manhattan Murder Mystery goes on at 2:20 p.m., also at the Hoover Stage. It is possible that the bass player will spend the wholetime playing with her back to the audience.
Between 4:40 p.m. and 6:05 p.m., you should find yourself runningback and forth between stages. You unfortunately have a tough decision to make at 4:40 p.m. when The Dharma Bums play the Eagle Stage and Eastern Conference Champions hit the Sunset Stage. Punk vs. Rock. Either make your decision based on your music style preference or do the coin flip.
The one band I don’t think you want to miss is Lake at 5:05 p.m.at the Hoover Stage. This band comes to the Jubilee from Washington State so if you don’t catch them on Sunday it could be awhile before you get another chance.
Family of the Year is on at 5:35 p.m. at the Sunset Stage. Awhile back this band was suggested to me by our Intraffik editor. I do believe I love this band more than she does.
Abe Vigoda plays at 7:05 p.m. at the Hoover Stage. I saw them playing with one of my FYF favorites, Cold Cave, at a random downtown warehouse.
To close Sunday out, El Cid has some late night specials withGothic Tropic at 10:00 p.m. and Blue Jungle at midnight.
Gothic Tropic – http://www.intraffik.com/blog/2012/02/15/in-photos-a-music-photo-essay/
Blue Jungle - http://www.intraffik.com/blog/2010/06/23/out-to-see-silverlake-jubilee-part-1-of-2/
Saturday
Leslie Stevens and the Badgers play the Hoover Stage at 2:25p.m. I’m eager to see themagain as the last time I saw them was way too far in the past.
From there, Robert DeLong is playing the Sunset Stage at 2:55p.m. I saw him last year at a street festival. It was just asfun watching his fan base as it was listening to his music.
Moses Campbell hits the Sunset Stage at 4:45 p.m. One time I saw them and the violinist was breaking strings left and right. (I have this theory that if someone breaks their strings, they’re giving us 100%+effort.)
I saw LA Vampires at the Eagle Rock Music Festival a couple years back. I was intrigued. I’m eager to catch them again. They’re playing at 5:15 p.m. over at the El Cid Stage.
There is a major conflict at 6:35 p.m. between FIDLAR on theSunset Stage and The Mo-Odds on the Eagle Stage. Both have fans that loveto create mosh pits. I saw FIDLAR at The Smell and ended up hugging thewall to catch some photos as moving towards the center would have caused mesome harm though if I recall correctly one photographer did push her waythrough the mosh pit to get to another spot (yes, I am overly cautious). When I last saw The Mo-Odds at Casey’s, I was forced to the side to get my photosas a friend was going wild in the middle. Either way, if you love a mosh pit youcan’t go wrong with either band.
Saturday is filled with a number of bands that I’ve never seenbefore so here is what I’m thinking for new music: Dunes, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, and Kinky. At 3:20 p.m., Duneis playing over at the Hoover Stage. I’ve never seen Dunes, but I like what I hear and I like the “Dunes” book series (not that there is any connection here) so I’m going to catch their set. I plan to close out the night with Letting Up Despite Great Faults at 8:05 p.m.over at Hoover Stage and Kinky at 10:00 p.m. over at the Sunset Stage.
For 2010, the one band I really remember is The Like. (It helps that I follow a band called Raw Geronimo whose lead singer –pictured left with Dante vs. Zombies– is/was in The Like.) For 2011, Jubilee was all about We Are the World. What band will stand out in 2012 for me? You’ll find out after May 27th.
Do you have a band suggestion that I haven’t listed? Let me know by leaving a comment.
FITNESS 101: ASK AUDRA
Audra Yocom is a certified personal trainer based out of Los Angeles, who will be answering your fitness questions on a weekly basis (every Monday) and will also bring you monthly fitness tips via her regular column (resuming in July) to help us to dis-spell those myths we’ve all been subjected to regarding fitness at one point or another in our battle with the bulge. You can also hear Audra with her fitness tips during the early morning (5am – 7am) A.M. Blast block of upbeat tunes geared towards your morning workout and via her new “Fitness and Health” Show the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:30 pm on intraffikradio.com (http://tinyurl.com/intraffikradio) or under Intraffikradio under the eclectic section under iTunes Radio. To learn more about Audra or to inquire about training sessions visit her site http://audrayocom.com.
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QUESTION: I have always longed to have “dancer’s legs”? Are there any leg exercises that can re-create those for those of us who haven’t had the years and years of formal dance training?
ANSWER: The best exercises to start with would be ballet dancer’s exercises.
According to Mary Helen Bowers (Natalie Portman’s trainer for “Black Swan”), “ballet targets the smaller muscles that you don’t often use.” Instead of working the quads it works the inside and back of the leg. A few of the basic exercises would be the plié squat, the releve calf raise, and jumping exercises.
Plié Squat
– Standing with your feet slightly further than shoulder width apart point your toes outward.
- Bend at the knees and press your weight through your heels as you lower yourself until your knees are at a 90 degree angle. Make sure you keep your upper body straight and never let your knees go forward past your toes.
- Pushing through your heels, raise up to the starting position and repeat.
Releve Calf Raise
- – Place your heels together with your toes and legs pointing out to the sides.
- Squeezing your hips, thighs and butt tight and press through the balls of your feet as you slowly raise your heels up so you are balancing on the balls of the feet. Hold for a few seconds and slowly lower. Repeat.
Jumping Exercises
These are a bit more tricky and should only be performed if you have no injuries and have mastered the above movements.
The Plyometric Plié
-Starts out the same as the Plié Squat.
-Once you get to the bottom of the squat raise back up and spring into the air from the balls of your feet. You don’t need to spring very high. Repeat.
The Plyometric Releve Calf Raise
(Performing a releve in ballet means that you raise your body up on your toes)
– Starts out the same as the Releve Calf Raise, but once you get to the point where you are balancing on the balls of your feet you want to bend slightly at the knees and spring up. Again, there is no need to spring high.
- After you land back on the balls of your feet lower your heels to the ground and repeat.
In addition to these exercises you’ll want to incorporate a good cardio workout. Yoga and Pilates are also great ways to create long lean limbs.
Audra will be answering your fitness questions every Monday. If you have questions you’d like answered you may email her at Audra@intraffik.com or send to info@intraffik.com. To see if your questions have been addressed check out past “Ask Audra” Column Entries here
A ‘FAIR AND SQUARE’ BIRTHDAY IN AMERICA
A couple of years ago, I wrote about all of the personal attention given to me (and I would imagine most everyone at that time) around my birthday. Not just the standard friends and family members that you expect well-wishes from, but from store managers or corporate offices of actual businesses.
Sure, there are the deals that we’ve all come to expect. A free car wash at most car washes, free dessert (and probably a song and dance) at restaurants. Also, usually those who provide a service to you on a regular or semi-regular basis might also send you birthday cards (i.e. your accountant, hairdresser, esthetician, car dealership, etc.).
Anyhow, when I wrote that piece in 2010 we were completely immersed in what I would say was the real outset of the downward spiral of our economy. Businesses were struggling to stay alive, especially specialty shops and seemed at the time to be going the extra mile to retain their existing clientele as well as trying to re-invent themselves or at least adapt their at the time marketing and ad campaigns to fit the times a little better.
That year truly was a bit of an anomaly in the amount of attention I seemed to receive from businesses that I regularly frequented and even those that I had rarely frequented, if ever at all. As I mentioned, it wasn’t just your run of the mill email offering a discount or a standard post-card in the mail. It was further personalized attention in the form of phone calls from store managers, business owners, more gift cards than I think I’ve ever received before (or after).
It’s interesting that although the economy hasn’t gotten much better many of these efforts were quickly done away with. Sure marketing and advertising plans have continued to evolve and some businesses have shifted their identities to reflect the tone of our current fiscal state. One of the most public and noticeable overhauls has been the JC Penney make-over. Whether you shop there or not doesn’t really matter. You probably couldn’t miss the very “Red, White, and Blue,” “proud to be an American” “fair and square” campaign.
While I still got plenty of attention from various places around my birthday it did seem that 2010 and 2011 were bigger years in terms of the attention received around my birthday from businesses and corporations. The additional shift in string of continued improvements upon the customer experience is in that of customer service.
I’ve mentioned before that I almost always get very good customer service everywhere I go. This has been the case for most of the time that I’ve been old enough to be a customer. It has been a little interesting to see the growth in this area, especially in the frequency with which managers come up to me to make sure I’m doing ok or to make sure that I was given good service at their establishment. This seems to happen everywhere to me from stores to restaurants to music venues to even drive-thrus. Sometime in the near future I’ll write a post about customer service, as I hope I’m not an exception like some of my friends suggest I might be when it comes to the great customer service I get all of the time.
In closing, it’ll be interesting to see how the interaction between companies and their customers continues to evolve. While great customer service is timeless and should be the norm I hope it’s not a trend that will die out just like all of that added personalized birthday attention.