OUT TO SEE: SILVERLAKE JUBILEE PART 2 OF 2
If you missed my Part I, click here to read about Day 1 of Silverlake Jubilee.
Sunday, Day 2
Day 2 at the Silverlake Jubilee started later than Day 1 for me. I had brunch with friends at around 1 p.m. Come around 2:30 p.m., I went home and took a 30 minute nap. I was exhausted from my Saturday activities (once again, see Part I). After my nap, I drove on down to Silverlake Jubilee, parking along Hyperion (this is actually a semi-important point).
Santa Monica Stage
Silverlake Jubilee was on a tighter schedule for day 2 versus day 1. The first band of the afternoon for me was Lilofee. They started their set with an awesome wall of sound.
Comment: “We’re so excited to play here. We’re half way from Los Angeles and half way from San Francisco.”
Noticed: Lead singer had this female claw motion.
Sunset Stage
Next was a brief encounter with Seasons. I only caught half their set, if that. By missing half of Seasons’ set, I realized that Silverlake Jubilee had Sunday’s schedule tightened up compared to Saturday’s.
Comment: “We’ve got to make sure we’re in tune for our last song.”
Santa Monica Stage
I caught part of Division Day’s set where I heard the lead singer doing the sound check by saying, “Potato. Potato. Potato. Banana. Banana. Banana. Elephant. 
Elephant. Elephant. Potato.”
Noticed: Couldn’t help but notice the yellow shaker used by the drummer. I have no clue why this caught my attention, but it did.
Sunset Stage
Yes, at this point I was spinning with my constant back and forth between the two stages and had to settle down.
I stuck around the Sunset Stage to catch the Monolators’ full set. While standing near the stage, one of the band members kicked an opened Gatorade bottle. Gatorade flew towards the audience and the handful of us near the stage back paddled a couple feet. “I just wanted to add some special effects,” was the comment made afterwards.
Comment: “Does anyone know what a fop tie is?” (more…)
OUT TO SEE…METRIC
I noticed via Facebook that a friend was buying tickets to see Metric. This was a band I wanted to see live. I mentioned to her sometime later that I was thinking about buying a ticket for Metric. She said, “Yes, buy a ticket.” I tried getting other friends to come along, but no one seemed interested. In fact, none of them had even heard of Metric. Shame on them. I headed over to the Palladium on a Saturday morning, getting a ticket without the service charge.
Sidebar Reflection. I’ve written this ‘Notes from Vivace’ column for over a year now. My life has certain cycles. The Metric concert occurred on March 26th. What happens in March? March Madness. College basketball. How many of you read that Great Northern blog I wrote a year ago?
Here’s what I wrote on May 3rd, 2009:
“Let’s talk sports briefly. If you enjoy sports, you’ve experienced your favorite team suffering through more than its share of blow out losses. This is what you go through as a fan, but it particularly hurts when that type of loss ends a post-season run. For example, the Boston Celtics blowing out the LA Lakers last season. That one hurt. And so it happened again on a still too recent Thursday night when one of my favorite teams, the Duke Blue Devils, fell victim to a blow out loss in March Madness. The Villanova Wildcats just took them apart. It was a game that if played during the regular season, I would have turned off the television (perfect example being the Duke v. Clemson game). But since it was March Madness, I felt compelled to watch the full game. For some tortured reason, I felt that by watching the game I was showing my support for their over-all successful season.
What does this have to do with the local music scene? Well . . . after the game ended, I headed off to The Roxy to catch Great Northern. (Yes, the two events’ only connection is in the fact that one followed the other.) I felt a tad miserable driving the streets of Los Angeles that night. Driving down Sunset, I kept thinking, “How is it possible that Duke couldn’t find an open shot all game long? How could Villanova contest every single shot the whole night?”
Current state sidebar. Once again, Duke played a March Madness (Duke vs. Purdue) game on a night I was heading off to see a band. For this year’s game, I did the DVR thing. I watched the first 10 minutes. The score was tight. I then took off for the Palladium and listened to the last couple minutes of the first half on the radio. While at the Palladium, a friend told me that Duke was up by two points. After the show, I headed straight home. Of course, I couldn’t help myself and turned the car radio on to KNX 1070. Duke had won. This provided relief, but I still watched the rest of the game (including the portion I’d heard over the radio).
Parking. $5 parking at the abandoned Old Spaghetti Factory. Admittedly, you need to walk a couple blocks to the Palladium, but it isn’t like you’re hiking up Mount Whitney.
A larger group of friends. I learned the day of the event that a couple other friends were going to show up that night so there was a group of five that ended up at the Palladium. (more…)
OUT TO SEE…YEAR LONG DISASTER
A friend recently returned to the United States from South Korea. She is teaching English across the Pacific and is on a two month long vacation. To celebrate her return, we decided we’d head off to check out the local music scene. Via e-mail, I suggested two places as possibilities: either Spaceland or Silverlake Lounge. I also gave her a couple myspace links so that she could listen to the residency bands at both locations and decide which she liked best. We ran into some immediate problems. I didn’t realize that her Internet access was spotty (she didn’t have a cell phone as she’d cancelled her cell phone plan when she left for South Korea). I started to feel some pressure when I got a text from another friend asking what the plan was.
After finally exchanging some e-mails (she headed off to the library), she said she wasn’t able to listen to any of the bands at the two venues and wanted me to make the decision. I replied back saying we’d go to Spaceland and if she’d just call me to determine an appropriate time to pick her up.
She called me up later, using her mother’s phone. Unfortunately, I was on my work phone with my boss when she called. So when I picked up my cell phone, I asked if she’d call me back in five minutes. She didn’t call back. After 30 minutes, I decided I better call her back. She didn’t answer. I waited another thirty minutes before calling again and got her mother who promptly hung up on me. Hmm . . . I called back. The phone was handed over to the daughter. All was settled and so I sent a verification of location and time to our other friends via text messages.
(The six hours or so that the above planning unfolded over made me feel like I was living in the aftermath of “2012” or in the middle of “Book of Eli” or “The Road.” Technology had taken a step back and I was at a total loss on how to function without it. If the post-apocalyptic world ends up anyway like “The Road” you surely don’t want to travel along side me because we’ll be fresh meat for the cannibals.)
I got to my friend’s house and was immediately offered something to eat. Do you want some dinner? – no, really, I think we should just head off to Spaceland. Have a brownie? – which was promptly put into a sandwich bag. How about some Korean candy? – I was given a handful and decided to have one. Nasty, and promptly returned the additional candies back into the bag, sorry for offending. Have some sweet bread? –no, seriously, we should go.
We got to Spaceland and a couple of our friends were already there. (more…)
NOTES FROM VIVACE: (15) Days of Summer
The Upfront. Yes, I’m playing off of (500) Days of Summer,but we here at TRAffIK really liked that movie.
What’s going on here. Now TRAffIK did technically kill off summer with the following blog, but hey, I had a nice summer and wish to do my own summer exit. This blog is going to take a trip from Highland Park to the Sunset Strip and various other locations between these two music spots.
Aaron Beaumont. So my (15) Days of Summer launched with seeing my friend playing at Life on Wilshire. There was a nice group of supporters there, many being mutual friends of ours. This was my first time at Life on Wilshire. Life on Wilshire has a nice set-up that for some reason reminded me of the set-up at Cinespace, but a bit classier. His set included various friends joining him on stage such as Shane Alexander. This was the kick-off for his tour, which ends Oct 8th at Hotel Café.
Local Natives and The Monthlies
Two Recent Local Band Addictions.
I have certain band addictions when it comes to the local music scene. There’s the long time addiction to The Mulhollands and Automatic Music Explosion. There’s the more recent addiction to IO Echo. And now I’m developing two new addictions: Local Natives and The Monthlies.
Local Natives, a Monday night at Spaceland. I first came across Local Natives during their February Silverlake Lounge residency based on the advice of a friend. I enjoyed their set. I loved their vocal harmonies and swayed to their melodies. I went back the following week to catch their set again. I wanted to share my new music addiction with some of my friends, but it took awhile to do so. I knew Local Natives were playing around town multiple times a month, but nothing really ever worked out for me — a number of times they were last minute additions to a schedule or they played on nights where I had a conflict. My schedule aligned with theirs when they were opening for Castledoor, which had June’s Monday night residency at Spaceland. So I sent out an e-mail blast to a handful of friends and was able to convince three of them to come on out and sample Local Natives.
The one comment I get whenever I tell people about this band is: isn’t that a bit redundant, Local Natives? I have to agree. Of course, I didn’t come up with the name so I can’t answer the question.
Some notes about the night:
When I arrived at Spaceland, the floor was a mess with party favors. The first band must have been interesting.
(click on images to enlarge)
Local Natives didn’t have their violinist. That was disappointing. I later learned that the violinist will join them at least part of the time during their upcoming August residency at Spaceland. (Yes, readers have a chance to see them at Spaceland each Monday of August.)
There was a nice fan base for Local Natives lined up alongside the stage. They danced like crazies. And they made sure they held spots for their friends who took off to get drinks from the bar.
As for the residency band, Castledoor, they have an interesting two keyboard set-up. That night was the first time I’d seen Castledoor. As they were making their way onto the stage via the stage door to start their set, a friend of mine said, “There’s the castle [pointing to the stage] and now they’re coming in via the door. Castledoor.” Okay, so maybe we are a bit dorky at times. Towards the end of their set Castledoor handed out free CDs of a Bob Dylan cover they did during their set – they’d made a recording the previous night.
It was a steam room in Spaceland. I’ve been to Spaceland enough times to know that it gets hot inside, but that night seemed especially hot. (Of course, as I write this in my apartment around 10:30 p.m. in late July, I’m sweating through my t-shirt.)
Afterwards, I hung outside with some friends at the valet while one waited for her car — a brand new (used) car. I took a photo of my friend next to her new car. Her old car was in constant break-down mode. Flat tires. Clutch. Congratulations to her on her new (used) car.
Here is the video for “Airplanes Split” by Local Natives
The Monthlies, at Silverlake Lounge. For about a week there, I was sick. I was fully out of commission for two days and then spent about five days on that borderline where you’re no longer on death’s door, but you know if you push yourself too hard you’ll just head back in that direction. I mentioned to some friends that I was amazed at how much time I had on my hands during that one week period. My Monday thru Thursday nights are usually spent in the following manner (edited, of course): exercise a couple nights, catch a band or two, watch some television, read a chapter or two from a book and then write these lovely columns in between all of that other stuff I just mentioned. So during my week of illness I found myself with all this free time. I didn’t feel like I should exercise or go out so I just sat around the apartment wondering what I should do with all my free time. I do love to read, but there is only so much reading I can do in a night. And with no 24 or Lost on television, turning on the television seemed like a waste of time. I do have to admit my apartment needed(s) some cleaning, but that felt like it belonged in the don’t-push-yourself-too-hard category.
When I got my health back, I was feeling a bit of cabin fever. So on a Wednesday night, I went out and did my exercise routine and then I headed off to Silverlake Lounge to catch The Monthlies. My first encounter with The Monthlies occurred when a friend (same friend who suggested Local Natives) suggested checking out a local spot. The reason wasn’t to see The Monthlies, but they were the first band of the night and I found myself really liking them. I figured I should check them out one more time to see if I really did like them or if it just happened to be my frame of mind that night. I enjoyed them just as much the second time around.
Some observations from Silverlake Lounge. The Monthlies had some technical difficulties at the start. The bass player’s amp went out. He said he’d had it since 8th grade. Someone yelled out, “You’re leaving behind your adolescence years.” When he also mentioned that this had never happened to him before, someone else yelled out, “Guys always say that.” There was a small crowd at Silverlake Lounge, but a good 20 people or so were there specifically to see The Monthlies. There was even a group from Germany (I hope that if they ended up writing a blog that they mention how great the local music scene is in Los Angeles; this is a totally indirect, and now direct, reference to plug two earlier columns I wrote regarding my Vancouver trip). As their set ended, they asked if they could play an encore for their friend Alex who was sitting close to the stage. The stage lights went crazy during the encore, which surprised and amused the band – especially the guitarist. One of their friends was in the back, having fun with the light switches. All told a beautiful set.
Here are The Monthlies with their video for “Hip Girl”
(Note: not all photos were taken on the nights highlighted.)
Notes From Vivace’s May Playlist
Lemon Sun: “Same Old Ground”
Dirty Kings: “Who’s Along for the Ride”
Ex-Gentlemen: “Oh Mona”
New London: “LA’s Orange Lights”
Mere Mortals: “Clear Sky Overdrive”
Silver Needle: “Tourniquet”
Underwater City People: “Jennifer”
The Rainman Suite: “Rich Boys”
Dusty Rhodes and the River Band: “Blind Lead the Blind”
Yellow Red Sparks: “A Play to End All Plays”
Random comments. If you read my blog on Great Northern, you know where I caught Lemon Sun’s set.
I saw Dirty Kings’ last ever set. I didn’t even know in advance that it was their last ever set. Rest in peace, Dirty Kings.
One of the band members from Ex-Gentlemen used to play for my all time favorite local band: Bang Sugar Bang. May they rest in peace, as well.
I caught Mere Mortals at Cinespace. The lead singer was super cool with me when I asked if they had a flier or card with their myspace info. They didn’t have anything so he just gave me a CD single for free.
Whenever I hear Underwater City People’s Jennifer, I always find myself reminiscing.
I caught the back end of Dusty Rhodes and the River Band’s set during the Local Natives residency at Silverlake Lounge. When they had their residency recently at Silverlake Lounge, I had to check them out. I’m happy I did.