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.
TONIGHT THURSDAY 5/17: SILVERLAKE JUBILEE TICKET GIVEAWAY AT 10PM ON INTRAFFIKRADIO
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Tonight during the 10pm InTraffikRadio Show “little” hosted by Mat and Joanne, we will be giving away FOUR Pairs of Tickets to Silverlake Jubilee.
To Listen in via InTraffikRadio.com Click Here
To Listen via iTunes Radio Click Here (or under Eclectic category, Station Name: IntraffikRadio)
The local music festival featuring live performances from over 70 acts will have it’s third annual installment this upcoming Memorial Day Weekend, May 26 & 27.
For Full Line-Up of Acts
or to purchase tickets
visit the Official Silverlake Jubilee website
OUT TO SEE: SILVERLAKE JUBILEE – DAY ONE
Getting there. I was digging through the Silver Lake Jubilee website and couldn’t help but notice their emphasis on the environment. I came across a video that gave directions on how to get to the Jubilee. It focused first on biking and the metro before giving directions via the car. I decided I’d go along with their green theme and took the metro (though I knew it’d take me less than ten minutes to just drive on down).
Total sidebar, but it deals with music. Saturday morning started off with a 6 a.m. wake-up call. My upstairs neighbors decided that vocal exercises at 6 a.m. are totally appropriate in an apartment complex along with 6:30 a.m. bass practice followed up by 7:00 a.m. piano exercises. I call this the downside of living in an apartment complex.
Day 1, first impressions, conversations, side stories, observations:
Psychic Friend. Catchy tunes with a unique vocal sound. If someone blindfolded you and took you to their set, you’d say, “I know that voice, that’s Psychic Friend.“ In the middle of their set, their friends showed up. Greetings were exchanged, “Hi.” My opinion, this band should have gotten a better timeslot. Note that the band name uses the word “Friend” not “Friends.”
Marvelous Toy. This band powered through songs like they owned them. Earnest to the core. Conversation on stage: “That was a drawn-out ending.” “Building up the tension.” And as with Psychic Friend, it is “Toy” not “Toys.”
Pangea (total honesty, I think it was Pangea). Punk rock stripped down.
Finches. There were some technical problems before their set. Wires weren’t getting plugged into the right sockets. I noticed the tech guy with one massive diagram opened up in front of him. “That’s #14,” I kept on hearing as they worked through the issues.
As for Finches, feather heads that provided a wistful sound.
Jean Wilder. No, Gestapo Khazi. No, Holy Roller. I got to the Santa Monica stage thinking I was about to see Jean Wilder or maybe some other band listed on the set time print out. I wasn’t really sure as I wasn’t familiar with Jean Wilder and had spent a significant amount of time at the Sunset Stage (Psychic Friend, Marvelous Toy and Finches all played at the Sunset Stage). Later, after coming across a schedule at the festival, I concluded the band was Gestapo Khazi and that Jean Wilder must have cancelled. After posting photos up on Intraffik, we got an e-mail correcting us (Thanks Adler Bloom of American Pancake ). The band was Holy Roller. Agh. “Burn the Evidence” provided some good anger to the Silver Lake Jubilee.
After “Jean Wilder, no, Gestapo Khazi– hey. you messed up they are Holy Roller,” I took a quick break from the music. I was talking to a friend when a young lady came by. She hadn’t brought her ID along so she was hanging out just outside of the Beer Garden, waiting for her boyfriend to come over with a beer. She informed us that she was in media. She was once on the Oxygen Channel where she was involved in an experiment where she gained 30 pounds. Men were asked their opinions pre- and post-. At 30 pounds, men considered her more compassionate and more likely to get married. I personally was thinking, why would someone put on 30 pounds in a couple months just to get men’s opinion on the two different body types.
Anyway, the conversation turned to where my photos would get posted. I told her Intraffik.com. The conversation shifted to Rock N’ Roll Camp for Girls (my friend was wearing a t-shirt). It was mentioned that the editor of Intraffik was involved in this camp. A request was made for her phone number. And then the big put down, “I want to learn more about the Rock N’ Roll Camp. Not Intraffik – that sounds boring.”
Lady Danville. Comment in my notebook, “Lady Danville is blowing me away.” I say, does any band use a cajon drum as well as Lady Danville? Conversations on stage. “We’re giving temporary tattoos until supplies last . . . or real tattoos. I have a knife.” After taking a photo of the crowd. “Tag yourselves on Facebook.” “We’re putting it only on Myspace.” “We’re bringing it back.”
Black Flamingo. Three girls chanting. One guy dancing across the stage. It works. Check them out.
The Lovely Bad Things. During Black Flamingo, I was handed a note that read, “At 6 p.m. Please shoot The Lovely Bad Things. The band on the Eagle stage. At the Eagle Bar, walk along the wall, behind Pacific Auto. Part of the Jubilee.” If someone is taking the time to hand me a hand written note, why not? I went to check them out. Garage Rock. The band was having some issues with the sound equipment, “Sorry about all the technical s*!t.” No need to be sorry. They weren’t having any more difficulties than a lot of the other festival bands.
Jail Weddings. I love this band. I couldn’t help but notice the keyboardist wearing a surgical mask. First thought, Japan/nuclear plant. There was a lot of dancing on the speakers. Conversations on stage, “Someone traded in my boots for ballerina shoes today.” “We have the Holy Trinity left.” “Hi, we’re Jail Weddings. This song will go on for another three minutes.” They sang “What Did You Do With My Gun?” for their last song. I realized I had a big smile on my face. To prove the point regarding the additional three minutes added to the last song, the lead singer jumped into the audience to create a mosh pit that included hugs for everyone.
Summer Darling will energize YOU.
Ximena Sariñana. She has a voice to love. Conversation on stage. “At this time of night, my English starts to disappear.” She has the most beautiful way of saying, “Thank you.” She was called to do an encore. She went up and played mime on the keyboard until the sound came back on. She was the biggest draw on Saturday – at least at the Sunset Stage. I can see why. She came across as someone who creates a great rapport with her fans.
Ceci Bastida. She kept dancing throughout her set. The set ended with a big band sound. Awesome.
Geotic/Baths. The schedule listed Geotic, but it was announced that we would actually be entertained by Baths. Electronic heaven. I say Baths has the fastest hands in the west. I had a difficult time capturing a photo of Baths. My camera kept on focusing in on his laptop computer. I’d look at a photo and the laptop would look as bright as day. In contrast, Baths’ face reminded hidden in the night’s darkness. I decided to switch out lenses to see if that would help. Not really. It was nice to see that other photographers were switching out lenses. I saw one photographer try three different lenses. This was a set I wished I had brought along a flash. A couple flash shots and I’d have gotten my shot and then sat back to enjoy an awesome end to the night.
Regrets: Seriously wished I’d gotten to see all of Summer Darlin’s set. I wish I could have caught Restavrant and Stab City. So little time.
SILVERLAKE JUBILEE DAY 1
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PSYCHIC FRIEND
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MARVELOUS TOY
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PANGEA
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FINCHES
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HOLY ROLLER/GESTAPO KHAZI
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BLACK FLAMINGO
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LADY DANVILLE
SILVERLAKE JUBILEE PICKS
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Silverlake Jubilee is coming this weekend. We had great fun last year at the Jubilee. We were there both days last year (Day 1 write-up, Day 2 write-up) and plan to be there both days this year.
Here at Traffik, we’ve covered some of the bands on this year’s lineup and will be making an extra effort to catch their sets, so here’s some extra love for the following:
Jail Weddings: (6:30 Saturday)
Summer Darling: (7:40 Saturday)
Restavrant: (6:05 Saturday)
Twilight Sleep: 5:00 Sunday
Future Ghost: 12:50 Sunday
Tommy Santee Klaws: 1:50 Sunday
There are also bands such as Lady Danville (4:30 Saturday) and The Black Apples (5:50 Sunday) that we’d like to highlight.
The goal, of course, isn’t just to catch up with your favorite local bands. It is to find that band(s) that you’ve never heard of and to fall in love with their music. The beauty of festivals like the Silverlake Jubilee, which completely focuses on the current local music scene is that the bands on their line-ups are all bands you can go out and catch almost any day of the week at the multiple local music venues. They just make it easier for you to find the local music you like and would go see again by filling up a weekend of your life with live performances.
The Second Annual Silverlake Jubilee takes place this Saturday (May 21st) and Sunday (May 22). For more information visit the official website.
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR…
TO SUGGEST OR TO COMPLAIN?
“If you have time to whine and complain about something, then you have the time to do something about it.“ ~Anthony J. D’Angelo, The College Blue Book
Living by the old adage of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” is a nice thought however, if we all abide by that what kind of world will we live in? Perhaps a Pleasantville, settled in uniformity and no fear of the unknown—I’m sure it’d be nice for a day or two of a week to live in a world where everything just fell into place at all times not having to worry about what tomorrow held. Yes, a perfect existence, perfect that is until the misery of the well-known and the same day in and day out routine caught up to us. I much prefer the one that starts with, “If you don’t have anything constructive to say…”
Fortunately for us, we don’t live in a world where what we can do is limited (so long as it is on the right side of the law of course), and we live in a city that more than most facilitates and encourages the left brain thinking as much as that of the right and time and time again presents us with the opportunity to put that thinking into action. So those of us that are creative create and present it to the subjectivity of those that may or may not appreciate it. I have been lucky with many of my endeavors and have a great support system and I give thanks for that, but in turn I am also supportive of those around me not in return or because I feel like I have to as much as because I want to.
I rarely write pieces of this nature. Not because of any uncertainty in where I stand on issues, nor fear of backlash, not even due to my well known diplomatic clear thinking disposition. If I had to pick a reason or two, for the most part it would come down to the fact that I can usually understand and justify the viewpoints and actions of most (so long as they are not being harmful to others in the process) even more often, though it comes down to the fact that I don’t feel compelled enough to voice any opinion at all, at least not via a public platform. Aside from all of that, I am usually too busy with my own projects.
This weekend’s FYF Fest is the cause for this moment of reflection. While there are many who will be quick to point out that it was a disorganized disaster in the operations department and be even quicker to express their disgust at where this event fell short, there are just as many who will be quick to express how blown away by some of the performances by the artists who took the stage in the sweltering downtown heat. (more…)
A CELEBRATED SUMMER: PART I of III – LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
“It’s all happening…”
Los Angeles had been warned. Something was coming. Something was happening, but what? What was all happening?
Those three words echoed through the hallways of the Immaculate Conception School (a private Downtown Los Angeles school) the weekend of July 24-25, 2010, via the both excited and at times incredulous verbal outcries (as well as via Facebook status updates)– all coming from a very diverse group of young women (young mostly in age, but even more importantly in spirit) hailing mainly from the Los Angeles area.
Women not afraid of a little heavy lifting– literally and figuratively, as amplifiers, drum kits, guitars, bass guitars, keyboards, and mic stands were all carried to their destinations for the week ahead. Destinations which consisted of the classrooms labeled as “The Drum Room ,” “The Guitar Room,” etc.
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Guitars and Basses photo by TRAffIK
Drum Room Photo by Beth Schore
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Who said women can’t carry their own gear? Who said women can’t rock out just like the boys? Who said women can’t take up space?
Women can be found loading in their own gear, rocking out, and taking up space in music venues all across the world on any given day or night. Most everyone has been lucky enough to have had many exemplary female artists/musicians, musical pioneers if you will, that have paved the way so that it could become commonplace for a girl to “rock out” just as hard, if not harder than the boys on any stage on any night.
Unfortunately, as a young girl growing up you don’t always realize this. When we are young our circles of friends and experiences may be limited, our families/customs/cultures/social circles may define us at that time, or we may just not realize the vast amount of options and opportunities that exist for us to explore and choose what we eventually want to do and who we want to become.
In 2001, a group of women in Portland, OR came together to create something to address these and other issues. What they created would eventually branch off to include over 20 affiliates across the U.S. (expanding internationally into Sweden, Montreal, and Vancouver). So what was this phenomenon? Again, we ask what was all happening? What were all of these women coming together to create?
The answer?
L.A. was to be on the lookout for the first installment of the Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles.
To give a little background on what inspired this, we look to the very first Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls Summer Camp which took place in August, 2001, on the Portland State University Campus. This excerpt from their mission statement makes their intentions perfectly clear, “We want to eradicate all the limiting myths about music and gender that make girls afraid to speak up, sing out, and make noise. We want to abolish all the obsolete traditions that restrict many girls’ and women’s free musical expression and obstruct their access to the world of music. We seek to demonstrate—through lessons, mentorship, positive examples, and the shared experiences of the staff and volunteers—that every genre of music from the heaviest to the most delicate, and every technical job and creative endeavor in the music industry, is available to any girl or woman who wants to explore it.”
The further you delve into learning about the camps and those that volunteer and support it, the more you realize that statements like the following truly represent the underlying theme of all of the camps involved.
“It’s not just about rock ‘n’ roll, it’s about all musical genres. And it’s not just about being a musician, it’s about being an active agent in music culture and industry. We believe that by teaching these things, we can help girls develop—musically, mentally, and emotionally—toward their own ideas of who and what they want to be.”.
“It’s not just about being a musician, it’s about being an active agent in music culture and industry,” that’s something that many people, musically inclined or not, can get behind. That statement could also be used to describe the members of the eclectic rock-folk Los Angeles based band Raining Jane (pictured right – photo by Larissa Brantner-James). Having volunteered since 2005 at the Portland and Seattle camps two of the Raining Jane members, Becky Gebhardt (bass, guitar, sitar) and Mona Tavakoli (drums, vocals, percussion), were in disbelief that one didn’t exist in their home base of Los Angeles, and decided to begin the journey to give the city a much needed camp of their own.
They began with recruiting their own bandmates Chaska Potter (vocals, guitar) and Mai Bloomfield, (vocals, guitar, cello) as well as family members (Natasha and Newsha Tavakoli), and other close friends to begin laying the groundwork.
Hours and hours (adding up to days, weeks, and eventually months) of hard work were put in to start the process of giving the “City of Angels” a camp that could look past the glitz and glamour of a city where so many come to make their dreams come true. A camp that would strive to address the all too real issues that are associated with growing up that plague the female youth population of this city (as well as pretty much every city in the world) all the while teaching them the discipline and empowerment that can come through learning to play and eventually mastering a musical instrument, the motions of their bodies, or through finding their voice (whether it be used to communicate with band mates or an audience).
A phone call to John McKenna, Director of Marketing and Development for Immaculate Conception School, resulted in the ending of the search for the, at the time, yet-to- occur camp’s location. From the initial call, Tavakoli and Gebhardt were met with an alignment in the understanding of and a resonating with the new camp’s mission from McKenna who enthusiastically offered his support of the cause before, during, and after camp.
With the camp location secured, a “foot off of the brakes and full speed-ahead” attitude was adopted as a full-fledged campaign was initiated and executed to increase community awareness about the camp as well as to recruit the first round of campers and volunteers. With a presence at various community events such as the Silverlake Jubilee, the Don’t Knock the Rock Film and Music Festival (put on by mother-daughter team Allison and Tiffany Anders), FYF Presents events, as well as local farmers markets (pictured left, Rock Camp Volunteers at the El Serreno Farmer’s Market photo by Erin Hughes) and concerts throughout the city, the idea of the camp was enthusiastically well received– and also met with many incredulous utterings of “I can’t believe something like this didn’t already exist in L.A.!”
The volunteer meetings and fundraisers continued (among them one of the few official Runaways film preview screenings authorized by Apparition Films, which included a Q&A with Cherie Currie), the curriculum was planned, and the anticipation kept building.
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photos by Maria Schriber
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Taking the current economic state of the country into consideration, the members of Raining Jane decided to start a scholarship
fund for the camp. Soon enough good friend singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles, a headlining artist on this year’s Lilith Fair, followed suit providing five scholarships to the camp. L.A. based band EZ Tiger also donated scholarships from funds donated by their fans. The Feeding the Soul Foundation, an Oceanside, CA organization that “brings community together in creative generosity” while “promoting local artists, foundations and businesses that make a positive difference by creating events that draw attention and opportunity to their talents and intents,” also donated scholarships (pictured right, scholarship check and Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls Volunteers –photo by Erin Hughes) to the camp from funds raised at their “Muse-ic” event (which featured performances from Tristan Prettyman, Alysse Fischer, and Jessie Payo).
“It’s all happening” (more…)