Event Coverage:

In a musical scene that is currently dominated by debut albums, buzz bands, and the blogosphere, it is altogether refreshing to see an established band like Wilco thrive. I don’t really know why, but to hear a band 16 years on release an album as driving and energetic as their early records is as rewarding a musical experience as one can have. For this reason, few albums last year topped The Whole Love in my eyes, and few tour announcements excited me like Wilco’s three night stint in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, my wallet dictated that I could only attend one of these shows and so Friday night I rode into Downtown with a palpable sense of excitement. I arrived at the theatre a few minutes before Wilco took the stage and got a glimpse of the venue, one that had been in disuse for years but is easily one of the most beautiful in Los Angeles and produces perhaps the best sound quality in L.A alongside the Wiltern and the Music Box. Wilco took the stage and opened with the restrained “Less Than You Think,” an unusual opening song for a band full of explosive introductions. However, they segued the subdued sounds of their opening song into The Whole Love’s “Art of Almost,” its explosive solo signaling the true beginning of the set. From there, the band played a slew of songs from The Whole Love, each one benefiting exponentially from the live setting, upbeat songs like “I Might” finding a much fuller sound than explored on the record and lower key songs like “Black Moon” finding increased lyrical power in the intersection of lead singer Tweedy’s guitar and vocals. Interspersed in this first half were deeper cuts from the experimental A Ghost Is Born and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, of which “Radio Cure” signaled a shift in the band’s set towards its more emotionally and sonically powerful songs.

Beginning with Sky Blue Sky’s “Impossible Germany” the set went into new territory with a Nels Cline solo that lasted at least 5 minutes and for lack of a better word, brought the place down. Now listening to any Wilco album, it’s easy to see Nels Cline is a talented guitarist, but listening to him rip into solos like he did last Friday night puts him up there with the best guitarists in the business right now. I had the pleasure of sitting next to his amp on the right side of the stage and delighted in my face melting off during his solos. I never thought I’d say that about a “Americana” group that makes frequent use of string instruments. After “Impossible Germany,” Wilco played a series of songs that drew from their entire discography and had even the most subdued crowd members singing along. Summerteeth’s “Hate it Here” and “Can’t Stand It” (my favorites of the night) meshed perfectly with current hits “Whole Love” and “Dawned on Me” while fan favorite “Heavy Metal Drummer” brought perhaps the loudest sing-along of the night. The set closed with the closer staple “A Shot In the Arm,” and the band reluctantly left the stage.

They weren’t gone long. Guitar in hand, Tweedy began the encore much like he had the main set, with a subdued rendition of YHF’s “Reservations” that built into a wall of sound through “Handshake Drugs,” “You Never Know” and “Walken,” the latter of which received another hefty Cline solo. Pulling back, Tweedy reached way back with Being There’s “Red-Eyed and Blue” and “I Got You (At The End Of The Century)” before closing the encore with the surging “I’m A Wheel” that built into a beautiful symphony of crunching guitars and pounding drums before ending with a defiant scream from Tweedy. Good set? Yeah I’d say so.

I was far beyond hoarse. My usually quite stable glasses had been removed a few songs earlier to better facilitate my head-banging ways and I had somehow shifted into the aisle while flailing away. It was quite the powerful set. Funnily enough, Wilco has never been that band for me. They have always been a consistently engaging group that I frequently listen to, but for some reason or another, they just hadn’t hit me yet. You know how music just clicks sometimes? You listen to an album a few times before it really comes together? I had been listening to Wilco for years and it had never hit me. Needless to say, after last night, it hit. Now I just need to figure out how to scrounge enough money to see them in February..

I might have been insane to go to a show the day before a final, but honestly, I don’t regret it one bit. Girls played an incredible show at the Music Box this past Tuesday, December 6th and I left the show happier than I was this entire finals week.

We had a bit of trouble with traffic, so I only caught the last song of the first opener, Melted Toys.  The San Francisco based band had a dream pop-esque sound to their music.  I enjoyed what I heard, but unfortunately I wasn’t there for enough of their set. I think they’ve got a lot of potential in their music and are a band to keep an eye out for.

And on a completely random note, the guy from Steel Train and Cullen Omori from the Smith Westerns were both there mingling and hanging out, separately though. It was interesting turning around and seeing the lead singer from bands you’ve seen before just hanging out.

Regardless, The Tyde came on next, and they had an eight or nine piece band on stage.  The Echo Park based band played a solid set, with a distinctive indie rock vibe to their sound.  Employing a tambourine orchestra (not really though. They had two full time tambourine players and vocalists on stage, which was amusing), the Tyde performed for about a half full Music Box.  Although they played well and are a talented band, the crowd was waiting for the set to end so that Girls could go on.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Fest 10

About a month ago I was able to trek my way towards the quiet college town known as Gainesville, Florida. What I was doing across the country during midterms seemed inexplicable until I finally made into the three day music festival known as The Fest. Not too many people have heard of The Fest, but anyone who is an avid fan of the punk/hardcore genres and all the subgenres that come with it should become very acquainted with it. The adventure had to have been one of the most enjoyable and absolutely fun weekends I’ve ever had in my life.

This year, The Fest was celebrating 10 years of awesomeness and Tony Weinberg, promoter of the Fest, wanted to make sure show-goers had something to remember. Huge acts such as Against Me!, Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Kid Dynamite, Dead to Me, Youth Brigade, Dillinger Four, Paint it Black, Samiam, Small Brown Bike, and many, many more performed sets throughout the various venues in Gainesville. The exceptional line up brought 1,500 fans from all over the globe (literally) to the sold-out festival.  At The Fest, I was able to meet many new friends from places like Germany, Spain, Argentina, Chile, Canada, England, along with people from all over the country. Distance was not a sufficient factor to stop tradition of the decade long festival.

I arrived in Gainesville a night before the festival started. A local resident by the name of Phil opened his backyard to travelers for the festival in exchanged for packs of beer that is not found in Florida. The backyard was filled with 16 tents all packed with fellow Festers anxiously awaiting the fun to begin. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I got to see Feist perform at the Wiltern theater in Los Angeles. Feist blew up about 4 years ago when her hit single “1234” was featured in a colorful iPod commercial. Since then, she has helped children and adults alike count on the Sesame Street and even had a cameo in the new Muppets movie. Needless to say, my expectations were pretty high.

And met.

After a hilarious opening set by her best friend (and recent Guinness World Record holder), Gonzalez, Feist opened with “Undiscovered First,” a song that seems to know no bounds in its growth. Over the course of the night, she managed to play the album in its entirety. “1234” was noticeably absent from the set, but she did do a few old songs. The standout amongst these was

“Mushaboom,” a once-lightweight song that was transformed into a dark, cynical satire about settling down.
In the middle of the show, Feist pulled out a conch shell (a large sea shell that doubles as a horn) and decided to pick one lucky person out of the audience to come onstage and play. That lucky person ended up being no one other but me. Except, when I went on stage to play the horn, I couldn’t get any sound to come out of it. So she picked a second person to come on stage and play. Don’t pity me, though – we both got to sit on stage and watch the rest of the show.

Read the rest of this entry »

November 26, 2011. While most of the Bruin population was over at the LA Coliseum watching the USC v UCLA game, I was instead next door at the Shrine Auditorium waiting for Morrissey to croon and serenade me.  Good choice, right? Morrissey even poked fun at this fact by saying midway between his set, “Now are you sure wouldn’t rather be down the street with the Chicago Bears or whoever?” No thanks, Moz, I’m comfortable with where I’m at.

Read the rest of this entry »

Good Old War. A band that I am vaguely familiar with. I only have their first album Only Way To Be Alone (2008) on my iTunes and the first three tracks are the only songs I’ve listened to.  Since then, they’ve released their self-titled album Good Old War (2010) and are currently working on a new album that should be out by March 2012. Honestly, I was kind of hesitant on going to their show especially since I wasn’t like their biggest fan or anything.  But hey, my boyfriend paid for my ticket so it was worth a shot. I don’t regret going at all, though. Not only did Good Old War put on an entertaining and dance worthy show but Me & LP completely blew me away.  If there’s one thing you take from reading this post, it better be that you’re going check out Me & LP.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last night, I attended I.L. Care’s “A Night To Remember” Concert at the Universal Studio’s Gibson Amphitheatre featuring reggae artist Matisyahu. The premise of this concert was to encourage attendees to commit a minimum of four hours community service in the year 2012 while watching performances by Matisyahu (creator of singles “One Day” and “King Without a Crown”) and Moshe Peretz, Israel’s number one pop singer. And let me tell you, a night to remember is certainly what it was.

Hindered by rainy weather and public transportation, my fellow DJ and I arrive late. By the time we’ve breathlessly stumbled to the box office tent, officials are simply handing out tickets to anyone who walks up.  What my friend and I come to realize very quickly is that I.L. Care, an organization devoted to the Israeli American giving community, has never put on a concert for 6,000 people before. Between the disorganization in the box office and the warm, casual attitude taken by the MC on stage, it becomes apparent I.L. Care is pitching this event as if all 6,000 people in the audience are a closely-knit Israeli family, switching back and forth between Hebrew and English on a dime (having the Hebrew name “Sarit”, I hoped that IF anyone chose to speak to me in Hebrew thinking I’d understand, they’d only say the words “mother”, “father”, and “cat”, since that’s all I know how to say). As for the event, a large part of the evening was speeches and videos focused on giving back to the community, and the ways in which audience members could do it. For the time that Matisyahu was on stage, however, the audience was electrified. Nearly all of the 6,000 audience members were singing along to Matisyahu’s lyrics, almost as if the words were written on the screens behind him. By playing with an acoustic band comprising of a cellist, an acoustic guitar player, and his own beat boxing skills, songs such as “Jerusalem” and “One Day” took on a genuine quality that had me wondering if I could buy the acoustic versions of these songs on their own. It was almost as if Matisyahu retreated into the recesses of his mind while performing, letting his words and beats come from the depths of his heart. Moshe Peretz, on the other hand, had everyone on their feet dancing in 30 seconds flat. Combined as a musical act, Matisyahu and Moshe Peretz provided something closer to a backyard party than a benefit for community service. And those are really the best kinds of benefits, now, aren’t they?

The Music Box in Hollywood was an important stop on AWOLNATION’s Fall Harvest Tour; the group originates in Los Angeles, and they came here with the goal of getting locals who attended their show to break the trend in the typical laid-back atmosphere. They definitely succeeded at that, as their call for people to crowd surf resulted in a constant wave of people being lifted over the audience throughout the night. Even their frontman, Aaron Bruno, leaped into the crowd a few times to lead by example. There wasn’t a quiet moment during the entire show, as the band played through tracks back-to-back off of their debut album “Megalithic Symphony”, and some B-sides as well. Their popular song “Sail” received a huge reaction from the crowd, who chanted the lyrics back to the band with enthusiasm.

The audience was far from relaxed, and everyone mirrored the energy given off by AWOLNATION throughout the night. There was no encore break as Bruno said to the crowd, “This is the time where I would have a Bon Jovi moment and go off stage and then come back to perform another song, but I’m not going to do that”. The band ended their set with the 15-minute long track “Knights of Shame”, in which Bruno and the drummer Hayden Scott traded places and displayed their talent as multi-instrumental musicians. Despite their status as a new act, AWOLNATION proved themselves to be far from unknowledgeable about what makes a great live show.

A full set of photos from the night can be seen HERE.

November 2, 2011: Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

The premiere of the third installation of Harold & Kumar series, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, was a star studded event, bring out the movie’s stars, like John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, and Amir Blumenfeld, and other notable names like Roselyn Sanchez, Chris Klein, Mena Suvari and Jason Biggs. In time for the beginning of the holiday season, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre was festively decorated to get the audience ready for the Christmas themed shenanigans to come.

The comedy catches up with your favorite stoner Asian-Americans many years after the antics at Guantanamo Bay, once Harold has gotten married and become an established businessman and Kumar has, well, stayed pretty much the same. The two no-longer-close friends are brought back together by the spirit of Christmas and, as usual, encounter a series of drugs, sex, the Yugoslavian mafia, and White Castle. Ultimately, it’s Christmas and Santa Claus that help them rekindle their friendship and come to terms with adulthood.

Highlights:

• 3D: The movie is self-aware enough to poke fun at its 3D format, while still making use of the glasses with eggs, weed smoke, glass, trees, and all other kinds of flying objects.
• Clay-mation sequence: This drug induced ode to traditional Christmas stories was definitely unexpected and made for an entertaining little detour into a gory land of killer snowmen.
• The baby: Unlike past Harold & Kumar films, children played a large role. But if you think that means that they have toned down the cursing and drug use in favor of a more family friendly image, you are mistaken. They just brought the under 5 crowd along for the ride, making a little girl the butt of many weed, cocaine and ecstasy jokes.

Scene stealers:

• Wafflebot: This little invention was like a Wall-E for the rated R audience, loyally following orders and making waffles on command.
• Neil Patrick Harris: Good ol’ NPH appears again in this installment of the series, continuously poking fun at this public persona and being the epitome of a womanizer. Now, he has his own Holiday special, which was definitely my favorite part of the whole movie!

Overall Grade: A-. I highly recommend seeing it for 90 minutes of laughter! My only suggestion, more Neil Patrick Harris.

For more information, like the movie on Facebook or follow Warner Bros. on Twitter. You can catch A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas when it hits theaters today, November 4th!

Also, check out the official trailer for the movie, here:

Saturday, October 29 marked the debut of Insomniac Events’ newest festival, Escape From Wonderland. Following the same theme as two of their other annual festivals, Nocturnal Wonderland and Beyond Wonderland, Escape was advertised as a darker, Halloween-themed festival.

With the cancellation of Go Venture’s Monster Massive due to the lack of venue, and, in many people’s opinion, the unprofessional manner in which they handled the situation, it may be safe to assume that Escape From Wonderland will (if it already hasn’t) take the title of “America’s largest Halloween dance music festival”. The event sold out its 45,000 tickets two weeks before it took place and only a week after the announcement of Monster Massive’s cancellation, which suggests that concertgoers had no problem switching from one to the other. After my experience at Escape, especially compared to my experiences at past Go Ventures events, including Monster Massive, I definitely agree that Escape From Wonderland will definitely replace Monster Massive as the top Halloween dance event. Read the rest of this entry »

Foster The People are at the tail end of their hugely successful US tour, selling out many of the venues after their enourmous rise to popularity over the past few months. They just performed on Saturday Night Live, and headed back to their home to play two sold-out gigs at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. I attended their show on October 15th, with opening acts Reptar and Cults. It was my fourth time seeing them, and they have only improved since the first time I saw them.

Read the rest of this entry »

St. Vincent played the Music Box this past Tuesday, October 18, with opener Cate Le Bon.  Not only did the leading ladies play fantastic shows, they left the crowd begging for more.

The show had sold out, and when I arrived about fifteen minutes before Cate Le Bon began playing, the floor was already packed with tons of people, a good number who were a bit pushier than I expected for a St. Vincent show, prying their way to the front.

Cate Le Bon began her set, and her performance was rather simple. Stationary on the left side of the stage, Le Bon played a relatively short set and did not begin until past 9. Regardless of the Music Box’s ridiculously late start times, she had an eager and responsive audience.  Her performance reminded me of Lætitia Sadier (of Stereolab)’s performance at the Greek a few weeks ago.  Both musicians have a similar performance style that shows their musicality. However, it may not be what people are necessarily looking for, especially when audiences are anticipating high-energy performances following openers by musicians like St. Vincent.  The combination of the anticipation of seeing St. Vincent and the contrasting performance styles between Cate and Annie Clark made Cate Le Bon’s set seem, unfortunately, not as memorable.

St. Vincent kicked her set off with “Surgeon”, and the night kept getting better and better after.  Seeing Annie Clark perform live completely blew me away.  In one respect, she’s an incredibly petite, very polite woman who drank from a blue mug while onstage. On the flip side, she puts everything she can into her performance, making it a powerful experience.  And even despite letting everything loose and playing as hard as she can, Clark still has incredible control over her playing.  The contrasts of her album, “Strange Mercy”, the beautiful vocals paired with the grungy and raw instrumentals, are clearly present in Annie Clark herself, and for St. Vincent, those contrasting tones work.  In fact, I don’t even think that the recordings can even do her sound justice.  There are elements of passion and fire in St. Vincent’s live performances that somehow are not translated as clearly into the recorded albums, but regardless, the set was an incredible experience. Clark played a smorgasbord of tracks from her new album as well as a few from “Actor”.  Additionally, she covered The Pop Group’s song “She’s Beyond Good and Evil”, and closed her set with the sole “Marry Me” track, “Your Lips are Red”.

Annie Clark has so much power in her vocals and ridiculous talent at playing guitar, I continue to greatly admire her as a musician and an artist.  I don’t think I will ever forget her performance at the Music Box, and my ears are still blown out because of it.

Read the rest of this entry »

October 14th, 2011 was a day I was reminded how much I love Metal. As the audience threw their horns and banged their heads in unison, I felt myself being consumed by the atmosphere of the crowd. I was overwhelmed by the sense of happiness and excitement; it was as if I was teleported into a completely different world. I’ve been to many concerts, but not a lot could give me such a surreal experience as the Enslaved, Alcest and Junius show. Performing at Troubadour, a venue perfect for underground bands, Enslaved, Alcest and Junius gave an excellent performance that satisfied everyone who attended the show.

Junius, a replacement for Ghost, turned to be a surprise for many people. They classify themselves as indie rock, but such generalization falsely represents their music. They are a band that incorporates elements of post-rock, shoegaze and alternative rock. Their music at points were as Ethereal as Explosions in the Sky and were as Amorphous as Les Discrets. I was pleasantly surprised by their extraordinary talent, as I never knew of them until the show. Their performance was marvelous beyond expectation.

Alcest came out and did what was expected of them. They put on a wonderful performance with a balanced set-list composed of songs from both of their releases. However, I felt that the vocals were turned way too low throughout the set. At certain points of their set Neige’s singing was practically inaudible which ruined the experience for many of the audiences. Neige’s atmospheric vocals are an irreplaceable part of Alcest’s music. As a result, they at times sounded incomplete. Nevertheless Alcest put on one of the most tranquil and beautiful shows I have ever seen.

Enslaved, put on a lively and humorous show. Grutle Kjellson is a man who has mastered the art of bass, growling and small talk. In addition to their excellent performance, Grutle made the crowd laugh, cheer and rouse with his fronting skills. They kept their set-list varied by playing their old and new material. They also surprised the crowd by unveiling one of the tracks off their new EP called “Heimvegen” which was a composition influenced by the 90s Norwegian Black Metal. Ice Dale’s guitar performance was exceptional and Grutle’s vocal works were fantastic. They quickly transformed the audience who were dazed by the atmospheric music of Alcest into a whirlpool of chaos and madness.

Enslaved, Alcest, and Junius were all incredible live. I thank Troubadour and the musicians for setting up an amazing show and I will go back to see any of the bands second time if I had the chance. Enslaved and Alcest are both planning a release in the near future and Junius released a self titled album during August. I highly recommend everyone to pick up a copy.

T.M. (DJ Ziltoid)

Metal Manifesto

Saturday 10PM ~ 12AM

Need something to do this Saturday night? Stop by the Westwood Brewing Company and check out some great artists!

Before the headliners take the stage, up-and-coming band News of the Fire will do their thing. Hailing from LMU, this group of student musicians ready to give you all a  ”punch of early Kings of Leon with a stomach kick from Modest Mouse, but with the vitality of the most recent Cold War Kids record.”

To wrap up the night LA Font will rock Brew Co to the ground. With influences like Avi Buffalo, Wavves, and Pavement, LA Font is sure to please. Just listen to what these people had to say about them!

“I showed up at the Echo last night – not entirely sure of what to expect, but ready to hear some good music. LA Font did NOT disappoint.” – BestNewBands

“All jagged guitar licks and fractious vocals … one of my favorite bands on the local LA scene.” – everybodystalking

“LA Font constructs a world full of honest, steady rock music and biting vocals that will pluck you from your seat with the first guitar strum.” – BeatCrave

It’s a 21+ show, and for $5 at the door (student discount, $8 for General Admission) it’s cheaper than a movie and about 1000 times more entertaining. UCLAradio.com will be there, you should be there too!

October 10th, 2011 at the Orpheum Theatre:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt hosted and performed throughout the 2 hour event, displaying his wide array of talents. He hosted with charisma, played the drums, sang and acted in clever vignettes, which begs the question: is there anything this man can’t do? The event was not only a showcase for his talents, though. It highlighted all of the creativity that has come out of his pet project turned production company, hitRECord.org! Artists from across the world descended upon the stage to share with the audience the artistry that can only be shared through the internet.