Ray Campi is often called The King of Rockabilly. At 80 years old, at Ink-N-Iron, he proved it.
Ray’s legacy in music started in 1944 and has touched numerous genres. From folk to country to rock and roll, Ray has had his trademark double bass sound immortalized on recordings with legends like Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and Gene Vincent.
I was amazed with his vitality on stage. He plucked his double bass with the kind a youthful fervor reserved for young rockers in their early twenties. The passion in him truly left an indelible impression on me.
In between songs, he would sprinkle in some stories about his life in music, but he really opened up when he talked about his other career … as a high-school teacher. He joked that we could all be his students (the crowd seemed relatively young, with an average age being- my best guess- in the mid to late twenties). Truth is, he wasn’t that far off. I think I can speak on everybody’s behalf when I say that we all learned this: Age ain’t nothin’ but a number. Ray Campi is proof of that.
I couldn’t find a setlist of his performance at Ink-N-Iron, so if you happen to know what he performance, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add it later. Thanks!
Nicholas Jame Murphy is Chet Faker, and chicks dig him. After hearing a couple of cuts from his latest album “Built on Glass” on NPR- God bless public radio- I scoured the internet to listen to more of his work. I was instantly hooked. To me, his take on electronic music reminded me of James Blake with a more soulful edge. When I heard he was wrapping his U.S. tour with a performance at The Roxy, I jumped at purchasing tickets as soon as they went on sale. Tickets for the show went so fast that The Roxy added scheduled another concert earlier in the week to accommodate the high demand.
Chet Faker is a producer, and his performance was, for the most part, just him, his console and his keyboard. For a couple of songs throughout his set, he brought on additional musicians (a guitarist and drummer) to fill out the sound, but in the dimly lit venue, it was essentially just him and the audience. Some reviews suggest that his performance was perhaps not best suited for a live setting, but I think that sentiment needs a qualifier.
Perhaps if he was performing at the Hollywood Bowl, or a venue whose capacity exceeds 1000, the performance could have used a full band or better stage design (i.e. lighting and effects), but we’re taking about the Roxy Theatre here (an intimate venue whose capacity is only 500), and in my opinion, the intimate setting, coupled with the intimate music, with the artist performing alone to the audience, was completely appropriate, and really the only way Chet should have be introduced to his legion of new fans for the first time. In fact, I thought his cover of Jeff Buckley’s “I Want Someone Badly” (the highlight of the show for me, considering that Jeff Buckley is a major favorite of mine) could have only performed by himself.
Speaking of fans, they were a mix of crazed young females who occasionally screamed, “I want to lick your beard,” to drunk frat boys who were trying to flirt with the girls who were fixated on main act. I could have done with the loud drunk frat boys (ok, maybe not frat boys … but definitely college aged kiddies who had no concept of how to handle their booze) as I actually had a 5 second stare down to get one of them to shut the hell up during one of the songs, but the show was everything good that I anticipated.
Chet Faker is scheduled to perform at the sold-out FYF Fest in Los Angeles, August 23rd, and I am able to find- god, willing- a tickets, I’ll be anxious to see how his set then compares to what I saw at The Roxy.
The photos below were taken with a DSLR camera. As per usual at The Roxy, I found it difficult to get the shots I wanted with the equipment that I have. I’ll master my gear eventually … hopefully … lol.
I could only find one video of Chet Faker’s performance at the Roxy, so I included some other videos of his live performance for your viewing pleasure. If you know of another video clip of Chet Faker performing at The Roxy, please let me know in the comments so I can add it to the post.
For the past eleven years, The Queen Mary has been the host of the annual Ink-N-Iron Festival: a weekend inspired by a culture of tats and cars, embodied in their display of pristine vintage cars, three levels of tattoo artists booths, live music, burlesque acts, art displays … you name it, they’ve got it.
I first got turned onto the festival last year to catch a band from Texas that I really like, Girl In A Coma. Even though I don’t sport any ink on my person, I really enjoyed the whole vibe of the festival. It was clean, the people were all courteous, it was a family affair, tickets were reasonably priced ($80 for a weekend pass) … and the music rocked.
When I saw the line-up this year, I jumped on getting a ticket. Although I couldn’t attend the festival on Sunday due to work obligations, I was able to catch a whole bunch of quality acts while hanging out with friends, old and new. Below is the list of the acts that I was able to see perform. To see the pictures that I was able to snap (and video embeds of the performances I could find online) of each of the bands that performed, CLICK THE NAME of the act to get redirected to the blog entry.
In the meantime, below are some of the pictures that I snapped from the festival. I would have included more pictures from the burlesque show, but I’m trying to keep this blog PG rated. 😉
She’s not even old enough to buy an alcoholic beverage yet, but 20 year old Ariana Grande gets my nod this week for Music’s Insta-Babe. This actress, singer-songwriter and philanthropist is wholesome beauty who’s artistic endeavors has already garnered her many awards: The People’s Choice Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, The American Music Awards Best New Artist Award, NAARM- Music Business Association’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year Awards, and the list goes on. If her very capable vocals don’t impress you enough, maybe her demure and classic looks will win the award of your heart. If have an Instagram account, why don’t you follow her @ArianaGrande
KILLER COVER: Dirty Loops Cover Adele
Dirty Loops is a band from Stockholm, Sweden, consisting of Jonah Nilsson ( vocals and piano), Henrik Linder (bass) and Aaron Mellergårdh (drums) whose “Classic Jazz-Jam” style of play is otherworldly. They are currently touring the U.S. in support of their debut album. Their cover of Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” blew my mind last year, and still does today. If you are into their style of music, you NEED to see them on tour.
DID YOU KNOW THAT …
Speaking of covers, did you George Harrison’s chart topping hit from 1987, “Got My Mind Set On You” was a cover?!?!? I sure didn’t until Gizmodo let me know. George Harrison’s covered James Ray’s 1963 recording “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You”, and personally, I like the original more. Take a listen to both versions below, and chime in.
WATCH JACK WHITE’S CONCERT AT THE FONDA THEATRE
I wasn’t able to get tickets to either of Jack White’s concerts in Los Angeles, but God bless NPR (National Public Radio) because they taped the show at the Fonda Theatre and have it streaming on their website. If you were as unfortunate as I was, and aren’t able to score tickets to any of the shows he has coming up in the city you live in, CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH JACK WHITE’S CONCERT AT THE FONDA THEATER IN ITS ENTIRETY!
Death Grips latest EP (below) “features” Bjork. I dunno … I think I heard her vocals in a few spots here and there. Can you? It’s like an auditory “Where’s Waldo”. LOL.
Chad Smith (drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Will Farrell challenged Lars Ulrich (drummer for Mettallica) to a drum-off challenge … and the battle was accepted!!! This should make for some hilarious television.
It was released less than a week ago (June 8, 2014), and as of 6/12/14, Snoop’s and PSY’s video for their collaboration, “Hangover”, already has over 47,000,000 views … 47,000,000 VIEWS, people!!!! Mind Blown. You can criticize the track as much as you want. Criticize K-Pop. Criticize Snoop. Criticize music, generally. Let’s just say, everyone behind this collaboration knew what was up. For better or for worse, this track isn’t going away anytime soon, and Snoop and Psy will reap the rewards (translation = $$$).
UPDATE: 6/13/14: The video now has over 52,000,000 views…
Every Memorial Day weekend for the past 28 years, UCLA has hosted a music festival called the JazzReggae Festival. Originally, the first day was devoted to Jazz and the second day was devoted Reggae. Though the first day has morphed to a “Jam” day, the festival has always been able to pull in outstanding talent for the price of admission. If you are ever in Los Angeles during the Memorial Day weekend, and looking to enjoy a music festival at an extremely reasonable price, I suggest that you check out the lineup to see if any artists you like are on the bill.
Armed with a photo pass for the event, I was able to take pictures of the artists listed below. Click on the link to check them out!
Bob Marley had a number of children. The Bob Marley official website acknowledges eleven children. Of those eleven, 7 of them are musicians. One of them closed out UCLA’s Jazz Reggae Festival: Ky-Mani Marley.
Ky-Mani’s set was filled with the good vibes that everybody who came to the festival expected. It was also a family affair. No, none of Bob’s other siblings dropped by for an unexpected performance, but Ky-Mani did have his son join him onstage for a song or two, infusion a little hip-hop into the reggae dominant set.
Fans left the festival feeling irie, the way it should be. UCLA did a good job of procuring talent for the Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully next year’s lineup will be equally impressive.
I couldn’t find a setlist for Ky-Mani Marley’s performance at this event online, so if anybody happens to know what it was, please post it in the comments so that I can add it into this post. Thanks!
If you are into reggae, there are two acts you need to know: Bob Marley and Black Uhuru.
Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group that was founded back in 1972. Though the lineup has changed over the years, there is still one original member still playing with the band: Derrick “Duckie” Simpson. Though perhaps not as beloved as Bob Marley, music lovers need to know that Black Uhuru won the first Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1985 and really raised the profile of reggae music to new levels back in the 1980s.
When I heard that they were playing at the UCLA Jazz Reggae Festival, I knew that I had to seem them while “Duckie” was still fronting the band (To note, Derrick changed his name to Derrick “Gong” Simpson”). To be honest, it’s one of those opportunities that I, as a music lover, needed to take advantage of. Not to be morbid or anything, but if I’m going to see a band that’s had such an impact on music, generally, I at least want to see them perform with at least on of the original member on vocals.
I can only imagine what it would have been like to see the line-up of Derrick, Michael Rose, Sandra “Puma” Jones, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare performing their hits back in the mid-80s, but at this point, in 2014, I’ll take what I can get. To be up close to the stage to see one of the reggae’s major influences performing was something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
I couldn’t find a setlist for Black Uhuru’s performance at this event online, so if anybody happens to know what it was, please post it in the comments so that I can add it into this post. Thanks!
Roy “Gramps” Morgan has reggae music in his blood. After all, Denroy Morgan, a founding member of the Black Eagles, is his father. Though he’s only release two albums, his most recent album, “Reggae Music Lives”, was well received and peaked at #12 on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums list.
His set was was filled with passion and he definitely had the crowd vibing off of his energy.
I couldn’t find a setlist for Gramps Morgan’s performance at this event online, so if anybody happens to know what it was, please post it in the comments so that I can add it into this post. Thanks!
Kevin Lyttle is a Vincentian soca artist who had a worldwide hit back in 2004 with his collaboration with Spragga Benz on a track called “Turn Me On”. Soca, also known as Soul Calypso [SOul CAlypso], is a style of Caribbean music originating in Trinidad and Tobago. It is a style of music that incorporates elements of disco, rap, reggae and zouk. Kevin’s first album went gold, and his last full length studio album was released in August 2012.
His set was the perfect appetizer for the rest of the day. His music, with its rhythmic and danceable beat had the crowd moving to the beat.
I couldn’t find a complete setlist for Kevin Lyttle’s performance at this event online, so if anybody happens to know what it was, please post it in the comments so that I can add it into this post. Thanks!
What is it about Aussie and their music scene that has me keep on coming back for more? Wondercore Island, an artist management company based out of Australia has put out another dope, funky, souled-out, mixtape featuring some of my currently favorite music acts: Moses Sumney and Hiatus Kaiyote.
Are you looking for some cutting edge grooves? You need to check this mixtape out. Otherworldly.
#DKLPHOTOS 