Though I’m a Los Angeles native, I had never attended the Sunset Strip Music Festival. Now in it’s seventh year, and featuring several artist’s that I had been longing to see live for a while now, I decided to apply for a press pass.
Though I didn’t get approved to shoot the music festival, I called one of my clients, who happened to manage one of the artists performing, and got added to the photo pass list for the acts performing Saturday, September 24th.
Below is a list of artists that I had the chance to check out. Links to pages with my brief thoughts, photos, Instagram videos and set lists. Hope you enjoy them!
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in a club with a friend and we were talking about bad ass bands, and the name Rival Sons came up. I had never heard of the band previously, so I had I a lot of questions. Where are they from? What kind of music do they play? How many albums have they released? The only I answer I got?
“Dude. Just check them out. They will blow your mind.”
Considering that my friend plays in a bad ass band as well, I didn’t take the blunt statement of approval lightly. I surfed the web the following day and started doing some “research”. My friend was right. My mind was blown.
I really got into rock and roll when I purchased my first Led Zeppilin album, “House of the Holy”. I must have played that CD a hundred times during my four years of college. It shaped the way I listen to music, and has since shaped my sensibilities. Needless to say, I’m a pretty big fan of classic rock.
Rival Sons are classic rock revivalists, and they are, quite simply, bad ass. They’ve been releasing records since 2009 with 4 studio albums under their belt, and I’ve been kicking myself in the ass for not having heard of them until recently. The fact that they are based out of Long Beach, California and I hadn’t heard of them until now? Yes … shame on me.
I wanted to see them at The Troubadour, but that show had sold out. Though I hardly ever travel outside my comfort zone (Los Angeles) to see bands play, they were embarking on a world tour that’ll basically run through till the end of the year, and I knew that I couldn’t wait until next year to see them perform live. So I sucked up the prospect of an hour long commute, and made my way to a new venue in a foreign territory: The Observatory in Orange County.
Thankfully, I had company for the trek, but when I got to the Observatory, I found it to be quite a terrific venue. It was set up so that there was a pretty decent view from anywhere in the audience (unless you had an extremely tall patron in front of you). It wasn’t overpacked and the crowd, at least for this show, was extremely friendly. Enough with the venue … let’s get to the music.
In my opinion, they’ve got everything a killer band needs. A charismatic frontman with killer pipes? Jay Buchanan has it in spades. A bad ass guitar player? Scott Holiday and his Dali-esque mustache looked and played as badass as it gets. Dave Beste (bass) and Mike Miley (drums) complete the music puzzle capturing a huge, guitar-driven classic rock sound that many try to copy, but fail to achieve. These guys nail it.
These guys nail it, but they aren’t imitators. They take the music that’s influenced them, and create a fresh, rocking sound that, though revivalist, is current and edgy. God damn, it was good. I guess I’ll have to wait until next year to catch them live again. It’s a good thing I’m a patient man. I just hope that the LPs I purchased don’t get worn out before they get back into town.
Charles Bradley loves everybody. Charles Bradley loves you. Charles Bradley loves me. And you know what? I love Charles Bradley. I love his spirit. I love his passion. I love his music. I won’t wax poetic about how much I his music moves my soul (I’ve already done that here and here), but I will say that if anybody is the “Soul of America” incarnate, it’s that man. Mr. Charles Bradley.
After he closed the Twilight Concert Series with a rousing performance of “Why Is It So Hard”, I went backstage with the hopes of getting him to sign a copy of a limited edition LP I had in my collection. As luck would have it, he was greeting some fans after his so I made my way towards him and asked him if he would do me the honor of signing my album.
His eyes widened with a sparkle of surprise and he exclaimed, “Even I haven’t seen this record!” I went on to tell him how I first saw him at FYF and also shot him at The Fonda, and he asked me for my name, proclaiming that he would try not to forget it. With nothing left to say, I simply said, “I love you, Mr Bradley,” reaching my hand out for a hand shake. He pulled me in for a hug, wrapping me in his arms and said, “I love you too, Derrick. Thank you.”
Getting a hug from the The Soul of America? No better way to end a concert series. Thank you Mr. Bradley. I can’t wait to hear what music you’ve got coming for us fans next.
I love New Orleans. I love its people. I love its food. I love its music. God damn, how I love its music. Blues, jazz, funk, dixieland … New Orleans has it all. On September 11, 2014, a bit of New Orleans came to the Santa Monica Pier.
King James & The Special Men is a rhythm and blues band that embodies the New Orleans spirit. Their raw, gritty, soulful music reminded me of the crazy, fun, nights I’ve had trolling Bourbon Street, drunk off my butt, wandering into the random, local venue that had live music spilling into the street.
Playing both covers and originals, King James and his Special Men played music that evoked memories of that one time my friends and me spent an evening at Mother-In-Laws when it was hosted by the charming Miss Antoinette (R.I.P.). As it turns it out, he was a regular player there, playing for nothing “but free drinks and big ol’ sack of Miss Antoinette K-Doe’s red beans and rice”.
When I heard that Elvis Costello was performing at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, I was jealous. Bills had to be paid, among other expenses I committed too, and I made the economical, yet regretful, decision not to spend my money on tickets.
Fate seemed to be tempting my spending urges when it was announced that another date had been added to accommodate the demand for tickets. Still strapped for cash, I tried my best to avoid all email ticket alerts and social medial notices to remind me of my regretful frugality. Flash forward to a week before the concert and a close friend of mine … out of the blue … asked me if I wanted to be her guest to the second concert … for free. Apparently, fate likes to play games with me. Either that, or Karma saw fit to reward my dedication to music.
I have a storied and emotional connection with Elvis Costello’s music. Back in college, I purchased my first Elvis Costello CD. It was a greatest hits album of his work with The Attractions. After my first listen, I was hooked. “Pump It Up”, “Radio Radio”, “Accidents Will Happen”, “Man Out Of Time” … with 21 stellar cuts, it’s definitely on my list of best CDs I purchased in college.
The first track of that album, “Alison”, ended up being a song that I played on repeat after my college sweetheart broke my heart. Though I’m still not sure whether that song was particularly apropos to having a broken heart, the lyrics have always made me get misty eyed.
“I’m not going to get too sentimental like those other sticky valentines, ‘cause I don’t know if you’ve been loving somebody. I only know it isn’t mine.” …. <sniff sniff> …
Elvis was also responsible for one my greatest working experiences ever. After passing the bar exam, I was working in a small boutique law firm. We represented a production company that was producing a live-to-tape concert series for VH1 classics named “Decades Rock Live”, an hour long program that featured a legacy artist who was then paired with modern day recording artists to perform each other’s songs. One of the artists we featured was Elvis Costello, and he had requested to work with Fiona Apple, Billie Joe Armstrong and Death Cab for Cutie.
Though I had spent virtually all of my time behind the computer and phone at my desk, in the office, to negotiate and draft agreements, I was asked to go on location (The Trump Taj Mahal) for the taping of that episode to handle production matters. It was an experience that reshaped my opinion of the work that I was doing. Being in thick of it all, watching how the episode got taped, watching the artists figure out creative logistics and watching their genius bloom on stage, was n0t only eye-opening but extremely soul-satisfying. Being able to attend the after concert party was pretty cool too.
To be able to see Elvis at the Hollywood Bowl, along side the Los Angeles Philharmonic, was amazing. I’ve always know that Elvis was musical genius. To see his work performed with orchestral arrangements was … to put it simply … sublime.
In between songs, he threw in stories about the meaning of the works he about to perform. He told us about how “Accidents Will Happen” was written on the way to Mexico, how “Veronica” was written about his grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer’s, how he wrote “Shipbuilding” (a song about giving jobs to veterans after wars) 30 years ago and Chet Baker playing on the original recording.
The most poignant moments of the concert, for me at least, occurred at the end. He closed his set with a heart-tugging rendition of Burt Bacharach’s power-ballad “God Give Me Strength”. He left the stage, but I knew that he would be called upon to perform an encore.
He prefaced the encore by thanking Linda Ronstat for covering the song on her debut album; thankful that he was able to earn enough money with the song to keep his music career going. Then he performed “Alison”.
I sat back on the Hollywood Bowl bench and let it his performance consume me. I wasn’t reminiscing about anything in particular. I was focused on the music. On the arrangement. Then I notice that the arm holding my camera was slightly trembling. The next thing I knew, my vision got blurry.
It doesn’t happen very often, but a performance moved me to shed a tear. I wasn’t anticipating it. It just happened … but you know what? Beautiful music … It can do that to a grown man.
Ben Folds opened for Elvis. I got into Ben Folds’ music when a member of my a cappella group arrange a Ben Folds Five song, “Evaporated”, for our group to sing. Like Elvis, Ben Folds’ musical knowledge far superior than the norm.
During his set, he took the time to emphasize the importance of symphony orchestras, joking that, “some towns have symphony orchestras, and some don’t … and the ones that don’t suck.” He also acknowledged the problem with the music industry today, indicating before the performance of a piano concerto he wrote, that he was only able to create his work with the help of a generous corporate sponsorship with Acura, and how a record label in today’s economic landscape would have never given him the resources to create what he did.
I was hoping he was going to perform “Kate” (my favorite Ben Folds Five song) with the orchestra, but I can’t complain. His performance was superb.
I was obviously wasn’t approved for a photo pass for this concert, but I hope that you can get an idea of the concert with the pictures I was able to snap with my small Sony point and shoot.
I love the Hotel Cafe. It’s a classy and intimate performance venue that has a great sound system and they always seem to find great local (and touring) talent to perform on their small stage.
I was excited when I heard that Illumination Road was playing there (full disclosure, I know a couple of the guys in the band), but truth be told I was actually more excited to test out a new 50mm lens with a low aperture that I recently purchased.
The band was great. Their set was more mellow than the last time I saw them at the Troubadour. By incorporating an upright bass and keys, their sound was definitely a bit more subdued, but they still rocked it out and performed with the same rock and roll intensity that I remembered from earlier this year. I was particularly impressed with their cover of Radiohead’s “Subterranean Homesick Alien”, which you can check out a clip of below. So killer.
Because the Hotel Cafe is generally really, really, really dimly lit, I was actually pretty pleased with how my photos came out. I think I’ll need to save some money on a better camera body (something that can take non-noisey, high ISO shot better than my T2i), but I think that these, for the time being, will suffice.
Performing in front of a crowd of 18,000 at the Staples Center sounds like a daunting task. Performing in front of a crowd of 18,000 alone? I think it would take a little more than imagining the crowd naked, no matter how good looking, to get over the nerves I would probably have. Ed Sheeran, with just his guitars, did it with the ease of a seasoned pro.
Though I probably would have enjoyed seeing him perform in a smaller venue more, there was absolutely nothing I could criticize about the performance that I saw. His voice, his musicianship, his stage presence … it was on fully display, revealing to me why his hordes of fans (mostly young girls/women) love him so much.
Whether it was his playful banter with the audience, mesmerizing use of his loopers and pedals to create percussive instrumentals for rousing numbers, or his thoughtful lyrics coupled with his mellifluous tenor voice during tender moments, he had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand.
Perhaps the most tender moment was before his performance of “Afire Love”. He reflected somewhat jokingly about the often times futile effort to get a rowdy person in an audience to be quiet with a “Shhh.” He asked the audience to be absolutely quiet for the following song, a request that was relatively acknowledged, save but the one or two overzealous fans who thought, I suppose it was the most opportune time to profess her (or his … I really couldn’t make out the gender of the voice) love for Ed. It was the first time I’ve ever heard the Staples Center so quiet … you could hear a pin drop.
Another highlight was during Ed’s encore, when he surprised the audience with a special appearance by Gary Lightbody, the lead singer of the British alternative rock band Snow Patrol. Together, they performed Snow Patrol’s hit song “Chasing Cars”.
I’ll be honest, I’ve always shrugged Ed Sheeran off as a Jason Mraz knock-off. I mean, I’m not really his target audience … and there are plenty of singer-songwriters who I grew up that have had the same kind of musicality and/sound, but Ed Sheeran’s performance really opened my ears up … opened them enough to give his music a chance with a clean slate.
I wasn’t approved with a photo pass for this concert, so all of the following photos were taken with a Sony Cybershot G, point and shoot camera.
Opening up for Ed Sheeran was a band that blew my mind earlier this year when I caught their performance at Coachella. As it would be unfair to call Ed Sheeran a Jason Mraz clone, it would be unfair to call Rudimental an electronic dance music. Though they use a significant amount of production tracks in their live performance, they also perform with a full band, and multiple vocalists. Their performance opening for Ed Sheeran was entertaining, however, I did feel like it wasn’t as raw and as drum’n’bass heavy as what I saw at Coachella, but I’ll be following their development because their music is just to fun to ignore.
The first time I saw Mötley Crüe, there was a brawl outside the venue. It wasn’t quite what I’d expected, considering it was at the Hollywood Bowl – a venue known more for Chardonnay and Beethoven than for people throwing punches. In retrospect, though, it belonged in the category “Things I Should Have Seen Coming.” That show was so much fun, brawling aside, that I knew I had to try to catch them again on their so-called “Final” tour. After inadvertently double-booking myself for the night of their LA show, I scrambled to get tickets for their Irvine date and corralled a friend to go with me.
Knowing that they wouldn’t go on until 9:30, I headed down to Orange County late and was sent out to a parking lot so remote that I nicknamed it Northeast Siberia. Continuing my trend of semi-hearing opening acts from the hallway or parking lot, I listened to Alice Cooper wrap up “School’s Out” as I trudged through the dirt and drunken crowds outside the venue. It turns out that my mom was right: you really *can* hear the bands perfectly in the parking lot at Irvine Meadows / Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. She said that all the place was missing was a bathroom, but they’ve now added porta potties to solve that problem.
Fans on the lawn at Mötley Crüe. Flames not shown, though they kept setting fire to god-knows-what up there.
The crowd was the polar opposite of the Lady Gaga audience I’d seen the night before: loud, rude, drunken, chain smoking, pushing, etc. The venue had sent a series of desperate-sounding emails leading up to the event, begging people not to bring blankets, lawn chairs, coolers, or any of the items you normally take to a concert with a large lawn seating area. I’d speculated that they were anticipating a blanket brawl or a food fight, but reality was less ridiculous: they’d sold so many seats that the lawn area was Standing Room Only, and it was completely out of control. The guards seemed to have given up on the idea of stopping people from setting things on fire – what looked like flaming jackets, bonfires, etc., seemed to pop up each time I looked back at the pack just behind me. SoCal audiences have a tendency to stay seated all the way through most shows, but this audience was on their feet the whole night. The huge guys around us rocked out, singing along loudly when Vince Neil reached the “Seventh Veil” line of “Girls, Girls, Girls.” After the prior show, I’d driven home along Sunset and cracked up when I passed the place – it somehow hadn’t occurred to me before that they were dropping the names of real strip clubs, but they’re connoisseurs, after all.
Tommy Lee on the drumcoaster, about to start flipping over.
I’ve long had a soft spot for 80s hair bands, dating back to the era when my only access to MTV & videos was at my grandmother’s house and when I already had a feeling that there was something she wouldn’t like about their songs. The word “sleazy” wasn’t in my vocabulary yet. Live, they’re pretty much exactly what you would expect: crude, loud, and rockin’. Mötley Crüe delivers the best stage show of the acts I’ve seen from their genre. They use a simple set with great lighting – rich, saturated colors from opposite sides of the color wheel, etc. Other than Muse, they’re the only band I’ve thought had such great live tech that I seriously considered what it would be like to quit my job and sign up to be a roadie.
Vince Neil may now be twice the man he once was, but he still has great stage presence – as do Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx. Mick Mars, though, may as well have been a road musician for all he stood out. Each one took solo time on stage, though Nikki Sixx devoted his moment to such a lengthy retelling of the band’s history that I thought of it as “Story Time with Uncle Nikki” and contemplated curling up for a nap. They rocked through all their greatest hits and kept my attention through the numbers I didn’t recognize.
Mötley Crüe + pyrotechnics
Their act was periodically interrupted by huge bursts of pyrotechnics, of course, including the guitar/crotch flamethrower Mick Mars wielded for one number. When you also take into consideration the fact that Vince Neil was wearing a huge codpiece, you have to wonder if they were overcompensating. I haven’t seen the infamous Pamela Anderson video – nor do I particularly want to – but I’m under the impression that it could be hard to measure up to Tommy Lee. And speaking of Tommy Lee… just wow. He’s famous for his drumcoasters, and this show didn’t disappoint. His drum kit was hooked onto rails that went up and hung over the stage. While it wasn’t quite as cool as the looping drumcoaster from the last tour, it was still incredible. Anyone who can keep on drumming as he flips over and over, without missing a beat, clearly possesses the fundamental tools of badassery.
The band was also accompanied by two trashy dancers/back-up singers. While Lady Gaga seemed to have done dance auditions at an upscale S&M club, Mötley Crüe appeared to have found their dancers at a grungy truck stop strip club. Most of their dancing consisted of coordinated hair tossing, and it looked like they’d gotten their outfits during a 2-for-1 post-holiday sale at an “adult” shop. Sexy nurse? Check. Sexy Mrs. Claus? Check. Singing talent? Not so much.
Mötley Crüe + more pyrotechnics The big piece arching over the stage is Tommy Lee’s drumcoaster.
Mötley Crüe closed out the show with the requisite Power Ballad. While we could tell that they were somewhere in the crowd, I couldn’t see anything at first, even when I jumped on my seat. Then, suddenly, they rose up from the middle of the audience on a huge moving platform. I’d first seen that type of fan service at a SMAP concert in Nagoya back in something like 2002, and it’s a technique that seems to be making inroads here, too, in the past year. For those of us who are devotees of the cheap seats, it’s a welcome trend.
By the end of the show, I was drenched in (other people’s) beer, reeked of cigarette smoke, and was completely wound up. It was awesome. I’d missed a few key moments because some drunk had thrown my jacket on the floor and I had to track it down, but it’s okay — I can always see them on their next “Final” tour.
This Blog entry is considered editorial. The opinions expressed herein are not the opinions of MusicOfMyMind14, but those of a third party.
THOUGHTS:The National. What a great way to end a perfectly sublime music festival. I’ve only seen them perform live once before, and that was a short set for Jimmy Kimmel Live. This time, I got a chance to see them perform an entire set … something I’ve been dying to do for the longest time. It’s taken me about 7 years to see them in all their glory, but it was well worth the wait. Performing music that is beyond heartfelt, with fans singing along all throughout their set, with Matt jumping into the crowd during “Mr. November” singing with the crowd, it was as intimate as a large music festival could get … and I doubt that I’ll ever experience that kind of thing ever again. Amazing.
THOUGHTS:I’m a big fan of Cults’ music. I saw them earlier this year at the Santa Monica Pier, and was excited to get the chance to shoot them again at First City Festival since I wasn’t completely satisfied with the pics that I had snapped on the pier. There were a few moments of decent lighting, but during the start of their set (the time photographers are allowed into the pit), the lights were heavy on blue, pink and purple … just like the last time I shot them! Oh well … them the breaks. Hopefully, I’ll get a third chance to shoot them. I need some keepers for my collection!
#DKLPHOTOS 