What band in Europe is big enough to headline over Nine Inch Nails at the world’s oldest music festival in 2013? Biffy Clyro. Never heard of them? Well, you should.
Formed back in 1995 in Kilmarnock, Scotland, Biffy Clyro has released 6 albums, and sold over 1.1 millions copies of their albums in the United Kingdom. Back in the United Kingdrom, they sell out venues as large as the Staples Center which seats 20,000. On Valentine’s day, they played a venue with a capacity of 771; but they rocked it like it was an arena show.
Waiting for the band to take the stage, I noticed a couple standing in front of me wearing home made shirts that had the words “MON THE BIFFY” emblazoned on the back. I asked them about the shirts, and as soon as they started explaining the meaning of the phrase (a popular saying originated by fans which essentially is short for “C’mon Biffy Clyro”), I noticed their thick European accents.
As it turns out, they were loyal fans from Scotland who decided to follow the band to the states to catch their gigs. They are engaged to get married, and as it turns out they actually met at a Biffy Clyro show. I told them that this was my first time I watching the band perform live, and they assured me that it would not disappoint. They were right.
When the lights of the venue dimmed, and Sister Sledge’s song “We Are Family” (a song that the band plays before every live show) pumped through the house speakers, the audience erupted in cheers. The band took the stage, and immediately exploded into their set with such a fierce energy that it was quite exhilarating to watch. It was almost as if they were playing to prove to those in attendance that they were a band that needed to be noticed. And I noticed.
The band consists of five players (with Simon Neil on lead vocals and guitar, James Johnston on bass and vocals, and Ben Johnston on drums in the forefront, and Mike Vennart on additional guitar and Richard Ingram on keyboard in the shadows), and their sound was full, lush and expertly played. Both Simon and James demonstrated their masterful showmanship using the entire stage, and engaging all parts of the audience throughout the set. These guys know how to put on a live show and their repertoire was filled with raucous, pop-friendly, crowd pleasing anthems. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are performing in venues bigger than the El Rey the next time they visit Los Angeles. Not at all.
I would say that the highlight(s) of the evening was when the audience, who were all much better versed in the band’s music than I, sang along and Neil let the crowd do the singing. Being in the audience, engulfed in the sound of voices all around singing (rather well I may add) music unfamiliar to me, sent shivers down my spine. I hope that the next time I see the band perform live, I’ll be singing along with them.
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Opening for Biffy Clyro at the El Rey was Morning Parade, a five-piece, alternative rock band from Harlow, Essex. I hadn’t heard of the band before, so my opinion of them is based solely on their performance that evening.
They were good. But for a band from overseas trying to leave its mark on a new audience in the States, is “good” good enough?
Don’t get me wrong, their music wasn’t bad. In fact, all of their songs seemed very radio friendly. The problem for me, though, was that no one song particularly stood out. I always keep an open mind when listening to a band for the first time. I want to hear new music that I can’t stop thinking about. In my opening, the music was good; it just wasn’t memorable.
And their performance wasn’t bad. Clearly, the band is a well-oiled machine and the songs were played with the type of expertise you’d expect a seasoned band to play with. It is a definitely a big, clean sound that has potential. The lead vocalist’s did an admirable job, and his voice was solid. During the set, I thought to myself that his voice was a bit of a mix of Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab For Cutie), John Rzeznik (of Goo Goo Dolls) and Tom Chaplin (of Keane).
But therein lies the problem. I shouldn’t have been thinking about who the lead singer sounded like. I should have been engrossed in his performance, and/or the music, and unfortunately, I was neither. Truth be told, I was more entertained by the bass player’s energy than the voice of the group.
Maybe I was expecting too much considering that they were opening for a band that is known to have an epic live show. Perhaps, since they are a relatively new band, they just didn’t have the repertoire to pull from, having only release one full length album, and a couple of EPs. I’ll admit that it was, altogether, a good set. But if you’re trying to make new fans, especially of people who aren’t familiar with the music, is “good” good enough?
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I follow Thundercat on twitter, and I noticed a tweet he posted earlier this year stating that the guys in Bass Drum of Death were cool dudes. That piqued my curiosity. Them opening for Hanni El Khatib? I was excited to hear what they were all about.
Their set was as aggressive and as loud as their name would imply. There was almost a collective release of energy when they started playing as the crowd started to get as rowdy as the music. Head bangers started to open up a circle in front of the stage, and the playful shoving commenced.
Truth be told, I was actually more interested in watching the crowd than watching the band, partially to watch the peach-fuzzed kids climb onto and leap off of the stage, and partially to make sure I didn’t get a kick in the head from a stray leg. Security shut down the stage diving after about one song, but the mood and groove had been set.
Their music, like Tijuana Panthers before them, was a good warm up to the main act … I was just hoping that I wouldn’t have to loosen up my “concert elbows” to give myself some space for HEK.
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Their music embodies Southern California surf rock; lo-fi, rock and roll with catchy hooks and enough juice to make you want to bounce around and bump shoulders with the person next to you. Each member of the band took their turn on lead vocals throughout the set, and each song, as far as I can recall, were quick and to the point, concise bursts of punk rock energy.
Opening for Hanni El Khatib, I thought their set was a good appetizer of what was to come. Their fans were feeling the grove as bodies were slowly forming a mosh pit, and the temperature of the venue started to rise.
Setlist:
This Town
Bainbridge
Tony’s Song
Wall Walker
Push Over
Father Figure
Summer Fun
Cherry St.
Red Headed Girl
Boardwalk
Forbidden Fruit
Baby I’m Bored
Don’t Shoot Your Guns
Creature
Prayer Knees
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I remember the day I first heard Laura Mvula sing (January 18th, 2013) because I was so amazed by what I heard that I immediately posted a blog entry about it. I kept an eye (and ear) on her music and would post additional blog entries about some of her other songs (“That’s Alright” and “Jump Right Out”) because I was enthralled with her sound and excited about her debut album “Sing To The Moon”.
Laura Mvula’s music cannot be easily classified, as it is a sound that frankly defies stylistic categorization. As allmusic.com proffers, Laura’s music is “rooted in decades-old forms of gospel, jazz, R&B, and, most deeply, orchestral pop . Almost all of the material is as serious and as refined as it is majestic, with vocal showcases and hushed-belted-hushed-belted dynamics galore.” I agree with the assessment, and would even boil it down simply as classy and sophisticated, orchestral neo-soul music. Some seriously good, grown folk sounds for those who appreciate musicality and message in their music.
I was ecstatic when I found out that Laura was scheduled to perform April 16, 2013 at the Bootleg Theater, and I immediately snapped up tickets. As fate would have it, however, I was asked to speak at my Alma Mater that same week, and to my dismay, I had to give my tickets up. As a small consolation, I received my copy of Laura’s debut on vinyl (a UK export that has an amazing recording of Stevie Wonder’s “Something Out of The Blue”) and for the next few months listened to it whenever I needed to set my mind and soul at ease.
I received a notice (thank you social media!) that Laura was to do another round of touring in the United States with a stop in Los Angeles September 17th, and I agains purchased tickets to her show. This time, though, I made sure I had no conflicting appointments.
Laura’s show was simply amazing. Me and my friends were able to get up to the very front of the venue for the performance, and as fate would have it, Laura’s keyboard was basically in front of us, and thus we were privileged to have Laura performing no more than 5 yards from us for a majority of the show. I could see her every breath and read the emotions on her face with every lyric. It was a beautiful experience. A moving experience. During the most tender part of the concert, when Laura sang “Diamonds” and “Father, Father” back to back, you could feel the audience release a collective sigh following the last note of “Father, Father”. I did not have to look around to know that there were some in the audience tearing up because … truth be told … I was busy dabbing the corners of my eye as well.
My anticipation for new music from her is at an all time high. My commitment to see her perform live again has been verified. An amazing concert by an amazing artist. Her performance at the El Rey has a spot in my top 10 concert performances of the year. Nuff’ said.
Setlist:
Like The Morning Dew
Let Me Fall (not in the album)
Flying Without You
She
Is There Anybody Out There?/ One Love (Bob Marley& The Wailers cover)
Sing to the Moon
Diamonds
Father, Father
Green Garden
That’s Alright
Make Me Lovely (Encore)
Laura Mvula at the El Rey Theatre 9/17/13Laura Mvula at the El Rey Theatre 9/17/13Laura Mvula at the El Rey Theatre 9/17/13Laura Mvula at the El Rey Theatre 9/17/13Laura Mvula at the El Rey Theatre 9/17/13
For the past 29 years, the Santa Monica Pier has been hosting amazing free concerts during the summer season. The line up for this year’s Twilight Concert Series is particularly outstanding. From Meshell Ngegeocello and the Record Company to Jimmy Cliff to Trombone Shorty, it would simply be a shame if you lived in the area and didn’t make it out to at least one of the free shows. The first show I was able to attend this summer was Hanni El Khatib.
Bombino’s music is proof that music, regardless of genre, is universal. Bombino’s music is steeped with the native rhythms of his homeland. Over the years, Bombino has worked with and been influenced by a number of tremendous musicians like Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. Most recently, he travelled to Nashville to record an album under the production eye of The Black Key’s Dan Auerbach, “Nomad”. With his native rhythms meshing seamlessly with deep south, blues rock, Bombino has become, relatively quickly, the talk of the “blues rock” town. Call it what you want- rock and roll, worldbeat, afro-pop, desert blues, blues rock- it’s still good music. Though I wish I could have understood all of the lyrics sung, the music, in and of itself, was trance like and intoxicating. Bombino was certainly the perfect appetizer for the edgier blues rock that would follow.
The crowd had swelled to what seemed to be maximum capacity by the time Hanni El Khatib took the stage. He had just come back from touring internationally, so I was expecting a polished set and sound, and I was not disappointed. It was a raucous, rock and roll set that had the audience moving to the music, singing along with all of the popular songs. I didn’t know the name of every dong of the entire set, but I remember that Hanni performed “Nobody Move”, “Low”, “You Rascal You”, “Loved One”, “Penny”, “Fuck It You Win” and a new song I think is titled “Dangerous” or “Dangerous To Love” (which is the last snippet on the video clip below). He even covered a Cramps song, the name of which I can’t recall at the moment. A terrific set and worth the commute and $2 I paid for parking.
Hanni El Khatib is starting up a national tour supporting his latest album, “Head In The Dirt”, also produced by Dan Auerbach. I joked with friends afterwards while hanging out at Chez Jays (a dive bar which I just found out is a designated Santa Monica historic landmark and a perfect place to grab a beer after a blues concert) that the concert could have been dubbed “Dan Auerbach presents Blues at the Beach”. I’m planning on attending his upcoming gig in October at the El Rey, and if The Black Keys and blues rock is your thing, I highly recommend getting a ticket to check Hanni shred the stage.
Follow Hanni El Khatib on Facebook or follow him on Twitter for updates so you can catch him in action when he’s in your neck of the woods.
I wanted to catch Savages‘ set at Coachella in 2013. From what little I knew about them at the time, they were an all-female, loud, punk band based out of the United Kingdom. They didn’t have a lot of music out, but from what I was able to hear and watch online, they definitely piqued my curiosity. As fate would have it, I wasn’t able to get to the festival grounds in time and they became one of the many bands that I had to add to the list of band casualties.
But as fate would also have it, a few months later, a buddy of mine emailed me letting me know he had a couple of extra tickets to catch them at the El Rey, July 23, 2013. By that time, tickets for both of their shows had already sold out, so I jumped at the opportunity.
When I got to the venue, the opening act was already onstage performing: Johnny Hostile. Johnny Hostile is a co-founder, along with Savages lead singer Jehnny Beth, of Pop Noire Records and one of the producers of of Savages’ debut album Silence Yourself.
Alone on stage, accompanied for the most part only by a drum machine and guitar pedals, he set the mood right for what was to come. His music was moody, ethereal and heavy. Part synth-pop and part punk, with industrial drums. His set was accented with special appearances by Gemma Thompson (Savages’ guitarist) and Jehnny Beth for various songs. It was truly a perfect appetizer to the main entree of Savages. I ended up purchasing his 7” single that was for sale, and even got him to autograph it after the show. I would have taken a picture of it, but I can’t find it at the moment as it’s lost in my vinyl stack that need to be organized (and listened to).
Dressed in their trademark all black, Savages took the stage to a rousing and wild applause. I was up front about three rows from the stage. I kept my fingers crossed that a crazy mosh pit wouldn’t ensue like the last concert at the El Rey I attended, but as fate would have it, they played their most popular, and aggressive songs first. Yup, there was a mosh pit. I really wanted to get some video of “City’s Full” and “Shut Up”, but I wasn’t going to take a chance at having my camera knocked out of my hand.
Savages are about as intense as a band can get. Jehnny Beth sets the mood with her deep stare that almost makes you nervous to watch her. It’s a threatening stare that intimidates and fits the music that the band creates. Her stage presence is almost menacing, but that only adds to the effectiveness of the show. Ayse Hassan was steady on bass, and Fay Milton was relentless on drums, but I was particularly impressed with the playing of Gemma Thompson. Gemma Thompson was absorbed in her guitar play, creating her own “wall of sound”. Amazing.
Drenched in sweat after the fourth song, I had to leave the front to get some air and dry off. As I pushed my way through the crowd, I noticed that Jehnny was wearing pink pumps. With their all-black apparel, the brightness of the shoes caught me a little off guard but at the same time screamed “punk”. Yup, I had to take a picture of her shoes. I do not have a shoe fetish.
With only one album under their belt, their set was relatively short, but powerful. The set list for the show was a follows:
City’s Full
I Am Here
Shut Up
Give Me A Gun
Strife
Waiting for a Sign
Flying to Berlin
No Face
She Will
Hit Me
Husbands
Fuckers (new song)
When the set ended, I met up with my friend and we both shared our excitement for the show we just witnessed. I hung out front for a minute in case any of the players from the evening popped out to greet fans, and lucky enough I was able to get Johnny Hostile, Gemma Thompson, and Jehnny Beth to sign their respective vinyl releases. I was able to get a picture with Gemma, but was thwarted in my efforts to get a picture with Jehnny as another fan scared her away. I swear that Gemma was all smiles before the picture was taken. Savages sure do take their image very seriously.
I had a brief conversation with Johnny Hostile and I noticed that he had an accent. Slightly confused as I thought the band was UK based, he explained that both he and Jehnny were originally from France. Having studied French growing up, and never having the opportunity to use it, I started a conversation in my broken French and concluded the conversation by saying that Gemma was “tres jolie”. He told me that he would tell her that. Please do, Johnny. Please do.
I can’t remember the last time I was in a mosh pit. In fact… if I’m remembering correctly … the last true mosh pit I was in was for a Let’s Go Bowling show back, back, back in the day. Like… back in my ska days when I used to wear khakis with suspenders, a wife beater and my Doc Martins. On May 9, 2013, I went to see Dead Sara, and for the first time in forever, I found myself reliving my youthful abandon, smack dab in what was perhaps one of the most intense concert experiences I’ve had in a while.
Sometime last year, driving in my car, I heard a hard, rocking song with some bad-ass female vocals on the radio called “Weatherman”. After the song ended, the disc jockey said that the name of the band was Dead Sara. I hardly listen to terrestrial radio these days, but god bless the ways of old, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have heard about the band.
Later that week, before a blind date, I went to Amoeba Records to pick up a copy of their self-titled, debut, full-length album. The chick I was with was a musician who was into hard, classic rock, so I decided to play the album for her on our way to dinner to she what she thought.
The album was very, very good. It was so much more intense than other female fronted rock bands that have been releasing albums recently. It’s a no holds barred album. Intense power rock but at the same time extremely vulnerable. The lead singer’s (Emily Armstrong) voice is filled with such strength and passion (plus it sounds pretty!) which contrasts the steady lead guitar riffs of Siouxsie Medley, and made me recall another female rock duo … Heart, anyone? But Dead Sara’s rock is much more blistering than Heart’s. It’s the kind of music that boils the adrenaline in the veins … even with the vulnerable sensitive songs.
About half way through the album, my date suggested that she wasn’t feeling the music as much as I was, and that kind of put a damper on the date, because …. Well … I’m a music snob, and I didn’t understand why she didn’t like the album as much as I did. I told her that I’d call her sometime … I didn’t.
When I got home from the date, I went online to see when they’d be performing. I assumed, since they are Los Angeles based, they would be playing some gigs locally. But when I logged on to their website, there were a bunch of dates having them open up for Muse at large venues (in Los Angeles, The Staples Center). Muse? Seriously?
I’m not a Muse fan. They were hyped as a headliner for Coachella one year, but when I saw them perform then, it was soooo not my thing, that I left to catch another act. Muse’s single, at the time, was “Madness” and that song reminded me of Savage Garden. Nope. As much as I wanted to see Dead Sara perform, I wasn’t going to buy a ticket for Muse to see them do a short opening set from the rafters of the Staples Center. “C’est la vie,” I thought. Maybe some other time. I followed their Facebook page, and life went on.
Months later, I get a Facebook “notification” that Dead Sara was playing the El Rey theater. Now, THAT was more my speed. Immediately, I got online and purchased tickets. Glad I did it that day, as tickets for the show sold out. From then, I waited.
It was my buddy’s Steve’s birthday, so I invited him to join me for the show. He was coming from rehearsing for a gig (opening for Motorhead at Nokia Live!!), so I told him that I would either be outside hanging out or waiting in line for merchandise. While I was outside in the patio area, I noticed someone who looked vaguely familiar. Holy shit. It was Siouxsie and … what’s his name … uhh … the drummer … lol. Unfortunately, I didn’t know the drummers name (it’s Sean Friday), but they didn’t seemed bothered by it. I told them how long I had waited to see them perform, and they were cool enough to let me snap a group shot to post on Instagram.
I left them alone to handle their business, and I went over to the merch line to pick up a limited edition 7’’ release of their newest single “Lemon Scent”. I’m glad I got in line early for merchandise, as the line for merch was LONG. So long, that I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get the vinyl treasure I wanted. My buddy met me in line, and after purchasing the merch and as soon as the prior act had finished their set, we decided to try to get as close up front as we could. We got about 5-7 rows from the front, and we waited. Every minute we waited, we could feel the crowd slowly pushing up against our backs. That was sign. A sign that it was about to get pretty nuts.
Found this pic online. So Badass. (c) Brian Bowen Smith (@brianbowensmith)
When the band took the stage, they started the set with a mellow song called “Sorry For It All”. After that, fireworks. Dead Sara lit the fuse with “Test My Patience” and that fire burned scalding through “I Said You Were Lucky”. I know how that fire burned. I was in the middle of the mosh pit as soon as it erupted. For 15-20 minutes straight, I was lost in aggressive moshing. My “technique” for fending off people that were going really crazy came back to me, and I was able to float around an area with a radius of about 3 feet.
Thank god, Dead Sara broke up the intensity with “Face to Face”. After that three song stint of mosh songs, my shirt was drenched with sweat and I’m sure I got a few bruises along the way. I assessed what other really hard songs would lead to moshing, and I could only think of “Weatherman” so I stayed where I was, figuring that I would make my way towards the edges later in their set. By the way, I had no idea where my buddy was. I guess he couldn’t hang. Lol.
Dead Sara’s album is good. Watching them perform is better. I spent my time in awe of Emily’s live vocals and the connection the whole band had with the audience. The performance reached a high point when Emily absolutely DESTROYED her guitar on stage. It totally felt right. From there, the band went on to perform Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name Of”. If Zac and Emily squared off, I’d put my money on Emily.
After the set, my buddy and kicked it a while afterwards. He actually knew some people there and was shooting the shit. Me, I was waiting to see if a bid I placed on a one-of-kind autographed, painted, concert poster won out. It didn’t.
When we were kicked out of the El Rey, we hung out in front just to decompress. Sean and Chris Null (the bassist) were moving equipment, and- being always prepared- I asked them to sign the LP and the poster I had picked up. Since I had two signatures, I had to wait for Emily and Siouxsie, right? Patience pays off, as they soon followed, and I was able to snag signatures from the entire band. If you want to check out some other music treasure of mine, click through on this link.
If anything, watching Dead Sara at the El Rey proved three things in my eyes: (i) I fall in infatuation to easily with chicks who can shred an axe, (ii) Dead Sara is a female-fronted rock band that can melt your face off, and kick you in the ass, and is here to stay, and (iii) yes, you need to see them live … just make sure you invite me to come with.
Set list is below. My video clips from the show are below as well.
Sorry for It All
Test on My Patience
Monumental Holiday
I Said You Were Lucky
Face to Face
Dear Love
Feeling Empty
Whispers & Ashes
Lemon Scent
Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine cover) (Freedom Outro)
Encore
Blue Was the Feeling For You
Weatherman
This is the first version of their concert tour poster opening for Muse. Four additional dates were added to this version. The poster is on thick paper stock, perhaps archival paper.
A lot of good music has come out of Long Beach, California. 
This Town
It was my buddy’s Steve’s birthday, so I invited him to join me for the show. He was coming from rehearsing for a gig (
#DKLPHOTOS 