A Year of Concerts: 2013

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Listed chronologically, the most recent show first.

Stevie Wonder | Songs In The Key Of Life | Nokia Theatre L.A. Live | 12/21/13

Shy Girls | The Spare Room and Bootleg Bar | 12/12/13 and 12/13/13

Snoopzilla and Dam Funk “7 Days Of Funk” Record Release Party | Los Angeles Exchange | 12/10/13

Thundercat | The Echoplex | 12/05/13

Moses Sumney | The Echoplex | 12/05/13

Pearl Jam | Los Angeles Sports Arena | Nov. 23-24, 2013

Ben Harper | Walt Disney Concert Hall | 11/18/13

The Record Company | The Satellite | 11/15/13

The Janks | The Satellite | 11/15/13

Nine Inch Nails | Staples Center | 11/08/13

Iron & Wine | The Orpheum Theatre | 10/31/13

Laura Mvula | The Orpheum Theatre | 10/31/13

Hiatus Kaiyote | Skirball Cultural Center | 10/30/13

Moses Sumney | Skirball Cultural Center | 10/30/13

Hanni El Khatib| El Rey Theatre| 10/25/13

Bass Drum of Death | El Rey Theatre | 10/25/13

Tijuana Panthers | El Rey Theatre| 10/25/13

The Secret State | Loaded Hollywood | 10/13/13

Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide 2013 | Echo Park | 11/10/13 – 11/11/13  (Wooster, Tiny Ruins, Maya Vik, Iza, Medicine, Jacco Gardner, Gemini Club and Great White Buffalo)

Fiona Apple and Blake Mills | Walt Disney Concert Hall | 10/7/13

Depeche Mode | Staples Center | 9/29/13

M83, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Phantogram | Hollywood Bowl | 9/22/13

The Beach Ball Festival: Soul Revue | Santa Monica Pier | September 21, 2013 (Myron & E, Lee Fields and the Expressions, Maceo Parker, Allen Stone and Aloe Blacc)

Laura Mvula | El Rey Theatre | 9/17/13

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Lobster Festival | Port of Los Angeles | September 14, 2013 (The Section Quartet, Nightmare & The Cat, Deap Vally, Dead Sara)

Girl in a Coma | The Echoplex | September 12, 2013

Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue | Twilight Concert Series | August 29, 2013

The Dustbowl Revival | Twilight Concert Series | August 29, 2013

FYF FEST | L.A. State Historic Park | August 24 and 25, 2013 (Mikal Cronin, Charles Bradley, The Breeders, Devendra Banhart, The Locust, Deerhunter, TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Orwells, Pional, How To Dress Well, No Age, !!! (ChkChkChk), Shlohmo, MGMT, Solange, and Holy Ghost!)

Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band |Burton W. Chace Park | August 17, 2013

The National | Jimmy Kimmel Live | August 12, 2013

Hanni El Khatib | Twilight Concert Series | August 8, 2013

Hiatus Kaiyote | The Bootleg Theater | July 31, 2013

Geographer | Getty Center | July 27, 2013

Tijuana Tears | The Virgil | July 24, 2013

Savages | El Rey Theatre | July 23, 2013

Alabama Shakes | Hollywood Palladium | July 17th, 2013

Rodrigo y Gabriela | Hollywood Bowl | July 14, 2013

Young, Gifted & Nina: A Tribute to Nina Simone | California Plaza | July 5, 2013

BET Experience | R. Kelly, New Edition & The Jacksons | Staples Center | 6/30/13

BET Experience | Snoop, Kendrick Lamar & J.Cole | Staples Center | 6/29/13

BET Experience | Beyonce | Staples Center | 6/28/13

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters | Shrine Auditorium | June 26th, 2013

Nina Diaz | Hotel Café | June 9th, 2013

Ink-N-Iron Festival | Queen Mary | June 8, 2013 (Girl in a Coma, Hopeless Jack & the Handsome Devil, Kaleigh Baker, The Fleshtones, Dead Kennedys and Iggy and the Stooges)

Illumination Road | The Roxy | June 4, 2013

Make Music Pasadena 2013 | June 1, 2013 (The Record Company, The Peach Kings, YACHT, Robert DeLong, Youngblood Hawke, Haunted Summer and The Likes of Us)

A Night For Jolie; A Night To Remember | Henson Recording Studios | May 31, 2013

Hanni El Khatib and The Black Angels | Mayan Theater | 5/21/13

What Made Milwaukee Famous | Central SAPC | 5/19/13

Dead Sara | El Rey Theater | May 9, 2013

New Build and No Ceremony/// | First Unitarian Church | April 27, 2013

Coachella 2013 | April 12-14 | Friday (Of Monsters and Men, Passion Pit, Palma Violets, Modest Mouse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jurassic 5, Stone Roses and How To Destroy Angels)

Coachella 2013 | April 12-14 | Saturday (Ben Howard, Pucifer, Violent Femmes, Grizzly Bear, Postal Service, Franz Ferdinand and Phoenix)

Coachella 2013 | April 12-14 | Sunday (Alex Clare, Rodriguez, Vampire Weekend, Nick Cave, Wu-Tang Clan and Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Toddchella | Part I | Tijuana Tears

Toddchella | Part II | The Record Company

Toddchella | Part III | We Were Indians

The Weeks | Three Clubs | 3/29/13

Nik Kai | 12 Year Old Guitar Prodigy | The Future of Shredding

The Night Hiatus Kaiyote Blew My Mind At The Del Monte Speakeasy 3/23/13

Jose James | The Del Monte Speakeasy | 3/13/13

Morrissey | Staples Center | 3/1/13

Orange Tulip Conspiracy |El Cid | 2/22/13

Soundgarden | The Wiltern | 2/16/13

The Robert Glasper Experiment | The Roxy | 2/8/13

Social Distortion | The House of Blues (Sunset) | 01/26/13

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Iza | Culture Collide | 10/10/13

Click here to check out the other bands that I saw perform at Culture Collide 2013

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Earlier this year (2013), Snoop threw up some beats he had cobbled together onto his Soundcloud account, giving other musicians on Soundcloud the opportunity to record melodies and lyrics on top of them for fun. It so happened that an amazingly unique vocalist from Poland caught Snoop’s ear. Her name was Iza Lach p/k/a “Iza” and Snoop decided to scoop up this hidden jewel of a talent before anybody else could releasing several EPs executed produced by Snoop (as Berhane Sound System) and released under Snoop’s wife’s imprint label “Boss Lady Entertainment”.

When I heard the tracks she had recorded, I got excited. Like, being a kid and finding the toy in the cereal box kind of excited. Iza’s voice and vocal technique is so unique that I couldn’t really compare it to anything that I’ve heard before … and I listen to a lot of music. Maybe a souled out Portishead with a Sade vibe? I don’t know. All I know was that I wanted to hear more.

When management told me that she would be performing in Los Angeles, I knew that I had to buy a ticket. She performed three sets at Culture Collide, but unfortunately I was only able to attend her first one on Thursday as I was already attending a friend’s wedding on the Saturday she was scheduled to perform twice.

The performance I attended was in a small lounge of a restaurant, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect setting to watch her perform live for the first time. Backed by a full band (drums, guitar, bass and Iza playing keys), the music filled the intimate setting, drowning out the drunken chatter of the guys hitting on girls at the bar.

Iza's setlist at the first of three of her scheduled performances at Culture Collide.
Iza’s setlist at the first of three of her scheduled performances at Culture Collide.

She played songs that I was familiar with, and also sang some songs that I didn’t remember hearing before. But the part of the performance that really impressed me was when Iza shed her coy and seductive sound and rocked out the refrain of a song. It was unexpected, but pleasantly surprising. I loved it.

I probably would have loved watching her performance that was scheduled in the church venue, but c’est la vie. One can only hope that she gets to perform in Los Angeles sooner rather than later.

To check out some of Iza’s music, check out her Bandcamp page. Support independent music!

Unfortunately, the Flickr slideshow below is not currently available on mobile devices. If you are on a mobile device, please click THIS LINK to get redirected to the set of photos.

Click here to check out the other bands that I saw perform at Culture Collide 2013

Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide 2013 | Echo Park | 11/10/13 – 11/11/13

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This year (2013), Snoop’s wife’s company, Boss Lady Entertainment, signed an artist from Poland named Iza Lach. I’m a huge fan of her sound/voice, so when I found out that she was slotted to perform several sets during Filter Magazine’s Culture Collide music festival, I was giddy. I was even more giddy when I saw the impressive number of foreign bands set to perform. I had a wedding in Santa Barbara to attend Saturday, October 12th, so I’d have to miss out on The Ravonettes, Alice Russell, Rhye, King Khan & The Shrings, and a handful of other lesser known acts, but I still managed to get a press pass (my first of the year!) to check out some of the bands playing Thursday and Friday.

Now, there are a lot a music festivals that go on throughout the year, all across the United States, but the Culture Collide festival is particularly unique in that it’s an extremely affordable way to see different kinds of bands from all over the world- 24 countries (including the United States) were represented this year. I sat next to a couple for Jacco Gardner who echoed that sentiment by telling me that they, “go to this festival every year. It’s only $30, and to get to hear great music from places I know I’ll never get to go? It’s totally worth it.”

Below are the bands that I was able to catch (click through the names of the bands to check out the entries that I wrote up). Hopefully this music festival has another go at it next year, as I certainly would attend, with or without a press pass.

Thursday, October 10th:

  1. Wooster (US)
  2. Tiny Ruins (New Zealand)
  3. Maya Vik (Norway)
  4. Iza (Poland) 

Friday, October 11th:

  1. Medicine (US) 
  2. Jacco Gardner (Netherlands)
  3. Gemini Club (US) 
  4. Great White Buffalo (US)