If Nina Simone were alive today, she would have celebrated her 80th birthday in April. Having passed away ten years ago, Grand Performances and KCRW organized a free evening concert in the heart of downtown Los Angeles celebrating her life. Hosted by KCRW DJ Tom Schnabel, it was an evening that touched on a wide selection of Nina’s vast catalogue. From the upbeat melodies “Ain’t Got No/ I Got Life”, “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” and “See-Line Woman” to the soulful vibes of “Wild Is The Wind” and “Backlash Blues” to the anthemic “Young, Gifted and Black”, it was a tremendous evening of well rehearsed, beautiful music.
With his robust baritone voice, Dwight Trible sang his two selections with such soulful vigor , it almost overshadowed the rest of the musicians of the evening. He sang with such a pure sense of being in the moment, that it made audience members look to their neighbor in awe.
Grand Performances is a summer concert series that is open to the public. This was the first concert of this series that I have ever attended, and subject to me being able to get there early enough to snag a good location at the venue, I would plan on attending another Grand Performances event. It definitely seemed to be a well organized, family friendly event.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Nina Diaz’s solo gig at Hotel Café. I’ve been a fan of the band that she fronts, Girl In A Coma , for several years now and having seen them perform live three times (including the day before at the Ink-N-Iron Festival , I guess I kind of assumed that she would be doing acoustic covers of their recordings from the past four albums. It wasn’t that. It was so much better.
Before delving into her set, let me first get this out of the way: I’m in love with Nina’s voice. She is a tour de force. She can sing with sultry inflection or belt out punk choruses, and she does it with what seems to be the greatest of ease. I’m a grown ass man, but I’ll have to admit, after listening to songs like “Adjust”, “Smart” and “So” off of Girl In Coma’s album “Exits and All the Rest” , I fell in love with Nina’s voice like I did back in middle school when I heard Mariah Carey’s “Vision of Love” and “I Don’t Wanna Cry”. It’s comparing apple to oranges- their vocal styles are completely different- but I think that you get the picture.
Autographed poster. I had two pens. You’ll notice that she signed it with both. LOL.
Nina’s set consisted of material that I’d never heard before. With just her voice, her guitar and a set of loop-pedals, she delivered a powerfully emotional set that really was something truly breathtaking to behold. Through her new songs, it felt as if she was telling the sold-out audience of 140 patrons about what she had been going through in her life. Yes, the songs were heavy- delivered with either pent up, fierce fury, or gentle, thoughtful, longing- but Nina engaged the audience in between her songs with playful banter to relieve any tensions her lyrics may have imparted.
Before the third song, she dedicated it to the Spurs, and wanted us to imagine the Spurs wearing nothing but spurs. After another song, she explained that song and the lyrics “Do you really love me the way you say you do?” is actually about Karma… a very nice prostitute who’ll give you everything you deserve. She even made some lighthearted confessions about the music she had written, admitting when she used the same chord progressions on two separate songs.
But there is no getting around the heaviness of music. She wrote a song about those who go through bad stuff in life and keep it all in. She wrote an empowerment song about not knowing what kind of person you truly are until you go through a bad break up (“Fall In Love”). She wrote another song that I think she called a “wedding singer song” about her ex- who she made a subtle jab at by calling him a dick … okay, maybe not that subtle- that had the defiant lyrics, “One last kiss, one that you’ll never miss […] all he seems to care about is friends, fame, name [.]”
Perhaps the most heartbreaking song she sang was the song she dedicated to her father, “Mortician’s Musician” (in case you didn’t know, or couldn’t tell, her father is a mortician). I had shivers run down my spine, and goose bumps pop up on my arm, when she sang the lyrics, “I’m not a fool for writing songs, I’m a fool for trying to get you to sing along.” <sob> I desperately want to hear that song again.
She closed her set with a cover of the INXS song “Never Tear Us Apart”- very apropos- but the audience wouldn’t let her leave the stage that easily. She agreed to sing one more song, and advised the audience that she hadn’t planned on singing a Girl In A Coma song, but ended up performing “El Monte” to close out the evening.
Afterwards, I met up with a friend I had invited to the show. The first thing she said to me was that it was the first time, in a long time, that a singer has ever made her laugh and cry at a concert. It went without saying. We experienced something magical that night.
I grabbed the set list from the stage, and went to the merchandise booth to say, “Hi,” to Phanie (drums for Girl in a Coma) and Jenn (bass for Girl In A Coma). I waited for Nina and got her to autograph the set list and the poster that I had ganked from the wall (just so you don’t think I’m a clepto, I asked the bouncer if I could first!). I chatted with some of her friends while her fans greeted her. Sneaking in during a lull, I bid my adieu and head off.
Clockwise, upper left: Me and Nina, Nina and the autographed set-list (again, signed with both pens. hehehe).
On the 45-minute drive home, I tried to put into context what I had experienced. I’ve been to a lot of amazing shows this year, but this one was different. I got emotionally involved at this show. And as cheese-ball as it may sound, with Nina sharing bits and pieces of her life, I had become emotionally invested in Nina’s story. In the intimate, dimly-lit venue, for the first time, I felt her frustrations, pain, heartache, longing, revival, strength … the gamut of emotions cover the spectrum. The fact that she performed alone on stage also added a certain gravitas and intimacy with her outpouring of personal history. It almost felt like she was confiding in us.
I plugged my phone into the car stereo and began playing the video clips I had taken. When the clip of “For You” started playing I started thinking of Jeff Buckley’s “Live in Sin-e” recordings. When you get me thinking about one my all-time favorite recordings, you’ve left an impression. Nina left an impression. Whether these new songs are recorded with Girl In A Coma, or whether she puts it out as solo material, people need to hear this music. If Nina ever has a solo gig in your neighborhood, you’d be a fool not to go. Puro heart. Puro rock and roll.
Below, I’ve included several snippets from the show. My only regret is that I wish I had taken more footage.
UPDATE: 11/14/13: God bless the soul who recorded Nina’s entire set and posted it to Youtube. Now you can watch her amazing solo gig in its entirety.
It’s hard to get friends to check out new bands … on a Sunday. LOL.
Years ago, a buddy of mine introduced me to a band named What Made Milwaukee Famous (“WMMFamous”). He played me a song call “Cheap Wine” and I was hooked. I tried following the band, but it didn’t seem that they were particularly active. I chalked them up as a casualty of the music industry, and figured I’d only hear their tracks when they popped up in my iTunes playlist.
I thought it was a shame, because their music was really good (I’m a huge fan of their second album “What Doesn’t Kill Us”) and it seemed that they were making good progress with getting their music out there to the masses. After all, they were one of the few unsigned acts to ever play Austin City Limits, supported the Smashing Pumpkins and Franz Ferdinand, and they had a deal with Barsuk Records (home of Death Cab for Cutie, Ra Ra Riot, etc.).
One day, I got a notice about WMMFamous playing a local bar in Santa Monica, and I jumped at getting some tickets. Their gig was on a Sunday, so I knew it’d be a tough sell, but I tried spreading the word. Unfortunately, no one wanted to come out. Their loss.
After running some errands during the day, I got to the venue early. Central SAPC is a lot nicer than it’s predecessor, 14 Below. I was one of the first people to get there, and relaxed on a couch in the performance room. The couches were comfy, and the music the bar was playing was good. I could have taken a nap. Hung out with the staff for a minute, and they were very accommodating.
The first act that played was band named Only You, fronted by a singer named Rachel Fannan. It was a refreshing sound, a kind of modernized throw back to Americana. Kinda like Roy Orbison if his music was sung by Fiona Apple. I enjoyed Only You and “liked” Rachel’s Facebook fan page. It’ll be interesting to watch how her band’s music develops.
After Only You, WMMFamous began setting up. I started to get anxious. The band was able to pull in a modest crowd considering it was a Sunday. It certainly wasn’t empty, but I was able to get a nice spot up front with a stool. The band started the set, and I was both happy and sad. Happy that I was there enjoying their music, and sad that I couldn’t recruit people to the show.
People have compared WMMFamous to bands like Spoon and the Wrens, but I think those comparisons are really just based on the fact that they are all indie-rock bands. Granted, my own real perspective of WMMFamous was their album “What Doesn’t Kill Us”, but that album is musically, in my opinion, wonderfully complex. There are elements from different types of musical genres that permeate that record, and though some critics may have criticized it, I loved it. It’s high production value, catchy melodies, and general feel-good mood get my thumbs up. Plus the lead singer (Michael Kingcaid) is solid. If I had to describe them, I’d want to say that they were kind of like Jellyfish, if Jellyfish grew up in Austen. That’s just what I’m thinking…
The set was excellent. Musically, and vocally, the band hit all of the songs that I was a fan of. Michael’s voice sounded as good live, as it did on the album, and that was impressive. Because of the intimate nature of the venue, Michael was able to banter with the audience. He told us how the band loves it in Los Angeles, and wants to head out here more often, if not permanently. He acknowledged that there were long-time fans in audience, and dedicated some of the “oldies” to us. He told us about all of the shit that happened on the way to Los Angeles, like the tire blowing out on the highway. I yelled, “It’s rock and roll”. He replied, “It would have been rock and roll if we just left it busted,” then laughed.
After their set, the band hit the bar and the merchandise table. I picked up the first, and most recent albums to round out my collection, and also picked up some very cool vinyl singles. Each of the covers was a hand cut, glued, made and numbered, and the vinyl itself was actually not vinyl at all.
I spoke with Michael briefly and asked him why the band hadn’t released any music in a while, and he gave me the break down. Not going to air it out here, and someone’s probably already written about it (And I was right … click here to read an article of the tough road Michael Kingcaid has been on), but needless to say, life can get tough. He was a real congenial dude, and he told me that the band plans on coming back out to Los Angeles for future gigs. I sure hope so. Maybe it’ll be on a Friday or Saturday, and it’ll be an easier sell to my friends…
Michael Kingcaid. Lead Singer and founder of What Made Milwaukee Famous
For the past few years, my sister has been working with BritWeek, helping to curate, manage and execute elements of their art initiative. It was early in the morning, April 27, when I get an email from my sister saying that she had extra tickets for the BritWeek music festival at the Exchoplex that day, and asked whether I wanted to go in her stead. I immediately went into a crazed state to confirm some things. In case you didn’t know, this is what happened at the Echoplex that evening. As it turns out, the BritWeek artists had their venue changed to accommodate the Rolling Stones. I may have been a little deflated for a brief glorious moment. After all, I thought I had a pass to see the Rolling Stones play! But when I did a little research as to who was playing at the First Unitarian Church, I got excited again.
The headliner for the evening was a seven piece London based band called New Build. Two of the members are from the Grammy-nominated British band Hot Chip. I am a big fan of Hot Chip’s first three albums, and had also seen them perform recently at the Hollywood Bowl, so I knew- even though I was not familiar at all with New Build’s music- that the show would be memorable.
I got to the venue in time to catch the last two songs of Blood Red Shoes‘ set. Sitting up in the “VIP” balcony section of the church, I noticed there were even better seats in the general admittance area, so after they had concluded, I made my way down and up front.
I got settled in the pew seats up front as a band from Manchester named No Ceremony/// took to the stage to set up. They are a three piece band fronted by a female bassist. Now, I don’t know about you, but I love female musicians who can handle an axe. And she, like her band, played with a precision and swagger that made me wonder how long this band had been around, and why hadn’t I heard of them before.
Though their stage demeanor is rather subdued, the visual elements of their show were quite stark and shocking. It’s a bit hard for me to recall what images were projected behind them, but it matched and morphed with the mood of their music. I tried to a little research on the band the following day, but oddly enough, there wasn’t much “official” written about them. As of 5/12/13, they don’t even have a wikipedia page up yet. But I did find a little history of the band from the South By Southwest events calendar which I think appropriately describes them and their music:
“Their idiosyncratic sound, typified by chiming pianos, distorted synths and pounding kick drums, deftly explores the musical space between euphoric warehouse rave and melancholic, emotive pop. Glitched, machine-like cries and haunted, pure harmonic vocals interplay & counterbalance one another, creating a fascinating tension and atmosphere within the tracks.
Be it their music, or their artistic videos, striking artwork or direct website, all of which they create and control themselves, this juxtaposition of the inhuman and the soulful, of the aggressive and the beautiful, works to underpin everything NO CEREMONY/// do.” Click here to read entire article.
After their set, I went to the merchandise booth to see if they had any music available to purchase. Unfortunately, they did not, which was a shame as I would have scooped up copies up for my collection. I was about to head back in get ready for New Build when I noticed the lead singer of NO CEREMONY/// meandering about. Her name was Audrey (sp?), and we had a brief conversation about the band and her music. She gave me a brief history, and went on to say that they were scheduled to keep touring with New Build throughout the Summer. Before ending the conversation, Audrey kindly let me snap a pic with her. Did I mention that I have a thing for female guitar/bass players? lol. Instead of getting goggly eyed and asking for a picture, I probably should have asked her for the names of the songs they performed. D’Oh!
Video clips from NO CEREMONY///’s set are below:
I like Hot-Chip, but I’ve been quite disappointed with a few of the newer albums. Their older albums felt like a natural progression of the future of music. Their newer albums felt contrived, like they made the music how they thought it would make their fans feel. That make any sense?
New Build’s live set felt like Hot Chip’s older albums. Note that I say felt like, and not sound like. There was something fresh and intimate in New Build’s songs and sound. Granted, their musicality was similar to Hot Chip in that elements from across the music spectrum permeated throughout the music, but there was something about this live show, that far surpassed what I saw at the Hollywood Bowl. I can’t put my finger on it. It just seemed like this band was having more fun.
The lead singer of New Build, Al Doyle, isn’t the lead singer for Hot Chip. He sings backing vocals for Hot Chip. But he certainly holds his own as a frontman. I particularly enjoyed his sense of humor. Making reference to the Rolling Stones taking over their original venue, he mentioned that his band and the Stones were going to kick it at the Comfort Inn after the show. I found that particularly funny and heartily laughed, to which he looked in my general direction, smiled and said, “It’s for real” before continuing into the next song. A copy of their setlist if to the left. To check out some other of my music treasure, click through here.
It was a terrific set, and this “last minute show” turned out be better than I had anticipated. Cheer to the United Kingdom for always spawning fresh new musical talent.
Video Clips from their set below:
Just as an added bonus, here’a picture a friend took of me, taking pictures of the bands. I really need a better camera … really …
This is a three part blog entry. The link to the following day is at the bottom of the page.Oh, Coachella, how I’ve missed you. Though many expressed dissatisfaction with the line-up, I was ecstatic. In fact, I had circled more bands on the schedule than I could have possibly seen, so I was actually setting myself up with being disappointed based on the fact that I wouldn’t be able to see all of the acts I wanted to see. Kind of ironic now that I think about it…
I had work to finish up that Friday morning, so I knew that I was bound to miss a handful of acts that day. I picked up a friend in Santa Monica, and we began out trek out to the desert. I had prepared an iTunes playlist of all of the music of the bands I wanted to see, so our drive would at least have a good soundtrack.
As we got closer to venue, driving on the freeway, I started noticing billboards advertising the release dates of albums from bands performing at Coachella. I nearly swerved out of my lane when I saw a billboard for Daft Punks album release date. Umm … they weren’t scheduled to perform at Coachella… I told my friend that either this was an omen of a surprise set by one of the most demanded bands for Coachella, or it was the ultimate tease …
When we had parked and picked up our passes, we joined the mass of people on the festival grounds. Unfortunately, I had already missed the French turntable group C2C and the British rock quartet Alt-J, so I made my way to the Outdoor Stage to catch a few tunes by Of Monsters and Men. I have their album, and I their music, but at that time, I just wasn’t in the mood to listen mellow indie folk/pop. I think I was just a little too restless due to the long car ride. I’m thinking that Of Monsters and Men would have been the perfect band to see on a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Not Friday. Plus, I was way in the back, standing, when I would have much preferred laying on the lawn somewhere.
I listened to a few songs then decided to make my way to the merchandise booth. I brought a poster tube with me since last year I picked up a dope, limited edition, Black Keys, Coachella poster. Unfortunately, it appears, Coachella didn’t allow for bands to sell their personalized Coachella posters. That was a disappointment.
All of sudden I heard Passion Pit start playing “Carried Away” and I looked down at my watch. Doh! I had already seen Passion Pit at the Hollywood Bowl, and they were terrific, so I had to kick myself in the rear for not paying attention to the time to be there when they started.
As I walked toward the Main Stage area, they were wrapping up their second song, I decided to video record what was going on while I walked toward the stage. It was quite uplifting. Passion Pit’s music has always had an airy and energetic quality to it, and it always seems to make people dance. When I took a look at the video later in the evening, the one thing I could notice was all of the random people frolicking across the lawn. That made me happy.
Carried Away
The Reeling
Love Is Greed
I’ll Be Alright
It’s Not My Fault, I’m Happy
Constant Conversations
Talk a Walk
Cry Like A Ghost
Sleepyhead
Little Secrets
Having learned my lesson by missing the opening of their set, I decided to leave Passion Pit early to go see a relatively new band that I was particularly keen on: Palma Violets.
A mix of garage and psychedelic rock, these guys had quite a following in England. I got to the stage early enough to get pretty close to the front. That being said, I was keeping my fingers crossed that they had a good live show, otherwise I knew it was going to be tough fighting my way out of the tent to find something better. They did not disappoint. They were good, loud Brit Rock. They sounded live, like they sound on their records, and performed with the kind of swagger that becomes rock-and-roll. Can’t get much better than that. What I particularly liked about this band was that their two guitarists had two quite distinct vocal styles. The bassist was more Clash. The guitarist was more Doors. Check out the two video and see if you kind of agree with me.
Johnny Bagga Donuts
Rattlesnake Highway
All the Garden Birds
Tom the Drum
Chicken Dippers
Best of Friends
Step Up for the Cool Cats
Last of the Summer Wine
We Found Love
14
Brand New Song
After Palma Violet’s set ended, I made a b-line to get as close as I could to the front for Modest Mouse . Apparently, everybody else had the same idea.
The crowd for Modest Mouse was a lot younger than I had expected. I remember buying their albums back in the mid 90’s, so I was taken aback that I was standing in a crowd of kids in their early 20s. It was super crowded, squeezed into space like a pack of sardines. The set started a little rough, but I think that had more to do with the sound levels not being mixed properly.
Isaac Brock, the lead singer, seemed banter with the crowd for small stretches, perhaps giving the mixing board more time to adjust the levels. Honestly, his banter felt awkward, but after it seemed to do the trick, as the sound definitely picked up. The highlight of the set was when Modest Mouse powered, and jammed, through three songs in row later in their set.
What I loved about Modest Mouse’s set was that it hit popular songs from almost all of the albums in their catalog. Loved that they played “3rd Planet” and “Paper Thin Walls” from “The Moon and Antarctica”.
Dramamine (Life Like Weeds Interpolation)
Ocean Breathes Salty
3rd Planet
Be Brave
Satin in a Coffin
Paper Thin Walls
King Rat
Cowboy Dan
The View
Float On
After Modest Mouse had finished their set, I decided that I would stay where I was and push further up towards the stage. After all, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were next, and since I had never seen them perform live, I decided not to venture to another stage. As people left, I kept meandering as far up as I could get, which was all the way up to the barricade that separated the general admission folk from the VIP folk. I had VIP last year through work, and bought a general admission ticket this year. I’m thinking that I may buy a VIP pass next year. I would have loved to get all the way up front for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
As I waited for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Main Stage screens lit up and a video started playing. Here we go again … Daft Punk music started playing and the Daft Punk helmet lit up the screen … with a message that the album was coming out soon. Then the video vanished. Are you serious? Like, seriously? If Coachella or Daft Punk was a girl, she’d be the most devilish tease that ever lived. At this point, I was kind of over it.
Back to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were my highlight from day one. As soon as Karen O took the stage with a gospel choir, in her white suit, cape and pope hat, to sing “Sacrilege”, I knew we were in for a treat. I sensed it was going to be a dazzling set, and dazzled it did from start to finish.
Karen O is a badass. Period. She rocked that fucking stage. Shoving the mic into her mouth to and going agro on “Pin” was amazing. Watching her strut her stuff all over the stage was the definition of “bad ass”.
She toned it down when she introduced “Maps”, as she should, and told us fans that the song was about love, and it was for us. “Maps” is seriously one of the best songs written in the 2000s, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs killed it for me.
Sacrilege
Rich
Under the Earth
Slave
Zero
Subway
Soft Shock
Pin
Gold Lion
Maps
Heads Will Roll
After the Yeah Yeah Yeahs wrapped up, I started to head over to the Outdoor Stage to see if I could catch any of the Band Of Horses set, unfortunately I got there a little too late as they were thanking the crowd. Before they dove into their last song, the lead singer simply stated, “Take care of each other”. I appreciated that sentiment.
My phone was running out of juice, so I started walking around the festival grounds to find a place to charge it. Last year, when I had a VIP pass, I could just charge my phone at an outlet in the VIP section. This year, however, outlets were a lot harder to come by. They had a “charging station” sponsored by Sony or Samsung or whatever, but the policy was that they took your phone and you came back an hour later to pick it up. Screw that. I went to one of the merchants at the General Store and politely offered 5 bucks to use one of their outlets. They had no problem with that.
After charging my phone, I was stuck with a bit of a dilemma. Jurassic 5 was playing the same time as Blur. I flipped a coin. The coin told me to go see Jurassic 5.
I loved Jurassic 5 back in the day. I do think they kind of jumped the shark a bit when they did that duet with Dave Matthews, but that’s a criticism for another time and place. The group disbanded in 2007, so them converging at Coachella was pretty big news for a Los Angeles, underground, hip-hop head like myself. With all four original MCs, and Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark working their magic, their set was “best of” compilation.
Back 4 U
I Am Somebody
Jayou
Nu-Mark Desk Solo
Hip-Hop History
Break
Monkey Bars
Improvise
Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark Solo
Quality Control
Concrete Schoolyard
Countdown
In the House
Freedom
King Tee
Red hot
A Day at the Races
What’s Golden
This Is (Outro)
I didn’t bother taking any pictures of video since I was far back in the crowd, but that was actually by design, as I new that I wanted to see the Stone Roses. As I left Jurassic 5’s set a little early, and headed towards the Main Stage for the Stone Roses, I noticed that the crowd that was there for Blur had substantially dissipated. I was quite shocked, in fact, that they only pulled a club size crowd for their set.
Me, being the optimist, assured myself that it was simply a generation of concert goers who didn’t know how the Stone Roses music, specifically their self titled debut album, had shaped the history of pop music. I mean come on … “I Wanna Be Adored”, “She Band The Drum”, I Am The Resurrection” …. That whole album was one of the first albums that fused dance, pop, and rock into a brand new sound. The Stone Roses were an indie rock band that shaped and fueled pop music in the 90’s.
But … as they started their set, and Ian Brown took the mic … my optimism turned into a bit of disappointment. It wasn’t as bad as the Shuggie Otis show at the Echoplex that I saw last year, but it was very sad. The band sounded good … The levels seemed all right … it was just that Ian Brown was extremely pitchy. Unfortunately, it was not a performance worthy of closing the Main Stage on the first night, and it seems that the Coachella Festival organizers agreed as Blur and the Stone Roses swapped slots the following weekend.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I got to see the Stone Roses Perform, and I’m glad I got to see them rock some of my favorite songs, but it wasn’t the best way to end the first day of Coachella.
I only caught a few songs from How to Destroy Angels as I wanted to give the Stone Roses another chance. As I walked by the Main Stage again, all I could hear was Ian Brown’s voice missing the notes that I remembered from the album. I decided at that point that I was going to pack it in, head back to the house, and get ready for day two.
All of my friends staying in the house had gotten back in one piece and we talked about the highlights, and lowlights, of the day. We even got treated to a story about a valentine Karen O wrote one of the guests back in high school. I bust out the bottle of cask strength Glenlivet that I had brought with me, and plopped myself onto the couch. The scotch numbed the pain in my aching feet, and with Day 2 was a few hours away, I started to mentally strategize which bands I was going to check out, hoping that each band would live up to expectations.
House parties in Los Angeles can be hit or miss. More often misses, than hits. At Toddchella, I discovered what it takes to make a house party a sure-fire hit (i) have the house party at a really cool location, (ii) have fully stocked bars with bartenders, (iii) have vending machines that dispense party essentials (i.e. lighters, cigarettes, condoms…), (iv) have a free taco truck, (v) have a very cool photographer capture the evening, and (vi) have live music that kicks some serious booty.
Toddchella
Held at the Penfield Mansion, Toddchella celebrated the birthday of Todd Hurvitz. Though I had only met Todd once- perhaps twice- before, I’ve hung out with his friends on several occasions at concert events like Coachella, and they were the ones organizing the shindig. The location aside, the party flyer listed three bands that’d be performing that evening: Tijuana Tears, The Record Company and We Were Indians. Me, being the music junkie that I am, checked out each band’s music. I immediately RSVP’s for the festivities.
Penfield Mansion is located in Woodland Hills, so I booked an inexpensive room at a local hotel so I could have a place nearby to crash. Such a good call. Unaware that there would be full spread of food at the party, I stopped by a local market to pick up some late night munchies (roast beef sandwich, mac and cheese, and a large bottle of water) just in case. After settling into the hotel, I called a cab to drive me 2 miles to the spot.
One of the hostesses with the mostessess… handling business.
I have the cab pull me up to the entrance of the driveway, and I notice a black SVU parked out front. Inside is my friend Lyndsey who was one of the peeps in charge of putting the event together. I say, “Hi,” then let her alone to take care of her business with the bouncer of the event. After walking up the steep driveway, I let myself into the house that Frank Sinatra once lived in.
It was early, about 8:00pm, but the party seemed to have already been kick-started. I do a short walkthrough of the venue, especially impressed with the views and the full bar, then make my way to the kitchen/living room area where the early crowd had congregated to watch the end of the final four matchup between Michigan and Syracuse. I see a couple of my friends hanging out on the couches, and I pull up a wooden rocking chair to join them. Even though there was a full bar, I still brought a good bottle of scotch to sip on (Macallan 12) and open it up, pouring glasses for my friends that wanted some. Following the conclusion of the game, I head to the back yard where the bands had set up. The first band was about to take the make-shift stage.
Tijuana Tears was the first band to take the stage. A five man band that came together in 2012, they released a 5 song EP on September 14, 2012 called “Phantasmic Consciousness”. Team Toddchella did good in having this band open the night. Their sound was kind of music you want to hear when you’re starting the evening. It was the kind of music that lets you know that the party was about to get fun. Having only released one EP, their set was relatively short, but it was the perfect kick-off. Reza in the band gave me the set list, and it is below:
1. “Oceans”: When this song started, I felt that there was definitely a Cali influence. For some reason it reminded me (excluding the intro) of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The bass line and vocal melody felt very Flea and Keidis.
2. “Howl”: When this song started, I had a feeling that some of the guys in the band were from Texas. A very Tex Mex punk, hillbilly vibe.
3. Bryce Alber guitar solo.
4. “Beloved Venus”: A solid pop-rock song.
5. “Woman To Serve”: A solid rock and roll, blues number. A song that cresendos into a heavy frenzy.
6. “Phantasmic Conciousness”: They concluded their set with a song that I liked the most off the EP. It’s sound reminded me of Local Natives, but with more soul. Especially effective use of using call and response with the audience to sing along at the end with, “Whoa, what I say goes”.
The evening had officially started for me. This band got the adrenaline in my system pumping. As the band was putting away their equipment, I briefly introduced myself to the band. I ended up having a brief convo with Bryce, the singer. I offered the band some of my scotch. Bryce accepted.
This is a band that you need to see live. Their recordings are great, but their live sound has so much energy and joie-de-vivre. I was especially impressed with Bryce’s vocal timbre. With the scotch starting to set in, I think I may have made some silly comparisons, like telling Bryce that he reminded me of how Jamiroquai may have sounded if he grew up in the mid-west, and how during certain passages of certain songs I had Jeff Buckley flashbacks. Needless to say, I was impressed with his live performance.
I had noticed people behind me dancing with little LCD light bracelets, and I asked around to see where they got them. I was informed that a photography company named Harmonic Light was taking psychedelic pictures for the party, so I head into the nearby room (with a stripper pole) where they were set up.
With my scotch buzz settling in, I was cajoled into taking a pic. I think it turned out pretty cool.
The Record Company = Unfiltered, unadulterated roots/blues/rock. They’ve been around since 2011, but I was only introduced to this band through Toddchella. Marc Cazorla, Chris Vos and Alex Stiff are all Los Angeles transplants, and I couldn’t be happier to have them play this kind of music in Los Angeles.
They taste like the Black Keys, but are sprinkled with different spices. Chris Vos, the lead singer, has a voice that was as rich, or richer, than the 12 year Maccallan I was sipping on. A husky baritone with second tenor range, I was transported by the bluesy vibe that emanated from the make-shift stage while they were performing. I was particularly impressed with Chris’ work on the slide guitar (see the video- which happens to have the best light of all of the videos I shot- below).
They all seemed to have a good time, like performing this kind of music was second nature to them, and I was grooving with the sounds. After their set, I introduced myself and got the set list from Mark Cazorla. Mark is a good guy. Apparently, in my tipsiness, I forgot that I gave him my phone to write the set list. He went out of his way to find me and return the my precious life-line… seriously …. I’d be lost without my phone. The set list is below, with links to the original recording that I could find.
1. Broken
2. “Born Unnamed”
3. “On The Move”
4. “Whatcha Want” (Beastie Boys Cover): Freaking Awesome. I best they could blues out any hip-hop song they wanted.
5. “This Crooked City”
6. “The Burner”
7. “Medicine Man”: This was one of my favorite cuts from their set. Love the sound. Love the lyrics. Made me love my scotch.
8. “Don’t Let Me Get Lonely”
9. “In the Mood”
10. “That Alright Mama” (Ray Charles Cover)
11. “All Day, All Of Night” (The Kinks Cover)
At this point in the evening, infused with good music and good scotch, the evening started getting a little hazy for me. I had some nice conversations with various people … but I can’t remember any of their names… then again, that’s kind of par for the course for me, as anybody who knows me knows that remembering names is not my strong suit.
BUT, I do know and remember this. If you are having a hankering for some bad ass roots/blues/rock music and you’re in Los Angeles, check the current issue of LA Weekly, or start Googling, and see if The Record Company has a gig coming up. They will satisfying that craving. Trust me.
My buzz was still going, and I kept going to the bar to get more ice for my scotch. I tipped each time I ask for more ice. I never had to wait for ice. Tipping usually works that way. I head back out to the stage area, and by the time I returned to my spot, on cue, We Were Indians started to perform.
I found their Soundcloud site and listened to the four songs that they had posted. It was a small sample size, but when listening to their recordings I got excited. “Love Over Gold” felt like gothy, glam-rock. The lead singer on “Dream Store” sounded like young Eddie Vedder. “Long Way From Home” had hints of classic rock. This was a rock band, and I was anticipating a high energy, rocking set.
As We Were Indians started playing, I was immediately drawn to the lead singer’s stage presence. It felt like I was watching a dark version of David Lee Roth or Mick Jagger. He commanded the small stage and more and more people starting filling up the space around him.
Sometime during the first few songs, I felt some water drop on my face. Then again. I then turned to the guys next to me and said, “I think it’s starting to rain.” We started to looking up to the sky, when all of a sudden the lawn sprinklers went off full blast. The party goers immediately found trashcans to place over the sprinklers, and for a minute it seemed like the evening was going to end right there. I’m glad I was wrong.
After the sprinklers had stopped, the band made sure the water hadn’t damaged their equipment, and by created a barricade of towels from preventing the lawn water to overflow on the concrete, make-shift stage, and announced that it was time to rock-and-roll.
We Were Indians continued their set as if nothing had happened. The lead singer immediately captivated the audience. I took some photos during the set and recorded some video, but during the set the band announced that they didn’t want pictures taken. In order to respect their wishes, I’m not going to post the videos I took on youtube (the lighting was terrible though), however, I have to break their trust and post this one, dope-ass picture of the lead singer rocking out. It doesn’t get more rock and roll than this.
Lead Singer of We Were Indians
By the time We Were Indians had wrapped up, I had killed a whole bottle of scotch. Needless to say, I didn’t do it on my own (I’m not that much of a lush … coff, coff…), but I’d had enough to drink that my brain went into “water-mode”. I went to the bar several times to ask for ice water, and I remember tipping the bartenders for each.
I had a conversation with Mike McGill (the guitarist) after the set, and he was kind enough to message me a picture of the set list.
I’ve embedded the songs that are available on SoundCloud here so you can have a listen too.
Mike shot me a text that the next We Were Indians’ local gig is May 10th at King King in Hollywood. Barring anything else coming up, I may have to do the 40 minute drive into Hollywood to check them out again.
I have to give the party planners major props for the way they set the line-up of bands, because they really couldn’t have done a better job. They took three distinct sounding bands, and made it work seamlessly. It was the perfect soundtrack for a party; a soundtrack that crescendoed into a party that was truly, 100%, rock and roll, leaving everybody with an adrenaline high. On my way out, I gave props to the sound guy working the evening.
I woke up the next morning sans headache, which was surprising. I woke up in the hotel room and noticed that my LCD bracelet was still on. A subtle reminder of one of the best house parties I’ve been to in a while. Toddchella was dope. The bar has been set high, Coachella … you have some work to do…
Sometimes you can’t find soul. Soul finds you. Apparently it found a group of talented musicians in Australia.
Last weekend I went to see Jose James at the Del Monte Speakeasy. I bought tickets for that show online on the venue’s website a few months ago. I noticed that there was a name I was unfamiliar with playing the following weekend. The venue site said they were from Australia (foreign bands always interest me, because it always seems that the best music these days comes from abroad, and it’s not often you can catch them playing in the United States) and there was something unusual about the spelling of the second word of the name of the band, so I decided to click through the links landing on their official website. Went straight to their band camp link, and listened to their latest project titled ““Tawk Tomahawk”. Impressed with what I heard, I decided to buy tickets that day, mostly because I liked the music, but also because tickets, at the time, were only $10 each. [If you want to read about their show that “blew my mind” click here]
I didn’t purchase the digital download of the album (I like to own LPs and CD, so I figured I’d wait), but I did download a free remix album and a live performance. I figured I should have something to listen too later, so I could know what to expect for the show.
A few weeks went by. I went to the Jose James concert (which was amazing, by the way) earlier in the week, and now, on this Sunday, March 17th, 2013 while others are sipping beer dyed with green coloring on a warm, breezy southern California day, I’m at my desk working. I remember I have the extra tickets, and post on Facebook to see if any of my friends are interested. Having only listened to the band’s latest album a couple of times, and their “remix” album as couple times, I described it as “Bjork with a jazz/funk/soul slant.” I’d like to take that back. They’re WAY more soulful than Bjork could be.
I hadn’t yet listened to the live download titled “Live at RRR FM”, so after posting on Facebook, I pressed start on my iTunes. It’s a 40+ minute live recording, and it’s already on it’s third replay … today.
Really, I’m just floored by what I’m hearing. I knew their recorded music was quality stuff. After doing a little internet snooping, I find out that Erykah Badu loves the band. ?uestlove of The Roots Tweeted about them. But their live recording … what I had been listening to for most of today, is really impressive. So much soul. So much talent. The lead vocalist’s, Nai Palm, voice reminds me (sincerely) of Amy Winehouse. The songwriting is filled with so much life. I think all of the jazz elements in the music breathes the life into it.
Spent a handful of distracted minutes to finding some quality live video links to share. I’m so looking forward to see them play next weekend.
This song is stunning.
Okay … now back to work. At least I have something to look forward to for next weekend.
Updated: 03/18/13: I found Nai Palm covering Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour”? If you didn’t already know, I named my blog after one of Stevie’s albums. I’m a huge Stevie fan. Nai gets SO many brownie points in my book. Can’t wait until the weekend.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Nina Diaz’s solo gig at Hotel Café. I’ve been a fan of the band that she fronts, 
d back in get ready for New Build when I noticed the lead singer of NO CEREMONY/// meandering about. Her name was Audrey (sp?), and we had a brief conversation about the band and her music. She gave me a brief history, and went on to say that they were scheduled to keep touring with New Build throughout the Summer. Before ending the conversation, Audrey kindly let me snap a pic with her. Did I mention that I have a thing for female guitar/bass players? lol. Instead of getting goggly eyed and asking for a picture, I probably should have asked her for the names of the songs they performed. D’Oh!
The evening had officially started for me. This band got the adrenaline in my system pumping. As the band was putting away their equipment, I briefly introduced myself to the band. I ended up having a brief convo with Bryce, the singer. I offered the band some of my scotch. Bryce accepted.
They taste like the Black Keys, but are sprinkled with different spices. Chris Vos, the lead singer, has a voice that was as rich, or richer, than the 12 year Maccallan I was sipping on. A husky baritone with second tenor range, I was transported by the bluesy vibe that emanated from the make-shift stage while they were performing. I was particularly impressed with Chris’ work on the slide guitar (see the video- which happens to have the best light of all of the videos I shot- below).
#DKLPHOTOS 