pics – Page 2 – #DKLPHOTOS

Hiatus Kaiyote | Skirball Cultural Center | October 30, 2013

Hiatus Kaiyote is one of two bands who I’ve seen perform live 3 times this year. Clearly, I’m a big fan of their music. They blew my mind at the Del Monte Speakeasy in March, and amazed me at the Bootleg Theater in July. Performing for the last time in Los Angeles in 2013, I jumped at the chance to buy tickets to their show at the Skirball.

Once again, they delivered beyond my expectations. Like their show at the Bootleg Theater, their musicality was on full display. Though I knew all of their music, what I heard that evening was beyond unreal. They took the musical themes of almost every song, and improvised and jammed new life into them. It was as if the audience was being treated to master-class remixes of the original recordings. It was wonderfully brilliant. If you are already familiar with their music, you should check out the video snippets from the show below. I think you’ll catch my drift.

They played a couple new songs that they were working on for their next album (“Breathing Under Water” (titled “Breathing” on the setlist) and “Don’t Mind With My Atoms” (titled, I think, “Bordershiine” on the setlist). After their gig, I caught up with some of the band members who told me they were going to head back home to write and record their next album. That being said, I realized that their next trek through Los Angeles wouldn’t probably be until they support their next album. Their performance at the Skirball will hold me over for a spell, but I have a feeling that I’ll be jonesing to see them live by Spring of 2014.

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.

Add Hiatus Kaiyote on Facebook, and follow them on Instagram and Twitter using the handle @HiatusKaoiyote. You should follow them. You need to see them perform live. Do it.

November 27, 2013November 27, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: breathing under water, concert, concert pics, don't mind with my atoms, Hiatus Kaiyote, nai palm, neo soul, neosoul, paul bender, perrin moss, phographs, photo, pic, pics, pictures, Review, setlist, simon mavin, skirball, skirball cultural center, soul, soul music, video 3 Comments

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

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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November 22, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: bass drum of death, blues, concert pic, el rey, el rey theatre, garage punk, garage rock, indie rock, lofi, photo, photographs, photos, pics, pictures, punk, punk blues, punk rock, rock and roll, video 1 Comment

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

A lot of good music has come out of Long Beach, California. Nate Dogg, Snoop Dogg and Warren G left their mark on West Coast hip-hop. Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, Bradley Nowell, founder and vocalist of the band Sublime, No Doubt … All based out of Long Beach while coming up in the music game. Tijuana Panthers are from Long Beach too.

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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November 22, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: concert pics, el rey, photos, pic, pics, pictures, tijuana panthers, video 1 Comment

Jacco Gardner | Culture Collide | 10/11/13

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

I take music reviews with a grain of salt. I do my best to avoid reading them until I’ve already developed my own opinion about the music myself, but when trying to learn about music that I’ve never heard about before, it’s tough not to read an article or two…

When I looked for information about Jacco Gardner, I stumbled on the Pitchfork.com review of Jacco Gardner’s latest release “Cabinet of Curiosities”. In that article, Pitchfork states:

Being compared to such musical luminaries ranging from Brian Wilson to Love is nothing to scoff at. I only listened to a few tracks available on youtube, and decided that I would reserve judgement until I saw him perform live.

Jacco Gardner's setlist. — Jacco Gardner’s setlist.

Gracing the stage at the Echo Park United Methodist Church, he and his full band wistfully played set that was filled with all of those elements that made that Pitchfork reviewer recall the musical, psychedelic pop stylings of Brian Wilson and Love. His arrangements were more complex than I would have expected from a young man in his mid twenties, and his performance was that of a subdued and mature veteran.

I loved his sound. His audience loved his sound. I purchased his LP, and his music sounds incredible on vinyl. It may be tough finding large audiences to fall into his music, but I, for one, am very interested in seeing where he takes it. You can too by following his Facebook account.

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

November 1, 2013November 1, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: culture collide, culture collide 2013, filter magazine, Indie Folk, indie rock, Jacco Gardner, Neo-Psychedelia, photo, photographs, photos, pic, pics, pictures, pop, Pop Alternative, setlist, slideshow, video, videos 1 Comment

Medicine | Culture Collide | 10/11/13

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

Shoegazing is a sub genre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. As per its entry on Wikipedia, “The British music press—particularly NME and Melody Maker—named this style shoegazing because the musicians in these bands stood relatively still during live performances in a detached, introspective, non-confrontational state, hence the idea that they were gazing at their shoes.” One of the biggest UK acts to arise from this musical movement, was My Bloody Valentine (a band that I opted not to see at 2013’s FYF Festival). Pitchfork Media has hailed Medicine as the closest thing to being an American answer to My Bloody Valentine. I had to check them out.

Medicine founder, Brad Laner, is perhaps one of the most accomplished Los Angeles musicians in the indie rock scene. Having played on more than 300 albums, he has worked with the likes of Brian Eno, Savage Republic and Rick Rubin. After over a decade of the band being on hiatus, band members Laner, singer Beth Thompson and drummer Jim Goodall recorded and released the highly regarded album “To The Happy Few” earlier this year.

To be honest, I wasn’t all too familiar with Medicine’s catalog of music. Truth be told, growing up, I wan’t that big of a fan of the “genre” of shoegazing. It was only somewhat recently when I started to get into M83‘s music that I started to look into the genre. But where M83 is more pop-synth rock, Medicine’s brand of shoegazing is massively more psychedelic rock with silky vocals and wall of expert guitar playing and driving drums. It was a great set, and I have money that this set was much more entertaining than the My Bloody Valentine set at FYF Festival, which I heard was plagued with technical difficulties. US-1 : UK-0.

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

October 29, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: beth thompson, brad laner, culture collide, culture collide 2013, filter magazine, fyf festival, jim goodall, M83, medicine, medicine band, My Bloody Valentine, photos, pic, pics, pictures, shoegazing, slideshow, to the happy few, vide, video Leave a comment

Iza | Culture Collide | 10/10/13

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

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

October 25, 2013November 3, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: 360, april fools, boss lady entertainment, culture collide, culture collide 2013, filter magazine, iza, Iza Lach, luck ones, new music, no ordinary love, pain killer, performance, performances, photographs, pic, pics, pictures, poland, pop, pop music, questions, setlist, slice, slideshow, soul, soul music, video, video clips, you and i 2 Comments

Maya Vik | Culture Collide | 11/10/13

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I was washing my hands in one of the venues when I noticed the gentlemen next to me washing his hands wearing some really high-end ear plugs. Since I had recently looked into purchasing a pair of quality earplugs, I sparked up a conversation in the men’s room regarding the same.

The dude had a European accent, and after converting Krones to U.S. Dollars, we estimated that his ear plugs were between $800-$1,000. I thanked him for the insight, and applauded him for his dedication to concert going before heading off. Imagine my amusement when I noticed him behind the keys for Maya Vik.

From her Wikipedia page:

Screen Shot 2013-10-22 at 12.38.07 AM

It was a fun, energetic set that really had the small club venue feeling funky. When they covered Ready For The World’s Oh Sheila the small venue got warm and musty with moving bodies. If I could have, I would have attended her gig on Saturday. There’s nothing better to get the funk flowing than a good looking woman, slapping out funky bass-lines.

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

October 22, 2013October 22, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: bassist, culture collide, culture collide 2013, filter magazine, funk, Maya Vik, oh shiela, pics, pictures, ready for the world, Review, reviews, video Leave a comment

Tiny Ruins | Culture Collide | 11/10/13

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

Hollie Fullbrook, a folk singer-songwriter from New Zealand, is Tiny Ruins. She made some waves in 2011 when the BBC Wold Service programme The Strand named her album first full length album one of the top five albums of 2011. With such glowing reviews, I marked it down as a set that I wanted to check out.

It was an intimate set in a modestly sized church. With just her voice and guitar, she filled the churches’ architecture with a soft, mellow, etherial sound. The lighting was subdued and appropriate, and the only criticism I had of the venue was that they didn’t turn-off the buildings fans prior to the start of her performance. A video clip of Hollie performing one of her songs is below, and you’ll note the fan noise in the background.

As it was my first time listening to her music, I wasn’t as committed to her lyrics, for which she is known, so I suppose that I didn’t appreciate the music as much as I possibly could have. When I have some more time, I plan on listening to Some Were Meant For Sea with an open ear. I won’t be able to attend her upcoming gig at the Silverlake Lounge on October 23, but for $8, I definitely think it’s worth the cover.

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

October 22, 2013October 22, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: bbc, concert, culture collide, culture collide 2013, filter magazine, folk, folk music, holly fullbrook, new zealand, photo, photographs, photos, pic, pics, pictures, Review, reviews, tiny ruins, video Leave a comment

Allen Stone | The Beach Ball Festival: Soul Revue | September 21, 2013

Click here to check out the blog entries of the other acts I was able to catch (Myron & E, Lee Fields and the Expressions, Maceo Parker and Aloe Blacc) at The Beach Ball Festival: Soul Revue.

Allen Stone at The Beach Ball Festival 9/21/13 [ig: @methodman13]

About a year ago, while searching the web for new music, I came across a youtube video of a white soul singer from Seattle, Washington singing a soulful, acoustic version of one of his own compositions. The chorus of the song, and the voice the singer, hooked me instantly. The songs was called “Another Break Up Song” and the singer’s name was Allen Stone.

On October 19, 2012, I was able to see him perform at The Fonda Theatre. His performance that evening was so good that it made it into the top 10 of the concert events I went to in 2012. Since I missed his early afternoon set at Coachella this year, I was ecstatic to hear that he would be performing at the Beach Ball Soul Revue.

If you are unfamiliar with Allen Stone, I would describe this self-professed “hippie with soul” as a throwback to those soul legends who sang lyrics embedded with social commentary. Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway … I’m talking the heavy hitters. Lofty comparisons for a relative newbie in the music industry, but with a tenor voice as soulful as his, and poingnant songwriting ability, it’s hard for me not to make them. Back in October 2012, I professed on my Facebook page that Allen Stone could be an artist that we’d see performing at the Hollywood Bowl or Greek Theatre sooner rather than later. I’m going to stick to my guns.

His performance at the Beach Ball was as good as I remembered him at the Fonda, if not more energetic. He fed off the energy from the crowd, who sang along to Allen’s more well known songs. The crowd loved his performance, and clearly loved the messages of love and togetherness Allen professed throughout his set.

After all of the concert festivities for the evening had concluded, I meandered to my “Cheers” (Ye Old Kings Head in Santa Monica) for a few drinks with friends. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Allen and his crew were tucked away in a corner of the bar. Being the gregarious person I am … though, I’m sure the double Dewars I had just consumed also helped … I walked over to Allen’s table and introduced myself. I recall telling him that I was at his show at the Fonda, that I enjoyed his set on the pier, and how I’m always hoping that I’d get to hear him perform “Another Break Up Song”.

Me and Allen Stone at the Kings Head after the Ball Festival 9/21/13 [ig: @methodman13]

I offered to buy him a drink, but he told me that it was his turn to be the designated driver. I think I may have bought his manager a drink though. Not wanting to be a leech, I told Allen that I was really looking forward to hear his next album, and snapped a quick pic before minding my own. A friend of mine who manages the Kings Head has offered to hang a picture of me and Snoop on the celebrity wall of the Kings Head, but I’ve always refused because Snoop’s never been to the Kings Head. I just may have to give him my picture with Allen.

Allen Stone performing at The Beach Ball Festival 9/21/13 [ig: @methodman13]

Click here to check out the blog entries of the other acts I was able to catch (Myron & E, Lee Fields and the Expressions, Maceo Parker and Aloe Blacc) at The Beach Ball Festival: Soul Revue.

September 28, 2013September 28, 2013 by dklee13 Categories: ConcertsTags: 2013, allen stone, beach ball, beach ball festival, highlights, hippie with soul, kings head, neo soul, neosoul, photo, photos, pics, pictures, pop, R and B, R&B, Review, rock, santa monica, santa monica pier, soul music, soul revue, video, ye old kings head, ye olde kings head 1 Comment

Maceo Parker | The Beach Ball Festival: Soul Revue | September 21, 2013

Click here to check out the blog entries of the other acts I was able to catch (Myron & E, Lee Fields and the Expressions, Allen Stone and Aloe Blacc) at The Beach Ball Festival: Soul Revue.

Lee Fields at The Beach Ball Festival 9/21/13 [ig: @methodman13]

If you’re a fan of soul or funk music, you’ve probably heard Maceo Parker play … even if you don’t have any of his solo albums. After all, his sax play is also over James Brown most famous recordings. “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”, “I Got You (I Feel Good”), “Sex Machine”, “Cold Sweat” … yup … that saxophone solo? That sound that’s a building block of funk music? That’s Maceo. That’s his sound.

What’s that you say? You’re not a James Brown fan? What about Parliament-Funkadelic, Keith Richards, Red Hot Chili Peppers, De La Soul, Prince, Deee-Lite or Living Colour? Well, he’s played on their records too. Point? The man is an integral part of music history. Perhaps, one of the most prolific sidemen in the history of music. But let’s not get it twisted. His solo albums are pretty damn good too. I was excited to have the opportunity to watch this saxophone legend play up close at the Beach Ball Festival. I was ready to get funky and to shake my groove thing.

Maceo and his band brought their musicality and funk to the stage. Maceo not only played like the legend he is known to be, but he also brought a level of showmanship that could only come with years of seasoning. His set seemed to cover the entire the breadth of his career (as a solo artist and sideman), touching on a few James Brown classics and even incorporating a tribute to one his greatest influences, Ray Charles, during which Maceo donned a pair of sunglasses. He gave time to each of his players to allow them to shine on their instruments, proving that each was capable of holding their own, but at the end of the day, as the sun set into the Pacific, it was Maceo who shined the most.