THOUGHTS: I got to their set a little late because I wanted to watch as much of Phantogram’s set as I could, but the 20 or so minutes that I got to The Stepkids live was exactly what I was expecting. Funky, Steely Dan-ish, psychedelic soul. Oi. I seriously loved their groove. The way this trio blends elements of jazz, funk and soul is right up my alley. Jeff (guitar) and Dan (bass) were a joy to watch, playing riffs off of each other, and even synchronizing certain moves during songs. When each had a moment to solo, their respective play was a joy to watch, and listen. I wasn’t able to get any decent shots of their drummer, but I’m hoping the next time they are in Los Angeles, I’ll get approved for a photo pass so I can remedy that problem. I’m keeping my ears to the internet for more tour dates, and if you like their vibe, you should too.
THOUGHTS: The Record Company. Seeing them perform at Echo Park Rising marks the 5th time I’ve seen them live the past year and a half. Needless to say, I’m a fan of their sound. You can read my thoughts about them here, and here, and here … and … here. A week after Echo Park Rising, I was at First City Festival when another photographer stopped to compliment The Record Company t-shirt I was wearing and agreed that they were a hell of a band. If you are a fan of blues rock, you should probably check them out.
When I was approved to shoot The Zombies at the Santa Monica Pier, I was giddy. Being a supreme music dweeb, I was fully aware of their impact in popular music. Their sound basically redefined rock music.
I’d try to wax poetic about how amazingly (and truthfully, surprisingly) they performed on the summer eve, but Bob Lefsetz, a noted music writer, already wrote everything, and more, that I would have not so eloquently put pen to pad. CLICK HERE to read his stellar review.
The fact that two of the original members, Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent, both 69, are still in prime form was wonderful to witness. If you weren’t there, you missed out on a legendary performance, or legendary music, by legends. Your loss.
In conjunction with G’Day USA, the Twilight Concert series presented “Australia Rocks The Pier”.
The headliner for the evening was the killer Australian band Jagwar Ma. I first got to see them perform at Coachella, and after my time in the photo pit expired, I made it a point to keep up with their music because I was duly impressed.
When I found out that they were scheduled to perform at the Santa Monica Pier, I circled the date in my calendar. Seriously … I was pumped to see a full set. In fact, being a music dweeb, I even lugged my LP of “Howlin” (their debut album) to the pier on the off chance that I could get some of the fellas to sign it.
Their set was terrific. They basically played their entire album (excluding “Did You Have To” and “Backwards Berlin”), and even threw in a couple covers. I was especially impressed with their cover of Nirvana’s “All Apologies”. It was unexpected, but truly great to hear.
In conjunction with G’Day USA, the Twilight Concert series presented “Australia Rocks The Pier”.
The second act performing on the Santa Monica Pier was Fascinator. Fascinator is Johnny Mackay, an Australian based in New York, whose music is an experimental, electronic, psychedelic trip. Though the act was probably better suited for a smaller club venue, I could tell that the audience was getting into it … the smell of weed permeating my nostrils was my proof.
The music, and performance, was a bit out there. With odd hat-masks, long full length garb, and a hype-man who danced around the stage, I could feel the groove, but kept sniffing the air to see if I could get a second-hand high. If only I wasn’t “working” …
Ever since Snarky Puppy beat my favorite neo-soul band of 2013, Hiatus Kaiyote for the Best R&B Performance Grammy this year, I had to look them up and figure out who they were.
I’ll admit … the first video clip supporting their release of “Family Dinner- Volume 1”. It was Lalah Hathaway singing a song titled “Something” … and she harmonized with herself… let me say that again … SHE HARMONIZED WITH HERSELF!!!
That video was mind blowing, and I’ll have to admit the music, separate from the mind-blowing vocal gymnastics performed by Lalah, was pretty damn good.
Based out of New York, the band is led by Michael League, a Grammy Award-winning bassist. It’s players are part of collective that features nearly 40 musicians. They affectionately refer to themselves as “The Farm” and for this evening, they had 9 of them play at The Troubadour.
With the 10 players cramped on the stage, their music, which is a fusion of jazz, rock and funk, was loud and funky. I won’t lie, though … if you were hoping for some vocalists to jump onto the stage to join them for a song or two, you would have been disappointed. It was an all instrumental set with only the audience singing along with the chants on a song … the name of which totally escapes me, but you can see the video below.
I’m not one to complain though. When you have that many talented musicians on stage, it’s easy for me to get lost in some robust, Grammy Award winning music.
Charles Bradley is living proof that the American Dream is still alive. After learning about his life from the documentary “Soul of America”, I made an effort to catch his afternoon set at FYF Fest in 2013. His performance was a highlight of that day. When I heard that he was to perform at the Fonda Theatre, I knew that it was a show that I couldn’t miss, so I bought myself some tickets, knowing that it would be a show that would ultimately leave a smile on my face, and put a groove in my step.
I’d been dreaming about seeing Mr. Bradley perform in a club venue since the first time I saw him perform. His performance at FYF Fest opened my ears to his music, but it was talking to him at the festival that really left an impression on me. He specifically told me that if I loved his show, that I should catch him in a more intimate venue. With a photo pass in hand, in a venue like The Fonda, I figured that this would be about as imitate as it would get for me.
Mr. Bradley’s performance was otherworldly. Watching him perform though the lens of my camera, I could see the all of the emotion emoting from his soul. The intense emotions expressed while singing “Why Is It So Hard” to the wild dance moves he bust out throughout the set, amazed me that a man at 65 could perform with such fervor. His voice, weathered by the rough life he has lived, covered the entire emotional spectrum, from passionate moans, to indignant rebellion, to tender cooing. It was all there.
Perhaps the most impressive thing to me was the love he openly expressed: his love for his band (the Extraordinaires), his love for the music, his love for the opportunity to perform … but most importantly, his love for his fans. It was a sentiment that was echoed by him throughout the evening.
“I love you!” he shouted out to the audience, “I love you so much. If it wasn’t for you,” he said pointing to the audience, “I,” moving his hands over his heart, “wouldn’t be here, singing for you all.”
His love was infectious. So much so, that he even had me yelling from the photo pit, “I love you, Mr. Bradley!” He glanced down in my direction after I yelled like a child, so I think he may have heard me.
But I wasn’t the only one reciprocating the love back to the stage. For as much as Mr. Bradley gave to the audience, the audience gave it right back to him tenfold. After finishing up his encore, he jumped off the stage to hug fans who were lined up at the front; each fan giving Mr. Bradley a tight embrace. A fitting conclusion, to a concert that was all about … love.
I couldn’t find a setlist online, so if anybody has it, or knows what it was, please let me know in the comments so I can add it to this post.
I won’t front. Back when I was freshman in high school, I wasn’t into Tool. The rock music that I was into at the time was more along the lines of Depeche Mode (who released “Violator”), Nine Inch Nail (who released “Head Like A Hole”) and INXS (who released “X”). I was a narrow minded, music snob then (which I truly regret), and I wasn’t willing to open my mind to other bands’ music.
It wasn’t until I had graduated from college that I really took the time to listen to what Maynard James Keenan’s music had to offer, and it was the first album from his second band, A Perfect Circle, that got me hooked. With “Mer de Noms”, songs like “Judith” and “3 Libras” sent shivers down my spine. I was a fool to have waited so long to discover that Maynard was a monster, rock vocalist. Not only able to belt out tunes like it’s nothing, he also adds a level of emotions to the underlying lyrics he sings, which sets him apart from other rock vocalists.
I first saw Maynard perform at Coachella in 2013 with his band Puscifer. Though the music was different from A Perfect Circle, I thought that it was one of the highlight performances of the day. It was fun, sexy and raunchy all at the same time. I still have the Puscifer Airlines candy that they threw out to the crowd from that day.
Cinquanta, a two night celebration of his 50th birthday at the Greek Theatre, was a ticket that any Maynard fan couldn’t pass up. Billed as a concert with Puscifer as a headliner with A Perfect Circle and Failure (who had reunited in late 2013 and acted as Tool’s supporting act for Tool’s recent tour) as “support”. But each band rotated sets every 15-30 minutes, even collaborating with each other on certain songs, throughout the evening. Green Jelly (a band that Danny Carey- the drummer of Tool- and Maynard were members of) made a surprise appearance to perform “Three Little Pigs”; Neil Hamburger made an appearance to sing “New York, New York”, and 3/4 of Tool (minus Adam Jones) performed the Tool classic “Sober”. Personally, I thought one of the out-of-the-box highlights of the show was when Carina Round sang the lead on “The Package”; a superb rendition.
Based on my notes, and what I was able to find online, below was the setlist:
Failure: “The Nurse Who Loved Me” (w/ Maynard James Keenan, Billy Howerdel and Carina Round)
Failure: “Saturday Savior”
Failure: “Dirty Blue Balloons”
A Perfect Circle: “Weak and Powerless”
A Perfect Circle: “Orestes”
A Perfect Circle: “The Noose”
Puscifer: “Vagina Mine”
Puscifer: “Trekka”
Puscifer: “Polar Bear”
Puscifer: “Breathe”
Puscifer: “Oceans”
Puscifer: “Monsoons” (w/ Billy Howerdel)
Puscifer: “Horizons”
Failure: “Another Space Song”
Failure: “Frogs”
Failure: “Solaris” (w/ Maynard James Keenan)
A Perfect Circle: “The Hollow”
A Perfect Circle: “Rose”
A Perfect Circle: “The Package” (featuring Carina Round)
Puscifer: “Conditions of My Parole”
Puscifer: “Man Overboard”
Puscifer: “The Undertaker” (w/ Ken Andrews)
A Perfect Circle: “Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm
A Perfect Circle: “3 Libras”
A Perfect Circle: “By and Down”
Failure: “Blank”
Failure: “Wet Gravity” (w/ Jeff Friedl)
Failure: “Heliotropic”
Puscifer: “New York, New York” (w/ Neil Hamberger)
Puscifer: “Cuntry Boner” (An Electric Sheep cover w/ “Hildy” and Danny Carey)
Puscifer: “3 Little Pigs” (w/ Green Jelly and Danny Carey)
Puscifer: “Sober” (Tool cover w/ Justin Chancellor, Danny Carey and , and Zac Rae)
Puscifer: “Humbling River” (w/ Danny Carey)
Wow. Just looking at this setlist is making think that the $40 I spent on the ticket was definitely money well spent. Even if a song or two may not have been to one’s liking, the action on stage, with the casual stage setting of lawn chairs and constant filling of chalices (presumably filled with adult beverages) gave the audience something to watch as there was something going on onstage at all times, whether it was Maynard pouring drinks for others, performers taking selfies onstage, or individuals having private conversations in front of everybody, it was a concert that truly felt like a party. And when the audience sang along? The hairs on my arms stiffened. When they closed with “Humbling River”? I got shivers.
It was an amazing show. I don’t know what else to say. Happy Birthday, Maynard. You did it right. Simply kick-ass.
I wasn’t able to get permission to shoot the show, so all of the photos below were on my Sony Cyber-shot G, point and shoot that I couldn’t live without.
For the most part, I am not a fan of EDM music. When I want to see “live” music, I want to see people playing instruments, not punching buttons. When I saw the Saturday Night Live, Digital Short, Lonely Island clip, “When Will The Bass Drop” that aired over the weekend, I nearly had the soup I was eating for lunch come out my nose. It is HILARIOUS (especially all of the one-liners the “fans” spout, since I’ve heard those exact words from other people I’ve been around). I’ve always wondered what EDM DJs did behind their consoles. Now, I have an idea. Enjoy!
#DKLPHOTOS 