Audra Mae and Dusty Rhodes at Silverlake Lounge

I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to Silverlake Lounge on this specific Monday night, April 20th. Monday was that hot 100 degree day. I went home after work and fell asleep briefly. When I woke up, I was dehydrated and burning up. I made a quick dinner (turning on the oven, which made it even hotter – I have no central air) and turned on the television. Then the blurry vision arrived and I got worried about a coming migraine.

I’d mentioned this night to a trio of friends so I sent texts them, explaining that I wasn’t likely to make it. It seemed that one didn’t have the slightly clue what I was talking about. A second wasn’t planning on going. A third recalled our conversation and reading between the lines, had wanted to go. I decided to have a little water and then sat on the couch, waiting for the migraine. It never arrived. Perhaps my blurry vision was related to dehydration and heat exhaustion. I sent a text to the friend who seemed interested in heading out, mentioning the fact that miracles do happen. We met up at Silverlake Lounge.

I arrived to catch about two songs from Yellow Red Sparks. They have a stand up bass. I love the stand up bass. Other than that, I’m not sure what to say. I ran into anther friend of mine who saw the whole set and she said she loved them.

Next up was Audra Mae with her five-piece band and two back-up singers. She had the vocals going Monday night. Every single song was just slammed out of the park. I had this awful regret while listening to her regarding the fact that I had sent out a no-go text message a couple hours earlier. I wish I’d instead sent a text message saying that no matter the fact that I might not make it due to a migraine that my friends should head out anyways, even if it meant being at Silverlake Lounge by themselves.

While listening to Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, I wished even harder I’d sent out a text message saying that this definitely wasn’t a night to miss. This was the second time I’ve seen the band. The last time, I saw only about half of their set and was way in the back of Silverlake Lounge. At the time, I could only see the head of the keyboardist. This time, I was a bit closer to the stage. First off, this band has three vocalists who take the lead depending on the song. Second, you have Dustin Apodaca who does vocals, and plays keyboard and even an accordion for one song. Third, you have Andrea Babinski who plays violin and does some back-up vocals, and I do believe there was a mandolin in there. Anyways, their last song was extremely powerful. Not powerful in an emotional way, but powerful in sound. The floor and walls just vibrated and I felt my skin vibrating, as well. Way back when, I saw Mother Tongue and one of their songs just sent shock waves up my spine. The last song by Dusty Rhodes had a similar effect on my body. It was just this moment of, “Wow.”

Underwater City People, Silver Needle, Rainman Suite at the Knitting Factory

A quick review of a Saturday night at the Knitting Factory – trend observations.

This was a night filled with illness and broken equipment.

5 Days Dirty. This band came into town from the East Bay from Northern California. They’re on the road with the DC-Jam Skaterock tour. Per the lead singer, they were playing on their day-off. The lead singer was ill and actually had to give up the vocals for one song. He was intent on getting healthy as soon as possible, drinking a cup of tea on stage. I kept on calling them Five Door Down for some reason.

Underwater City People. I think it was during the very first song that Jon went down for the count with a failed guitar. I think he broke a guitar string. He was stuck at the microphone singing his lines without his guitar. There is that one song they sing called “Jennifer.” It always makes me reminisce during that song – usually about my college days.

Silver Needle. More broken equipment followed when Silver Needle went onstage. I believe that first off the Kick wasn’t working properly so they called on UCP to borrow some equipment. Then the snare drum broke. UCP came to the rescue again. Then some equipment wiring came unplugged from the wall socket.

Rainman Suite. They didn’t seem to have any equipment problems, but the lead singer was ill. Sometime early in the set he said something like, “I need to shot a snot rocket.” A few songs later he did. There was a trio of young ladies at the front of the stage. They were rather thrilled to see this band. In fact, they arrived just in time for the Rainman Suite’s set.

The Mulhollands @ Cinespace

I headed to Cinespace on Sunday night to catch one of my favorite bands, The Mulhollands. Sarah told me on Saturday night (while at Club Dynamite) that it was free entrance as long as I got there before 10:30 p.m. I didn’t want to cut it close, because I wasn't sure what to expect as I'd never been to Cinespace before so I arrived at 10 p.m. (I’ve walked by Cinespace at times and seen photographers perched around the entrance. No problems this night. It was clear sailing on Sunday night with no hassles.)

I didn’t fully explore Cinespace, but here’s the layout from my vantage point. You go up a stairwell to the second floor. You enter a bar area. On your right is a smaller, intimate lounge area. To the left is a small dance floor. If you keep walking through, you enter a larger area where bands play. This is the area I headed towards.

Once there, I ran into The Mulhollands. I hung out with them for a few until the first band came on stage. The first band was called Mere Mortals. They’re a four piece band. As I was listening, I couldn’t help but feel that they were the equivalent of The Beatles with a psychedelic flair. Since I’m not extremely knowledgeable in regards to The Beatles, I felt a bit strange thinking that. (I only own one Beatles album and I hardly ever listen to it, which just highlights my lack of knowledge regarding this band.) Later, though, when I arrived home I looked up the Mere Mortals myspace page and they do state that one of their influences are The Beatles. Slight relief that I wasn’t totally offbase while listening to them. I loved their sound and would love to check them out again. The lead singer in the band is rather cool, as well. Later in the night, I went looking for him and told him that I’d love to get a sticker or something from him that had his band's information. He went out of his way to find me a card or sticker. He couldn’t find one for me, so he just handed me a CD single saying it was cool and I didn’t have to pay for it.

The band area. I have to admit I found the band area a bit strange. There were couches that lined the area in front of the stage. I suppose this area is used for more than just featuring bands so I won’t say that this area is totally designed wrong. It just felt strange watching a band while sitting on a couch.

The Mulhollands were the next band up. Here are some notes about their set: I have to say I thought this was one of their best sets ever. Sarah’s vocals were sharp and filled with emotion. The style of the band was low keyed with a focus on Sarah’s vocals. There was a distinct old-style feel that surrounded the band, which started off with a classic big sized microphone and flowed on with a large flower atop Sarah’s head. It was all beautifully done. There were some fun moments. At one point, Sarah must have over-heard something from the sound booth so she asked, “We have just one more song?” The guy at the sound booth must not have heard the emphasis that made the statement a question because he asked, “You have just one more song? Okay.” Sarah replied, “Are we allowed more than one song?” The sound guy, “Sure. I thought you said you had only one more song.” Sarah replied, “I thought you said we were allowed only one more song.” An observation made via multiple Mulhollands gigs is that I wonder if Sarah has a preference for moving to her right. It just seems that she always moves to her right. During the ending of certain songs, I clapped away. It wasn't clapping to show some love, it was clapping to show appreciation for what I thought was a well done set.

AME sticker at the Hollywood Farmers Market

I was doing my morning shopping at the Hollywood Farmers Market. I happened to look down at the guitar case of one of the street musicians. I did a double take as I noticed an Automatic Music Explosion sticker on the case. If you’ve read previous blog entries, you know this is one of my favorite local bands.

Club Dynamite

Club Dynamite. The first band of the night was The Ex-Gentlemen. This is a band I’ve heard about over the course of the last month or so. Two of the members come from bands I used to follow (they’re no longer in existence.) One comes from Bang Sugar Bang and another comes from The Overnight Lows. Dave from Bang Sugar Bang is the lead in this band. Even though I’ve heard of this band, this was the first time I’ve seen them on stage. It was nice seeing Dave back doing his thing.

Next up were the Dirty Kings. I’ve seen this band a couple times in the past. I over-heard one of the band members ask Rob Z (who was the MC), “When you introduce us, can you tell everyone this is our last show?” From what I overheard, one of the guys now has a new born baby and is moving closer to family. This band has been together for five years. A number of the people at Club Dynamite were there to see the Dirty Kings. I was at the front of the stage area before they started. By the time they started, I somehow found myself four rows back.

The final band of the night was The Automatic Music Explosion. This was a special night where the focus wasn’t so much on their music, but on a birthday celebration. Their producer, Mike Chapman, recently had or will have his birthday. During the set, Sarah from The Mulhollands came towards the front of the stage with a birthday cake. She brought it over to a table and attempted to light the candles. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it. She decided to head towards the stage as an AME song was coming to a close. As she walked towards the stage, she nearly dropped the cake. Now this sketch of life does have a point, because . . . she eventually did drop the cake. It went splat, but it somehow survived the fall with just some of the frosting coming off the top. Matt from AME partially complained that the frosting was all over him. Mike Chapman called her Calamity Sarah. It was a nice night with one of the guys from The Knack showing up to also wish Mike Chapman a happy birthday.

Rob Z's Beatnik Bonanza

Rob Z’s Beatnik Bonanza occurred on a recent Wednesday night at El Cid.

First off, the atmosphere needs to be described. Often times, when I head over to El Cid to listen to bands, most of the tables are removed from the restaurant floor. This specific night, all the tables were set up so that people could sit down, relax and listen.

Chissum Worthington started the night out. There were some classic moments. There was one sketch where he stated he wanted to sell us some merchandise, out came a number of books and DVDs. He also sang two songs about specific individuals, and those two individuals were in the audience to hear the songs.

Next up were three beatnik poets. The first had a relaxed attitude towards his verse. The next poet provided us with her beautiful words. The final poet made us attack our own fears via his angry vocals challenging his own fears.

Rob Z does a night at El Cid once a month. I probably go once every other month. They’re worth attending. Note: There isn’t a Beatnik Bonanza each month so don’t expect to show up in May and see beatnik poets.

A movie review: Adventureland

I so wish I was a better writer so that I could properly praise this movie, but you are stuck with the following . . .

Adventureland. This is one of those films that while I was watching the movie I found myself enjoying it more and more. I haven’t enjoyed a film this much since Rachel Getting Married. I’m not going to say that this movie deserves an Oscar nomination, because I don’t think it is an Oscar type of movie; but it is a movie well worth watching. (I did believe that Rachel Getting Married was a movie to consider for an Oscar nod.)

I found myself drawn into the movie immediately. It starts out with James (Jesse Eisenberg) getting dumped by his girl of less than two weeks (I won’t call her his girlfriend.) Next, he learns that he won’t get to spend the summer between his college and upcoming graduate school program in Europe due to unexpected financial hardship his family is facing. This one-two body punch got me attached to James immediately, who really didn’t seem like a guy who deserved such horrible luck. James must now find a summer job, his Europe trip a long gone dream. Since he graduated with a liberal arts degree (I believe it was English) and does not have any work experience, he quickly finds out that no one wishes to hire him for the various minimum wage jobs in the area. He eventually lands a job in the barely surviving Adventureland amusement park where only the cheapest prizes can be awarded, because the park really doesn't have enough cash to buy anything other than the cheapest prizes. This is where he runs into Em (Kristen Stewart). She comes to his rescue after he attempts to stand up to some tough guys who cheated their way into winning a giant panda bear. From there, a slow relationship starts to develop between the two that also includes such unfortunate events that moves them apart from each other like wondering eyes and entangling sexual revelations. (This slow build in the relationship is one reason I just love this movie. You know the two characters are meant for each other, but they themselves either don't realize it or run away from it; therefore, finding themselves taking detours along the way.)

Em. I think it is Em’s character that you learn the most about. I was watching At the Movies and I believe I heard one of the critics say that Greg Mottola, the writer, wrote this about his own life experience. It would seem that he had a great fondness for the person in his life that he now calls Em. You learn that her mother died about two years prior to the events in the movie. You also learn that her father wanted to find God during his wife’s illness, but instead found himself in an affair with a woman he married soon after his wife’s death. You learn that she attends a top tier school in NYU, but still has this rebellious trait of not wanting to accept the privileges that result from this (not only does she attend NYU, but her father is a well to do lawyer). She could probably find work at a law firm or for a business client of her father’s, but instead works at Adventureland, which her step-mother finds disgusting. She also makes a serious judgment error by having an affair with a married man who works at Adventureland. She has endearing qualities that draw James to her. She’s the one who came to his rescue. She’s the one who called someone out on their racism. She’s the one who befriended him before anyone else at the amusement park. Of course, a lot of the credit for the character of Em must go to Stewart. In the back end of the movie, when her heart is broken, you can’t help but want to reach into the theater screen and give her a big hug; and all the credit must go to Stewart’s emotional portrayal.

James. For some reason, I have this feeling that even though Greg Mottola wrote this story about his own life experience, I can’t help but feel that he held back in fully revealing his own back story. For example, I felt I actually got to learn more about Em’s own parents better than his own. Yes, you learn that his mother read his diary when he was young, but how much more do you learn about them? In a minute of dialogue from Em, you learn more about Em’s parents than you do about James’ parents throughout the film even though they have more screen time than Em’s. Admittedly, there are certain character traits that you learn about him; such as, his being overly honest with people. And like nearly any guy, when the hottest girl in town asks him out on a date, he risks damaging what he has with Em to go out with her. All in all, I just felt that Em's character was better defined in the movie.

The amusement park. I’ve never worked at an amusement park. I don’t know about the quality of people that work at amusement parks. What I found interesting; however, about this specific amusement park is that it provided some interesting socio economic interactions. This amusement park likely represented the last time that certain groups of people would interact with each other. You had the college educated crowd who in the case of James had some unfortunate luck hit him, which resulted in his working there. You also had others where their life ambitions were never going to go much further than working at an amusement park. An example of this is Mike (Ryan Reynolds), the married man having an affair with Em. Adventureland represents one of those moments in life where two groups of people interact with each other ever so briefly and then if you fast forwarded five years these same individuals would never even cross paths anywhere (even at a grocery store, because they would probably shop in different parts of town), because their life paths would take them on totally different adventures. I even got a feeling that there were moments in the park where the more educated group attempted to distinguish themselves from the others. There was the one scene between Em and James. She said something like, “So I heard you’re heading off to graduate school.” He replied, “Yes, I’m going to attend Columbia for journalism this fall.” Her reply, “I’m going to NYU.” It was a statement that indicated that the two of them were connected by education versus a summer job at an amusement park.

Here’s one major reason why I think I found myself so drawn to this movie: I worked at a summer camp. What does a summer camp have in common with an amusement park? First, there is a major difference. The characteristics of those working at the summer camp were very different from those working at this amusement park. Most of the people at the summer camp were in college so we all had certain ambitions in life similar to James and Em, and not very many with similar backgrounds as Mike. What was similar; however, was that for a short period of time we were like family. Those working at the amusement park organized around making sure that customers had fun on the rides and games. At my summer camp, the summer camp staff organized around making sure campers enjoy their week in the mountains. And during your free time, you hung out with the same group of people. In that limited time frame, you found yourself making fast friends and really having the time of your life. There were even scenes in the movie that reminded me of summer camp. The fireworks scene reminded me of how a bunch of us all planned on taking the 4th of July off so that we could take a road trip down the mountain to see the fireworks. The constant background music of Rock Me Amadeus reminded me of similar cultural themes during my summer camp years. And the raw intellectuality of James, coming into contact with the “real” world struggles reminded me of my years at summer camp, as well. This movie wanted me to go back in time and relive those moments.

At the Movies, gave high praise to Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. In fact, I believe one critic said that they were the saving grace for this movie, which made this movie a must see in the theater versus just a movie you rented. I loved both actors, but I have to disagree with the critic. I think the whole movie revolves around the emotional connection between James and Em. Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg do make the movie.

New London at The Scene

Sometimes disappointment leads to discovering something new. This happened on a Sunday night at The Scene in Glendale. I headed over there to see The Randies. Unfortunately, someone in the band was sick and they weren’t able to make it. I was thinking about taking off, but I have this belief when heading out to listen to music that I should always stick around to catch at least two bands. The second band that night was going to be The Randies. Well, since they were a scratch, the next band up was New London. I believe they're a relatively new band. Their myspace page shows them being members as of July 2008. Also leading to this belief was the fact that throughout their set, the lead singer kept on mentioning that the current song was a new song. And -- he even mentioned towards the end of the set that they would introduce another new song at an upcoming gig.

I found their tunes rather catchy. The keyboard background music works wonders for the music. The lead singer has this amusing way of dancing/running in place. They’re a work in progress so I’m not going to be singing high praises for them yet. On the other hand, I’d argue that this is a band to keep an eye on. In some ways, their music reminded me of a diamond in the rough version of another local band, Local Natives.

Movie Review: I Love You, Man

I Love You, Man. I enjoyed this movie, but I suspect I’ll forget about it shortly. I say go ahead and see it because it’ll make you laugh even though I doubt you’ll remember it two years from now. What did I love about this movie: I loved the side characters, like those played by Jamie Pressly and Jon Favreau. What did I not like about this movie: I didn’t like how Paul Rudd’s character Peter Klaven was portrayed. He seemed totally unable to communicate with males. It was similar to how a shy person deals with a person they find attractive. There were these very awkward moments of silence that I know were meant to be, but just drove me crazy. He also had this uncomfortable goofball personality that drove me crazy at times. It was like watching a teenager in a 30-something body. The problem with this is that he was actually a successful individual with a house that most of us would love to have.