LANY and Conway at The Satellite

It was off to The Satellite for my standard Monday night rotation.  And what did I find, LANY!!!  On the rare occasion, I find myself immediately saying, "I'm seeing the next breakout band."  All LANY had to do was play a few chords and I was sold.  I wasn't the only one.  When I walked into The Satellite, the place was packed.  I had to squeeze my way to the front so I could take my photos.  There was a group at the front of the stage who appeared to know every word of every song, which always adds to the thrill of catching a band for the first time.  Why did I fall for this band so quickly?  I loved their subdued dance beats.  I loved the fact that the vocals blend so wonderfully with the music.  I wonder if someone took a music composition course and by the end was teaching the class.

Conway (photo to the left) is the residency band at The Satellite for March.  I always go back to the same thing when writing about Conway:  how many hours a day does she exercise?  I just don't know how someone can keep that level of stage energy throughout a 30 minute set.  I am in awe.  My one desire regarding Conway:  she moves so quickly across the stage, I want to capture the perfect shot of her doing one of her karate kicks.  Her vocals go for that spoken word slam contest.  There is a precision in every breath.  

Comment of the set:  Thank you for spending your time here tonight, because time is something you never get back.

Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

A Movie Review: The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

The Asphalt Jungle.  The movie invites us to witness the shady world of illegal gambling and criminal activity.  Doc Erwin Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe) has just gotten released from prison.  He wants to make a massive heist and then retire outside America.  To do so, he needs some help.  He gets a shady lawyer, Alonzo D. Emmerich (Louis Calhern), to bankroll the heist.  Doc then hires a safe crack, a driver and a strongman.  They pull off the heist, but complications such as double crossing and unanticipated events occur.

What is really cool in this movie is seeing Marilyn Monroe show up on screen a handful of times as Emmerich's young girlfriend.  She's totally sexy in the role.  What older man looking to cheat on his wife wouldn't want to put her up in the second house.

The heist is awesomely filmed.  While watching, you can't help but think of Ocean's Eleven and The Italian Job.

What perhaps doesn't work as well?

One kind of wishes the movie went longer so that the post-heist events could play out better.

Some of the acting felt a little stilted, such as Sterling Hayden's.

The fight scenes could have been done better.

I also had a hard time hearing parts of the dialogue, which perhaps is driven by the age of the film.

Over-all; however, I enjoyed this movie a lot.

Barb Wire Dolls at Whisky a Go Go

Seriously?!? I looked at my blog posts. It's been 4 years since I last saw Barb Wire Dolls. Ouch!!! Time flies too quickly.  Also, I think it has been close to a year since I was last on the Sunset Strip.

I really became a fan of Barb Wire Dolls when (I guess it was 4 years back) one of the the band members came up to me and showed me a photo.  He said something like this, "I know you've taken photos of us in the past.  We're trying to track down who took this photo, because we want to make sure we give credit."  I actually hadn't taken that specific photo, but I really loved the fact that they were going out of their way to credit the photographer who had taken that photo.

Back to Whisky a Go Go.  I do believe Isis Queen suffered a few seconds of microphone problems, but as soon as that got resolved she was shaking down the Whisky a Go Go with her punk powered vocals.  I have to say I just love how she roams the stage like a lioness and at times tantalizing folks lining the stage with her sexual flirts.

T-shirt message:  Make Riot Not War.

Mickey Leigh joined in for a song.

The photogs were out in mass.  I think there were at least 5 of us.

A dude in the audience brought in a guitar and was playing along with the band throughout the set.

The door guy was cool.  He took extra care while searching my camera bag, making sure he didn't accidentally damage my camera.  Thank you much for the careful search.

What I wished I'd heard from Isis Queen.  So there wasn't much talking, mostly singing, but . . . hey, they're from Greece.  Greece is popping back into the news.  I wouldn't have minded hearing a couple sentences worth of commentary on Greece.  Why not?


Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

A Movie Review: The Princess and the Pirate

The Princess and the Pirate.  Last month, I re-watched Ivanhoe.  I remember being young and enjoying the movie.  When I re-watched it, I was disappointed.  What would I think about The Princess and the Pirate, a movie that I also loved when I was  young?

Captain Barrett/The Hook (Victor McLaglen) has learned that Princess Margaret (Virginia Mayo) is on a ship, running away from her father, The King.  He decides to capture the ship.  Also on Princess Margaret's ship is Sylvester the Great (Bob Hope).  He's an actor who is constantly chased out of various cities due to poor reviews.

The Hook captures the ship and orders that all the men should be killed.  Sylvester the Great escapes such condemnation by dressing as a woman as well as receiving a little help from a pirate named Featherhead (Walter Brennan).  Eventually, Sylvester the Great and Princess Margaret escape the ship and end up on a violent filled island.  Princess Margaret is kidnapped by La Roche (Walter Slezak), the governor of the island who wants ransom money for her.
I grew up loving Bob Hope and I have to say that I found this comedy to hold up well.  Maybe I didn't love it as much as I did when I was young, but I still loved it.  The one note is that a few of the comedy bits make reference to Bing Crosby so unless you're familiar with the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby movies a number of the jokes might just go over your head.  


      

A Movie Review: Kick-Ass 2

Kick-Ass 2.  Admittedly, as the movie started, I realized I probably should have watched the original Kick-Ass movie again.  The movie starts out with our now normal kids wishing to get back into becoming super heroes.  Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz) skips school on a regular basis to train on her super hero skills.  Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is just a normal high school kid.  Eventually the two team up to train together.

A menace hits the scene.  Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) wants revenge for the death of his father.  After he accidentally kills his mother while throwing a tantrum, he becomes The Motherfucker.  The movie is set for a showdown between Hit-Girl/Kick-Ass and The Motherfucker.

In some ways, this movie just wants you to gag.  You have older high school kids telling a freshman about the joys of giving oral sex.  You have characters like The Motherfucker and Night Bitch, language constantly being tossed out on screen.  Mean girls are tormented beyond what they deserve.

And yet in other ways, the movie is fun to watch.  It is just all over-the-top.  Violence is done in a disgusting comic book manner.  Teen angst isn't portrayed as well as in movies like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but it still does a good enough job.

Essentially, this movie is a mixed bag.  Depending on your state of mind, you might find it mildly enjoyable or way too disgusting.        

Katelyn Tarver and Carlton at Bootleg HiFi

Katelyn Tarver (left photo).  She's the rare super cute girl in school who is totally unpretentious.  The anti-Mean Girl.  That's what I was thinking while watching her on stage.  Her lyrics are rather catchy, as well.  "Weekend Millionaires" has that Lorde/"Royals" vibe in the sense that both songs have this innocent desire to live like the top 5% for just a few hours.  Both songs also stick in your head.  She did her 30 minute set and it really felt much shorter.

The audience was in love with her as soon as she hit the stage.  The place was packed -- potentially to the point where folks were being turned away at the door or at least near that point.  And they were mainly young and beautiful.

Katelyn Tarver's opening act was a band called Carlton.  They had the young women lined up in front of the stage.  They have a smooth pop sound with perhaps a tinge of cool jazz influence.  Their stage show is also fun to watch.  All three members of the band put their all into their set.


Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

Dugas and Valley Queen at Bootleg HiFi

Dugas (photo to the left) is doing an interesting residency at Bootleg HiFi.  They're doing a 2 Sunday/2 Monday March set.  This two piece band is made up of siblings Sarah and Christian Dugas.  They're from Canada, but they are definitely American in style.  A bit of Motown.  A touch of Southern rock.  Add in a mix of dance.    

Note:  Christian Dugas has a new baby.  If I'm not mistaken, the baby was briefly in the venue.  The travelling family.  Awesome.

Valley Queen opened up for Dugas.  This band immediately had me missing The New LA Folk Festival.  Their music has that folk-like vibe and their fashion style has you thinking about seeing this band playing in a grass field.  And with lead singer Natalie singing barefoot just added to my impression.


Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

A Move Review: The Producers

Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) was once a successful Broadway producer who is now down on his luck.  In order to continue to produce plays, he romances elderly women who then provide him the funds he needs.  An accountant shows up at his door to audit his books.  This accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), uncovers a $2,000 error in Max's books.  Max convinces Leo to over-look the discrepancy.

Thinking out loud, Leo comes up with an accounting scheme.  The scheme would have a producer selling more than a 100% share in a new play.  If the play flopped, the producer could keep the unused funds.  It would also be unlikely that a flop would face an audit.  If the play was a success, they wouldn't be able to pay out what the investors expected.   The result would be prison.  Max hears this and convinces the rather neurotic Leo to help implement this scheme.  They decide to produce the worst play ever, finding it a play called:  Springtime for Hitler.  Well, the results aren't what they expected.  Initially, the audience finds the play to be in very bad taste, but they soon warm up to it.  It turns out that this play will become a huge success.

I initially found myself very annoyed with the zany antics of Gene Wilder.  Over-the-top was my reaction.  The movie does find its stride in the later half of the movie when we see scenes from the play.  The scenes of Hitler are hysterical.

Would I say this is a must watch classic movie?  No.  It has its moments, but I think one has to wait too long to get there.

 
 

A Movie Review: The Blue Dahlia

The Blue Dahlia is a film noir that stars a beautiful Veronica Lake and a stoic Alan Ladd.  Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) is coming back from his service in World War II.  His wife, Helen Morrison (Doris Dowling), has turned into a party girl and is having an affair with a club owner, Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva).  Johnny discovers this affair and a major argument erupts in front of her friends.  Soon after, he walks out on his wife.  Joyce Harwood (Veronica Lake) -- she just happens to be the estranged wife of Eddie Harwood -- is driving her car and stops to pick up Johnny.  There is an instant attraction.

From that point, we move into a murder mystery.  The following morning, Helen Morrison is found dead.  Johnny Morrison is the prime suspect; however, there are other potential suspects.  A military buddy of Johnny, Buzz Wanchek (William Bendix), also crossed paths with Helen after Johnny walked out.  There is also Eddie.

This is a movie that has it's moments; however, I had a couple of major problems with it.

1.  What are the chances that Johnny Morrison and Joyce Harwood would cross paths?  Two spouses with unfaithful spouses having an affair with each other.

2.  I don't think there were enough clues in the movie that hinted at who the actual killer was.  To me, a good murder mystery should result in an aha moment.

To me, those two question put a downer on this film.

I will admit that I loved watching Veronica Lake on screen.  After watching the movie, I did a little research on her.  She had a really difficult life due to mental illness.

We the Moon at Silverlake Lounge

So I was thinking, "What band should I catch on a Monday night?"  I went to the Silverlake Lounge website and clicked on the Facebook link for We the Moon.  First, I noticed that a couple friends like this band.  Second, I noticed that they have no band photos up.  Then finally, I listened to their single, "We're So Close." It was like I was in outer space.  I was sold.  I headed out to catch the band.

When I got to Silverlake Lounge, I couldn't help but notice that lead singer Chelsea gave off a Shirley Manson vibes.  Since I'm on the lookalike kick, let's say that guitarist Dan could pass as Adam Driver and drummer Matt could double for Colin Farrell.

Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com

The Controversy/Charlie Bird/Green Gerry at The Satellite

This was The Controversy's album release party.  I've seen Laura Vall a couple of times, but I believe this is the first time I saw her band The Controversy.  Before The Controversy hit the stage, Charlie Bird did a short set.  Dressed in white, she performed a short 20 minute set.  The audience was highly appreciative towards the simplicity of her set:  her vocals, an iPhone and a keyboard.  I see something hidden with the simplicity of her song "Step On Your Throat and Die."  I see similarities to Queen Kwong there.  After she finished a set, a friend rushed up with a bouquet of roses.  With a shy look, she waved them off.  The flowers came of use when the next band, Green Gerry, hit the stage.  The lead singer during one song grabbed the bouquet and tossed a few out into the audience before destroying the rest in a frenzy of energy.  The remaining set a played on a bed of rose petals.  Their sound is roughed-up psychedelic.  To end the night for me, The Controversy hit the stage.  Laura Vall has gone from singer-songwriter to goddess of the impressionist dance.  There is this great melding of eurodance music with the American singer-songwriter genre.  I wish I had dance moves like her.    

Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com