Midnight Faces with Night Talks and Moxi at the Bootleg Theater

Midnight Faces

It was Midnight Faces' June residency at the Bootleg Theater. Opening up for them were Night Talks and Moxi. Night Talks had some dreamy music. Their lead singer wore a beautiful sheer shawl. Comment of their set, "We're not British."

Moxi has synth beats layered with beautiful vocals. There was a brief joke about the strawberry moon. "Thanks so much for coming, kiss kiss."

Midnight Faces has some beautiful tunes. At times, I thought they might break out into classic '80s tunes from the likes of a-ha. To end their set, they let their music continue as they walked off the stage.

I got to talk with a photographer who photographed Midnight Faces the previous night. She didn't bring her camera this time around. We discussed camera settings that we use at the Bootleg Theater. Geeks.

Note: two bands with names that deal with the night.


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Caught a Ghost, Mating Ritual and The Lonely Wild at Chinatown Summer Nights

The weather temperature didn't drop much during Chinatown Summer Nights. That also applied to the bands at the LA Weekly stage. Caught a Ghost, Mating Ritual and The Lonely Wild kept the heat high.

Caught a Ghost set veered from dance to pop to gospel. They had a friend that was using confetti cannons. He was shooting confetti into the audience. I gave him some hand motions to send some over Caught a Ghost. He did. I tried my best to capture some solid photos.

Mating Ritual is Ryan Lawhon with friends. The band recently did a residency in front of packed crowds at The Satellite. Ryan is one person who knows how to move on stage. He doesn't always do it by some quick dance moves. A raised arm at just the right angle can highlight the moment.

The Lonely Wild was the main reason why I went out to this Chinatown Summer Nights. I hadn't seen the band in a very long while. Here's a band that is willing to use two trumpets. They always do a Depeche Mode cover. And during one song the drummer played the sides of his cymbals, making them sound like bells. I love that band and they delivered a one hour set.


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Groves with Dark Waves at The Hi Hat

Groves

Groves is doing the June residency at The Hi Hat. This band has some smooth jazz sounds. What did I notice? The keyboardist/bassist would occasionally play both instruments at the same time as well as putting on some dance moves. Talk about multi-tasking. Comment of the set, "I got sweat in my eyes."

Dark Waves opened the night for Groves. I first saw them when they opened for Meg Myers at the El Rey. This band is pure simple power. I love them. Comment of the set, "Some bands get together and really practice, some bands get together and talk about practice around coffee. Yesterday's practice was somewhere in the middle."


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Steady Holiday with Karoshi Mode and Vox at The Satellite

Steady Holiday

It was a spiritual night at The Satellite during a Steady Holiday residency.

Karoshi Mode opened up the night with mystical, ethereal vibes. Random observation: the two female members of the band appeared to have constant communication with each other, leaving a third male member to his own devices. I say devices, because he did have the most interesting contraption on stage. Wires were going everywhere. "How are you doing now?" a band member asked. Someone in the crowd responded, "Shh."

Vox came out with a long white shawl covering a dress. The set felt very minimalist. As for Vox, I got the feeling that I was watching someone from biblical times. The dress and the fact that she was barefoot on a stage with a small Greek pillar made one think of Greeks walking a temple path.

Steady Holiday is Dre Babinski. She was joined on stage by two individuals that I recognized immediate. There was Alina Bea who started things off at Broke LA. And there was Brake Straus who played with Atlas Genius at Make Music Pasadena. Before Dre Babinski brought out her band, she did a couple solo songs. A decorated shield was behind her, which made her look like a royal. A lovely set that calmed the soul. The last night of the residency could get interesting. The Bulls will be there and both bands incorporate a violin. Shall we have a dual of violins?


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Make Music Pasadena 2016

The Mowgli's

Make Music Pasadena. This must be a first. A light drizzle fell on Pasadena during much of the festival. Conversation among photographers was regarding if the rain could potentially cause moisture problems with their cameras. I wasn't too concerned. I figured a camera should be able to handle a light drizzle. I guess I won't learn if I was right for sure until time passes. I did have a towel that I used to wipe down my cameras. I also refused to switch out my lenses. I brought a lens that I always like to use for a few shots during a music festival, but I decided not to take the chance considering the drizzle. As for the musicians, I noticed that Make Music Pasadena organizers were well prepared. They had towels that they put out for the musicians to make so that they could keep things as dry as possible.

So yes, the drizzle was of concern for photographers and musicians, but that didn't put a damper on Make Music Pasadena. The day proved that we in Southern California can handle a light drizzle. Maybe we can't handle rain, but a drizzle . . .

I caught a number of bands/artists. Some I caught for just a couple songs as I rushed from one stage to another. So here are some thoughts on many, but not all the bands I saw.

The day started off with Kid Cadaver. It was a nice way to get the heart pumping at 11 a.m. The drummer knows how to entertain.

I jumped between the Old Towne Pub and the Balcony TV stages next. Baby Medusa rocked out the Old Towne Pub. Sleeplust graced the Balcony TV stage with sounds that had just a twist of the Middle East.

LA Girlfriend was fun and spunky. For the last couple of songs, cheerleaders helped increase the entertainment value.

Dear Lemon Tree (their name used to be Lemon Tree, but they needed a name change as another band already uses that name) is a folk trio. One used a string as a guitar strap. This band also features Leslie Stevens, a staple of the Los Angeles music scene.

Papa's drummer has an unknown amount of energy as he does dual duties as the drummer and lead singer. They also had the statement of the day, "God chose a strange day to rain on us."

The Mowgli's are a band that thrives on positive thinking. They even said the positive, "Honestly, you make it look sunny out here."

Atlas Genius got the crowd hopping. They asked everyone to get low and jump for joy. The crowd got super pumped for their Aussie rock.

Nohka and Medicine for the People had the crowd bringing out the hula hoops.

Chelsea Lankes had to deal with static problems for her first two songs, but that didn't stop her from delivering a killer set. She announced that she just broke up with her boyfriends. The men in the audience cheered. Hopefully, none of those cheering had girlfriends with them.

Warchief was my last band of the day. The Old Towne Pub was packed. I slowly positioned myself closer to the stage so that I could get some photos. This band's encore was "Born to be Wild." That got the crowd singing.

That was 2016. Here's to 2017!!!

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Cave Clove and Thieves at Harvard and Stone

Thieves

It was off to Harvard and Stone on a recent Tuesday night.

Cave Clove's lead singer lets her vocals soar. She does have support as often times they go with a trio of vocals that hit a touch of country along with a little Americana. As for their guitarist, he hid in the shadows of the Harvard and Stone stage. This band came to Los Angeles from Oakland and I couldn't help but think during their set that they've probably played the Amnesia in San Francisco.

Thieves has a serious full sounding band. They love the dueling vocals. As for full sounding band, they even brought out a toy piano, which reminded me of Eliza Rickman. I couldn't help but notice that to close out the set the guitarist was practically betting himself with his guitar.


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Franky Flowers and King Shelter at The Echo

Franky Flowers

This was the second time I've seen Franky Flowers. I first saw them when they did a set with The Fontaines at The Silverlake Lounge. I couldn't help but notice their running shoes matched with dockers. And then there was also my fascination with how the lead singer used his foot pedals. The band ended their set with a symphonic sound, which was probably limited by the fact that there was a broken guitar string, but how better to end a set then to show that you gave it your all on the guitar?

King Shelter opened up for Franky Flowers. This band jumped around stage so much that they got their guitar cords all tangled up. They also had the quote of the set, "This song is about my observations of Southern California after moving out here from Fort Lauderdale, pretty weird.


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Emily Gold and The Bomb at Harvard and Stone

Emily Gold

It was off to Harvard and Stone to catch Emily Gold's final residency night. She came on stage wearing a Sister Crowley pin. I did some quick Facebook research. Sister Crowley is a band from Long Beach. Psychedelic lights played across the Harvard and Stone stage and gave the perfect background for a dreamy set.

The Bomb opened up for Emily Gold and stated that this was only their 5th show. Wow, they hit it out of the park with their '70s bell bottoms and rock grooves. The crowd even demanded that they play an encore. The band seemed very excited by this request. They grouped together and came up with a song for their encore. That left the crowd very pleased.


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A Movie Review. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) is out to manipulate Superman (Henry Cavill) and Batman (Ben Affleck) into getting into a battle to the death with each other. Batman needs no encouragement. During Superman's battle with General Zod in Metropolis, a significant number of Wayne employees died in a Metropolis office building. Superman needs the encouragement. Yes, he has issues with Batman's vigilante justice, but he doesn't have a desire to kill Batman.

Yet, Luthor's manipulation includes the kidnapping someone close to Superman. Even then, Superman has no desire to fight Batman. Instead he's hoping to convince Batman to join forces with him to go up against Lex Luthor; however, Batman has no desire to negotiate. One would think that Superman could easily defeat Batman; however, Batman has gotten a hold of kryptonite -- stolen from Lex Luthor.

Joining in all of this is Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) who when first introduced almost reminds you of Cat Woman. Of course, as the movie reaches it conclusion, you get to see the true power of Wonder Woman.  

I'm honestly not even sure if this movie is interesting. I might have to watch it again to re-judge it. One issue is that the movie just starts out slow. It starts like a re-boot with a brief introduction of how Bruce Wayne became Batman and then does a quick review of what occurred in Man of Steel. Now the review of Man of Steel was needed as it highlighted the reasoning behind Batman's hatred of Superman. On the other hand, I think for those who have watched Gotham on TV, Gotham does the introduction of Bruce Wayne in such a better manner that it makes this introduction look weak by comparison.

My other problem is that in previous movies you find yourself cheering for both Batman and Superman. In this movie, Batman is just plain wrong. He jumps to conclusions without a willingness to discuss. He can't even see that even with the deaths around Metropolis that Superman saved the world from becoming slaves to General Zod. He is filled with vengeance without a sense of morals. You just find yourself screaming, "I hope Batman dies."

As for the scheming of Lex Luthor, I started to get confused on what exactly he was trying to do. Sure, you know his goal is to become Mr. Evil, but why? What is he doing? Does he have a coherent plan?

This is definitely a movie to watch at home or a dollar theater like I did.

Funny moment: during the previews a little girl gave commentary on a couple of trailers. "I want to see that." "That movie looks awesome." Everyone in the theater were laughing.

Ivory Deville and Rod Melancon at the Silverlake Lounge

Rod Melancon

Ivory Deville and Rod Melancon hit the stage while I was at the Silverlake Lounge on a Monday night. I noticed the lead singer from Ivory Deville taking out his foot pedals from a old style leather brief case. That was pretty cool. The band quickly went into their honky-tonk sounds with the two female members of the band dancing like they were possessed by the music.

Quote of the night by Ivory Deville, "If you brought your dancing boots, there's some room there and I advise you to do so."

Closing out the night was Rod Melancon with some perfectly coiffed hair. With his Rusty James guitar, Rod and his backup band went on an Americana music gig. With a Ranger t-shirt and a tattoo on his left arm, Rod jammed away and at times knelt down to really take Rusty James to new heights.




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A Movie Review. Captain American: Civil War

Captain America: Civil War. So this movie got a really high Rottentomatoes score, which kind of surprised me after seeing it. My quick summary: the movie's plot line is so-so, but the questions it brings up is excellent.

Captain America (Chris Evans) along with some other Avengers are attempting to prevent terrorists from stealing a deadly virus that is being stored in Africa. They wreck the city and at the end of the fight, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) is partially responsible for the deaths of innocents who are working in an office building.

After this unfortunate outcome along with a number of other similar outcomes that one knows about via previous Marvel movies, the United Nations decides to pass the Sokovia Accords, which is meant to oversee the Avengers. A debate among the Avengers breaks out with sides being taken on if they should sign the accords.

When Captain America's friend, Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), is spotted setting off a bomb, a definite division between the Avengers occurs. Captain America leads one group while another led by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) leads another. This is where the interesting questions start to pop up: who is actually in the right? Iron Man argues that the team needs to work with the UN, considering all the obvious destruction that has happened. A degree of buy-in would be good. Captain America doesn't buy into this argument and when his friend is caught setting off the bomb, he decides to figure out the truth by finding his friend before the UN does. Iron Man and his team attempt to stop Captain America from circumventing the capture of Winter Soldier.

I have to give this movie a mild negative review. I wish the story line was more fascinating. As for the questions it brings up: friendship vs rules; sure these things can be debated, but should those questions be the primary driver of what is supposed to be a popcorn summer movie? An Oscar nominated movie? Most definite. A summer popcorn movie? Those questions should be more in the background.