Echo Park Rising and Chinatown Summer Nights

Beginners

It was a busy weekend for me -- that's last weekend. I guess not as busy as for some local music lovers who probably caught a plethora of bands, but still busy. I jumped from Echo Park Rising to Chinatown Summer Nights and then back to Echo Park Rising. Of course, not in one day. It was Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

On Friday, I caught Beca and Disco Shrine. I went to this small cafe called Trencher. It took FOREVER to find parking. I'm addicted to free parking so I was driving all over Echo Park, trying to find free parking. I think I probably made it over to Angelino Heights for a bit. I actually saw both Beca and Disco Shrine previously. I saw Beca a couple years back at Make Music Pasadena. I saw Disco Shrine at this year's Broke LA. And well, I tend to run into Jessica (of Disco Shrine) every once in awhile at other music festivals.

On Saturday, it was off to see Night Talks opening up at Chinatown Summer Nights. I saw them previously at the Bootleg Theater and wanted to catch them again. So someone probably doesn't want this to be mentioned, but one reason Night Talks opened their set up a few minutes late was because someone accidentally put their batteries in the wrong way. I stuck around and caught three other bands: Lone Kodiak, Dream Club and Beginners. Lone Kodiak had the most interesting lyrics, "Have you crossed the Indian Ocean? Now you're lost on the Indian Ocean." Dream Club's music is influenced by Native American spiritual sounds. And two of the band members have the cutest son. During the final couple songs, the son kept on trying to get his dad's attention. He wanted permission to use the party popper. After the set, the kid tried to set off the popper, but just couldn't do it. He would struggle and end up pointing the popper directly at his friends who would then quickly point the popper directly back towards the sky. My night ended with the Beginners who reminded me of an old favorite local band of mine called The Randies. Well, Beginners are now on my list of favorite bands.

Closing out the crazy weekend of music was a run back to Echo Park Rising where I was able to find parking in a much easier fashion. I got to see Minnow and The Controversy. This time, I was at The Lost Room. Minnow had one energetic set. So energetic that the keyboardist lost his balance and had to jump off the stage in order not to fall over. The Controversy is a band that I've seen a number of times. Their music, of course, is awesome.


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Kauf with LO MOON and Clara-Nova at The Echo

Kauf

It was off to see Kauf, the August residency band at The Echo.

First up was LO MOON. They're dark and moody with pulsating drums and guitars. And then there was the hair toss and cracked smile when things went perfectly with a song.

Clara-Nova's lead singer is a vocal queen. She was dressed in white with an alto voice of pure spender. And just a small notice: she uses a drum stick with such grace. I specifically went to this Echo residency night as I wanted to catch this band as I missed them at Make Music Pasadena. I'm happy I set aside this date. Many in the audience were moved by her set. I saw one individual with tears in her eyes.

Kauf's set was played under low lights of hazy blue. With their electronic sound, I think that was more than appropriate.


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Frogtown Art Walk and Honeychain

Honeychain was the first band up at the Frog Spot. This was my first time seeing this band even though I've been aware of them for the last couple years. Wow, it took a long time to catch this band.

Their guitarist used to play in Silver Needle -- a band I saw many a time.

What did I notice: the lead singer had some really clean shoes. Also, this band likes to lean on each other. This is a band that just likes to rock. They were also thoughtful. They cut a song out of their set, because they knew they'd started their set late and they didn't want to cause everyone else to get pushed off their start times.

After seeing Honeychain, I took off for a walk going to various locations to see some cool paintings, photos and sculptures. Some locations had chips, bagels, candy, fruits and other snacks. I snacked away.


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Smoky Knights and Bones Muhroni at The Hi Hat

Bones Muhroni

Smoky Knights and Bones Muhroni hit the stage at The Hi Hat a little over two weeks ago. Smokey Knights was up first. First thing one notices is their fashion sense. One dressed in psychedelic garb. Another dressed like a country star. A third dressed in gold pants. One of their lyrics went lie, "Whatever happened to Silverlake? The Sunset Strip is pay to play." What else did I notice: At the end of one song, the drummer went all air drumming.

As for Bones Muhroni, they're the residency band for August. At times, they seem to come across as Prince. Other times, there is the falsetto vocals. At another, you think Blue Brothers. What did I notice: after two songs, the lead singer finally took a set list out from his pocket.



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A Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond. The USS Enterprise arrives at a space station that is home to thousands of people. They are there for some downtime. During their time there, an escape pod arrives with a single survivor. The USS Enterprise is sent to rescue what might remain of the crew. They go through a dangerous nebula and after exiting it arrive at a planet. Unfortunately, they've been set up. They are attacked, led by an individual named Krall (Ibris Elba). The USS Enterprise is destroyed, crashing on the planet.

Krall's goal is to capture a weapon that was stored on the USS Enterprise -- we learn about this weapon at the very start of the movie.

The movie rushes forward as our USS Enterprise crew attempt to stop Krall from using the weapon. Along the way, we get to bump into Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), a cool character that we hopefully get to see again should additional Star Trek movies get made.

What's my opinion of the movie? I'm so-so on it. First, the weapon. Okay, it is a scary weapon when used against individuals. However, I never got the sense that it was some scary weapon like a nuclear bomb. Kill Krall and there goes the weapon, right? Or once started, did the weapon continue to expand. Of course, in that case, isn't Krall condemning himself to doom? If anything, I think Krall should have just continued to live forever -- as was one of the advantages -- and build up some major force. I suppose that was his end goal, but why go so aggressive. He seemed to show his hand before he had sufficient strength.

Second, do Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine have issues with each other? Commander Spock and Captain James T. Kirk are supposed to be great friends. Yet, I felt like McCoy (Karl Urban) had a better relationship with Kirk. Also, I think McCoy had more screen time with Spock versus Spock and Kirk sharing screen time.

What makes it cool: as mentioned, Jaylah is a awesome character. The movie does keep your attention even if I felt the weapon in play didn't create major fear.

Rachel Goodrich and Bjorn and the Sun at Harvard and Stone

I didn't get to catch Rachel Goodrich at Make Music Pasadena. There are so many bands playing Make Music Pasadena that sometimes decisions have to be made; however, I did want to catch her. So a couple months late, I finally got to see her play a set. It was awesome. Most of the set was with her playing a guitar on her lap. "I always knew I wanted to be free," she sang. She had me thinking of Laena Geronimo blended with Great Northern.

Bjorn and the Sun brought a little country/Nashville/Los Angeles to Harvard and Stone. Amanda and David, per their Facebook page, are lovers. That puts some love into their set. It also makes for great interaction. Just look at one of the photos I have in the gallery. If that isn't the look of love, I don't know what love is.


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Diana Ebe at Hotel Cafe

Sometimes something random happens. I got a message from Diana Ebe, asking if I'd be interested in doing some photography of her set at Hotel Cafe that night. Work was tough that week so I wasn't positive I could make it, but I was pretty sure. Well, I made it with 15 minutes to spare. How about that for timing? Not that I was on the verge of missing her set, I just knew when exactly I had to leave work.

Diana Ebe is from Sweden. She has a warm smile and greets with a hug.

Her bio states that she is influenced by Lorde. I'd say she is also influenced by classic 80s R&B like Anita Baker. Her vocals have a deep sound that just sway you throughout the set.

Nico Yaryan with Healing Gems and Gregg Garvey at the Bootleg Theater

Nico Yaryan

Nico Yaryan is the August residency artist at the Bootleg Theater. This is a man with his keyboard. I felt there was a touch of Phil Collins there. His set had a mellow feel to it and the audience greatly appreciated it. I noticed he comes from Santa Cruz. A couple years back I spent a few weeks up there. A nice small coastal town.

Lyrics of the set: I'm a fool and I'll be a fool until I die.

Healing Gems and Gregg Garvey opened. Healing Gems had a calypso sound going for them. Their set was a jam session in front of a chill audience. When the guitarist had some sound problems, his band mates took time out to drink some IPA. Gregg Garvey set was earnest. His lyrics, "So here we are, all we know presently." The stage lights played with the lite spurts of fog from the fog machine through the set.


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