Spider Problem @ Silverlake Lounge

Spider Problem. This is a band that plays like the Roller Derby. At least, the lead singer, Shayne, does. Within the first two or three songs, she was driving her way into the audience and then sprawling herself on the floor. She uses the microphone more than just for singing, swinging it around while this way and that until it came flying off the stage and a fan needed to retrieve it while she looked blankly around wondering what had happened. Later in the set, her microphone went dead -- the cord was disconnected from the wall.

I have to mention the big stuffed white teddy bear that she brought on stage. She spent time jumping on top of it. The guitar player had a bit of fun with it, as well. Towards the end of the set, there was a bit of fun with the bear as she would toss it into the audience and the audience would toss it right back.

Her other band mates join in on the fun on occasion. The guitar player and her have this "slam dance" relationship on stage, banging each other around with some glee. The bass player got involved at one moment. Shayne was sprawled over the monitor and he stepped on her.

A brief appearance was made by the female singer from the previous band for one song.

A sweet moment towards the end was when Shayne asked the audience, "Should we do one or two more songs. You guys don't have to go anywhere do you?" It was pass midnight by this point. Spider Problem was supposed to go on at 11 p.m. The audience had dwindled to less than half of those that listened to the previous band. Even in hipster Silverlake, people need to get up and work the next day.

Porterville at Silverlake Lounge

Monday, May 19, 2008. Porterville is a band that will send you into a dancing frenzy. The band hails from Porterville -- therefore the name. Porterville is a three piece all male band. As I mentioned, the band will send you dancing, which is strange when you see the band, because one could describe them as geeky. It doesn't matter, because their sound will have you going. For a couple songs, they had a guest female take the lead vocals -- red hair flying.

Notes from Vivace

Queen Kwong

I saw Queen Kwong at the Silverlake Lounge on May 14. It is a three piece band with a female lead singer. Per her website, the lead singer, Carre Callaway was the opening act for Nine Inch Nails in Fresno. This sort of explains things, because the set at the Silverlake Lounge was very good -- especially for a band that was only doing its third set (if I heard correctly.) So even if the band is new to the Los Angeles music scene, she is hardly a new face in music.

Queen Kwong has this Mazzy Star feel to it so this is hardly a band that has NIN influences. Most of the set was relatively mild focusing on Carre's vocals. For their last song, it picked up dramatically, which lead to an interesting situation. I guy in the audience got inspired and jumped to the front of the stage where he began to prostrate himself in front of the band. He hugged the monitor and then threw the microphone stand aside. Someone from the audience sort of looked at the situation and then pushed the guy back into the audience. Another person came over and put the microphone stand back together. Ah, the crazy drunk guy . . . every so often you see them around the Los Angeles music scene.

Notes from Vivace

Eject at the Viper Room

I caught this band called Eject at the Viper Room recently. It is a four piece band. I guess I’d describe them as a Cure-like band without the depressing sound. I guess that is a strange sentence that might not make much sense. Their set was filled with some great catchy songs. There was a nice group of friends that had come out to see them. Most of them were rather hip looking folks. I wouldn't mind catching them another time.

Jean Paul Yamamoto at Safari Sam's

I saw this band called Jean Paul Yamamoto at Safari Sam’s in Hollywood Tuesday night. It’s this Asian band with a Caucasian drummer. I did a little research and the lead singer/guitar player is Lun*na Menoh, a Japanese artist. Their set started out with a lady coming out on stage with a stack of paper with written words on each sheet, which she proceeded to toss across the stage one by one as the audience read what was on each sheet. I wasn’t sure if this was the start of the show or not. It was of course, and was a uniquely artistic way to open a set. It was too bad I didn’t pay closer attention to the written word. The band than proceeded came on stage and started their set. There were two ladies, one on each side, dressed in white, looking like either angels or characters from sci-fi cartoons. They slowly swept their arms around as the band sang. The music itself has an electronic feel to it. The other three members; a guitar player, drummer and singer/guitar were also dressed in white. What was interesting about the whole set was that the two ladies made three costume changes throughout the set, but for some reason I was preoccupied by other things on the stage that I didn’t even notice them exiting. I’m not exactly sure how that occurred since this isn’t a band that provides you with a big stage show. Perhaps it is just the subtle action on stage during these transitions that caused me to get distracted. And oh, there’s that big white wig that the lead singer wears.

Notes from Vivace

Automatic Music Explosion. Venice Air Conditioned Supper Club.

I caught The Automatic Music Explosion at the Venice Air Conditioned Supper Club. The audience at Venice-ACSC was a bit stand off-ish at first, but by the end of the set there was growing interest. It was likely driven by the active performance that the band displayed throughout their set. The ending was particularly energetic with various band members flying around the stage. One can tell that they’re a well rehearsed band. At one time, the two guitar players and bass player were aligned in a sharp angle. It is a small thing to notice, but indicates a belief in practice makes perfect. I’d recommend checking this band out. And the Venice-ACSC is a good place to check out, as well. There were probably 80 – 100 people there during the Automatic Music Explosion set.

Notes from Vivace

Lady Danville at UCLA

I came across this band called Lady Danville recently. I enjoyed their set so figured I'd give a quick write-up:

This is a folk/acoustic type band. It is a three piece band with a keyboardist, guitar, and a percussionist. The percussionist plays on a cajon (a beat box, box drum type instrument). It was a pleasant set. It is the type of music that you listen to when you want to sit back and relax. The melodies are strong, the rhythm is pleasant. The guys in the band appear to get along with each other. There isn’t much interaction on stage between the three members, but you still get the feeling they enjoy playing as a trio.

Notes from Vivace

"Definitely, Maybe" film preview

I've seen the trailer for "Definitely, Maybe" a handful of times. There is a scene where the father is telling his daughter about a threesome. The daughter asks, "What is a threesome?" The father says something like, "It is a game that adults play." I wonder if others out there find this a bit disturbing. Okay, so it is meant as comedy and it is sort of funny, but on the other hand it isn't. Why would anyone talk about a threesome with their pre-teen daughter? And the actress herself is a pre-teen. It just seems wrong to have allowed something like this to be written and filmed.

Notes from Vivace

I am Legend

I enjoyed the movie, but so many questions. Some of these questions might be stupid or might have been answered if I’d paid better attention to the movie, but here they are:

First, how did Robert Neville get all that lab equipment into his basement? I suppose that while the virus was starting up, he might have gotten some help from the military.

Second, if “the infected” are smart enough to put together a trap, why aren’t they smart enough to track Robert Neville’s daytime movement more carefully? They obviously knew where he went to get his videos. I suppose you could argue that they didn’t track him to the video store, but instead randomly came across it during their night walks and made the assumption that this was where Robert Neville hung out at times.

Third, how could Anna and Ethan survive in a truck with “the infected” all around the country?

Fourth, I understand that there is easily a breakdown in communication when a country falls apart, but why was Robert Neville unable to get into contact with the safe zone over a 3 year period? Anna and Ethan had obviously heard of this safe zone so why wouldn’t Robert Neville with all that fancy equipment of his not have known about this safe zone as well? And if he somehow wasn’t aware, why wasn’t the safe zone looking for him? Anna knew that Robert Neville was an important figure in the fight against the virus. Wouldn’t this safe zone be interested in figuring out if Robert Neville was still alive in New York? And wouldn’t the safe zone also be sending out messages to the potentially uninfected?

Fifth, if “the infected” have this ability to scale three story townhouses, wasn’t the safe zone walls rather short?

Sixth, what are all the side effects of being infected? You obviously look awful, but you’re still able to strategize. You turn extremely vicious and violent, but you also wear cloths and hoard American dollars.

Seventh, for a city with the infected in it, the city looked remarkably well kept. The infected looked a bit vicious, I just wonder why more damage wasn’t done to the city.

Eight, what do the infected eat after three years? I suppose they feed on animal flesh.

Ninth, do the infected reproduce?

Tenth, so Robert Neville uses a grenade to kill off the leader of the pack. So wouldn’t using a grenade in the basement cause problems for Anna and Ethan who are in the safe? Couldn’t a blast potentially jam the door?

Notes from Vivace

The Kingdom -- The Movie

I saw The Kingdom a few days ago. While watching the movie, I was semi-disturbed. Is the Saudi Intelligence service really that incompetent? I would think they'd have a rather good Saudi version of the FBI considering that they're in the Middle East. Maybe I'm wrong. I also found the movie to be another one of those white men to the rescue type movies. Of course, Jamie Foxx is black so perhaps I should say it was one of those Americans coming to the rescue type movies. As another example of a movie that had this sort of underlying theme, The Last Samurai, which I like to call White Men Dancing with Samurai -- my take on Dancing with the Wolves. Maybe my memory is a little vague, but I do believe that both The Kingdom and The Last Samurai had that moment where the American gets to meet the royal family and immediately has some influence on future decisions -- give me a break. I've come to the point where I don't really like movies where Americans come to the rescue, because I really don't believe that other cultures need to be rescued or educated. Of course, I also hate movies where Americans are humbled -- such as The Day After Tomorrow. I guess I just hate implied storylines that deal with Americans being seen as overly helpful or overly in need of a lesson.

Over-all, The Kingdom wasn't a bad movie. It had some intense moments. I just had this sneaky suspicion that it was a movie that was trying to make the Saudi intelligence service look incompetent just to make the FBI look competent.

Notes from Vivace

Eagle Rock Music Festival

I went out to the Eagle Rock Music Festival in Los Angeles. This is the second year I've gone. I'd say last year was better. Last year I saw Great Northern and Monsters Are Waiting. I liked Great Northern. I fell in love with Monsters Are Waiting. This year I caught The Mormons, The Pity Party, Black Shakespeare, Virginia City Revival and Under the Influence of Giants.

The Mormons and Virginia City Revival sort of perform in a world that makes comedy of religion. The Mormons is obvious. The band members dress as Mormons on bikes. They also take another shot at Mormons as there is a guy who just stands back, smoking. Virginia City Revival makes fun of Southern Revival meetings. Both are a little much for me. VCR does have some great costumes. One guitar player plays in drag. The lead singer like a Southern preacher. I guess you should give them props for that.

The Pity Party is an interesting two piece band. One plays drums and keyboard at times. The other is on guitar. I wasn't the most impressed with this group, but it was interesting. There was a guy in the audience who was yelling out, "You suck." I'm not sure why you'd say that to a local band that plays gigs for free. It just seems rude. A security guard starting walking over, but the guy moved on.

I saw Black Shakespeare while eating. Interesting world music band. Sort of funk. Sort of African.

Under the Influence of Giants was the main draw. They're sort of a mellow rock group. The instrumentals aren't out front like other bands. I don't believe the drummer ever had his moment. This isn't criticism. It is just how the band works. Amazon.com classifies them as a funk band. I'm not sure if this matches them well. I enjoyed the band. There was a bit of fun regarding a light saber. And the lead singer took a dual role on the drum set. It was an interesting sight seeing two people playing the drums. It was a cool band to end the night with.