mewithoutYou at the El Rey

I'm always giving suggestions to certain friends about local Los Angeles bands. Recently, one of those friends said, "There's this band called mewithoutYou that is coming to Los Angeles. I'd really like to check them out. Let me know if you're interested."

Of course, I was interested. I'm always up to seeing new bands -- unless they're some death metal band or the like.

First off, the tickets were sold via Ticketmaster. It was interesting how the tickets were $13, but doubled with all the added fees that Ticketmaster applies. Oh well, that is life.

Three of us headed off to the El Rey. We got there around 7:30 p.m. There was already a decent line outside the El Rey. I had to stand in the will call line while my friends stood in the ticket line. I kind of got irritated, because the venue wasn't allowing anyone to pick up their tickets. I was sort of thinking it wasn't all that fair if people that came by at 8:00 p.m. (let's say), but had tickets in hand got to go inside the venue before those having to stand in the will call line. Ah, in the end, that didn't happen. In fact, will call people were allowed inside the El Rey first. Actually, I'm not sure that is all that fair either. Of course, it isn't like there were 2,000 people waiting in line to get into a first come first serve spot so it only really mattered to the 30 or so folks who might have wanted to be right up against the stage. In fact, most of the early entry people took to the chairs that line the walls of the El Rey.

The doors opened up a little past 8 p.m. The first band, Bear Colony started at 9 p.m. -- probably on the dot, actually. I enjoyed their set. My friends weren't as convinced about them. (Funny, we thought they called themselves Bear Claw. We started making jokes that we just saw a donut and now we were going to see a movie.) The next band was Dear Hunter. By the end of their set, folks were demanding an encore. I think there was temporary thought on Dear Hunter's end to do an encore, but I think they were told that the night was a bit behind schedule. An interesting note on this band is that three of the musicians had keyboards -- now not all three would play the keyboards at the same time, two of the musicians also played the guitar. I think that note just shows how unique this band is.






When Dear Hunter finished their set, crowds started to squeeze towards the stage. People were obviously there to see mewithoutYou. When they went on stage the crowd went wild. During the set, it was fun just watching the crowd. Many were singing along. Others seemed in pure ecstasy. This being the first time seeing this band, I couldn't help but feel that mewithoutYou to a large extent was rock combined with the spoken word. I am pleased to say that when I looked up the band on wikipedia, that it was mentioned that the band is inspired by the spoken word. From watching, it seemed that they were having some technical difficulties during the set, but it didn't sound like it. An interesting note on the band is that it is a 6 piece band, but usually they played with five musicians -- two of the musicians rotating out depending on the song. Interesting note about the lead singer: he's a freegan -- people who eat discarded food from restaurants and grocery stores.

Over-all, a very enjoyable night. And when I walked out I couldn't help but notice that a favorite band, Spider Problem, is playing at the El Rey in the near future. Cheers to them.

Final note: The photos aren't the best. I was rather far back and with my camera I need to be within a few feet to get really good photos.

Los Angeles Lakers Parade!!!

A friend and I took the Red Line from Western and Hollywood. There was an e-mail question put out there regarding getting a $5 day pass. We didn't do it. At the ticket machine, a group of fellow fans were having a similar debate on getting a day pass. They were considering walking from the parade route to the Coliseum. They had a similar plan as I did, which ultimately failed.

We met up with some other friends around 23rd street. Below is the pre-parade crowd.



A couple Lakers flags. The high flying makes me think about an ancient military battle field where victors are hailed after a long fight.



The police were constantly going up and down Figueroa. From what I could see, people were well behaved -- except for one stupid move by a large group of people.



The first sign of the Lakers.



Here are the fire engines with the cheerleaders.



So those firemen are lucky, no?



Here we go.



Close up shot.



More closeup shots.



A very closeup shot of a cheerleader. I think she's looking directly at the camera don't you think? I quickly figured out that when I tried doing super closeup shots, the vehicles were moving way to quickly to capture a perfect shot.



The band.



The band again.



A final cheerleader.



Here come the players.



Gasol saying we're number one.



I think Kareem is looking directly at the camera.



Farmar talking to someone.



I think Kobe is looking directly at the camera, as well.



Kobe and family. And the mayor off to the side.



The crowd heading on an unfulfilled march towards the Coliseum.



Crossing an overpass. Fans were screaming. Cars were honking horns.



A car showing all out support.



Okay, here's where you have stupid people trying to walk onto the freeway. There should have been some police at this entrance. Oh well.



My view of the Coliseum.



I always thought these people only hung out at the AIDS Walk. Just kidding.



I think for the most part, the police were cool as well as the fans.



Hey, if you couldn't get into the Coliseum, why not catch what you can on the television.

This was an over-all great day even though I couldn't get into the Coliseum. I guess it was closed down by 10 a.m. The last times the Lakers won, I saw the parade on Figueroa and then just walked to the Staples Center and when everyone got settled there was still some space for additions fans. I guess this one was much more popular.

Interesting: Councilwoman Jan Perry was complaining about how the city had no money for a parade. The costs were covered by private donations and the LA Lakers. But when I was watching the Coliseum ceremony later in the day via DVR, I couldn't help but notice she was doing the pre-Lakers celebration warm-ups. Politicians do love the attention even if they have initial reservations about something.

Amusement Parks on Fire at Echoplex

A friend of mine suggested checking out Kevin Bronson's BuzzBands.LA show at the Echoplex. Of the night, the band I most loved was Amusement Parks On Fire. The band's style is called shoegaze. I suppose this is correct, because throughout their set you're hit with a wall of sound: electronic guitars, bass, keyboards. It is just this beautiful sound that rocks your body. I loved this band from the start of their set. When it ended, people called out for an encore, but unfortunately they were finished for the night.

I suspect their set was cut short by a song. Towards the end of their set, the bass player busted one of his strings. He went scurrying around trying to find another bass -- I'm suspecting his own -- but none was too be found. He made a call out to one of the other bands to lend him a bass. Eventually someone from another band came to his help.

Photographers galore were around. If you want to see some hot photos of the night check out Kevin Bronson's blog site. Or here are some of my less worthy pics of the night.

The Monthlies after an ArtWalk

Art District (Edgar Varela Fine Arts) to see The Monthlies. This was one of those strange nights. A friend told me about this night. I checked in with her before heading out to see if she was still going out. She didn’t end up coming. I half thought about leaving once I was given the news, but I figured that since I was already there I might as well catch one band before taking off. The band I saw was The Monthlies. This is a four piece band. They have a smooth, melodic rock feel to them. The guitar player is the front woman who does the song introductions and provides the little stories versus the lead singer taking the lead. One little tidbit she told, “Don’t worry if I start bleeding. I just had an accident with my cat. Don’t ask.” She also mentioned that one of their songs was going to be used by True Blood as soon as they recorded it.


As for the location. It was off on the east side of Downtown Los Angeles. It was an interesting location. There was an art gallery on the top floor – nothing massive. The bands played outside, behind the back of the building. Just a bit down the street, the late night shift of warehouse workers were getting product ready to ship. The crowd was definitely an art crowd – it was after an ArtWalk.

Underwater City People and The Shakers at El Cid

El Cid with Underwater City People and The Shakers. This was a Rob Z night at El Cid. These nights are always special because everyone knows everyone else. Underwater City People was the first band of the night. I invited some friends for the night. They got there before me and I guess they initially thought that no one was around. When we went inside El Cid there was a decent number of folks for UCP and a friend said, “There are a lot of people here.” The emphasis being on “are.” And she continued, “Are they all here for Underwater City People?” I looked around and said, “It looks like it.”

The Shakers were up next. This was the second time around that I saw them. Jodie has a voice that screams in tune. Chris on guitar just can’t stop moving his legs. He does the jitterbug dance during the whole set. It’ll be fun seeing how this band develops over the next few months and years.

UCLA Achitecture Exhibition

A friend of mine invited me to attend the UCLA Achitecture Exhibition this past Monday night, June 8th.

I'm not an expert on achitecture so I'm not going to do any analysis of the various models.

There was an interesting gallery that showed a design of the San Diego ocean front for the American Cup.

It was a really nice night. They had a bar. And the exhibition covered two floors. I've actually taken classes at UCLA. I believe I recall seeing this event in the past, but didn't know what was going on.

Below are some photos.

Autopop, Neo Geo, Sucker for Pumps and The Shakers at Bordello

After Game 1 of the NBA finals, I headed off to Bordello to catch some local music. This was my first time at Bordello. It is on the east side of Downtown Los Angeles so I didn't catch any of the traffic leaving the Staples Center.

The first band I saw was called Auto Pop. A latin-flavored rock band.


Next up was a band called Neo Geo from Orange County. A female led band.


The third band of the night was Sucker for Pumps.


And finally, The Shakers. My main reason for coming out to The Bordello was to see The Shakers.



There is more to write about this night. I'll post something up on intraffik.com at some point.

Pu$$y Cow at Kibitz, I was sort of there

I headed off to Canter’s/Kibitz Room Wednesday night to catch one of my favorite local bands, Pu$$y Cow. It was an interesting night for me. I showed up around 10:30 p.m. Tina Stevens, a jazz singer, was doing her set. The set went on for awhile -- I think till 11:45 p.m.-ish. I spent my time just talking with various individuals.

Pu$$y Cow didn't go on stage till midnight. Now this is where I'm a bit of a loser. I stuck around for about two songs and then headed off to catch some zzz's. Oh well, my excuse is, I needed to work the next day and it takes thirty minutes to drive home, meaning I actually didn't get to bed till near 1 a.m. Does that stand as an excuse? Probably not. I suppose I need to be a bit more honest. I also wanted to catch some bands on Thursday night. It is sort of the same excuse . . . I just had to limit how late I could stay out on a Wednesday night.

My Spring '09 Movie Rankings

It stands alone:



1 Adventureland. Just the superior movie of this time frame.



Very Enjoyable:



2 Sunshine Cleaning. A lovely movie.



3 State of Play. Intense. Kept my attention.



4 Jesus People. Not in theatres. A movie to keep an eye out for.



Good, but not going down as classics anytime soon.



5 Fast and Furious. I wish I could drive that fast and dangerously.



6 I Love You, Man. A good laugh.



7 Knowing. Philosophical sci-fi.



Ouch



8 Earth. Animals running around. Oh fun . . . (not).



9 Monsters vs. Aliens. Maybe I'm bored with cartoons.



10 Watchmen. Painful. A disaster.