Vise VIrsa and Underwater City People at Old Towne Pub

It was off to Old Towne Pub in Pasadena to catch Vise Virsa and Underwater City People. The week was spent going out and about so I was a little tired out, but I couldn't miss Underwater City People -- one of my favorite bands.

Vise Virsa



Underwater City People

The Mulhollands, The Royal Heist and Bathroom Murders at Club Moscow

It was off to Club Moscow for The Mulhollands record release party. I have to be honest that practically the only time I go to Club Moscow is when The Mulhollands are playing so I can’t say that anything is standard, but they usually let us in come 10 p.m. On this particular night, we didn’t get in until closer to 10:15 p.m. And usually the first band is playing, but for this night the first band didn’t get on stage for another fifteen minutes or so. Interesting, as Club Moscow seems to be rather strict on start times. Not a big deal, it was just something I noticed.

Anyways, the first band of the night was The Royal Heist. I am familiar with the band, having seen their name around, but surprisingly this was the first time I caught a set of theirs. Interesting note, the lead singer was using Sarah Jeanette’s microphone stand. Next up was
Bathroom Murders. I’ve seen them once at Club Moscow. I guess like The Mulhollands, they’re regulars at Club Moscow. I took a peak at their myspace page and they are lined up to play Club Moscow for the next few months. They only played perhaps half their set. They had some unfortunate computer glitches. My friend described them as a party band.

The final band of the night were The Mulhollands. Sarah Jeanette was looking beautiful in a polka dot dress. The band was hyped for their record release party. The fans were also hyped. I have this feeling that a lot of the people were there for The Mulhollands. I actually stayed put where I was, because I would have had a difficult time moving anywhere else. Screams were heard throughout their set. Anyways, as I was waiting around to buy their CD after their set, I noticed a young woman vomiting behind a curtain. I was feeling sorry for her and then as she was being led outside she bumped up against me. At that point, my feelings of sorry turned to the following thought: Gross, watch your step.

Comment: If we sell out our CDs, Jeff will have to make out with me.

My funny little story: I noticed a couple of friends near the bar. I waved hello to them. A young woman standing between my friends and me started waving to me. Once she noticed I was waving to my friends behind me, she got embarrassed and hid behind a friend. Ahh.

The Royal Heist










Bathroom Murders











The Mulhollands

Kissing Cousins, Rumspringa and We Barbarians at Spaceland

I walked into Spaceland and caught the last song of Kissing Cousins. I immediately wished I’d shown up a little earlier. The next band up was Rumspringa. One of the band members played their set in socks. Another in honor of being at Spaceland, made a handful of space alien jokes. A guy was right up front with a Viking hat. For some reason, I felt this was more appropriate for the residency band, We Barbarians, but he seemed to disappear before We Barbarians came on stage (or he got rid of the hat). What was nice about that night was that Spaceland was packed for both Kissing Cousins and Rumspringa. My general feeling is that the place usually isn't packed for the first band – and I have to admit that I generally skip the first band, as well. We Barbarians were the June residency band. I finally made it out to their last show. They had at least one huge fan in the audience. She had a poster of the band and it looked like she'd gotten all to sign it for her expect for one band member who she got to sign it right before the set. The band seemed to be having issues with the bass drum inching forward too much after each song, the drummer slamming the kick too hard.

Kissing Cousins





Rumspringa











We Barbarians

Pu$$y Cow, Madison Bloodbath and Dan Padilla in Highland Park

Pu$$y Cow, Madison Bloodbath and Dan Padilla. Now that's a line-up.

To start the night off, Chissum made sure that everyone knew where the boundary was between the band and the audience. Joe told him not to scare everyone, but I think he did scare folks because the audience did keep to that imaginary line. After some encouragement from Joe, the line eventually blurred. An old school desk was brought out for some reason and a handful of folks took turns sitting in it.

Madison Bloodbath was up next. This was just a crazy set. You couldn't even tell there was a distinction between the audience and the band. Half the folks in the audience seemed to be in the "personal" space of the band. It was a thirty minute set of energy in a bottle.

Dan Padilla was the last band of the night, a band coming in from San Diego. I was told by some random guy I ran into that this was the band to catch. He mentioned that if they were playing in San Diego, the place would be packed. So I had some high expectations. I loved the whole set.














Madison Bloodbath







Dan Padilla

The Cigarette Bums, High Life Cavaliers and The Mo-odds at Blue Star

It was off to Blue Star to catch The Mo-odds, High Life Cavaliers and The Cigarette Bums. I have to say I was amazed by High Life Cavaliers. The bassist brought his A-game to the night; one just had to keep an eye on him the whole time, because he was just a constant blur of movement. The Mo-odds were fun, as well. They were the main attraction of the night. Folks were just sitting down and a request was made for folks to come stand closer to the band. As for the Cigarette Bums, I over-heard that it was their second show of the day. A hard working band.


Cigarette Bums



High Life Cavaliers









The Mo-odds