Jessie Deluxe, Buffalo Medicine and Non Ultra Joy at El Cid

It was off to El Cid to catch Jessie Deluxe, Non Ultra Joy and Buffalo Medicine. It was an interesting night of music and conversation at El Cid. Too bad I didn’t have my pencil out to write down some cool musician comments. First up for the night was Jessie Deluxe. She was doing an acoustic set for the night. She had a nice fan base there. I think most of the crowd was there to support her as I noticed that El Cid cleared out after she finished. There was an amusing moment during her set. She was doing some opera-volume singing and a Rob Z artwork that was hung up on the curtain fell down. I don’t know if she noticed, but the crowd had a good chuckle. Next up was Buffalo Medicine from Pennsylvania. They are on tour to help raise funds for Haiti. They’re two singer-songwriters. They split the lead duties between the two of them. They ended their set with Dolly Parton’s ‘Jolene.’ My last band of the night was Non Ultra Joy. I only stayed for a part of their set. During their set-up, they were having some casual conversations with each other. I noticed one guy in the band was well prepared for technical difficulties. They had trouble getting one of their guitars hooked up properly so a suitcase was opened and a small flashlight was taken out so that they could have some additional light in hooking everything up. Now that is pre-work preparation. Love it. They were great. For a relatively new band (one of the guys used to be part of Spider Problem), they rock.

Jessie Deluxe



Buffalo Medicine





Non Ultra Joy

Future Ghost and Useless Keys at Silverlake Lounge

I did one of my random music nights. I was there to see this band called Useless Keys simply because I found their band name interesting. I was able to catch the back half of Future Ghost's set. The bass player is also in this band called Kissing Cousins. They seemed to have some fun on stage with the bass player playfully sticking her tongue at the guitarist as they ended their set. Useless Keys came on next. For just wanting to catch some random act based on their name, I think I did rather well. I enjoyed their set a lot. I essentially went home satisfied that I had randomly picked a couple great bands to see.

Future Ghost



Useless Keys

Red Cortez, Restavrant, and Robotanists at Bloomfest

It was off to Bloomfest for an artwalk and then some music. I can't lie, I was a bit disappointed with the artwalk. Maybe I showed up too late, 6 p.m. There were a number of galleries listed on the handout, but I only saw three that were opened. I actually ran into someone at one spot who came over and asked, "What are you here for?" "I'm here for the artwalk, but I'm not having much luck." He replied, "I'm a bit confused by all of this." Yes, it was a bit confusing. Perhaps we arrived too late, because we were the only ones around this area. Of course, perhaps it didn't help that the artwalk was spread out and in areas that perhaps folks didn't feel comfortable walking around on their own.

The last three bands of the night were pretty cool. Red Cortez, Restavrant and Robotanists. I've seen Red Cortez and Robotanists once each. Restavrant was new for me. It wasn't technically Restavrant. Just one half of the band, but that one half blew the audience away. A friend of mind told me that you pronounce the band name as Restaurant. The 'v' is a Latin (Roman) twist. Afterwards, a small crowd crowded around the single Restavrant band member. The Robotanists were the last band of the night. It was too bad that half the crowd disappeared before they went on stage. Of course, I can't blame the crowd. It was cold. I can't believe I'm saying that. It is mid-August and most of us in Los Angeles are forced to carry a jacket around if we know we're going to be hanging out at night. I even noticed a blanket being used.

Red Cortez





Restavrant





Robotanists

The Dollyrots at the Bootleg

I went off to the Bootleg to catch The Dollyrots. It's been awhile since I last saw -- way too long ago. Since this was their CD release party they went on for longer than the normal 30 minute set. They went on for about an hour and I'll tell you it surely didn't seem like an hour.

After about their second song, I noticed that one of Luis's guitar strings was broken. He went on with the set, playing with a broken string for about three or four more songs. Kelly at one point after giving him the why-don't-you-switch-guitar looks commented, "We don't need guitar strings."

A guy in a bunny costume jumped on stage for one song and hung out with Luis for awhile. Kelly told him, "Come over here, bunny." A young woman in the audience tried to get the bunny to go over to Kelly, but perhaps the person inside didn't understand -- it looked like it was pretty hard to see and hear inside the custom. The person got off the stage after one song. A couple songs later, the bunny went back on stage. But this bunny was much shorter -- a new person, the young woman who had attempted to get the original bunny to hang near Kelly. Kelly got some love this time around.

The audience loved the show. They wanted an encore. The Dollyrots obliged. And then everyone hung out afterwards, a big home coming love fest.

Vanaprasta, Tomorrows Tulips and White Arrows at Spaceland

I'd call this parents' day at Spaceland. The parents of the lead singer for Vanaprasta were at the front of the stage and very proud of their son -- the father urging the mother to take photos at various times during the set. And I sort of suspect that the father for one of the members of Tomorrows Tulips was also in the audience. There was this strange resemblance there.

Vanaprasta started out their set with some forehead hugs. This is the third time I've seen Vanaprasta. For some reason, each time I see them, I feel like they're shifting their style just a bit. This time around, they seemed just a bit more mellow than the last time I saw them. Maybe it had to do with where I was standing. I think the band has two personalities on stage. Those on one part of the stage are in constant motion while on the other stage one of the band members is slightly more reserved (partially due to the fact that he plays the keyboards part of the time). Perhaps this impacts how I view the band for a specific night.

Tomorrows Tulips is a two piece band and is definitely in the mellow camp. I enjoyed their sound. Towards the end of their set, the sound guy thought they were finished up and so asked if they were done. The lead singer responded, "We have two more. Do we have time?" Yes, they did. And at the end of their set, the drummer put on her jacket. It was chilly not only outside, but also inside Spaceland. For some reason, I think their band name should read "Tomorrow's," but I don't see the apostrophe on their website so I'm leaving it out in this blog. I do notice that various other websites (including Spaceland) have their name as Tomorrow's Tulips.

The residency band for August is White Arrows. Before their set started, I noticed one of the guys in the band writing out the song list for everyone in the band. While he was kneeling on the ground replicating the song list for everyone, one of the guys grabbed the paper he was copying from. He was like, "Hey, give me that back." They played their whole set with the lights out. There were some low level spotlights going on, but essentially they played in the dark -- and they aren't even shoegaze. They had a couple guest musicians come up on stage for two songs. One, a guitarist, had to join shortly into one song as he was searching for the electric guitar plug.

Vanaprasta



Tomorrows Tulips







(just thought this was interesting)



White Arrows

Captain Danger and Pu$$y Cow at Mr. T's

It was off to Mr. T's to see Captain Danger and Pu$$y Cow. There were more bands that night, but I had to take off early due to an early morning trip to see the family. I walked in and Captain Danger was just starting their set. They had folks in the back dancing and me enjoying their groove. Pu$$y Cow was up next. They were in "Janet Jackson" mode for the night. I did notice that a couple of the guys had big fat red lip marks on their cheeks. You can see the photo evidence in the last two photos in this column. It was a nice short evening for me, hanging out with friends and catching a couple bands.

Comment of the night: King Cheetah is up next, it is my birthday.

Captain Danger





Pu$$y Cow

A Movie Review: Inception

Inception. I’ve waited a bit before writing this review so my memory is a bit tainted by that. I found this to be a wonderfully inventive film. I was intrigued the whole time. I will admit I’m not sure that everything works out in the film in a logical way, but I've worked out some of my questions -- I think. I guess my issue in terms of logic is rather or not all the “kicks” and dream layers work together. I’m sure if I watch the movie a second time I’ll get a better feel for that. What I appreciated about the movie was the fact that they constantly reminded you of where you were at in the movie. It was over-bearing. It was just quick sentences that just helped you position yourself in the movie. The ending does leave some questions open. My opinion is that the ending is put there as a fun little teaser. See linked Yahoo article for more detail on that.

And an article about a possible generational reaction divide over at the LA Times.

Stab City and The Mo-odds at Casey's

It was off to Casey's to catch Stab City and The Mo-odds. Yes, it was the second night in the row for me to see Stab City. It seemed to me that they played a half set. Perhaps the night got off to a later than expected star. The Mo-odds did a full set. They were rocking crazy like always. They also announced that their upcoming secret U-haul show is around the corner.


Stab City









The Mo-odds

Silversun Pickup, Against Me! and The Henry Clay People at the Greek Theater

It was off to the Greek Theater to catch The Henry Clay People, Against Me! and Silversun Pickup.

I don't have any pictures in this blog. I wasn't sure about the camera policy at the Greek. And since my friend and I were walking in, I didn't exactly want to get turned away at the gate and having to trudge all the way back to my car. That would have been an hour round trip walk.

My friend and I arrived on time (based on our expectations), but we only got to see half of The Henry Clay People. We were under the impression that everything started at 7:30 p.m. It appears that they started their set at 7:15 p.m. Oh well.

Against Me! was energizing to watch. They played their hit song "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" towards the middle of their set.

The main act was obviously Silversun Pickup. As soon as they got on stage, half the crowd got up from their seats. Most folks stood for their whole concert. I found their whole set very thrilling. Noticed via the large screens that Nikki Monninger was wearing red shoes, the movie 'Wizard of Oz' popped into my head. After their encores, Brian Aubert had a little fun, slowly crawling his way into the back of the stage.

If you're interested in their setlist, here's a link I found

My friend and I noticed a young lady sitting by herself. She kept on trying to get a signal for her cell phone and would occasionally disappear. We came up with a story for her. Her friend and/or date was working late. It was suggested that she just go one ahead, perhaps she wanted to see Against Me!. Her friend had to work later than expected. She, a very attractive woman, was left on her own accord. This was the last time she was ever planning on attending a concert with this specific friend.

Hollywood Forever: Airplane!

It was off to Hollywood Forever to catch Airplane!. My friends arrived at 5:30 p.m. I arrived at around 7 p.m. The area outside Hollywood Forever was packed for this Cinespia movie night. One thing I didn't know before: if you ride a bike, motorcycle or even roller blades, you're able to get in quickly because there is a separate line. It is a thought for folks in groups. One person can ride in and hopefully get a good space.

They brought out the actual cockpit prop for the movie. Rather cool.