Belle Brigade, The Fling and Francisco the Man at Spaceland/Satellite

It was off to Spaceland/Satellite to see the dual residency bands of The Fling and The Belle Brigade. I also caught part of Francisco the Man. I knew there was going to be a line to get into Spaceland/Satellite. I'd seen it while driving by the previous Monday at 10 p.m. I just didn't realize I'd be waiting in line at 9:15 p.m. I did get to catch about half of Francisco the Man's set.

The Belle Brigade gave one cool set. At first, I wasn't totally into the music, but as soon as thier lead singer start bouncing all over the stage, I was sold. Just before one song, they invited a friend to model their t-shirts. He went up and then decided to stick around for one song to provide some interpretative dancing. He just stood there for about a minute, but than when the lead singer decided to dance with him, he went wild and the crowd went wild with him.

Of the times I've been to Spaceland on a Monday night, this felt like the first time the place has been "sold out" for awhile. The Fling and The Belle Brigade do have a following.

Francisco the Man





The Fling









Belle Brigade

A Movie Review: Megamind

Megamind. Okay, let’s get it out of the way, Roxanne Ritchi has to be one of the sexist female cartoon characters ever created.

Now with that out of the way, this was a fun movie. Yes, it has a similar theme as Despicable Me. Yet, it holds its own as a great cartoon movie.

Basic storyline starts with a Superman beginning, but this time with two babies sent off to earth: Megamind and Metro Man. Metro Man is good, while Megamind turns evil. When Megamind finally kills Metro Man (not so fast, of course), he gets to rule the city. Of course, he finds that being evil isn’t a very good trait. And so he slowly starts to realize that he needs to pivot towards being good. And in the end, yes, he gets to win the heart of one of the sexist cartoon characters ever.

Roses Pawn Shop and Old Man Markley at The Echo

This is a little dated. I went to the Echo on a Thursday night for Old Man Markley's album release party. Roses Pawn Shop was one of the bands that opened for them. It was a great night of bluegrass mixed in with punk rock. One can't complain -- though I do have a complaint. Why did the woman in front of me decide that it was her right to do a personal mosh pit with me as her partner? She had friends around her. Most pit with friends, not strangers.

Roses Pawn Shop



Old Man Markley

Kiev and Kinch @ Silverlake Lounge

As everyone appeared to be over at Satellite/Spaceland (I drove pass on my way) on Monday night, I was off to Silverlake Lounge to catch Kiev and Kinch. It was a great evening of music.

Kiev is definitely a band I'd like to catch again. They mentioned that they're doing the February residency at Cinespace on Sundays. I'll need to catch them there.

Comment of the night: You have one good song and then some sh*t goes wrong on stage.

Kinch is from Phoenix. They gave one energetic set. Looking at their website, they have four residencies going on this month. Crazy. Two in California and the others in Phoenix.

Noticed: I am assuming that this individual is a friend of Kinch and was from Arizona, as well. She was re-charging her smart phone while watching the band. She gave it about a 40 minute re-charge.


Kiev

Kinch

The Americans at Villains

I was off to Villains for a birthday party. I caught The Americans while there. They played at least two different sets, perhaps more after I left. During their first set some of my friends were dancing to their music. During the second set, they had a nice crowd around them. As is implied by their name, their sound is rooted in America's past. For the night, they tossed in some Elvis Presley songs to celebrate his birthday.

Local Natives on Fallon.

One of my favorite local bands, Local Natives, hit the airwaves on Jimmy Fallon recently. Enjoy.

Act As If and The New Assembly at Silverlake Lounge

It was off to Silverlake Lounge to catch Act As If and The New Assembly. Act As If had a most awesome set. I was really enamored with this group. They seem to follow in the same vain of music as The Lonely Wild and The Monthlies. The New Assembly hit the stage next. Very intense interest in getting their light show set up just perfect. For one song, the lead singer's microphone shut off. You have to give him props for singer through it until the sound guy was able to fix it. As can be noticed from the photos below, this was a night were keys played a role.

Comment of the night: We're going off the grid. What I mean by that I do not know.

Act As If









The New Assembly

Guards and Grouplove at Bootleg

It was off to Bootleg to catch Grouplove and Guards. Pleasant night of music. The Bootleg was packed with folks. Guards started the night off. My understand is that the lead singer used to be based out here in Los Angeles, but moved to New York. Grouplove had the crowd singing along with them. The bassist was in constant movement. The female keyboardist had a smile throughout. I do believe I over-heard that the curtain was put up by Grouplove.

Guards







Grouplove

Wormstew, Amanda Jones and the Sugartits 3 and High Life Cavaliers

It was off to Old Towne Pub for Mike TV's Church of Rock and Roll where I caught Wormstew
High Life Cavaliers and Amanda Jones and the Sugartits 3.

I only caught the tail end of Wormstew's set. I was surprised to see that he had a full band with him. Up next was Amanda Jones and the Sugartits 3, which has Amanda Jones as the lead singer and a trio of backup musicians from various bands: Silver Needle, Underwater City People and Pu$$y Cow. To end the night is the always energetic High Life Cavaliers.


Amanda Jones and the Sugartits 3











High Life Cavaliers