Lonely Trees and Kiev at Bardot

One of the first Los Angeles bands I fell in love with outside of the old Kiss or Kill scene was Monsters are Waiting with front woman Annalee Fery. It is, of course, totally awesome that she's returned to the music scene via Lonely Trees. And so it was off for a second time to catch
Lonely Trees at Bardot where they were backing up the residency band Kiev. This was also the second time around for me to catch Kiev.

So while hanging around the Bardot to catch Lonely Trees some random guy came up to me and asked me which bands were playing. I mentioned to him the two bands I knew were playing. He then asked who was playing next and if Annalee Fery, who was standing next to her synthesizer, was in Lonely Trees. I told him yes and he immediately started to head towards her. Amusing.

Lonely Trees really ruled Los Angeles with their set -- even if it included a broken guitar string, all the better to poke off any potential competition.

Comment of the night: Annalee, you look really lovely in that dress tonight . . . Please return it back to me after the set.

Kiev came on next. Here's what I love about this band: they let their music develop via these long improvisational riffs. I could be wrong, but I don't believe they did the standard 8 song set. When I see them again (at Bardot or elsewhere), I'll have to keep a song count in my head. It is a let-the-music-embrace-you approach. And hey, I hear a little influence of Sting playing a role here.


Lonely Trees

Kiev

The Mulhollands, Suddyn, Barb Wire Dolls and Prima Donna at Sunset Room

It was off to the Sunset Room (Club Romper Stomper) to catch The Mulhollands, Suddyn, Barb Wire Dolls and Prima Donna.

The night started out with catching most of Suddyn's set -- maybe missed a song. They power rocked their way through their set. They hail from Ireland, but currently reside in Los Angeles. The Mulhollands hit the stage next. Sometimes I key in on certain things. For The Mulhollands, I swear that Sarah Jeanette's microphone stand now has a slight bent to it. After dragging it across multiple stages, it is slowly curving. There were two Jeffs on stage. The Mulhollands' Jeff and the ex-Automatic Music Explosion Jeff. Barb Wire Dolls went up next and as the title hints, the lead singer exudes sexuality. They hail from Greece, but like Suddyn, currently reside in SoCal. They actually made a comment regarding Greece, saying how thankful they were to be in the States playing music versus having to protest in the streets. A nice little economic commit that perhaps went over the heads of many who were probably thinking, "Oh, I thought she said she's from Greece, I guess she's from Egypt." Prima Donna was the headliner for the night. As they were setting up, I again focused in a microphone stand. The lead singer appeared to be doing some stretching exercises with his microphone stand -- making sure he was loosened up properly. And then right before their set, there was a marriage proposal. This I believe is a first for me, seeing a marriage proposal at a local music venue. The crowd was pumped up, especially one guy who jumped up on stage, grabbed a microphone and started to sing along with the band. He eventually sprawled out on the stage. The sound guy looked for security, but upon not seeing any he went up on stage and started to drag the fan off. Finally a security guy showed up and there was a discussion that hinted that the fan was getting tossed, but the fan begged for mercy. Mercy was given -- a nice move by security, props there.

Anyways, as I was leaving for the night, I was looking around to say good-bye to some friends. I made my way into this area behind the Sunset Room. I ended up in the middle of a hip hop party. Interesting double use of the space.

Suddyn

The Mulhollands

Barb Wire Dolls

Prima Donna

Great Northern, Shadow Shadow Shade and Useless Keys at Satellite

It was off to Satellite to catch Useless Keys, Great Northern and Shadow Shadow Shade.

Useless Keys started the night off. The first thing noticed was the heavy use of the smoke machine. In fact, at certain points during the night, you could barely see the bands playing. Useless Keys rocked us out during their 30 minute set.

Next up was Great Northern. Now they are one of my favorite local bands and this was one of their first sets after about an 18 month sabbatical. My anticipation was high and they didn't let me down.

Comment of the night from Great Northern: Time to take the gum out.

Comment two of the night from Great Northern: Let's leave it up to the Smoke Room . . . It's like an 80s music video.

Closing out the night for me was Shadow Shadow Shade. The sound guys seemed to have to spend a longer time than normal trying to get the stage set for them -- too many microphones. I could see the band members peaking out from behind the door, checking to see if they were able to start their set.

Comment of the night from Shadow Shadow Shade: I'd give you a sign, but I can't see you through the smoke.

Comment two of the night from Shadow Shadow Shade: Can we have more smoke? (And on the far end of the stage, I could see one member of the band shaking her head in disagreement with the idea.)

Randomness. I was walking around Satellite and noticed a huge puddle of beer spilled near the back of the floor area. And then during Shadow Shadow Shade's set, one of the guys knocked over a glass of beer. He tapped his band mate on the shoulder to give him a heads up that if he walked backwards he'd be walking into a pool of beer. Beer spill story.

The DJ played some Local Natives in between sets.

Useless Keys





Great Northern









Shadow Shadow Shade

A Movie Review: Gulliver's Travels

Gulliver's Travels. I'm not going to say that this is a great movie, but is it a fun movie? Yes. If during the awards season you found yourself wanting simple escapism, this would have been the movie for you. It was just fun watching Jack Black dealing with the craziness that had resulted from his encounter with the Bermuda Triangle.

Gardens & Villa, Hands and Family of the Year at Bootleg

It was off to the Bootleg to catch Gardens and Villa, Hands and Family of the Year. First off was the fact that Bootleg had us enter via a new entrance. I wonder if that will be an ongoing deal. It probably reduces the noise pollution in the neighborhood so perhaps so.

Gardens & Villa started off the night. Their myspace page calls their sound turntablism. I can get behind that, but I’d add into that mix a use of Peruvian flutes. It all works wonderfully together. I’m making a mental note to check them out again.

Hands went on stage next. A friend of theirs was celebrating her birthday. In celebration, a lot of dancing was does near the stage.

Closing out the night was Family of the Year. I last saw them during their Silverlake Lounge residency. I believe that was the night where I also first saw The Lonely Wild. Their set started off with them rocking, which took me back a little. For some reason, I remembered them being much more folk-music oriented. As their set progressed, they shifted to their folk-music sound. Really just a solid set.

Comment of the night: Like a school teacher.

Gardens & Villa







Hands







Family of the Year