Gentlemen Prefer Blood and The Bloody Brains at the Blue Star

Another birthday party arrived and this time it was off to the Blue Star where Gentlemen Prefer Blood and The Bloody Brains were playing.  As I walked in, Gentlemen Prefer Blood was getting ready for their set.  I couldn't recall the band name, but I knew I'd seen these guys before and had enjoyed their set.  Well, the lead singer introduced themselves and then it hit me, I saw them previously at Mr. T's.  They gave us a solid set.  The Bloody Brains came up next.  This was their night and they gave us about a 45 minute set.    


Gentlemen Prefer Blood







The Bloody Brains

The Mots Nouveax, Sean Kangataran and Persephones Bees at Bootleg Bar

It was off to the Bootleg Bar last week to catch The Mots Nouveax, Sean Kangataran and Persephones Bees.

I was there mainly to see The Mots Nouveax though I did catch the back end of Sean Kangataran and the front end of Persephones Bees.

The Mots Nouveax are really putting things together.  There are a couple songs are their set list that truly inspire you to wonder. 

Enjoy some of the below photos from the night.

Persephones Bees



Sean Kangataran



The Mots Nouveax

He's My Brother, She's My Sister and Sweaters at The Satellite

With Los Angeles dealing with some May drizzles, it was off to The Satellite to catch He's My Brother, She's My Sister and Sweaters.

Sweaters started the night off for me with some energizing music.  They had the quote of the night when the lead singer from He's My Brother, She's My Sister jumped on stage to join in on a song:  We'd like to thank Jules Verne.

And then He's My Brother, She's My Sister went on stage.  I'd seen the band name on various venue schedules, but just never made it out to see them.  Well, they played a packed house at The Satellite.  The band includes a tap dancer and two siblings along with a couple others.  They also had a guest appearance from Harper Simon.  As per request, some of their fans dressed as if they were going to a costume ball.  A night to remember.

Sweaters





He's My Brother, She's My Sister

Tamaryn and The Ravonettes @ Troubadour

I took off to the Troubadour to catch Tamaryn and The Ravonettes.  This is obviously a little dated, but see below some photos from this awesome show.  I saw Tamaryn about a year and a half ago when she did a show over at the Bootleg.  That night was an interesting set filled with smoke machines and a dedicated fan base.  For this night, the smoke machines were gone, but that didn't lessen the impact of her music -- a set that hooked me in from the start.  The Ravonettes went with the smoke machine theme and played in front of a packed Troubadour.

Interesting side:  After The Ravonettes set, a young lady jumped up on stage to try and grab a set list that was taped to the floor.  She was quickly chased off.  The set list was than handed to someone else who was waiting in front of the stage.  As I was walking out, I happened to follow the young lady who got chased off the stage:  I'm a real dunce.

Other interesting moments:  I ran into Queen Kwong at the door.  Cool experience.  Than as I was walking to my car, some random guy called out to me and mentioned he'd seen me at the Romper Room for a Barb Wire Dolls show.  Interesting that someone would remember me from a show that happened a few months back. 

Tamaryn







Ravonettes

Mad Planet, The Shakers and The Mulhollands @ Satellite

It was off to Satellite to catch The Shakers, The Mulhollands and Mad Planet.  I only caught a couple songs from Mad Planet.  For some reason I just couldn't get out of the house soon enough.  As can be seen from the photos, they can put on a great show.  The Shakers were the middle band, rocking us through a set.  The Mulhollands ended the night, leaving us on a MEGA-phone high.

The current progress with the new camera:  learning that red light is a killer when not using flash.

Mad Planet







The Shakers













The Mulhollands

Pu$$y Cow, Monolators and The Mo-odds at El Cid

It was off to El Cid to catch Pu$$y Cow, Monolators and The Mo-odds.  Pu$$y Cow went on the stage first.  Joe leaped off the stage within seconds, sending a glass flying off the stage and smashing into pieces on the floor below.  The Monolators were the middle band of the night.  Microphone stand problems with the stand having an inability to stay at a certain height.  The Mo-odds used face art to drive their set.

Tried out some different lenses that a friend owns.  The progress in trying to figure out this new camera continues.


Pu$$y Cow











Monolators









The Mo-odds

The Lonely Wild at La Brie's

It was off to La Brie's to catch The Lonely Wild. I usually try to catch two bands whenever I go out, but unfortunately the Lakers were wrapping up their game with New Orleans so I missed the first band. In fact, if I hadn't felt the Lakers were putting away New Orleans, I might have missed The Lonely Wild (skipped out on the last couple minutes of the game). I also skipped out on the last band of the night since I knew I needed to pace myself through the week.

But hey, it was totally worth going just to see The Lonely Wild. I mentioned that the first time I saw them at their La Brie's residency that they seemed to have shifted to a more rock sound. This time around they dialed it back to their melodic driven sound. Interesting how they can shift their sound, but still sound awesome. A great night.

Belle Brigade make the LA Times

Belle Brigade on the LA Times.

Below are a couple photos from their Monday Residency at Satellite/Spaceland.

A Movie Review: Hanna

Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) is being brought up by her father Erik (Eric Bana -- do you think they picked the name Erik because of Eric Bana?) near the Artic circle. She is trained to kill Marissa (Cate Blanchett), a CIA agent. Eric tells his daughter that Marissa wants her dead. At the age of 16, Erik gives her an option: she can decide when she is ready to kill Marissa. Hanna decides she is ready and sets off a tracking signal. Erik leaves the area while the CIA comes in to pick him up -- thinking he set off the tracker. Instead, the CIA finds his daughter. Once brought to a holding cell (we later learn is in Morocco), Hanna asks for Marissa. An agent acting as Marissa is brought in. This is not a good idea. Hanna kills her, escapes the rather secured building and the chase begins. The goal is to meet up with her father in Germany.

A great little action movie though one has to admit that there was some nice film editing during Ronan's fight scenes -- especially when she was going up against the three males who were contracted to chase her down. Also, after leaving the theater, one has to ask, "Why wouldn't her father knock off Marissa instead of leaving it up to his 16 year-old daughter?" Yes, yes, he's an ex-CIA agent and might trip certain security systems, but isn't he essentially taking a chance by sending his daughter to do the dirty work. I figured if a father really loved his daughter, he'd try first.

A Movie Review: Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch.  Okay, I must be one of the few folks that actually liked this movie. It isn't a great movie. It doesn't reach classic heights, but while sitting through it I just thought, "This is really a fun movie." Now the setting of this movie in a whorehouse is a little sick -- especially considering that the actresses are portraying teenagers/early twenty-somethings -- and the ending makes you wonder what the whole point of the movie was, but over-all who cares. Sit back and enjoy some butt kicking.