Murderland, Mikey Erg and The Maxies at the Blue Star

It was off to the Blue Star last Saturday. Yep, it does take me awhile to post photos. Playing that night was Murderland, Mikey Erg and The Maxies. Murderland really impressed.  This was my first time seeing them and I loved their set.  Mikey Erg gave a one man punk show.  The Maxies entertained, as always.  Unfortunately, I couldn't stick around for French Exit.

Murderland



Mikey Erg



The Maxies

A Movie Review: Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Jeff, Who Lives at Home. This is one of those movies that critics gave thumbs up to and I simply don’t get it. Jeff (Jason Segel) lives at home, a bit too old to be doing so. He gets a random call. The guy on the other end asks for Kevin. Believing that nothing happens without a reason, he tries to figure out why someone was calling for Kevin. His mother, Sharon (Susan Sarandon), also calls and asks him to go to the store. Off he heads with the name Kevin stuck in his head.

Along the way, the movie introduces us to Jeff’s brother, Pat (Ed Helms), and his wife, Linda (Judy Greer). In my mind, the movie should have focused more on Pat and Linda. Their relationship is painfully self-destructing, mainly due to Pat’s lack of respect for his wife’s opinions. But instead this movie takes us on a meandering adventure with Jeff, which means the movie takes us on the idiotic search for reason behind why someone might call a wrong phone number and ask for Kevin. The multiple connections to "Kevin" makes one roll their eyes.

A Movie Review: Safe House

Safe House. Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is working at a safe house in South Africa. This isn’t the most exciting assignment and he wants out as soon as possible. It isn’t long before the excitement picks up. Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington), a rouge CIA agent, turns himself in at the US Consulate in Cape Town. He is quickly taken to Weston’s safe house for interrogation. The safe house is soon attacked. Weston and Frost escape, but are on the continued run from this group of men.

This movie doesn’t break any interesting ground. You know that at nearly every turn that this gang of gunmen will show up no matter where Frost and Weston hide. You also know that the only way that this can happen is if there is some inside help. What keeps you glued to the screen:  Washington brings an intensity as the disillusioned ex-CIA agent and Ryan Reynolds brings the eagerness of a new agent. Does this mean one should go out and catch this movie in the theaters? Probably more like a rental title.

Michael Davis with Lions at the Silverlake Lounge

I generally prefer to see at least two bands when I go out, but on a recent Monday night I was only able to catch the residency band at the Silverlake Lounge, Michael Davis with Lions.  It was a long day at work and things came up and so I ended up going later than I would have liked.  And well, they also went on stage at 10:30 p.m., which I always operate on the assumption that the residency bands at the Lounge start somewhere between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.  Maybe things have changed up.  Anyways, back to Michael Davis with Lions.  A wonderful sound that reduced those work stress tensions.

As always, I really wished more folks would show up to the Lounge on Monday nights.

The Mo-odds and Chance & the Choir at Casey's Irish Pub

It was off to Casey's Irish Pub to catch The Mo-odds and Chance and the Choir.  Chance and the Choir gave one inspiring performance.  It was a requirement as the drummer took the chance of getting fired from his job to play the gig.  The Mo-odds had a big time fan that night.  Okay, so everyone knew he was a little "faced."  He did keep things entertaining.  

Chance and the Choir



The Mo-odds

A Movie Review: Chronicle

Chronicle. This movie is about three high school guys who gain telekinetic powers after a brief encounter with an object that one assumes is alien. We have Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) who is an outsider, bullied by his classmates and his father. There is Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), a philosophical driven young man, who seems to occupy a space as the semi-cool high school kid, not overly popular, but well liked. And finally we have Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan) who is the sports star who wants a career in politics and so is running for class president.

I tend to avoid high school centered movies. I’m older and really can’t relate, but the critics loved this movie so I decided to take a chance on it – it also had that Sci-Fi genre label, which I can be a sucker for at times. I really enjoyed this movie even though I feel it had some flaws. I felt the outcome was obvious.  You know immediately that if anyone will abuse their new found powers it will be Andrew. A more interesting scenario might have been Matt abusing his power, reasoning his way through his philosophical mind about why it all made sense to do so.  Also, I just couldn't see these three individuals ever getting along as friends.  I could see Steve and Matt fitting in well together. Steve is the politician. Matt could be his voice of reason, the chief of staff type. Andrew just didn’t seem to have the personality that would fit in well with Steve and yet the two seemed to gel well together.

But who cares about those complaints. This movie brings a wonderful mix of Heroes and X-Men.
And the sequel: I’m sure the alien contraption passed along powers that the three haven’t totally explored yet even if the ending appeared somewhat conclusive on the matter.

A Movie Review: The Grey

The Grey. Ottway (Liam Neeson) works near/at the arctic circle, an oil facility. This obviously isn’t the ideal location to spend your life so the job attracts those attempting to escape life (from flashbacks we can assume that Ottway’s wife has passed away) or needing a new start (due to criminal records).  The only way to occasionally re-acquaint yourself with normality is to take a flight down to Anchorage, Alaska.  On this one occasion with Ottway and his other co-workers, the plane crashes. Ottway and six other surviving individuals must attempt to find civilization while being hunted by wolves.

I have to say this movie didn’t excite me. Yes, I understand it is more philosophical versus action packed, but I think by the middle of the movie you’ve pretty much determined what the ending will be. Also, the philosophy is rather pedestrian.

And I couldn’t help but have immediate issues with the movie. Did they really need to leave the ruins of the aircraft and seek the protection of the forest? Maybe Ottway had a point about leading the group to the trees, but it soon looked like a mistake when the wolves started to pick away at the group anyways. One argument for leaving the crash site was because they needed to find civilization on their own, because the rescue units would never be able to find them. Black box, anyone? I thought the black box gave out signals. The other argument was that the open terrain gave no protection against the wolves and yet later the group of men find their backs against a “natural wall” and the argument is made that at least the wolves can only attack from one direction. Well, if you set up yourselves defensively within part of the damaged plane, wouldn’t you have the same protection?

I will say one thing, you half suspect that this movie closely reflects how Liam Neeson personally dealt with the death of his own wife, which makes it feel like you are invading his privacy.  This also makes it a reason not to see this movie.

A Movie Review: Haywire

Haywire. Mallory (Gina Carano) works for a for-profit special forces corporation. She is set-up by her employee to take the fall for a murder. She is able to uncover this plot and heads off for some revenge.
I have this love/hate relationship with Steven Soderbergh. I loved Ocean’s Eleven. I hated Ocean’s Twelve. I loved Contagion. I hated Informant! (well, the portion that I saw, I stopped watching after awhile). As for Hirewire, I am neutral on it. Neutral in the sense that this is a movie that you might want to watch while spending a lazy Sunday at home, but not necessarily at a movie theater.

The Janks and The Wind at The Bootleg

The Monday night rotation continued with me heading off to the Bootleg on a Monday night. The Janks
are the residency band for March and The Wind was in support.  Here's one thing I noticed:  The Wind had problems with their bass and so needed a new bass.  The Janks had a problem with their snare drum and so needed a new snare drum.  Guys from other bands quickly jumped in to help, running to the back room of the Bootleg to find the necessary musical instrument.  I so love this.  It means that the bands stick around for each other.  Occasionally you go to a venue and bands appear and disappear around their set times, not sticking around for the other bands.

The Wind gave us some smooth rock.  One joke from a friend, "The bassist didn't get the memo."  Yes, he was the only one without long hair.  As for The Janks:  rock ballad.  That's what I thought.  Queen was mentioned during their set.  It seemed appropriate.  And there was some cool dancing being done by their friends during one song.


The Wind



The Janks

Eastern Conference Champions and Voxhaul Broadcast at The Satellite

The first band up for me was Eastern Conference Champions. They started off their set with a song that one would have to consider mellow for them. You just had this sense that it would explode on you at some point. And it did when the drummer went wild for moment, but then the song dropped back down a notch. I’m definitely interested in hearing this song again. From that point onwards, I can think of only one word to explain their set: intense. You could see it in their eyes.

Comment of the night: We'd like to thank Voxhaul Broadcast, the second most attractive band in Los Angeles.

Voxhaul Broadcast is the residency band at The Satellite. I haven’t seen these guys since I believe the 2010 Make Music Pasadena. It hasn’t been on purpose. For example, they played Bloomfest 2011, but a friend of mind was involved in a play and so I rushed off just before they hit the stage. As has been the norm for the last couple months, The Satellite was packed. And to prove how much folks loved Voxhaul Broadcast, one fellow yelled out that he wanted to have a baby with one of the band members (of course, they’re an all male band, so a fun joke all around). Now when you haven’t seen a band in over a year, your memory of the band fades just a tad. Maybe they’ve always had this same sound, but for me it definitely felt like their sound has shifted towards a dance-inspired groove. Or maybe I felt this way, because all around me folks were dancing like crazy.

Eastern Conference Champions




Voxhaul Broadcast

Milo Greene, Cold War Kids, Haim and Hands at The Satellite

This was the second straight Monday night that I was heading to The Satellite. That was out of the ordinary for me as I normally like to cycle through the various Monday night residencies in the Silver Lake/Echo Park area. So why a return trip to The Satellite?  Read on . . .

First up for the night was Haim. I caught this band once before and was looking forward to seeing them again. Sometimes (similar to my comment regarding Nightmare and the Cat) you just wonder why it takes you so long to see a band you like again. Was there too much TMI on stage? It was revealed that "little Haim" doesn't have a boyfriend -- a little rubbing in by the other two Haims? Fun moment of the set: during the last song the slamming on the drums by one of the Haims got so intense that the drum set toppled over. So she played it as it laid sideways on the ground.

Next up was the special guest that was listed on various sites. Who was the special guest? I had no clue, but apparently others already knew. One friend told me that last Monday there was buzz that Cold War Kids was going to play. I don't know how many people knew this fact. I will say that when I arrived around 8 p.m. the place was nearing capacity. They put on a marvelous set, working in a new guitarist (this is what I was told). Though I've heard of Cold War Kids, this was the first time I've seen them on stage . . . a nice treat. Fun moments of the set: a lot of kicking going on between the lead singer and the bassist, the bassist kicking the singer.  After their set, I did hear one person in the crowd ask another, "Who was that band?"  I actually think that was what Cold War Kids wanted, to come in and play to a crowd that wasn't necessarily aware of who they were.

Hands came in after Cold War Kids. They got folks in a dancing mood. It was an interesting transition as Hands has a synth-driven sound while Cold War Kids is good old guitar driven. Does that bassist ever stop moving? My lens just couldn't focus in on the guy.

So I got to see Cold War Kids for the first time, which was a nice reason to head over to The Satellite on back-to-back Mondays; but The Satellite also had Milo Greene as the residency band, representing another good reason to go.  This time I wasn't of any use to Milo Greene (last Monday I was of some use, reconnecting a drum stick with its owner).  I just got to sit back and listen to some marvelous harmonies.  Marlana Sheetz had her fans that night.  A group of fans requested a photo opportunity with her as she was setting up her gear.  She obliged.  They were thrilled.

Haim



Cold War Kids



Hands



Milo Greene

Milo Greene, Family of the Year and Handshakes at The Satellite

What a night at The Satellite. I had a suspicion that the place would be packed so I showed up earlier than normal and caught most of Handshakes' set. I am happy I did. Their name created an immediate fan base as a handful of people had fun giving each other handshakes throughout the set. Next up was Family of the Year, one of my favorite Los Angeles bands. They didn't disappoint though a friend did say she wasn't thrilled. I told her she was in the minority. To each his/her own. Milo Greene is the residency band this month. If you want to catch them, you better show up early as the place was packed. Well it should as Milo Green seems to be catching fire. I helped out a little during their set. While playing a drum, one of the band members had a drum stick fly out. We had a little eye contact. I picked up the stick and tossed it back. He grabbed it in mid-air and continued drumming along in rhythm. Yeah, me.

Handshakes


Family of the Year



Milo Greene

Summer Vacation, Pu$$y Cow, French Exit and Rumspringer at Blue Star/Dre Day

Dre Day at the Blue Star is an annual tradition where one gets to meet up with friends that you don't get to see as often as you'd wish along with watching bands do their best tributes to Dr. Dre.

The band line up this year included Summer Vacation, Pu$$y Cow, French Exit and Rumspringer. For some reason Pu$$y Cow has a legacy exemption and is allowed to play at every Blue Star Dre Day. I actually caught Summer Vacation and French Exit for the first time at the 2011 Eagle Rock Music Festival so this was a mini-reunion. Rumspringer came in from Arizona.

There were some competitions set up for the night.  The first was who could drink two 40s the quickest.  It was a blow out win -- similar to last year, if I recall.  I'm not even sure if the second person even finished his second 40.  Another was a singing contest.  Not even close, the second contestant encouraged others to vote for the first.  We also had the costume contest with the guy winning it over three women . . . hmm.

Comment of the night:  A chick kicked me in the balls twice during a set, I don't care about a plastic cup.

Summer Vacation




Pu$$y Cow




French Exit



Rumspringer