Army Navy, Tribes and Meg Myers at Bootleg

It was off to the Bootleg to catch Army Navy, Tribes and Meg Myers. I only caught a portion of Army Navy.  Loved the songs I heard.  I ran into a fellow photographer who was there only to shot Army Navy.  I was actually:  hey, why aren't you staying for the other bands.  One reason I was thinking that is because Tribes was in town from the UK.  How often are you going to have a chance to catch them?  (I'm not saying you should go to every show that features an out of town band, I'm just saying if you're at a venue and they're playing at the reasonable hour of 10 p.m. . . . )  They gave a solid set and then Meg Myers went on stage, the residency singer:  deep Southern vocals. 

Army Navy



Tribes



Meg Myers

Dudes Night, Pu$$y Cow, Young Turks and Red City Radio at Blue Star

It was a night away from my normal Silver Lake/Echo Park music grounds to catch Dudes Night, Pu$$y Cow, Young Turks and Red City Radio.  One key note is that this was the first show for Tu$hy-Hor$e (Pu$$y Cow) in around seven months. All these bands put on stage shows that you seldom see at a Silver Lake/Echo Park venue (I love the music, but let's be honest . . . . Grouplove excluded from this brief commentary as they definitely know how to put on a show).  Young Turks shined on that score.  Red City Radio came in from Oklahoma.  Were they cheering on Kevin Durant during the Olympics?  Dudes Night is a regular out in VLHS, Pomona -- a place that has to be considered one of the great DIY locations in SoCal. 

Dudes Night



Pu$$y Cow

Young Turks

Red City Radio

The Deep Sea Goes and East of the River at Silverlake Lounge

It was off to Silverlake Lounge to catch The Deepsea Goes and East of the River.  I say this was a night of length of time.  The Deepsea Goes is a two piece band that speeds through their songs and also sped through their set.  I'm sure they only played twenty minutes.  East of the River slowed it down just slightly in terms of music, but they started their set about 5 minutes early and then nearly stopped after 20 minutes.  Luckily, the sound guy told them they could keep on going.  They played another 4 songs.

Though both bands didn't seem to want to play their full 30 minute allotment, it was still a great night of music.

The Deepsea Goes

East of the River

Time Magazine highlights 3 Los Angeles bands

From Time Magazine ((Melissa Locker, 6 August 2012, 11 Great Bands You Don’t Know (But Should)), we have three Los Angeles bands highlighted:  NO, Haim, Hands.

Awesome cool.

Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles

I got the privileged to do some photography for the Rock n' Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles. If you want to take a look, head on over to their Facebook page. The photos were posted July 28th, 2012 (wall).  Or head on over to their photo section and click through the Summer Camp 2012 - Showcase album.

Garland and The Short Eyes at Silverlake Lounge

It was off to that under-rated music venue, Silverlake Lounge, to catch Garland and The Short Eyes. We started out with some melody driven rock by Garland and then shifted to some sped up rock via The Short Eyes.

Comment of the night by Garland: Even if you don't like us, hopefully we entertained you.

Comments of the night by The Short Eyes: Drummer, we're from San Diego so this is like our back yard.  Lead, just like having a BBQ.

Garland



The Short Eyes

Kind Hearts and Coronets at Pershing Square

It was off to Pershing Square to catch Kind Hearts and Coronets. A band that includes a variety of instruments: the standard bass, guitar, keys and drums; but also the use of a trumpet and violin. It was a pleasant night under the stars for a 45-ish minute set.

Comment of the night:  You can come closer to the stage, you don't need to stay behind the gates.

The Mo odds at Harvard and Stone

It was off to Harvard and Stone to catch The Mo odds.  The band has added a new guitarist and saxophonist.

Amusing moment:  the lead singer attempted to get onto the bar top.  Try and try, but he just couldn't make it.    

 Comment of the night (from the audience): Less cloths.

A Movie Review: Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild. This movie focuses in on Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and her father, Wink (Dwight Henry). They live on an island called Bathtub, which is off the coast of New Orleans (or close enough). They are in front (behind?) the levees and so when a massive storm hits the water floods the island and doesn't drain away.  Their lifestyle is essentially ruined.

I know that critics love this movie and that's why I went to see it, but I didn't really like it.  First, I couldn't help but think:  why are these folks living in conditions like this, absolute squalor.  I understand that there are many folks in America who are very poor, but there is no need to live in an area like this.  Second, Hushpuppy has fantasies of ancient creatures called aurochs.  Doing a little Internet search, these were domesticated cattle, but this movie deals with these creatures before such domestication.  I just wasn't into seeing a version of Where the Wild Things Are.  Third, is there really a point to this movie?  Yes, the daughter loves her father who is both distant and nearing his death bed.  I just didn't feel emotionally invested in the situation.

Sorry, I know that critics loved this movie and I feel bad for coming out on the other side, but so it is.

JMSN, Frank + Derol and DWNTWN at Bootleg

It was off to Bootleg to catch JMSN, Frank + Derol and DWNTWN. Now I usually don't show up for the first band, but for some reason this time I did. I arrived just shortly after Frank + Derol started their set. What did I notice? First, the place was packed and mostly with women in their early 20s. Second, I immediately found myself entranced with their music. Lead singer Codi has a delightful voice. Finally, the guitarist, Brandi, looked amazingly familiar. I'm not into tween pop, but it isn't like I don't know some of the tween pop stars. That's the hint you get. And oh, no one in the band is named Frank or Derol. 

DWNTWN came up next. Now my experience at the Bootleg is that the staff likes to keep the front of the stage open (I'm assuming this is so that they can easily walk through the area). I think most of us by now understand this request and so all of us were standing about a yard from the stage. The lead singer from DWNTWN; however, asked, "What's up with this space by the stage. Come up front." Well, that was a request that wasn't to be denied and many of us moved up front. The staff was cool with it and let it be. What did I notice about DWNTWN, lead singer loves to fling her hair and dance to their electronic sound. 

JMSN is the residency band for July. I didn't know what to expect. First, I noticed the stage set-up. White sheets were brought on stage (for video) and chairs were lined up stage right (for strings). This was going to be interesting. Second, his music goes down smooth, making you want to sway to his tunes. Third, while looking through the photos I took, I noticed that the string musicians had detailed music sheets. This is a guy who takes his music seriously. 

P.S. To the concert photographer that I was talking to during the JMSN set (should you ever come across this blog post), I'm sorry that I wasn't paying too much attention to your comments. I do promise to follow through with a couple of your suggestions: shooting at 60 and paying more attention to my exposure. I like taking photos, but I also like listening to the music. I just felt like I was being distracted. All is good. If we run into each other again, please feel free to continue providing me with your thoughts -- or even leave a comment on this post!!!


Frank + Derol

DWNTWN

JMSN

Lost Lander and Terraplane Sun at The Satellite

It was to The Satellite to catch Lost Lander and Terraplane Sun. Lost Lander started the night off for me.  They're a band from Portland.  Now I haven't seen a lot of bands from Portland, but I've never been disappointed with a band from Portland.  It was no different this past Monday night.  The lead singer's shoes were of interest.  I saw a couple young women taking photos of his shoes -- or maybe they were taking a photo of something else, but in my opinion they were taking photos of his shoes.

Lyrics: We have a wonderful world, because it feels so awsome at the moment.

The So So Courteous Comment of the Night: We started our set late. Does that mean we need to stop early or can we play our full set?

As for Terraplane Sun, they're from the Westside.  They rocked us with some blues driven rock.  I wasn't at The Satellite last week, but if I heard correctly the keyboard went out on the exact same song this week as last week.  Eerie.  This is a band that likes to mix it up with the musical instruments.  A trombone came out for a couple songs and a mandolin for perhaps half the set.

Lost Lander


Terraplane Sun

A Movie Review: In Time

In Time.. Midway through the movie, I was like, I know the waitress. She’s Emma Fitzpatrick from The Mots Nouveaux.

I saw this while on a plane so I couldn’t totally follow everything that was said. Apparently, there is a genetic break through that allows folks to live forever. However, they have to pay for this privilege. Everyone is genetically 25 forever, but there is a clock on their arm which indicates how much time they have left. The world is also set up in zones. Only 2 zones are highlighted in this movie: the poverty zone and the wealthy zone. Zones are walled off and you must run off time to enter a higher zone. A young man (Justin Timberlake) is in the poor zone. He happens to run across someone from the wealthy zone who has given up on life. This man gives the other all his remaining years. Time is tracked and the police know something went down. The chase is on.

It seems like an interesting concept movie though I didn’t get the ending. Why is our couple running at the end of the movie? Maybe I didn’t hear the reason why for that one. Though not brilliant, I think it is better than some of the recent action flicks I’ve seen such as The Gray and Haywire.

A Movie Review: The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers (2011).  Note: I caught this movie on a small airplane screen. The Musketeers find that they’ve been stabbed in the back and this embarrassment along with government cutbacks drives them into retirement. New blood enters via a just too cocky kid. A new adventure to save the French monarchy arrives just at the right time.

This movie is so bad. Let’s start with flying ships .. . oh please. It makes it look like fantasy land versus France and England. And the king looks so pathetic that you can’t help but wonder why the three + one musketeers are supporting the king. Can’t they see that the king is hurting France? Why not help over throw the king? And the cocky kid is so cocky you personally want to smack him upside the head. A guy makes fun of his horse for defecating and the kid wants to fight it out because of the insult to his horse. Kid you have problems.