Author: Kristen

Favorite Band Alert! The Kin

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Waking Up Shining

I am still overwhelmed with emotion from seeing The Kin play Monday night at The Hotel Cafe. It had been far too long since brothers Thorry and Isaac Koren played LA. An added bonus, the absolutely brilliant and incredibly unique Shakerleg was indeed present behind his makeshift drum kit and despite the fact that he was terribly ill, still managed to pull out all the stops on stage. They played mostly songs from their most recent album, The Upside, and closed the night with some covers they’ve been working on, but the highlight for me was when they came off the stage and into the audience to play a brand new tune.  

There is nothing better than seeing one of your favorite bands play after you haven’t seen them in awhile…except perhaps seeing an amazing band play for the first time. Which is why, if you’re in the Los Angeles area, I think you should come to The Stronghold in Venice 9pm Weds night to fall in love with The Kin as they are playing one more time before leaving LA.

 The Kin covers Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” in NYC

~ Kristen

A Saturday Night On The Rox

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Tim Graves (The Silent Comedy)

For those of you present for The Silent Comedy at On The Rox Saturday night, you know how amazing the evening turned out to be. For the unfortunate few who were unable to attend, you must know that I can now officially check off my life’s to do list “sing on stage with a band.”  At the time I thought, “hey, why not.” It seemed like I knew about half the people in the bar anyway. I’d forgotten the teensy fact that the event was being broadcast over the internet. 

Anyway, I absolutely love what Scheff and The Hawk are doing with The Real Sunset Strip. You can watch the events (including what went down last Saturday night) on their website.  On the Rox is certainly becoming the place to be…especially since they’ve remodeled the venue. Gone are the awkward booths and teeny tiny stage that I was never able to really see. The whole atmosphere is infinitely more comfortable and welcoming with plush couches and a larger stage area. The walls are adorned with photos from The Festival in the Desert and it was noted that the pictures of camels seemed kind of out of place, but I felt them fitting. The Festival in the Desert is an opportunity to discover amazing music in the middle of a desolate wasteland…and having to work to get to it. While On The Rox, is far from a musical wasteland in the heart of the Sunset Strip, it is still somewhat a diamond in the rough, probably not noticed or fully appreciated until visited. This is especially true if they continue to book fantastic bands like The Silent Comedy and last week’s Get Back Loretta. 

Next Saturday is a band called Fight From Above. I’ve never heard of them, but it will probably be a show worth going to! And if you want to go, it’s FREE. But to ensure your admittance, RSVP to the facebook event page.

What a perfect way to spend your Saturday!

~ Kristen

p.s. A couple pics from The Silent Comedy set. It must be noted that although the stage has been enlarged, it is still not quite big enough for the 6-membered band who spilled over onto the dance floor…and a dance floor it was!

Kristen’s Concert Calendar 5/3-5/9

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I’m still singing from Saturday night’s grand adventure On The Rox with The Silent Comedy. For more on that, you should check out the forthcoming (fingers crossed) post I will be putting up.

This week, I’m especially excited about two appearances The Kin make on my calendar. Monday night at The Hotel Cafe and Weds at Stronghold in Venice. It’s been WAY too long since brothers Koren have been in Los Angeles. It will probably be some time before they are here again so don’t miss these opportunities to see one of my very favorite bands play live! As an added bonus, I hear Shakerleg may also be coming to town…

As for what else I’m looking forward to this week:

Monday: The Kin at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)….yes, it’s an early one, but it’ll be worth the traffic, trust me!
ALSO: Wartapes FREE at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm) 

Tuesday: Until June at Spaceland (9pm)
ALSO: Greg Laswell and Brian Wright at The Troubadour (8pm)
ALSO: Links at The Viper Room (midnight) 

Weds: The Kin at Stronghold in Venice (9pm)
ALSO: The Hold Steady at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: The Daylights and Whispering Pines at The Hotel Cafe (10,11) 
ALSO: Beachwood Rockers’ Society at Crane’s

Thursday: Other Side of Morning at Harvelle’s  in Santa Monica (10:30)
ALSO: Green River Ordinance at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: Ingrid Michaelson at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)…definitely sold out…but one never knows…
ALSO: Austin Hartley-Leonard at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Links FREE at Space 15 Twenty (7pm) 

Friday: Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale and Chris Pierce at The Hotel Cafe (10,11)
ALSO: Beth Hart, Linda Perry, etc. at Club Nokia (8pm)
ALSO: The Janks at Spaceland (11) 

Saturday: Ely’s Creep Show featuring Hoobastank, Ferras, Elliot Yamin, etc. at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)…sorry, it’s sold out…I’ll let you know how it goes 😉
ALSO: Warpaint at Bootleg (10:30)
ALSO: Fight From Above at On The Rox (10pm) 

Sunday: Viza at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Patrick Park at Saint Rocke (7pm) 

To Keep in Mind:

May 13th: Crash Kings at The Roxy
May 15th: Carney at The El Rey   
May 15th: 30 Seconds to Mars at The Greek Theater
May 19th: Queen Caveat at The Viper Room
May 28th: The Silent Comedy and Dirty Sweet at North Park Theater (in SD)
June1st: First Aid Kit at Bootleg
June 6th: Mumford & Sons with The Silent Comedy at BellyUp (in SD)
June 10-13th: BONNAROO (in Tennessee)
June 25th: Warped Tour in LA (well, Carson)
July 10th: Lilith Fair 

~ Kristen

New Band Love: Civil Twilight

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Just got back from The Hotel Cafe. Went to go see Matthew Jordan, a fantastic piano-playing singer-songwriter who was especially brillant tonight when he busted out this amazing arrangment of “Smooth Criminal“. After Matthew, I stuck around to see Civil Twilight and completely fell in love. I had known about these guys for awhile thanks to an ITunes free download, but their self-titled debut CD was only very recently released in the states. The trio is actually from South Africa which makes this just another in a string of bands I’ve fallen for recently that are based overseas…I’m wondering if this is some sort of sign…or perhaps a cruel joke?

Anyway, I just had to share. They took the entire audience at The Hotel Cafe to another place this evening  and I cannot wait to go on that journey with them again. Fortunately, they are playing again Saturday at Voyeur in West Hollywood then on Sunday down near San Diego at The Loft at UCSD. Then they are off on a mini tour of the south (check their website for exact places and dates). Don’t miss out!

Listen and Love!: 04 Letters From The Sky 1

~ Kristen

Favorite Band Alert! Jealousy Curve

Posted on by Kristen

Since I just flew across the country to see these guys, I thought they deserved a mention here. Jealousy Curve has been one of my favorite bands since I first heard their Muse-like notes back in 2006.  Since then, they have provided the soundtrack for some of the most memorable moments in my life. I can honestly say few things make me happier then dancing with friends at a Jealousy Curve show.  Michael Leavy, Steve LaFashia, Shane Rozum, and Dave Sikorski are also some of the nicest (and incidentally the tallest) guys I know.

I am SO very excited about their forthcoming CD, Marionettes!, and big release party on May 22nd at The World Cafe Live in Philadelphia with Camille Peruto, IKE, and LA’s The Shakers. Definately calls for another trip across the country…

but in the mean time:

Listen their music here

Preorder their new CD: (see above)

Get their first CD Life As An Addict and EP This is For Your Own Destruction here

Go to the show

Tell them how amazing they are on facebook

And remember, no matter what happens, Don’t Lie Down

~ Kristen

p.s. some pics from the two shows I had the immense privilege of being a part of. One at Arcadia University in Genside, PA and the other at Jocyln’s in Media, PA with guest drummer, the amazing Ron DiSilvestro

Dave and Leavy at Arcadia University

Steve and Shane at Arcadia University

Steve and Leavy at Jocyln's

Dave and Ron at Jocyln's

Kristen’s Concert Calendar: 4/26-5/2

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This week’s email is brought to you from the lovely town of  Horseheads, NY where I have been spending the weekend…well part of the weekend. I also journeyed down to the Philadelphia area to see one of my favorite bands  (Jealousy Curve) play…twice.  Despite the lack of sleep it was a fantastic weekend! The biggest problem with predominantly local bands is that when you move away, it’s quite difficult to see them. I have to fly across the country! Which I will be doing again May 22nd for Jealousy Curve’s big CD release.

Fortunately all the great shows listed below don’t require much travel outside the LA area:  

Monday: Helen Stellar FREE at Spaceland (11pm)
ALSO: Aqualung at Bootleg (10pm)
ALSO: Chris Thile at Largo at the Coronet (9pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

Tuesday: Dr. Dog at The Music Box (8pm)
ALSO: Lady Danville at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)
ALSO: Whispertown 2000 at Silverlake Lounge (9pm) 

Weds: Matthew Jordan and Civil Twilight at The Hotel Cafe (8,9)
ALSO: Beachwood Rocker’s Society at Crane’s 

Thursday: Lemon Sun at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: Apes of Wrath at Spaceland (8:30)
ALSO: Honeyhoney at The Hotel Cafe (10pm) 

Friday: Tyler Hilton at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Soul Puppet at Molly Malone’s (9:30)
ALSO: Ernie Halter and Chris Pierce at The Hotel Cafe (9,11) 

Saturday: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy (on the Rox) (10pm)
ALSO: Needtobreathe at El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Holly Conlan at The Hotel Cafe (9pm) 

Sunday: White Buffalo at Saint Rocke (6pm)

To Keep in Mind:

May 3rd: The Kin at The Hotel Cafe
May 4th: Greg Laswell at The Troubadour
May 13th: Crash Kings at The Roxy
May 15th: Carney at The El Rey   
May 15th: 30 Seconds to Mars at The Greek Theater
May 19th: Queen Caveat at The Viper Room
May 28th: The Silent Comedy and Dirty Sweet at North Park Theater (in SD)
June1st: First Aid Kit at Bootleg
June 6th: Mumford & Sons with The Silent Comedy at BellyUp (in SD)
June 10-13th: BONNAROO (in Tennessee)
June 25th: Warped Tour in LA (well, Carson)
July 10th: Lilith Fair

 ~ Kristen