Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 3/3-3/11

Posted on by Kristen

I’m putting my calendar together from a wonderful little cafe in Santa Monica. It’s a very calming place that has comfy chairs, pink ginger lemonade and good music. What more do I need?

With SXSW music week just around the corner, LA is getting some great out of country acts stopping in this week on their way to Austin. By way of Germany we have Fetsum and indie pop darlings Boy playing Bardot and The Troubadour.  Australia’s Jack Carty, The Trouble With Templeton, and Emma Louise all have at least one show this week. If you want to rock out, try Canada’s Mother Mother at The Viper Room or New Zealand’s Six60 at Los Globos. Also from Canada, Said The Whale and Wake Owl will be at The Hotel Cafe. Finally, the UK has a couple outstanding troubadours in town with Marcus Foster and Frank Turner. You won’t get many chances to see any of these artists, so if you dig ‘em, be sure to go see ‘em!

For more details and more music recommendations, keep reading!

Monday: Deadly Birds at The Viper Room (11pm)
ALSO: It’s a School Night at Bardot featuring Fetsum (9pm)
ALSO: Drive He Said FREE at Silverlake Lounge (9pm)
ALSO Monday Monday FREE at Room 5 (8pm)…a sampling of local singer-songwriters

 

Tuesday: Mother Mother and Lolove at The Viper Room (10,11)
ALSO: Armada and Sad Robot and at Hemmingway’s (9,10)…Sad Robot residency!
ALSO: Semi Precious Weapons at Sayer’s Club (10pm)
ALSO: Chi McClean at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: Marcus Foster with Sean Rowe and Ruston Kelly at The Troubadour (8pm)
ALSO: Robert Francis and Broken Anchor at The Hotel Cafe (9:30, 10:30)
ALSO: Beachwood Tuesdays FREE at Piano Bar featuring The Filthy Souls (12am)

 

Weds: Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls at The Roxy (7pm)
ALSO: Hey Marsilles at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Beware of Darkness at The Central SAPC (10pm)
ALSO: Gayle Skidmore, Sweet Talk Radio, and David & Devine at The Hotel Cafe (7, 9, 10)

 

Thursday: Frank Turner, Noah Gundersen, Wake Owl, and Said The Whale at The Hotel Cafe (7, 8, 9:30, 11:30)
ALSO: The Mowgli’s and Youngblood Hawke at The Troubadour (9,10)
ALSO: Sonia Rao and Elliot Yamin at WitZend (9, 10)
ALSO: Buckcherry at The Viper Room (9pm)

 

Friday: Boy at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: Emma Louise and Mariah McManus at The Hotel Cafe (7,8)
ALSO: Joshua James at Bootleg Theatre (10:30)
ALSO: Jack Carty at WitZend (10pm)
ALSO: Badwater at El Cid (10:15)
ALSO: Erin McKeown at McCabe’s (8pm)
ALSO: Buckcherry at The Viper Room (9pm)

 

Saturday: Andy Clockwise and Irontom at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: Nightlands at The Echoplex (9pm)
ALSO: Zookeeper’s Palace at Good Hurt (9pm)
ALSO: Jack Carty at Talking Stick Lounge
ALSO: The Trouble With Templeton at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: Buckcherry at The Viper Room (9pm)

 

Sunday: Aussie BBQ at The Echo featuring Jack Carty, Trouble With Templeton, and more (event starts at noon)
ALSO: Six60 and Mind The Gap at Los Globos (7pm)

 

 

To Keep in Mind:
March 11th: Lucy Rose at The Hotel Cafe
March 12th: CHVRCHES at The Echo
March 13th: Frightened Rabbit at The Music Box
March 14th: Belmont Lights at The Roxy
March 15th: Anais Mitchell at McCabe’s
March 19th: Ivan & Alyosha at The Echo
March 19th: Everything Everything at The Roxy
March 19th: Foxes at Bootleg Bar
March 20th: Nico Vega, Atlas Genius, and Imagine Dragons at The Wiltern
March 20th: Charlotte Church at The Troubadour
March 21st: The Rubens and Finish Ticket at The Hotel Cafe
March 24th: Janis Ian at McCabe’s
March 25th: Dinner and a Suit at The Hotel Cafe
March 27th: Mika at The El Rey
March 27th: Milk Carton Kids at Largo
April 3rd: William Beckett at The Hotel Café
April 4th: NO at The Troubadour
April 9th: Andrew Ripp at The Hotel Café
April 16th: The Neighbourhood at The El Rey
April 18th: Little Green Cars at The Troubadour
April 20th: Tyrone Wells and Wakey!Wakey! at The Troubadour
April 23rd: The Revival Tour at The El Rey
April 26th: Chappo at The Satellite
May 8th/9th: Milk Carton Kids at Largo
May 18-19th: Overture Con at The Mint
May 22nd: Youngblood Hawke at Avalon
May 29th/30th: Imagine Dragons at Hollywood Palladium
June 1st: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Wiltern
June 5th: Jewel at Saban Theatre
June 6th: Capital Cities at The El Rey
August 19th/20th: Ed Sheeran at The Staples Center

~ Kristen

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The Bard Chronicles: Dear Boy at The Troubadour 2/13/12

Posted on by Amanda

There’s this wonderful thing called life that sometimes gets in the way of other endeavors. I apologize that this took so long to post. I blame life. But let’s flash back to February 20th, 2013 when this post began….

Last Wednesday I took a jaunt up to LA to see the debut of Dear Boy. In case you somehow missed the new band alert Kristen posted about them, they are a reincarnation of Scarlet Grey. I was very much a fan of Scarlet Grey and was sad to hear when they broke up but happy to hear when singer Ben Grey and drummer Keith Cooper got together with some new guys to form Dear Boy.

I had inconveniently caught a cold the day before the show, but I wasn’t going to let that keep me from attending. Traffic was a breeze and I made it to LA relatively quickly for a Wednesday afternoon but the drive left me tired (thank you cold). So, Kristen and I spent our pre-show time hanging out at her place and ordering in because… well, because we could. And I love ordering in. You can’t do that where I am in San Diego. But I digress…

It was obvious when we got there that this was a show with a band people were here to see. Thankfully luck was on our side and after scoring a sweet parking spot, we found a prime spot up on the balcony to observe the show. The first two bands were ok but as soon as the second one finished, people started pouring in for Dear Boy. The Grey family is a loyal one.

Ben came out with a shiny new hairdo but minus his awesome stickered guitar from the days of Scarlet Grey. I guess I can let that slide. Dear Boy had only released a somewhat cryptic music video as a hint of what the sound was like and it wasn’t enough. The show was great and it’s clear Ben is excited to be moving in a different direction. The sound has more depth than Scarlet Grey did and I think it gives the band an opportunity to expand, experiment, and create. There was even a song specifically for the Grey family about his change of direction but how he is still the same person. I thought that was a very sweet sentiment. Their set seemed all to short but for us who were sick, it was actually just right I’m sad to say. We hung around for a little bit after, hoping to say some hellos but it seemed like everyone was hanging out to say hellos. We said goodbye to our friends after waiting for about 20 minutes when I saw Jade Puget standing around. I wanted to say hello but nerves and tiredness got the better of me and we retired to Kristen’s place. All in all, it was a fun night out, and I’m glad I was there to witness it. It gives me some indie cred 😉

Here are some pictures Kristen shot of the show. I hope you enjoy. And don’t forget to check out Dear Boy if you haven’t already.

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New Music Tuesday 2/26/13 featuring Boy, Finish Ticket, Escondido

Posted on by Kristen

Looking for new music? Here are some recommendations from music coming out today…

Boy – Mutual Friends

This German duo was an instant music love for me. Their debut album, Mutual Friends is one of my favorite albums to be released this year. Their dreamy pop vocals almost betray a layered and more complex depth to their songs which just get better and better upon each listen. Get your tickets now for their show at The Troubadour March 8th.

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Finish Ticket– Tears You Apart

San Francisco’s indie rock group Finish Ticket has been tickling my ear buds with singles like “Doctor” and “Tranquilize” for weeks now in anticipate of the release of their first full length album, Tears You Apart. This is the album I’ve been listening to all day. On repeat. Check out the album stream and buy the album on itunes. The band will be in LA at The Hotel Cafe March 21st.

Here’s one of my favorites, “Tranquilize”:

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/76614304″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

 

Escondido – The Ghost of Escondido

Tyler James and Jessica Maros are two Nashville-based artists who have gotten together to record a beautiful record. I got a taste with the duo’s EP released last year and I’m looking forward to hearing more with The Ghost of Escondido.

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Other albums to check out:

 

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 2/25-3/3

Posted on by Kristen

Happy Oscar Day! Are you watching? Do you have any favorites? My favorite movie of the year (although not nominated) is Perks of Being a Wallflower so in honor of a day where we celebrate the movies of the past year, I’m watching Perks. I’m watching it with commentary from the author/director which I find both informative and inspiring.

Also on the Oscar note, I had the pleasure of meeting a hobbit last night in the form of Billy Boyd who fronts a great band called Beecake.

The other notable show I saw last week was twenty one pilots at The Troubadour. I live for those moments of seeing my new favorite band for the first time and last week, I got one. It was life-affirming.

As for this week, It’s the last week in February, so it’s your last chance to see all the great residencies this month. Don’t miss out!

Here are my musical suggestions:

 

Monday: Wires in the Walls with Sandbox, Tall Tales and the Silver Linings, The Ross Sea Party and Owls FREE at Silverlake Lounge (8:30)
ALSO: The Mowgli’s with The Diamond Light, Zak Waters, and Lisa Donnelly FREE at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: A House for Lions with Max and The Moon, The Peach Kings, and The Cery Brothers FREE at The Echoplex (9pm)
ALSO: Skye (of Morcheeba) with Madi Diaz at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)
ALSO: Mind the Gap FREE at Central SAPC (9pm)
ALSO: The Art at House of Blues Sunset (9:30)
ALSO: It’s A School Night FREE at Bardot featuring Warships and Angela McCluskey (9pm)
ALSO: Monday Monday FREE at Room 5 featuring Jessie Payo, David and Devine, Jackie Does Joel, and more! (8pm)

 

Tuesday: Skye (of Morcheeba) with Javier Dunn at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)
ALSO: Anberlin with Paper Route at House of Blues Sunset (7pm)
ALSO: Beachwood Tuesdays FREE at The Piano Bar (8pm)

 

Weds: Sir Sly FREE at The Echo (11pm)
ALSO: The Gallery at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)…record release show
ALSO: Deluka and The Royalty at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Willy Moon at Bootleg Bar (8pm)
ALSO: Barnaby Saints at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)
ALSO: The Brian Buckley Band at The Viper Room (9pm)

 

Thursday: Jukebox the Ghost with Matt Pond and The Lighthouse & The Whaler at The Echoplex (7pm)
ALSO: The Watkins Family Hour at Largo (8:30)
ALSO: Royal Teeth, A Silent Film, and Gold Fields at The Troubadour (8:30, 9:20, 10:25)
ALSO: Rumours: The Ultimate Fleetwood Mac Tribute at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Amie Miriello at WItZend (9pm)

 

Friday: Queen Caveat at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Free Energy at Bootleg Bar (11pm)
ALSO: Irontom at O’Brien’s (9pm)
ALSO: Ari Hest at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)

 

Saturday: The Ranch Party music festival (2pm) http://theranchparty.com/index.cfm
ALSO: Kitten at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Korey Dane at Room 5 (8pm)

 

Sunday: Morgan Karr at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)

 

 

To Keep in Mind:
March 5th: Marcus Foster at The Troubadour
March 5th: Mother Mother at The Viper Room
March 7th: Youngblood Hawke at The Troubadour
March 7th: Said The Whale and Frank Turner at The Hotel Cafe
March 7,8,9: Buckcherry at The Viper Room
March 8th: Boy at The Troubadour
March 9th: Nightlands at The Echo
March 9th: Andy Clockwise and Irontom at The Satellite
March 11th: Lucy Rose at The Hotel Cafe
March 12th: CHVRCHES at The Echo
March 13th: Frightened Rabbit at The Music Box
March 14th: Belmont Lights at The Roxy
March 15th: Anais Mitchell at McCabe’s
March 19th: Ivan & Alyosha at The Echo
March 19th: Everything Everything at The Roxy
March 19th: Foxes at Bootleg Bar
March 20th: Nico Vega, Atlas Genius, and Imagine Dragons at The Wiltern
March 20th: Charlotte Church at The Troubadour
March 24th: Janis Ian at McCabe’s
March 25th: Dinner and a Suit at The Hotel Cafe
March 27th: Mika at The El Rey
March 27th: Milk Carton Kids at Largo
April 3rd: William Beckett at The Hotel Café
April 4th: NO at The Troubadour
April 9th: Andrew Ripp at The Hotel Cafe
April 20th: Tyrone Wells and Wakey!Wakey! at The Troubadour
April 23rd: The Revival Tour at The El Rey
May 8th/9th: Milk Carton Kids at Largo
May 18-19th: Overture Con at The Mint
May 29th: Imagine Dragons at Hollywood Palladium
June 1st: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Wiltern
June 5th: Jewel at Saban Theatre
August 19th/20th: Ed Sheeran at The Staples Center

~ Kristen

http://www.localmusicnation.net/

https://twitter.com/_localmusicnat

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Amanda’s SD Concert Calendar 2/25-3/3

Posted on by Amanda

Happy Sunday! It’s a beautiful San Diego day minus the rather chilly wind. I’m getting my butt out tonight to the Ken Club to see Social Studies and hang out with my friend Lauren Ruggles. In other news, I have a pending Bard Chronicle but I’ve been busy with school work that my brain seems non-functional by the time I can get to working on it. I should have it up sometime this week though. Well, enough of my ramblings….

 

Monday: Sir Sly @ Casbah at 9pm
AND: Scott Mathiasen and The Shifty Eyed Dogs @ Soda Bar at 9pm
AND: Oliver Trolley @ Griffin at 845pm

Tuesday: Grand Tarantula, The Royalty, North Shore @ Casbah at 9pm

Wednesday: Jukebox The Ghost, Matt Pond, The Lighthouse and The Whaler @ Soda Bar at 830pm
AND: The Used @ House of Blues at 7pm
AND: Josh Damigo, Robert Francis @ Griffin at 830pm
AND: Morrissey @ Balboa Theater at 8pm

Thursday: The White Buffalo and Terraplane Sun @ Belly Up at 9pm
AND: Willy Burns @ House of Blues at 730pm
AND: Crash and The Burns @ El Dorado at 9pm
AND: Electric Six @ Casbah at 9pm
AND: G Love and Special Sauce @ House of Blues at 9pm

Friday: Ryan Bingham and Honeyhoney @ Belly Up at 9pm
AND: Capital Cities @ Block No. 16 at 7pm

Saturday: The Burning of Rome @ Ruby Room at 9pm

Sunday: David Lindley @ Belly Up at 8pm

 

Keep in Mind:
March 4th- Free Energy @ Soda Bar
March 6th- The Stone Foxes @ Casbah
March 6th- twenty one pilots @ Irenic
March 7th- Flogging Molly @ House of Blues
March 7th- Toad and the Wet Sprocket @ Belly Up
March 7th- Hey Marseilles! @ Casbah
March 9th- Transfer, Dead Feather Moon, Grand Tarantula @ Belly Up
March 9th- Bad Religion, Against Me! @ Soma
March 10th- The Silent Comedy, The Heavy Guilt @ Casbah
March 12th- Frightened Rabbit @ Belly Up
March 12th-17th- SXSW
March 18th- Imagine Dragons, Nico Vega, and Atlas Genius @ House of Blues
March 18th- Josh Ritter @ Belly Up
March 19th- Matt Costa @ Casbah
March 19th- The Joy Formidable
March 22nd- Pennywise @ House of Blues
March 28th- Sister Sparrow and The Dirty Birds @ Griffin
March 30th- The Airborne Toxic Event @ House of Blues
April 4th- Soul Asylum @ Belly Up
April 6th- William Beckett @ House of Blues Side Stage
April 12th-14th- Coachella
April 16th- Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds @ Balboa Theater
April 17th- Alex Clare @ House of Blues
April 19th-21st- Coachella
April 23rd- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club @ House of Blues
April 24th- Chappo @ Soda Bar
April 26th- Alkaline Trio @ House of Blues
May 4th- Crash Kings, Chris Wilson and Planet Earth @ Griffin
May 10th/11th- Mayday Parade, You Me At Six @ Soma
May 12th- The Milk Carton Kids @ Belly Up
May 25th- Cold War Kids @ Belly Up
May 29th- !!! @ Casbah
June 1st- Imagine Dragons @ SDSU Open Air Theater
June 16th- They Might Be Giants @ Belly Up
June 21st- She and Him @ SDSU Open Air Theater
September 6th- Dave Matthews Band @ Cricket Wireless

twenty one pilots at The Troubadour (2/20/13)

Posted on by Kristen

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I saw twenty one pilots last night at The Troubadour. Today, Amanda asked me today how the evening went. I kind of exploded the following reply. She suggested I stick it up here as a show review. I don’t have time to gussy it up, but here it is; my initial and somewhat effusive gut reaction to the seeing twenty one pilots at The Troubadour:

OMG, last night. Last night. Sigh. It was amazing. Twenty one pilots is my new favorite. They put on the most thrilling live show. Plus, I am obsessed with their music. I can’t wait to see them again at SXSW. They are my top pick right now of bands to see.

Anyway, The plan was to catch 1.5 of the openers at The Troubadour, then run over to The Roxy to see Zookeeper’s Palace (my new friends from Philly), then come back to The Troub and catch the end of twenty one pilots set. However, I got to the Troubadour and I got a great spot right up front. The first act, Echosmith was very impressive for their youth. The second band, New Politics, was from Denmark and they were fantastic. The singer did some breakdancing. They had a ton of energy and great songs. Another band we’ll be seeing at SXSW. 🙂 I would have said they were the best band I’ve seen in awhile, until twenty one pilots blew them out of the water. But I was enjoying New Politics so much I couldn’t leave and I had such a sweet spot up front…I decided somewhat regrettably not to dash off to The Roxy.

It was the right decision. Twenty one pilots came out with a BLAM! It’s just two guys, but they both come out onto a fog-filled stage wearing these skeleton suits. It’s kinda creepy. Then drummer starts his beating and the singer gets on top of a piano (a real piano, not some keyboard or pseudo-piano). Suddenly BOOM! the singer leaps off the piano and starts into this massive pounding rap. Then 30seconds later, he’s at the piano playing a kind of skippy ballad. The skeleton suits only lasted a song, but the drama was enough to pull anyone in. The rest of the set kept up the energy. The guys were all over the place. The drummer did an awesome backflip off the piano. The singer scaled the walls and somehow ended up in the balcony. Of course, there was a drumming circle thing. They also put on these facemasks for one of the more mellow song. They created this atmosphere that was so fitting for their music which is really all about a struggle to overcome something and how everyone is miserable and such but we have to celebrate life…definitely fit my mood. But the best thing about twenty one pilots and their music is the versatility. You know how I love the unexpected in music and it doesn’t get more unexpected then their music. They go from rap to piano to keytar to synths to ukulele…sometimes all in the course of one song. The singer sounds like Eminem, but he also sounds like Marcus Mumford. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect show and I am now craving more.

 

I took some pictures that I posted up on LMN’s facebook page.

Needless to say, twenty one pilots are my new band love. I highly recommend checking them out, especially if they are playing a show near you.

[youtube Pmv8aQKO6k0]

~ Kristen

The Bard Chronicles: Get Back Loretta at The Griffin-2/9/13

Posted on by Amanda

As promised, here is the first entry of The Bard Chronicles featuring Get Back Loretta. To be honest, I hadn’t seen Get Back Loretta play in quite some time and this was their first official show after playing New Years Eve at the Lafayette Hotel with the likes of Little Hurricane and Blackout Party. They had played a show earlier that day in PB with the violinist from Dave Matthews Band but not a lot of people seemed to know about that show. I personally was excited to see Kevin Martin because I hadn’t seen that cool cat in ages. Actually, I was excited to see the whole band because it had been ages. I could tell everyone in the band from Steven Bradford to Isaac Cass was excited to play that night. They finally took the stage after Dead Feather Moon, who started late due to some sound issues.

Honestly, I had forgotten how large the catalogue of Get Back Loretta tunes was and I have no idea why. For some reason, I forgot about their latest release “Where Did You Go?” (silly because that was a staple during a breakup) which made me even more excited to hear the likes of Breakin’ Down, Grown So Cold, and Mrs. Miller. The set was chock full of classics such as Ketamine, Dreams Got Scattered, Over The Wall, and The Future of The Moon. I was really excited to see Steven unencumbered by his bass since Lauren Scheff has joined as bassist. Steven seemed to command the stage in a way that I hadn’t seen before and I was reminded of Get Back Loretta from times of old. The hour long set was full of poppy energetic fun and seemed to fly by way too fast. It was a dance party alright and I couldn’t have asked for a better night of friends and great music.

I’m super excited to hear their new/old record which is currently being recorded/produced by bassist Lauren Scheff. Until such time as that music comes out, I’ll leave you with Get Back Loretta on the Scheff Experience. Also, you can check out Get Back Loretta at the sites below…
Get Back Loretta FB
Get Back Loretta Website

 

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