Amanda’s Top Ten Musical Experiences (cont.)

Posted on by Amanda

I bet you thought I forgot all about this! Well, the truth of the matter is… I haven’t been home to write and when I am home, I’m sleeping. I’ve been out making new musical experiences for 2012! As such I’m giving you three more of my top musical experiences and I promise the top 2 won’t be far behind.

 

5.SXSW- I don’t really know how to describe SXSW to anyone other than calling it a musical orgy of sorts. There is so much to see and do whilst in Austin, Texas that it’s hard to keep your head on straight. Last year was my first year and I hope to be going every year after. The cool thing about SXSW is you really only need money for a place to stay and some food. We never went to any official shows (which is what badges are required for) and we had a hard time keeping up with all the musical options out there. During our time at SXSW we saw; Fierce Creatures, Viva City, Purple Melon, AWOLNATION, Neon Trees, The Head and The Heart, The Kin, Dead Sara, Fitz and The Tantrums, Tailor Made Fable, Keaton Simons, Liam Finn, Atomic Tom, Ivan and Alyosha, Queen Caveat, The Gallery, Sabrosa Purr,  The Greenhornes, The Silent Comedy, Mother Mother, Agnes Obel, Brian Wright, Brooke Fraser, Cary Brothers, Holly Conlan, Jim Bianco, Joey Ryan, Kenneth Pattengale, Laura Jansen, Little Red Radio, OK, The Milk Carton Kids, Deluka, Hugo, Meriwether, My Cousin The Emperor, Sinai, Taylor Locke & The Roughs, The Good Natured, Augustana, Doll and The Kicks, Empires, Lenka, Twin Atlantic, and The Stone Foxes. Well, you get the idea…

 

4. Blink-182- I was never a huge fan of Blink. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t change the radio station when their music came on or anything but nothing about them made me have a burning desire to see them live. In 2011, I saw them not once but twice and they will always have a warm spot in my heart. The first time I saw them was for the Honda Civic Tour. I was working with Kevin and Rebecca Joelson and doing some shooting of the event which means I was in the pit for the first few songs and was able to be side stage for the rest of their set. I was surprised at just how many Blink-182 songs I knew and Rebecca and I sang along from the sidelines. What really blew my brain was when they ‘finished’ their set and this giant rig comes down from the batons where all the lights are. I had been staring at it all night trying to figure out what it was. Well, it was a giant arm with a drum set attached! Travis got on this rig and was taken out over the audience while he played a solo for a few minutes. The rig would tilt down, back up and move around. It was mind blowing!!!! Needless to say, I was a fan after that.

 

3. Bonnaroo- In 2011, Bonnaroo was what Coachella should have been lineup wise. If you’ve ever been to or know about Coachella, think of Bonnaroo as the cooler sister who is both hippie and hip. Bonnarro is also held in a giant field and while it lacks the artistic attractions like the wandering robot and the giant hand that can kill a car, it has yoga and it’s own post office. Bonnaroo also has this giant fountain which I’ve been told gets painted different colors every year but it’s a great way to stay cool in the heat. Coachella doesn’t have that. Granted Coachella is easier to get to, but flying out gave us the chance to hang out in Tennessee and check out Nashville for a day or two. Our highlights from Bonnaroo were already posted on this site but we had a blast watching Eminem, The Head and The Heart, Portugal. The Man, Neon Trees, Kopeckey Family Band, Mumford and Sons, Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons, Alberta Cross, The Black Angels, and The Decemberists. Bonnaroo is a new tradition in my book and I can’t wait to see the lineup for 2012!

 

See you soon for my top 2!

Friday the 13th’s Creepshow at The Hotel Cafe

Posted on by Kristen

One of my favorite musical events is the semi-annual Creepshow. Pianist extraordinaire, Ely Rise or Ely the Creep as he is affectionately known, gathers together his very talented musician friends for a night of drinking and music at The Hotel Cafe. Ely knows good music and The Creepshow is always an opportunity to discover amazing talent. Over the last couple of years, I have been introduced to artists like Alisan Porter, Elle King, Sarah Hudson, and Esthero and gotten to see favorite acts like Hoobastank, Daniel Bedingfield, and Ferras.  What I love most about the event is that it is a celebration of music. Everyone there is so happy to be on the stage sharing what the love with an audience eager to hear what they have to offer.

The 10th Creepshow took place last Friday (the 13th) and living up to the standard, was an evening full of discovering new artists, seeing a couple of favorites, and generally being blown away by the talent that took the stage. Highlights for me included hearing some new songs from Ferras (especially his duet with Sarah Hudson) and sampling promising new voices like Dana Williams, Nikki Leonti (of Nikki & Rich), and southern sounding rocker Josh Bartholomew. Plus, it wouldn’t be a Creepshow without at least one surprise guest and having Josh Hoge take the stage might have been the most pleasant surprise of them all!

Below are some pictures. Scroll over the pics to get more stories from the fantastic evening of music.

~ Kristen

Amanda’s SD Concert Calendar 1/16-1/22

Posted on by Amanda

It’s a gloomy Monday afternoon down here in San Diego but there is no reason to be glum. I would be far more chatty but I’m a tad bit tired after The Silent Comedy/Transfer show last night and we have round 2 tonight! I thought I would get this calendar out early before I forgot so I’m sorry if this is a tad scatterbrained…

Enjoy.

Monday: The Silent Comedy, Transfer, and Dead Feather Moon @ Casbah @9 $15

Tuesday: Pilots @ Soda Bar @830 $5
AND: The Silent Comedy, Taylor Locke and The Roughs, and Races @ Roxy @8 $12

Wednesday: Olin and the Moon @ The Casbah @9 $8
AND: The New Kinetics @ Bar Pink @9

Thursday: Jamuel Saxon and White Apple Tree @ Casbah @9 $8
AND: John Meeks @ Tin Can Alehouse @930 $5
AND: Grouplove @ Porters Pub @730

Friday: Skyline Union @ Griffin @9 $5
AND: Dashboard Confessional @ House of Blues @7 $25/$38
AND: Gregory Page @ Lestats @8

Saturday: Strangers Family Band @ Casbah @9 $13

Sunday: Wilco and White Denim @ Copley Symphony Hall

 

Keep in Mind:

January 23rd- April Ventura and The Magnolias @ Casbah @9 $5
January 26th- Nico Vega and The Filthy Violets @ Casbah @9 $8/$10
January 27th- The Howls, Jesse LaMonaca and The Dime Novels, and Family Wagon @ Casbah @9 $8/$10
January 28th- Endoxi and Kevin Martin @ Griffin @830 $8
February 2nd- The Burning of Rome @ Soda Bar
February 3rd- Mute Math @ 4th & B
February 4th- Where’s the Band Tour @ House of Blues
February 7th- Dr. Dog w/Purling Hiss @Belly Up @9 $18/$20
February 10th- Young the Giant @ Soma
February 11th- You Me At Six @ Soma @6 $12
February 19th- Craig Finn @ Casbah @9 $12
February 23rd- Ra Ra Riot @ Belly Up @8 $18
February 23rd- Hot Chelle Rae w/Electric Touch @ House of Blues
February 23rd- Scars on 45 @ Anthology @730
February 24th- The Soft Pack @ Casbah @9
February 25h- Mat Kearney @ House of Blues
February 26th- Cursive @ Casbah @9
February 29th- Red Hot Chili Peppers @ Valley View Casino Center
March 3rd- Jackie Greene @ Belly Up @9
March 6th- Flogging Molly @ House of Blues
March 8th- William Fitzsimmons @ Anthology @7
March 9th- The Stone Foxes @ Casbah @9
March 11th- Crocodiles @ Casbah @9 $12
March 21st- Cults @ Belly Up @9
March 23rd- The Ting Tings @ House of Blues
April 15th- Rise Against @ Viejas Arena

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 1/16-1/22

Posted on by Kristen

Currently watching The Golden Globes and I have come to the conclusion that I really don’t know much about contemporary popular culture. I’m incredibly frustrated because all the commercials for interesting new TV shows give their premiere date based on something called “the super bowl”. Okay, I know what The Super Bowl is (unfortunately), but I have no clue when it is. Can you please give me an actual date associated with these shows? Not that I’ll time to watch them…

Listening to all the nominees for the best films and TV shows of the year, I realize how out of tune I am with these things. I think I’ve seen all of two movies that were mentioned the entire evening and I had no clue Matt LeBlanc or Kelsey Grammar were doing TV again.  Also, when did my favorite movie stars like Julianne Moore and Kate Winslet get so old?

Sorry for the extracurricular rant. I might know more about these things if I didn’t spend my every spare moment going to shows, listening to music, writing about music, and hanging out with people talking about music, etc. But honestly, I love my life and wouldn’t have it any other way…

And now that I’ve brought us back around to the point of this email, here are my musical recommendations in LA this week. (I’d especially take note of The Silent Comedy’s return to LA on Tuesday):

 

Monday: The Elizabeth Kill at The Viper Room (12:15)
ALSO: Chasing Kings FREE at The Satellite (11pm)
ALSO: NO, Zane Carney, and The Pierces at Bardot (10pm)…FREE with RSVP http://www.itsaschoolnight.com/losangeles/
ALSO: Kevin Earnest at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

 

Tuesday: Races, Taylor Locke and The Roughs, and The Silent Comedy at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Finish Ticket at The Viper Room (9:30)
ALSO: Olin & The Moon and Maxim Ludwig FREE at The Echo (9pm)

 

Weds: Adam Arguarci at Bootleg Bar (11pm)
ALSO: Augustana at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Marcus Very Ordinary and Forrest Day at Molly Malone’s (9,10)
ALSO: Jamestown Revival at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)

 

Thursday: Zane Carney at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: Forrest Day at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Civil Twilight at Bootleg Bar (8pm)
ALSO: Terra Naomi and La Vie at WitZend (9, 10)

 

Friday: The Good Natured at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: Holly Conlan, Rob Giles and All New People, and Rocco Deluca at The Hotel Cafe (8, 9, 11)
ALSO: Wires in the Walls at O’Briens in Santa Monica (10pm)
ALSO: PK at The Mint (10pm)
ALSO: Shane Alexander and Chris Pierce at WitZend (10,11)

 

Saturday: Finish Ticket at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)

 

Sunday: rest…yay!

 

 

To Keep in Mind:
January 26th: Endoxi at The Roxy
January 29th: Tyrone Wells at Saint Rocke
January 31st: Atomic Tom at Bootleg Bar
Feb. 2nd: Mutemath at Club Nokia
Feb. 2nd: Dead Sara at Bootleg Bar
Feb. 8th: Marketa Irglova at The Hotel Café
Feb. 9th: Joss Stone at The Troubadour
Feb. 9th: Harper Blynn at The Hotel Cafe
Feb. 14th: Twin Atlantic and You Me at Six at The Troubadour
Feb. 17th: Ryan Adams at The Hollywood Bowl
Feb. 19th: The Darkness at House of Blues Sunset
Feb. 20th: Milo Greene at The Satellite
Feb. 21st: Scars on 45 at The Troubadour
Feb. 22nd: Will Dailey and Mariah McManus at The Hotel Cafe
March 9th: William Fitzsimmons at The Troubadour
March 13th-18th: SXSW (Austin, TX)
March 18th: Dia Frampton at The Troubadour
March 20th: Needtobreathe and Ben Rector at Club Nokia
March 24th: Ani DiFranco at The Orpheum Theater
March 24th and 25th: Allen Stone at The Troubadour
March 31st: Tyrone Wells at The Roxy
April 13th-15th AND 20th– 22nd: Coachella
April 25th: Ben Kweller at The El Rey
May 8th: Snow Patrol at The Hollywood Palladium

 

~ Kristen

 

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Amanda’s Top 10 Musical Experiences (continued)

Posted on by Amanda

The musical journey continues as I continue to reminisce about endeavors of good old 2011. There was so much good music packed into one year but choices must be made (or so I’ve been informed).

 

8. Cage the Elephant– I remember when this band caught some buzz in 2010 and for one reason or another, I was never able to attend a show to see if they lived up to the hype. Thankfully for me, Cage the Elephant played Wrex the Halls this year in San Diego and I happened to be lucky enough to work the show. I was shooting video from the mixer in the middle of the floor and despite my distance, I could feel their energy. The highlight of their set was singer Matthew Shultz’s crowd surfing. He came off the stage into the crowd not once, not twice, but three times! The last time was after the band finished playing and had walked off stage. He looked out into the crowed, shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘why not?’ and crowd surfed his way off stage.

 

7. Milk Carton Kids and Joe Purdy– At barely a year old, The Milk Carton kids have really started to make a name for themselves. I first saw one half of The Milk Carton Kids when Joey Ryan opened for Carney a few years ago. I was enchanted with him then and soon he was making music with his musical soul mate (or so it seems), Kenneth Pattengale. In 2011, they came through San Diego a few times, one of which was supporting Joe Purdy at The Belly Up. I remember this show specifically because a few friends joined me for the show and one of them was so taken with The Milk Carton Kids and the childhood memories they brought back to her, she started to cry. Joe Purdy was new to me and he did not disappoint! It was a lovely night all around and I’ll hold it fondly in my mind for quite some time.

 

6. North Park Music Thing– Now known as the San Diego Music Thing. I think. It might change it’s name again. All you really need to know is that it is 2 days full of speakers and music. In the morning/afternoon you can find workshops with top dog speakers about anything from touring to selling your music for tv. There is a whole other slew of workshops from basic music industry 101 to the state of radio. The evening is chock full of local acts at local venues. To give you an idea, this year included music from; Nico Vega, Kevin Martin, The Silent Comedy, Andy Clockwise, Endoxi, Youngblood Hawke, White Apple Tree, Grand Tarantula, The New Kinetics, Queen Caveat, Republic of Letters, Saint Motel, Purple Melon, Little Hurricane, Mattson 2, Miss Erika Davies, Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels, The Heavy Guilt, Cuckoo Chaos, The Nervous Wreckords, Writer, Gregory Page, Steve Poltz, Maren Parusel, and Dynamite Walls. And that was in two days!

While Nico Vega isn’t a San Diego band, they were just a few of the guests we had in from LA!

 

Local Musicians Giving Back to the Community

Posted on by Kristen

Holidays are a time of year where there is a huge emphasis on giving to the less fortunate. You don’t always put together local music and giving to the local community. At least I didn’t.  Well, about a dozen local SoCal bands did just that.  Hi.  My name is Ashley and Kristen and Amanda are letting me hijack their blog for this one post.  I work for a nonprofit agency called Child and Family Guidance Center in Palmdale.  We give all of our clients and their siblings (low income at risk youth) gifts for the holidays.  I got the bright idea to ask local bands to donate their merchandise and music to the teens as a unique and totally awesome gift.  I got so many more positive responses than I was expecting.  I was able to collect enough items to give 60 totally awesome gifts to the clients.  I was so moved that I asked Kristen if I could post a big THANK YOU (!) to all the bands.  It made my heart swell with happiness and warmth to know that they cared enough to donate their hard work.  Plus the clients really enjoyed getting the special gifts.

As an added bonus-Oh No Not Stereo gave me money to be able to run a music group for the teens.  Talk about my heart filling with even more gushy happiness.

Here is a list of the bands and their websites.  Check them out cause they rock.

Oh No Not Stereo: http://ohnonotstereo.com/blog/

Andy Frasco and the UN: http://andyfrasco.com/

Virtual Boy: http://wearevirtualboy.com/

Oedipus: http://oedipusband.com/

Blonde Summer: http://www.facebook.com/blondesummer

Saint Motel : http://saintmotel.com/

Dead Country: http://deadcountry.net/

Runner Runner: http://www.runnerrunnermusic.com/

Taylor Locke and The Roughs: http://www.tlatr.com/

Maniac: http://maniacmania.com/sonsofsummer.html

Some Hear Explosions: http://www.somehearexplosions.com/

The Silent Comedy: http://www.thesilentcomedy.com/

Fitz and the Tantrums: http://fitzandthetantrums.com/

 

~ Ashley (awebb@childguidance.org)

Love for The Milk Carton Kids

Posted on by Amanda

I was in a mood this afternoon. It was the kind of mood not easily shook by a nap or kind words from a friend. This was a full on “the world sucks” kind of mood. And now, it’s gone. “Why is that,” you ask? Great question.

I was thrilled last month to discover my favorite duo The Milk Carton Kids would be back in San Diego and I was not going to miss out. However, the aforementioned mood damn near ruined my day and I almost didn’t make it out of the house. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was meeting a friend at the show, I probably would have stayed home. But I’m really glad I didn’t.

At the very first chords of the very first song, my mood was instantly lifted. As Joey and Kenneth continued to play songs new and old my spirits rose even more. Between their tunes, humor, and commentary, I was smiling and laughing with all traces of my previous mood and the irritants that caused it forgotten. It was exactly the kind of musical soul food I needed.

The thing about The Milk Carton Kids is they remind you of the depth and beauty that two guys with guitars can create. They are awkward, honest, and charming and it shows through in their songs. Tonight was a wonderful reminder how much music like that can touch you at your core. I remember watching the two of them play together before they created The Milk Carton Kids and I have to say, they have only gotten better with time. To sit in a large room and watch an entire floor rapt with attention at their presence and performance was… special. It was unexpected and well deserved. To see their audience and fan base grow has truly been a treat. I wish nothing but continued success for the adorably awkward pair.

You can download both their cds for free from their website! If you want the flavor of their individual songs such as Permanent, Charlie, Girls, Gather ‘Round and Queen Jane, go for Retrospect. If you want to hear what Joey and Kenneth created together, go for Prologue. Actually, you should just get both since they are free!