Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 2/4-2/10

Posted on by Kristen

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! If you know me, you may find it odd that I am recognizing the event because I quite dislike football. Not just in the casual way, but I find myself getting inexplicably, and perhaps irrationally angry when I am in a room with people sitting around watching football (don’t ask, because honestly I don’t know why). But Super Bowl Sunday is great because while everyone else seems to be pressing pause on their lives, I keep going and actually feel like I’m getting ahead for once instead of barely keeping up.
One of my action items today is to plan out my February. As far as shows go, it’s going to be tricky because my oh my February is a busy month for must see residencies. On Mondays we’ve got A House for Lions, The Mowgli’s, AND Wires in the Walls all playing free shows at The Echoplex, The Satellite, and Silverlake Louge respectively. Then on Wednesdays we have Sir Sly at The Echo and Warner Drive at The Viper Room and each Saturday you can find We Were Indians (formally Indians) downtown at Casey’s Irish Bar and Sweetwater & The Satisfaction at The Hotel Cafe. I need to decide what week I’m going to go to what venue now so that I can be sure I see everyone and not become paralyzed with options. It’s so easy to say “oh, I’ll catch them next week” when it comes to these residencies…

Whatever you end up doing today and for the rest of the week, I hope you’re having a blast. To help you in that endeavor, here are my musical recommendations:

 

Monday: The Young Roman’s at Central SAPC (8pm)
ALSO: The Mowgli’s and Of Verona FREE at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: A House for Lions with Olin and The Moon and The Steelwells FREE at The Echoplex (9pm)
ALSO: Wires in the Walls FREE at Silverlake Lounge (10:30)
ALSO: It’s A School Night at Bardot featuring Lewis Watson and Matt Costa (8pm)…FREE with RSVP http://www.itsaschoolnight.com/losangeles/
ALSO: Deadly Birds at The Viper Room (11pm)
ALSO: Judy Collins in Conversation with Stephen Stills at The Saban Theatre (7:30)
ALSO: Monday Monday FREE at Room 5 (8pm)

 

Tuesday: Kris Allen and Jake Newton at The Hotel Cafe (8, 9:30)
ALSO: Chi McClean and Brendan Hines at Room 5 (9, 10)
ALSO: Solwave at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)
ALSO: Beachwood Tuesdays at The Piano Bar featuring Escondido (9pm)

 

Weds: Queen Caveat FREE at The Studio (10pm)
ALSO: Sir Sly and Kitten FREE at The Echo (9pm)
ALSO: Warner Drive and Deluka at The Viper Room (10, ?)
ALSO: Kris Allen at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)

 

Thursday: Parade of Lights at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Holly Conlan and Hey Ocean! At Bootleg Bar (10,11)
ALSO: The Grammy Foundation’s Play It Forward Event at The Saban Theatre featuring Ed Sheeran, LP, Leann Rimes, Emmylou Harris, etc. (7:30)

 

Friday: Jesse Thomas at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: The Stone Foxes at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Slim Cessnar’s Auto Club at The Viper Room (11pm)

 

Saturday: We Were Indians at Casey’s Irish Bar Downtown (11:30)
ALSO: The Stone Foxes at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: The Other Side of Morning at Universal Bar and Grill (7:30)
ALSO: Nonpoint at The Roxy (8:15)
ALSO: Sweetwater & The Satisfaction at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Ed Sheeran at Hollywood Palladium (6pm)
ALSO: Ellie Goulding at The Wiltern (8pm)

 

Sunday: The Ragged Jubilee at The Viper Room (8pm)

 

To Keep in Mind:
Feb. 12th: Ellie Goulding at Hollywood Palladium
Feb. 13th: Papa Roach at Club Nokia
Feb. 13th: Dear Boy at The Troubadour
Feb. 16th: Pink with The Hives at The Staples Center
Feb. 17th: Ed Sheeran at Nokia Theatre LA Live
Feb. 20st: twenty one pilots at The Troubadour
Feb. 21st: The Shakers at The Roxy
Feb. 26th: Anberlin at The House of Blues Sunset
Feb. 28th: Matthew Perryman Jones at Bootleg Bar
Feb. 28th: Jukebox the Ghost at The Echo
March 5th: Marcus Foster at The Troubadour
March 5th: Mother Mother at The Viper Room
March 7th: Youngblood Hawke at The Troubadour
March 7,8,9: Buckcherry at The Viper Room
March 8th: Boy at The Troubadour
March 12th: CHVRCHES at The Echo
March 13th: Frightened Rabbit at The Music Box
March 15th: Anais Mitchell at McCabe’s
March 19th: Ivan & Alyosha at The Echo
March 19th: Everything Everything at The Roxy
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
April 20th: Tyrone Wells and Wakey!Wakey! at The Troubadour
April 23rd: The Revival Tour at The El Rey
May 18-19th: Overture Con at The Mint
June 1st: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Wiltern
August 19th/20th: Ed Sheeran at The Staples Center

~ Kristen

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The Bard Chronicles: Jimmy Eat Word and IAMDYNAMITE at House of Blues 5/17/13

Posted on by Amanda

Jimmy Eat World had better be worth all this. It was a Friday night and I was headed to downtown San Diego. What the hell was I thinking? This is downtown on a Friday night where there will be tons of people from the tourists to the crazy party people and parking rates will be jacked through the roof and lots will be full. How far was I going to have to walk to get to this show? The better question actually was, how long was I going to spend driving around looking for a place to park my truck? It was well over 25 minutes before I found parking but thankfully right across the street and free. 

I arrived just in time to find a great spot on the floor and to catch opener IAMDYNAMITE’s set. I happened to catch a song of theirs up in LA at the Viper Room when they played with The Virgin Mary’s. I was intrigued by them and was really excited to see a full and proper set. Although the image of a guy with a guitar and a guy with a drum kit brings to mind The Black Keys, IAMDYNAMITE is nothing like that at all. Despite missing a bass player, they still manage to incorporate that wonderful bass sound (somehow) and the audience is none the wiser that no such bass player exists. They have a vivacious rock sound and are so entertaining to watch. Plus, any drummer who does vocals too is totally awesome. I immediately went and purchased their set was finished. The band came out to give hugs to fans before they had to drive up to San Francisco  Awwwwwww. 

I had never gotten the chance to see Jimmy Eat World at their height of popularity. I totally missed the bus and take full responsibility. Actually, I think they might have been playing an X-Fest show I was at years ago and I didn’t know who they were so I didn’t pay attention. My bad. This is how I was making up for it. Admittedly, I only know their radio hits and own none of their albums. I just wanted to see this band that has managed to successfully stay around for a decade.

By now the room was hot and sweaty with anticipation. The band took the stage in a timely manner (thank you) and proceeded to rock the entire room from floor to terrace. One particularly drunk and overzealous caused some mayhem when he shoved/crashed his way to the middle of the floor, much to the disdain of everyone around him and a fight almost broke out. Frontman Jim Adkins threatened to put the two in a room together until they became friends. I was highly amused. Needless to say the trouble maker ended up getting removed from the crowd, which proceeded to cheer at security escorting him out. The set was an hour long and they played old material for the long time fans, rado hits for people like me, and a nice sampling from their new album Damage. It was a wonderful set full of highs and lows. Well crafted. With a heartfelt thank you, the band exited stage left and left the crowd cheering for more. I proceeded to run up to the loft/terrace area, where it was much cooler, when they came back out and did a three song encore. Yep, three songs. What an epic evening! 

 

Kristen’s Concert Calendar: 4/19-4/25

Posted on by Kristen

Due to the demands of Coachella, this week’s concer calendar is a bit…underdeveloped…  I was going to try to post a more complete version, but I realized that by the time I flushed it all out, it would be the end of the week already. And that’s just not acceptable. Especially considering the Nico Vega/Semi Precious Weapons face-melting that will occur Weds night at The Roxy…highly recommend advanced tickets for this one folks!
Here’s my brief list (and certainly enough to keep anyone busy and sleep deprived).

Monday: Juke Kartel at The Hotel Cafe
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm) 

Tuesday: Taylor Locke and the Roughs at The Viper Room

Weds: Nico Vega and Semi Precious Weapons at The Roxy with after party at The Viper Room…NOT to be missed!
ALSO: Foxy Shazam at The Troubadour
ALSO: Glee Tour at the Gibson Amphitheater 

Thursday: Wartapes at Silverlake Lounge
ALSO: Shelby Lynn at The Roxy
ALSO: Glee Tour at the Gibson Amphitheater
ALSO: Honeyhoney at The Hotel Cafe 

Friday: Killola and Sick of Sarah at The Roxy

Saturday: Get Back Loretta at The Roxy (On the Rox)
ALSO: The Elizabeth Kill at Libertine
ALSO: Jennifer Knapp at The Mint 

Sunday: Jason Castro at The Troubadour

To Keep in Mind:

May 2nd: The Kin at The Hotel Cafe
May 4th: Greg Laswell at The Troubadour
May 15th: Carney at The El Rey   
May 15th: 30 Seconds to Mars at The Greek Theater
May 20th: Queen Caveat at The Viper Room
May 28th: The Silent Comedy and Dirty Sweet at North Park Theater (in SD)
June 6th: Mumford & Sons with The Silent Comedy at BellyUp (in SD)
June 10-13th: BONNAROO (in Tennessee)
July 10th: Lilith Fair

~ Kristen

Kristen’s Concert Calendar: 6/28-7/4

Posted on by Kristen

Just got back from Warped Tour in Ventura with Amanda. Will hopefully get around to writing something about it and posting some of my pictures. It was by far the most pleasant (weather-wise) Warped  I’ve ever been to…but I still managed to get a lovely burn on the shoulders. Fortunately this week’s planned activities are largely indoors.
And if you want to go out at all this week, might I suggest Thursday heading to one of the places participating in The Gulf Coast Benefit. (http://gulfcoastbenefit.com/#about) On this day, select venues around the country will be donating money from ticket sales to organizations aiding those impacted by the oil spill. Several LA establishments (including my picks at The Roxy and The Mint) are participating. If you’re not in LA, check the website to see if a venue near you is involved. Enjoy some great live music AND play a part in helping our country deal with its current economic and ecological crisis. You’ve seen the pictures…you know you want to do something…this sounds like a perfect opportunity to me!

As for everything else:

Monday: Paris Carney and Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (8,9)
ALSO: Victoria Clemmons and Abbot Kinney at Molly Malone’s (9,10) 

Tuesday: Vienne at Saint Rocke (9:30)
ALSO: The Daylights at The Roxy (8pm) 

Weds: The Smashing Pumpkins at The Viper Room (?)…no, that is not a misprint.
ALSO: The Shakers at Kibitz Room (11:30)…last night of their Kibitz residency!
ALSO: Hot Hot Heat at Bootleg (10pm)
ALSO: Joel Eckels and The Paper Sun at The Foundry on Melrose (?) 

Thursday: Danielia Cotton at Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena (7pm)…is she worth driving to Pasadena for? Why yes, yes she is!
ALSO: Saint Motel at the Hammer Museum (7pm)
ALSO: The Gulf Coast Benefit at The Mint featuring Kaki King  and Ben Lee (8pm)
ALSO: The Gulf Coast Benefit at The Viper Room featuring Wicker (9pm)
ALSO: Garrison Starr at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: Year Long Disaster at Spaceland (8:30) 

Friday: Army of Me at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)…from Washington DC!!
ALSO: The Other Side of Morning at The Park Bar in Burbank (10pm)
ALSO: CocoRosie at Orphium (9pm)
ALSO: Cinder Cone at Vacation Vinyl (7pm)…record release at a record store
ALSO: The Shakers at Gallagher’s Pub in Huntington Beach (11pm)
ALSO: Paris Carney at Molly Malone’s (8:30)
ALSO: Automatique at The Viper Room (10) 

Saturday: The Janks at The Hotel Cafe (11pm)

Sunday: Happy 4th of July! I’m sure there are some lovely parties with some great music…I just haven’t found one yet…

To Keep in Mind:
July 7th: Carbon Leaf at The Troubadour
July 8th: Michelle Branch at Greek Theater
July 10th: Lilith Fair
July 13th: The Silent Comedy and Andy Clockwise at The Troubadour
July 14th: Nico Vega at The Troubadour
July 18th: The Swell Season and Bird and the Bee at Hollywood Bowl
July 30-31st: Morcheeba at Hollywood Bowl
August 12th: Semi Precious Weapons at Staples Center (with Lady GaGa)
August 21st and 22nd: Sunset Junction
September 25th: Band of Horses at Greek Theater
September 25th: Muse at Staples Center

~ Kristen

Countdown to Epicenter Twenty Ten: 6 days!

Posted on by Kristen

As I mentioned yesterday, next weekend is Epicenter Twenty Ten. I was thrilled looking at the line-up to see one of my favorite LA bands, Crash Kings. These guys have been blowing up since their days of playing The Viper Room and anyone who has seen them or heard their music could probably tell you why.
For a taste, here’s their most recent music video:

~ Kristen

p.s. Some pics I took from their show at The Roxy

Pepper’s Ghost Countdown: 5 Weeks!

Posted on by Kristen

Every year, Pepper’s Ghost wouldput on a Halloween show. These were some of the best, most memorable shows. They even performed a Halloween song entitled “I Am A Ghost”.
Here’s a video from the Halloween show they did at Milkboy Coffee. Let’s relive this memory and prepare ourselves for some new Pepper’s Ghost memories created January 22nd in Philadelphia at The Grape Room…!!

SO EXCITED!!

~ Kristen

Hanson’s 12 hour SXSW4Japan Benefit: Album now Available!

Posted on by Kristen

So many things were going on in Austin the week of SXSW that it’s impossible to do/see/even know about it all. One thing I was tangentially aware of was Hanson’s efforts to raise money for those in Japan suffering from the tsunami fallout. Apparently the brothers put together a fundraiser in less than 24 hours that brought in over $100,000 worth of donations for the Red Cross.  The fundraiser was in the form of a telethon that took place on the last Saturday of SXSW and featured so many wonderful artists coming in and giving exclusive performances that were then streamed live.
Sxsw4japan.org is re-streaming the performances RIGHT NOW!: http://sxsw4japan.org/

Even more exciting, ITunes and Amazon.com are now selling a digital album called SXSW4Japan featuring nearly 50 tracks from the artists that participated. All proceeds are going to the Red Cross.

So, what are you waiting for? GO and get it!

http://www.amazon.com/Sxsw4japan/dp/B004UY1TSY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302031272&sr=8-1

Some of my favorite artists featured include: Hanson, The Lonely Forest, Cary Brothers, The Boxer Rebellion, Laura Jansen, Alpha Rev, Jenny O, Keaton Simons, Anna Nalick, The Parlotones, Kina Grannis, Michelle Branch, and Rooney…but there are SOOOOOO many more!

Charlie Mars at the SXSW4Japan benefit:

Hanson covers “Lean on Me”

~ Kristen

Watch live streaming video from sxsw4japan at livestream.com