HoHotel Cafe Holiday Benefit Show- Night 2 Recap

The annual Hohotel Cafe holiday benefit show is always one of my favorite events of the year. Hotel Cafe artists come together to play a mix of seasonal tunes and originals in a rapid-fire manner, each taking the stage for only a song or two, playing solo or inviting up friends to fill out a make-shift band. The two day event featured the likes of Cary Brothers, Butch Walker, Priscilla Ahn, Meiko, Joe Purdy, Laura Jansen and SO many more. This year, I was only able to make one of the two days, but the night will go down as one of the best evenings of music I experienced all year.  It was one stellar act after another with many fun surprises and special guests. Just when I thought it couldn’t get better, it did. Over and over again. By the end of the evening, even before Butch invited his friend Alecia Moore (AKA Pink) to the stage, I was so overwhelmed, my continuously blown mind seemed to be leaking out of my eyes. Seriously, the beauty and magic of the music had moved me to tears.

Going into detail on the evening would take a book, so here are some pictures. Put your cursor over the pic to more details or fun stories:

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 12/12-12/18

Last Friday night, I had another one of those epic evenings on the Sunset Strip. I started at The Viper Room to see San Diego’s Kevin Martin. Then I ran to The Key Club to catch Jon McLaughlin and Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers with what must have been one of the most polite audiences I’ve ever been a part of. In drastic opposition, I stopped by The Roxy to witness some of the magic that is Camp Freddy. This week’s special guests included Neon Trees, Linda Perry, Sebastian Bach, Paul Stanley (KISS), and Fred Durst. I was going to head back to The Viper for the after party, but got sidetracked by some friends and pizza at Frankie and Johnny’s. Nights like these remind me why I love The Sunset Strip.

Monday night I’ll be back on The Strip for High Voltage Magazine’s Holiday Party at On the Rox. This will be the first of many holiday parties/charity events going on this week featuring some great artists and culminating in one of my favorite events of the year: The Hotel Cafe’s two day holiday party. For more details on these parties and other Kristen-approved musical events occurring this week, just keep reading:

 

Monday: High Voltage Magazine Holiday Party featuring Zero1, The Active Set, Suddyn, and Bethpage Black (8pm)
ALSO: So & So and Some Hear Explosions at The Viper Room (10:15, 11:15)
ALSO: Wires in the Walls FREE at Bootleg Bar (11:30)
ALSO: Brandi Carlile at Largo at the Coronet (8pm)
ALSO: Writers in the Round at Room 5 featuring Garrison Starr, Adrianne, Dawn Thomas, and Maia Sharp (9pm)

 

Tuesday: Ernie Halter, Mariah McManus, Amie Miriello at The Hotel Cafe (8,9,10)
ALSO: Noush Skaugen at Bar Lubitch (9:30)
ALSO: Sick of Sarah and The Lookout Kids at Silverlake Lounge (8, 10)
ALSO: Beachwood Holiday Party at The Piano Bar featuring Jesse Cole, Johnny Moezzi, Tripp Rezac, Ragsy, etc. (9pm)
ALSO: Brett Detar at The Satellite (10pm)

 

Weds: Noush Skaugen at Room 5 (8pm)
ALSO: The Rescues at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Kyle Nicolaides at Bootleg Bar (9pm)

 

Thursday: Youngblood Hawke at The Echo (9pm)
ALSO: Carina Round at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)
ALSO: The Spring Standards at Silverlake Lounge (8pm)
ALSO: Invisible Children Benefit Concert Night 1 featuring Jon Foreman, Matt Pryor, Aaron Gillespie, etc. (7pm)

 

Friday: Hotel Cafe Holiday Party Night 1 featuring Priscilla Ahn, Meiko, Rocco Deluca, Raining Jane, Tim Jones, Adam Grace, Walker Young, Laura Jansen, etc. (7pm)
ALSO: Why Hunger Benefit Concert at Hard Rock Hollywood featuring Cary Brothers , Bleu, and Crash Kings (9pm)
ALSO: Invisible Children Holiday Benefit Night 2 featuring The Mountain Goats, Ivan & Alyosha, etc. (7pm)
ALSO: Belle Brigade at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Forrest Day at Molly Malone’s (10pm)
ALSO: Camp Freddy at The Roxy (11pm)
ALSO: Beverly Kills at The Federal (6pm)
ALSO: Chris Cornell at Orpheum Theater (8pm)
ALSO: Oh Land at The El Rey (8pm)

 

Saturday: Hotel Cafe Holiday Party featuring Butch Walker, Joe Purdy, Cary Brothers, The Rescues, Keaton Simons, Holly Conlan, Austin Hartley Leonard, Jake Newton, Chris Pierce, Amie Miriello, etc. (7pm)
ALSO: Terraplane Sun at The White Buffalo at Bootleg Bar (9, 11)
ALSO: Tori Amos at Orpheum Theater (8pm)

 

Sunday: Odd Us and Red Circle Underground at The Hotel Cafe (8:30, 10:30)
ALSO: Tori Amos at Orpheum Theater (8pm)


 

To Keep in Mind:
December 23rd: Camp Freddy at The Roxy
December 31st: Semi Precious Weapons at The Roxy
January 10th: Dead Sara at The Troubadour
January 12th: Milk Carton Kids at The Largo
January 17th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
January 19th: Civil Twilight at Bootleg Bar
January 29th: Tyrone Wells at Saint Rocke
January 31st: Atomic Tom at Bootleg Bar
Feb. 2nd: Mutemath at Club Nokia
Feb. 14th: Twin Atlantic and You Me at Six at The Troubadour
March 9th: William Fitzsimmons at The Troubadour
March 13th-18th: SXSW (Austin, TX)
March 18th: Dia Frampton at The Troubadour
March 24th: Ani DiFranco at The Orpheum Theater

~ Kristen

 

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Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 6/6-6/14

The list may look a little long this week and that’s because I’m going to be internet-less next weekend and well…I don’t want that to leave everyone concertless. Of course, the reason I’ll be without connection to the world is because we’re going to that magical place called Bonnaroo and I refuse to spend my energies on finding power and WiFi…I’m not even bringing my computer (*gasp*). I’m sure we’ll be updating everyone on our journey via twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/_localmusicnat). At least until I have to choose between charging my phone and running to the next set (you can guess what will win).

 

I’ll working on a “most anticipated acts of Bonnaroo” post, so keep your eyes out. In the meantime, for those of you not venturing to Tennessee, LA still has a lot to offer this week in terms of live music. Enjoy!

 

 

Monday: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater (11pm)
ALSO: The Californian at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

 

Tuesday: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater (11pm)
ALSO: Fat City Reprise at Rhino Records Pop Up Store in Santa Monica (8pm)  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=201749359870269
ALSO: Indians at La Cita (10pm)

 

Weds: Endoxi at The Roxy (8pm)

 

Thursday: ??

 

Friday: Lakes at The Hotel Cafe (11:30)
ALSO: Belle Brigade at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Filthy Souls, Jordan Cook, and Boy Hits Car at The Viper Room (8,9,11)
ALSO: Maxim Ludwig at The Echo (8:30)

 

Saturday: I’m sure something will come up!

 

Sunday: So & So presents Artists Who Give featuring Keaton Simons, Amie Miriello, etc. (9pm)…artist performing songs from Neil Young’s Harvest Album
ALSO: Sunday Lane at The Mint (9:50)
ALSO: Justin Hopkins Songwriter Round (7pm)
ALSO: The Ataris acoustic at The Airliner (8pm)
ALSO: Tony Lucca at Cabana Club for the 3rd Annual Music Night

 

Monday (6/13): Armada at The Viper Room (11:15)…as part of their June Viper residency
ALSO: Florence and The Machine at The Greek Theater
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)

 

Tuesday (6/14): Haim at The Troubadour (8:30)
ALSO: Mother Mother and Andy Clockwise at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: The Civil Wars at Amoeba (7pm)
ALSO: Marc Broussard and Matt Hires at The El Rey (8pm)

 

 

 

To Keep in Mind:

June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 17th: Nico Vega at The House of Blues Anaheim
June 24th: Rooney at The El Rey
June 25th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 14th: Parade of Lights at The Viper Room
July 19th and 21st: Alkaline Trio at The Troubadour
July 22nd: Langhorne Slim at The Echo
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18th: The Veronicas at The Viper Room
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

~ Kristen

 

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 5/30-6/5

Running out the door to go get my mind blown away by Dead Sara at Hemingways in Hollywood. I’m really enjoying the holiday weekend and the fact that I just woke up from a lovely nap.

As usual, lots of great shows this week. I’m most looking forward to New Band Love’s Parade of Lights return to LA on Weds. They are playing The Silverlake Lounge. Afterwards, I’ll be running to On the Rox to catch the deadly combo of Indians and Semi Precious Weapons. Talk about a crazy night!

As for the rest:

 

Monday: Maniac FREE at Bootleg Theater (10pm)
ALSO: Lovers Drugs at The Airliner (9pm)
ALSO: Taylor Locke and The Roughs FREE at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)

 

Tuesday: Transfer, The Daylights, and The Parlotones at The Troubadour (8:30, 9:15, 10:15)
ALSO: The Filthy Souls FREE at Piano Bar (11pm)
ALSO: Amie Miriello at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)

 

Weds: Parade of Lights at Silverlake Lounge (9pm)
ALSO: Indians and Semi Precious Weapons at On the Rox (10pm)…FREE with RSVP

 

Thursday: Chasing Avalanche and Youngblood Hawke at The Viper Room (9, 12)
ALSO: Manchester Orchestra at The Music Box (8pm)

 

Friday: The Shakers at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Barcelona and The 88 at The Hotel Cafe (9:30, 10:30)
ALSO: The Lookout Kids at Molly Malone’s (10pm)
ALSO: Love and a .38 and Boy Hits Car at The Viper Room (11pm)
ALSO: Arctic Monkeys at Hollywood Palladium (8pm)

 

Saturday: Christopher Dallman, George Stanford, and Brother Sal at The Hotel Cafe (7,11,12)
ALSO: The Bird and The Bee at Bootleg Theater (8pm)

 

Sunday: Independence Jam in Oceanside featuring Cold War Kids, The Silent Comedy, Band of Skulls, Everest, etc. at the Oceanside Pier Amphitheatre (4:30)

 

To Keep in Mind:
June 6th and 7th: Band of Skulls at Bootleg Theater
June 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
June 9th: Adele at Hollywood Palladium
June 9-12: Bonnaroo (TN)
June 13th: Florence and The Machine at The Greek Theater
June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 17th: Nico Vega at The House of Blues Anaheim
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 19th and 21st: Alkaline Trio at The Troubadour
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

~ Kristen

 

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 5/2-5/8

Yes, there is a lot I could be saying right now, but my brain is fried from working all weekend, so I’m just going to jump to the point of this email. Lots of great shows this week. I hope to see everyone at The Roxy on Saturday for The Silent Comedy. This is a huge show for one of my favorite bands. Come support!

Monday: Xavier Rudd and Honeyhoney at The El Rey (7pm)
ALSO: Joe Firstman and Taylor Locke and The Roughs FREE at Silverlake Lounge (10,11)
ALSO: Battles at The Echoplex (9pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: Lady Danville FREE at The Getty (6pm)…part of College Night at The Getty Center  http://www.getty.edu/education/college/center_collegenight_2011.html

 

Tuesday: Alberta Cross and Maxim Ludwig and the Santa Fe Seven at The Satellite (9pm)
ALSO: Paris Carney at Room 5 (10pm)
ALSO: Red Circle Underground and The Mulhollands at Saint Rocke (8:30)

 

Weds: Tony Lucca and Justin Hopkins at The Hotel Cafe (9, 10)
ALSO: The Pipettes at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Rhett Miller at Heritage Court at the Autry (8pm)
ALSO: Pint Shot Riot at The Mint (midnight)
ALSO: Chris Cornell at Ford Amphitheatre (7pm)
ALSO: James Blunt at The Wiltern (7pm)

 

Thursday: Amie Miriello at Molly Malone’s (9pm)
ALSO: Apex Manor and The New Division at The Echo (9pm)
ALSO: Chris Cornell at Ford Amphitheatre (7pm)

 

Friday: Fat City Reprise FREE at O’Brien’s (10pm)
ALSO: Tristen and Ezra Furman & The Harpoons at The Satellite (9pm)

 

Saturday: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy (10pm)
ALSO: Fleet Foxes at The Hollywood Palladium (8pm)
ALSO: William Fitzsimmons and Satellite at The Hotel Cafe (8,10)
ALSO: Taylor Locke & The Roughs and The 88 at The Echo (6pm)
ALSO: Avi Buffalo FREE at The Getty (6pm)…part of Saturday’s Off the 405http://www.getty.edu/museum/programs/performances/saturdays_405.html

 

Sunday: I’m sure something will present itself

 


To Keep in Mind:
May 9th: KT Tunstall at The El Rey
May 14th: The Other Side of Morning CD Release
May 15th: Eisley at The Troubadour
May 20th: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Cafe
May 21st: Saint Motel at The Roxy
May 27th: The Script at Club Nokia
May 27th-29th: Sasquatch Music Festival (Washington)
June 2nd: Manchester Orchestra at The Music Box
June 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
June 9-12: Bonnaroo (TN)
June 13th: Florence and The Machine at The Greek Theater
June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

~ Kristen

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Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 4/18-4/24

Still singing and dancing to music from last night’s adventure at The Troubadour. Ben Rector and Matt Wertz were both fantastic, bringing me back to my days of Tyler Hilton, Gavin Degraw, and that ilk. I spent a lot of time in 2004-5 this week between last night and Weds night’s venture to The Hotel Cafe to see Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump busting beats with his new solo tunes. The highlight of last week, however, was Biffy Clyro down at The Belly Up. I cannot be effusive enough in the written word to describe the experience, so I won’t even try.

Let’s just say this week has a lot to live up to. If I could pick just one show it would be Thursday night at Molly Malone’s. Zane Carney (of my very first LA band love, Carney) is in town from NYC where he, as well as the rest of the band, have been very busy with the new Spiderman musical. Zane’s playing three sets; the first with a jazz band, the second with his sister Paris Carney, and the third with Stephen Hovsepian as a duo, Great Work. I am excited about the music (Zane is a master of the guitar and always a pleasure to watch), but I’m also excited about catching up with my Carney family, the first group of people I met when I moved out to LA, the majority of whom I have not seen since Carney departed.

But that’s not all that’s going on this week. It’ll be a busy one:

 

Monday: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: Lauryn Hill at Club Nokia (7pm)

 

Tuesday: Dead Sara at The Viper Room…opening for Duff McKagan’s new band, Loaded (8:30)
ALSO: Eliza Doolittle and Plan B at The El Rey (7pm)
ALSO: The Material at Whiskey a Go Go (8pm)
ALSO: Armada and Infantree at Saint Rocke (8:30, 9:30)
ALSO: The Muddy Reds at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)
ALSO: Jonathan Clark and Satellite at Molly Malone’s (8,9)
ALSO: Paul Simon at The Music Box (7pm)

 

Weds: Ellie Goulding at The Music Box (7pm)
ALSO: Amie Miriello and Ruby Friedman Orchestra at The Hotel Cafe (7,9)

 

Thursday: An evening with Zane Carney at Molly Malone’s (8: Zane Carney, John Daversa, and Sam Gendel play jazz; 9: Zane and Paris Carney; 10: The Zane and Stephan Show)
ALSO: Deep Dark Robot at The Roxy (10pm)
ALSO: The Shakers at The Viper Room (11pm)
ALSO: The Pretty Reckless FREE at Hard Rock Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Kurt Vile and The Violators at The Echo (10pm)
ALSO: Brian Wright at The Foundry on Melrose (8:30)

 

Friday: Purple Melon at The Roxy (9pm)
ALSO: Hugo at The Viper Room (9pm)
ALSO: Lakes at The Hotel Cafe (midnight)
ALSO: Matthew Jordan at Pi (part of a songwriters in the round session, starts at 9pm)
ALSO: Eastern Conference Champions at The Echo (10pm)

 

Saturday: I do have a friend who will be dressing up like a crab and singing “Under The Sea” at The Troubadour…that might be interesting…

 

Sunday: Justin Hopkins Songwriter in the Round Series and Hugo at Saint Rocke (8,10)
ALSO: Viza at The El Rey (7:30)

 

To Keep in Mind:
April 25th: Airborne Toxic Event at The Satellite
April 25th: The Head & The Heart at The Troubadour
April 27th: Andy Clockwise at The Troubadour
April 29th: Joe Purdy with The Milk Carton Kids at Saint Rocke
April 30th: Joe Purdy with The Milk Carton Kids at The Troubadour
May 2nd: Xavier Rudd at The El Rey
May 4th: The Pipettes at The Satellite
May 7th: The Silent Comedy at The Roxy
May 9th: KT Tunstall at The El Rey
May 14th: The Other Side of Morning CD Release
May 15th: Eisley at The Troubadour
May 20th: Curtis Peoples at The Hotel Cafe
May 21st: Saint Motel at The Roxy
May 27th: The Script at Club Nokia
May 27th-29th: Sasquatch Music Festival (Washington)
June 2nd: Manchester Orchestra at The Music Box
June 7th: Death Cab for Cutie and The Lonely Forest at The El Rey
June 9-12: Bonnaroo (TN)
June 13th: Florence and The Machine at The Greek Theater
June 15th: Augustana at The House of Blues Sunset
June 29th: Brooke Fraser at The Music Box
July 26th: The Indigo Girls at The Troubadour
July 28th: A Perfect Circle at Gibson Auditorium
August 12-14th: Outside Lands in San Francisco
August 18-20th: SSMF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)

~ Kristen

 

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar 3/29-4/4

It’s been more years than I care to think since I last saw them, but Something Corporate is back and I still love them. I’m still not entirely back down to Earth as I write this. I also don’t know how I’m going to get any sleep tonight…I’m way too excited. Between San Diego Indie Music Fest and Bamboozled, we saw over 20 bands this weekend, most of them for the first time…I’m a bit overwhelmed with new music. Clear standouts (for me) were Far, After Midnight Project, and, of course, Something Corporate. I’m sure I’ll be detailing more of this at some point in the blog (links below), so keep checking ;).  Amanda will have her take too!
As a result of my jam-packed schedule this weekend, this week’s list might not be all inclusive. But it’s still got some amazing shows. If you can only make one this week, please please PLEASE come out to The Bootleg on Weds to check out The Silent Comedy. It will be a lovely way to break up your week!

Here’s what I’ve got going on this week:

Monday: Paris Carney at Room 5, followed by Songwriters in the Round featuring Joel Eckles, Dawn Thomas, Jay Nash, and Laura Meyer (8pm)…my new favorite way to spend Monday evenings…!!

ALSO: Warpaint at Spaceland (8:30)

Tuesday: Haiti Benefit Show featuring Jonah Matranga of Far and Gratitude (10pm)

ALSO: Northstar Session at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)…EP Release Show

Weds: The Silent Comedy at The Bootleg (9:30)

ALSO: Brooke White, Nina Storey, and Tommy King at The Hotel Cafe (8,9,10) 

ALSO: Beachwood Rockers’ Society at Crane’s

Thursday: Jonathan Taylor and the Northern Lights at The Viper Room (11pm)

ALSO: Justin Nozuka and HoneyHoney at The Hotel Cafe (9,10)

ALSO: Puddle of Mudd at Grove of Anaheim (8pm)

ALSO: Viza at The Troubadour (10:45)

Friday: Alkaline Trio and Cursive at The House of Blues (9pm)

ALSO: Andy Clockwise at The Echoplex (8:30)

ALSO: Mozella at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)

ALSO: The Silent Comedy at The Casbah in San Diego (copies of their new CD will be available at this show!)

Saturday: Amie Miriello and the so and sos at Molly Malone’s (10pm)

ALSO: Nonpoint and Cold at The Roxy (8pm)

ALSO: Bad Religion at The House of Blues (8:30)

ALSO: JR Richards at The Hotel Cafe (10:30)

Sunday: HAPPY EASTER!!

To Keep in Mind:

April 6th: Paper Tongues at The Troubadour

April 9th: Lights and Owl City at Club Nokia

April 9th: Cary Brothers CD Release with Joey Ryan AND Truth & Salvage Co. at The Hotel Cafe

April 12th: Butch Walker at El Rey

April 16th: George Stanford CD release at The Hotel Café

April 16th-19th: Coachella

April 21st and 22nd: The Glee Tour at Gibson

May 15th: Carney at The El Rey   

May 15th: 30 Seconds to Mars at The Greek Theater

May 22nd: Frightened Rabbit at The Casbah (in SD)

June 6th: Mumford & Sons with The Silent Comedy at BellyUp (in SD)

June 10-13th: BONNAROO (in Tennessee)

~ Kristen