It’s been an overly stressful day/week. I’ve been listening to a lot of Deas Vail, Florence and The Machine, and Fran Healy’s new CD, Wreckorder. Thought I’d share…
What do you listen to when you’re stressed?
~ Kristen
These last couple weeks have been rough. My schedule has been commandeered by a little thing called teaching. In trying to maintain my busy schedule with the additional duties of being a teaching assistant I have managed to get sick again…I suppose the severe lack of sleep might have contributed. Anyway, the dearth of posting will most likely continue until December when my schedule can return to its usual merely busy state.
Unfortunately, this also means I have to cut back on my concert-going…I’m going to aim for a healthy diet of 2-3 shows per week and see if that can get me through. This week I am continuing my kick of going to see artists from the UK (like Biffy Clyro and Tired Pony). Fran Healy is branching out from his band, Travis, to do a solo album. He plays twice this week, once at Bardot and once at The Hotel Cafe (the latter being sold out already). Then on Weds., my last year’s band obsession, Frightened Rabbit, returns to LA to play at The Mayan. But those are only the tip of the ice berg when it comes to great shows going on around town this week. You will all have to double your efforts to go out in my absence. Here’s what I suggest:
Monday: Fran Healy (of Travis) at Bardot (11:30)…RSVP here http://itsaschoolnight.com/
ALSO: Whispertown and Jessie Baylin at Bootleg (8:30, 10:30)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
Tuesday: Fran Healy at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)
ALSO: Songwriter Round at Saint Rocke featuring Keaton Simons, Justin Hopkins, and Randy Coleman (8pm)
ALSO: The 88 at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: That Noise at The Viper Room (11:45)
ALSO: Macy Gray at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Alice in Chains at Gibson Amphitheater (7:15)
ALSO: The Script at The Wiltern (7:30)
ALSO: Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thile at El Rey (9pm)
Weds: Frightened Rabbit at The Mayan Theater (7pm)
ALSO: Beachwood Rocker’s Society at Crane’s
Thursday: Toby Lightman at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
Friday: Nicole Atkins at The Echo (9pm)
ALSO: Mike Doughty at Bootleg (10pm)
ALSO: Frightened Rabbit at HOB Anaheim (8pm)
ALSO: George Stanford at The Hotel Cafe (11pm)
Saturday: Bird by Bird at Genghis Cohen (10:30)
ALSO: Gaelic Storm (9pm)
ALSO: Jenni Alpert at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
Sunday: Joe Firstman at The Hotel Cafe
To Keep in Mind:
October 18th: Mumford & Sons at The Hollywood Palladium
October 28th: Foxy Shazam and Free Energy at The Troubadour
October 29th: Nico Vega at The Roxy
November 2nd: Ingrid Michaelson at The Troubadour
November 4th: Five for Fighting at The Brixton
November 5th: Bayside at The Toubadour
November 8th-10th: A Perfect Circle at Avalon
November 17th: Tyler Hilton at The Roxy
November 18th: Freelance Whales at The Troubadour
November 21st and 22nd: Dar Williams at The Hotel Café
December 4th: Joe Firstman at Saint Rocke
December 11th: The Black Crowes and Truth & Salvage Co. at Hollywood Palladium
~ Kristen
Giving Room 5’s Songwriters in the Round some competition for my favorite Monday night activity would surely be the It’s a School Night events at Bardot. Bardot is this lovely club located above The Avalon in Hollywood…worth going to check out the decor alone. Every Monday night the club plays host to a couple amazing bands; up and comers like Carney, The Rescues, Madi Diaz and occassionally some pretty major acts like Ben Folds and next week’s guest Curt Smith (of Tears for Fears). And did I mention all of this is FREE?
The catch? Acts aren’t always announced very far in advance. Also, the events are generally RSVP only and with major acts like Ben Folds, get there early or there will be a line down the street! Fortunately, all you need to do is check the it’s a school night website and get on the mailing list then RSVP and you’ve got an in past the velvet ropes (yes, there actually is a velvet rope)!
Last night, I ventured to Bardot to see Everest and Lemon Sun. Everest has been on my list of bands to see for awhile now and they certainly did not disappoint. Be sure to catch them out on tour with Guster and then Matt Costa. They put on a fantastic live show:
Lemon Sun, as usual, gave us a rockin’ set…even with a drummer they’d never played with before. However, the dance party was cut short when the cops showed up. I’m guessing there were some noise complaints… The band insisted on busting out one more song before giving in to the authorities:
All in all a good evening. Next week: Curt Smith and Angela McCluskey. It was also mentioned that sometime in October, Fran Healy (of Travis) will be making an appearance on a school night… To give you a tiny idea of what this means to me, I’ll just say that the Travis tune “Why Does It Always Rain on Me?” was my theme song for many many years…
~ Kristen