An Emotional Evening at Room 5

I don’t know was it was, but Monday night at Room 5 I kept finding myself fighting that feeling of wanting to cry (the good kind of crying…mostly). It could have been the fact that I was so burnt out and therefore emotionally vulnerable, or maybe it was listening to LA’s beloved Jay Nash sing one last song, his dedication to California, before saying goodbye to the state as well as the institution he started (Songwriters in the Round at Room 5). It could have just been the outstanding talent of this week’s round of songwriters that bored straight into my heart and touched it so deeply.

This week’s group featured Joel Eckels, Sally Jaye, Kenneth Pattengale, and the man who very well may end up my favorite act of the year, Joey Ryan. How I go from Nico Vega one year to Joey Ryan the next is a puzzle even to myself….but I digress.

I must say that I’m finding the combination of Kenneth Pattengale and Joey Ryan to be endlessly entertaining. Someone suggested they were like Simon and Garfunkel and Joey immediately balked at the idea, relegating Kenneth to the role of Garfunkel. To me, this would be a complement of the highest order. As much as I enjoy both Joey and Kenneth, I think I’m started to like them even better when they play together! They keep performing as a duo for “practice” for an upcoming series of shows billed as An Evening with Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale (and not, sadly, Ryan Pattengale). This includes a stop at McCabe’s in Santa Monica on April 24th. Someone should really record this show and make a CD (especially since I will be out of town).

I will again say that this Songwriters in the Round event is my new favorite way to listen to some great artists. It’s like ice cream. It’s always the first few bits of ice cream that are the best…but after you’re about half way through the carton, you keep eating more out of habit…or a memory of what those first few bites tasted like. But if you combine different flavors of ice cream in the same bowl, the immense high from those first couple bites is prolonged as you go from one variety to the next, the contrasts reminding you just how amazing each individual flavor is. 

But seriously, I feel that going from artist to artist really helps to keep the emotional intensity at its peak. The only downside is that the evening is over and it really feels like it has just begun.

Until next week…

~ Kristen

p.s. the recording I took of Jay Nash’s  Golden State Goodnight

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

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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Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 8/15-8/21

Last week I kind of took it a bit easy. Let’s call it a conservation of energy tactic. Saturday, I went from 0 to 100. I stopped at The Hudson block party where I discovered a great new band (Nightmare & The Cat), did some dancing, ate some food, and witnessed a Wu Tang performance. I left early, missing out on a couple of my favorites (Dead Sara and Andy Clockwise). I had to get to Santa Monica for the Milk Carton Kids CD release event where I spent two hours on the brink of tears, either from laughing too hard or from the sheer beauty and brilliance of the music. Then I jetted from McCabe’s down to Saint Rocke just in time to be blown away by the powerful and empowering Nico Vega. So many great friends gathered at this final performance, I ended up talking/laughing/smiling through the wee hours. A day to remember for sure!
And really, yesterday was just the beginning of a week-long celebration of music and friends surrounding The Sunset Strip Music Festival. If you want to know what I’m up to next week, just go here: http://www.sunsetstripmusicfestival.com/.

And that’s not all? In fact, there are so many shows I wish I could go to this week but can’t that I’m beginning to think that I’ve done something to upset the universe. The cruelty of having TFDI’s So-Cal dates conflict directly with SSMF. The inhumanity of me NOT getting a ticket to see Muth Math at The Troubadour. The audacity of scheduling TWO Death Cab for Cutie/Frightened Rabbit dates when I cannot attend either one.

 

What a week! Here goes my list:

 

 

Monday: Automatique at The Viper Room (10:15)
ALSO: Robert Francis FREE at Bootleg Bar (11pm)
ALSO: The Wilderness of Manitoba at Origami Vinyl (7pm)
ALSO: Adele at The Greek Theater (7:30)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: it’s a school night at Bardot featuring Damndogs (featuring members of Jet) and Nikki Lane (10:30)…FREE with RSVP http://www.itsaschoolnight.com/

 

Tuesday: Mute Math at The Troubadour (8pm)…if someone has an extra ticket to this thing, I’ll be your friend forever…
ALSO: Wilderness of Manitoba at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)
ALSO: SSMF Showcase at The Roxy featuring The Green Children, Kyle Nicolaides, Los Einsten, and more (7pm)

 

Weds: SSMF Showcase at The Roxy featuring Benvenue, Lido Beach, and more (7pm)
ALSO: Old 97’s and Josh Ritter at The Wiltern (7pm)
ALSO: Alex Lambert at Room 5 (10pm)
ALSO: Parker Ainsworth at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: The Weepies at The Troubadour (8pm)
ALSO: Adele at Hollywood Palladium (7pm)

 

Thursday: Nico Vega and Eastern State Champions at The Roxy (9pm)
ALSO: The Canyons (8), The Veronicas (9) and Run Run Run(10:30), The Tender Box (11:20), Nude (12:20) at The Viper Room
ALSO: TFDI at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Johnny Polonsky at Silverlake Lounge (9pm)
ALSO: Frightened Rabbit and Death Cab for Cutie at The Greek (7:30)

 

Friday: Dead Sara and Buckcherry at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Kevin Martin at On the Rox (8pm)
ALSO: Taylor Locke & The Roughs (8:30), Lady Sinatra (9:30), Purple Melon (10:30), Hillbilly Herald (12), and Eli James (1am) at The Viper Room
ALSO: TFDI at Saint Rocke (9pm)
ALSO: Keaton Simons at The Hotel Cafe (11pm)
ALSO: Red Light Sky at Amplyfi (9:45)
ALSO: Frightened Rabbit and Death Cab for Cutie at The Greek (7:30)

 

Saturday: SSMF at The Sunset Strip (between The Key Club and The Whiskey) featuring Motley Crue, Bush, Youngblood Hawke, Indians, Love and A .38, Deluka, Queen Caveat, Jordan Cook, Imagine Dragons, Sabrosa Purr, Semi Precious Weapons, and SO MANY MORE (1pm)
ALSO: Walk the Moon at Bootleg Bar (11pm)
ALSO: Taryn Manning at The Hotel Cafe (11pm)
ALSO: Maxim Ludwig & The Santa Fe Seven at The Troubadour (8:15)
ALSO: TFDI at Zoey’s in Ventura (5pm)

 

Sunday: Koffehouse presents 5th Annual Evening of Independence at Ford Amphitheatre featuring Tyrone Wells, Satellite, Allen Stone, Jamestown Revival, Of Verona, Jes Hudak, and MORE (6pm)

 

Monday: Big presentation at work…I’m just pointing this out to emphasize how much the universe hates me right now.

 

 

To Keep in Mind:
August 22nd: Ben Rector at The Hotel Cafe
August 22nd: Scarlet Grey at The Troubadour
August 27-28th: Sunset Junction
September 3rd: FYF
September 22-24: Hotel Carolina (South Carolina)
September 22nd: Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights at The Viper Room
September 24th: William Elliot Whitmore at Bootleg Theater
September 25th: The Lonely Forest at The Wiltern
October 14th: Butterfly Boucher at Bootleg Theater
March 13th-18th: SXSW (Austin, TX)

~ Kristen

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Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 5/20-5/26

This message comes to you from The Mint where I am attending one of the coolest events I’ve been to recently, Overture Con. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hanging out with Bad Wolf, Cadaver Dogs, Queen Caveat, and Semi Precious Weapons. There were informative panels about DIY activities, fashion in music, etc. plus some exclusive opportunities like a Bad Wolf acoustic performance and an advance listen to the Cadaver Dogs CD (made into an intense drinking game). The focus of the event is to connect super fans like myself to their favorite bands and by the end of the day everyone in attendance felt like family to me. Today promises to be similar with a new set of bands like Honor Society who, as I write this, is talking about the notion of living in a box and detailing the unique smell of their dressing room.

Later today, I will be on a panel talking about my life as a super music fan, part of which includes my obsessive desire to put together these calendars every week in my attempt to spread the music love…speaking of, this week promises to be another good one! I’m thrilled that Irish brotherly duo Hudson Taylor booked another show (Monday at Bardot) and I’m equally pumped about Atlanta’s The Shadowboxers who are finally coming to LA playing The Viper Room on Wednesday.

Here are the rest of my picks:

Monday: It’s a School Night at Bardot featuring Hudson Taylor and The Honey Trees (9pm)
ALSO: Laura Marling FREE at Amoeba (6pm)
ALSO: Robert Schwartzman and Damndogs FREE at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Milo Greene FREE at UCLA Bruin Plaza (noon)
ALSO: Frankie & Friends at The Viper Room Acoustic Lounge (8pm)
ALSO: Monday Monday FREE at Room 5 (8pm)
ALSO: The Rolling Stones at The Staples Center (8pm)

Tuesday: Allison Iraheta at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: Laura Marling at The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever (9pm)
ALSO: The Postelles with Tapioca and The Flea at Bootleg Bar (9pm)
ALSO: Kate Nash at The Echoplex (10pm)
ALSO: 28 North at The Mint (9:30)
ALSO: Beachwood Tuesdays at The Piano Bar featuring Animals of Kin (8pm)

Weds: The Shadowboxers at The Viper Room (9pm)
ALSO: Better Looking People With Superior Ideas at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)
ALSO: Youngblood Hawke at Avalon (9pm)

Thursday: The Mowgli’s with American Authors and Hunter Hunted at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Irontom and Checkpoint Charlie FREE at Sunset Strip Farmers Market (8, 9)
ALSO: The Last Internationale at The Satellite (10pm)
ALSO: Vance Joy, Caitlin Crosby, Kristen Toedtman at The Hotel Cafe (8,9,10)
ALSO: The Watkins Family Hour at Largo (8:30)

Friday: Sir Sly at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: Jay Nash at McCabe’s (8pm)
ALSO: The Spring Standards at Bootleg Bar (9:15)
ALSO: Shane Alexander at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Cold War Kids at The Fonda Theatre (9pm)

Saturday: Zookeeper’s Palace at Molly Malone’s (8:55)
ALSO: Family Cave at Amplyfi (9pm)

Sunday: ?

To Keep in Mind:
May 28th: Lissie at Masonic Lodge at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery
May 28th: Cary Brothers at The Hotel Cafe
May 29th: Tyler Hilton and Curtis Peoples at Saint Rocke
May 29th/30th: Imagine Dragons at Hollywood Palladium
May 31st: CHVRCHES at Fonda Theater
June 1st: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at The Wiltern
June 1st: CHVRCHES at The Troubadour
June 1st: Make Music Pasadena
June 4th: Willy Moon at The Troubadour
June 5th: Jewel at Saban Theatre
June 5th: Atomic Tom at The Hotel Cafe
June 6th: Meg Myers and Dear Boy at The Troubadour
June 6th: Capital Cities at The El Rey
June 7th: The Boxer Rebellion at Avalon
June 7th/8th: Jubilee Music Festival
June 8th: Bjork at Hollywood Palladium
June 13th: Fall Out Boy at The Wiltern
June 22nd: The Staves at Bootleg Bar
June 23rd: Guster, Barenaked Ladies, and Ben Folds Five at The Greek Theatre
June 25th: Rachael Yamagata at The Troubadour
June 27th: Bernhoft at The Troubadour
July 1st: Anberlin at The Roxy
July 19th: Passenger at El Rey Theatre
July 23rd: Savages at The El Rey
July 23rd/24th: The Postal Service at The Greek Theatre
August 8th: The Silent Comedy at Fonda Theatre
August 19th/20th: Ed Sheeran at The Staples Center
September 4th: Tegan and Sara at The Greek Theatre
September 26th: Hanson at House of Blues Sunset
October 1st: Jake Bugg at Fonda Theatre

~ Kristen

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