Shakerleg

Favorite Band Alert! The Kin

Posted on by Kristen

Waking Up Shining

I am still overwhelmed with emotion from seeing The Kin play Monday night at The Hotel Cafe. It had been far too long since brothers Thorry and Isaac Koren played LA. An added bonus, the absolutely brilliant and incredibly unique Shakerleg was indeed present behind his makeshift drum kit and despite the fact that he was terribly ill, still managed to pull out all the stops on stage. They played mostly songs from their most recent album, The Upside, and closed the night with some covers they’ve been working on, but the highlight for me was when they came off the stage and into the audience to play a brand new tune.  

There is nothing better than seeing one of your favorite bands play after you haven’t seen them in awhile…except perhaps seeing an amazing band play for the first time. Which is why, if you’re in the Los Angeles area, I think you should come to The Stronghold in Venice 9pm Weds night to fall in love with The Kin as they are playing one more time before leaving LA.

 The Kin covers Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” in NYC

~ Kristen

Kristen’s Concert Calendar 5/3-5/9

Posted on by Kristen

I’m still singing from Saturday night’s grand adventure On The Rox with The Silent Comedy. For more on that, you should check out the forthcoming (fingers crossed) post I will be putting up.

This week, I’m especially excited about two appearances The Kin make on my calendar. Monday night at The Hotel Cafe and Weds at Stronghold in Venice. It’s been WAY too long since brothers Koren have been in Los Angeles. It will probably be some time before they are here again so don’t miss these opportunities to see one of my very favorite bands play live! As an added bonus, I hear Shakerleg may also be coming to town…

As for what else I’m looking forward to this week:

Monday: The Kin at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)….yes, it’s an early one, but it’ll be worth the traffic, trust me!
ALSO: Wartapes FREE at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm) 

Tuesday: Until June at Spaceland (9pm)
ALSO: Greg Laswell and Brian Wright at The Troubadour (8pm)
ALSO: Links at The Viper Room (midnight) 

Weds: The Kin at Stronghold in Venice (9pm)
ALSO: The Hold Steady at The El Rey (8pm)
ALSO: The Daylights and Whispering Pines at The Hotel Cafe (10,11) 
ALSO: Beachwood Rockers’ Society at Crane’s

Thursday: Other Side of Morning at Harvelle’s  in Santa Monica (10:30)
ALSO: Green River Ordinance at The Troubadour (10pm)
ALSO: Ingrid Michaelson at The Hotel Cafe (7pm)…definitely sold out…but one never knows…
ALSO: Austin Hartley-Leonard at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Links FREE at Space 15 Twenty (7pm) 

Friday: Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale and Chris Pierce at The Hotel Cafe (10,11)
ALSO: Beth Hart, Linda Perry, etc. at Club Nokia (8pm)
ALSO: The Janks at Spaceland (11) 

Saturday: Ely’s Creep Show featuring Hoobastank, Ferras, Elliot Yamin, etc. at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)…sorry, it’s sold out…I’ll let you know how it goes 😉
ALSO: Warpaint at Bootleg (10:30)
ALSO: Fight From Above at On The Rox (10pm) 

Sunday: Viza at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Patrick Park at Saint Rocke (7pm) 

To Keep in Mind:

May 13th: Crash Kings at The Roxy
May 15th: Carney at The El Rey   
May 15th: 30 Seconds to Mars at The Greek Theater
May 19th: Queen Caveat at The Viper Room
May 28th: The Silent Comedy and Dirty Sweet at North Park Theater (in SD)
June1st: First Aid Kit at Bootleg
June 6th: Mumford & Sons with The Silent Comedy at BellyUp (in SD)
June 10-13th: BONNAROO (in Tennessee)
June 25th: Warped Tour in LA (well, Carson)
July 10th: Lilith Fair 

~ Kristen

I don’t know how I feel about this trend…

Posted on by Amanda

Being on mailing lists for my favorite bands is somewhat of a double edged sword for me. I love keeping up with what is going on in their lives, but I absolutely hate missing out on so many good shows. Every time they play and I can’t be there…it just kills me. This is why I like local bands…

This past week, I received an email from one of my favorite bands, The Kin. It was detailing this show they are going to be doing in New York City next Weds (March 10th) at Webster Hall. It’s a special charity show through FM Charities whose goal is “to increase awareness of common, treatable illness among all populations.” Great cause, great band…only problem is I live in LA and can’t be there…or can I?

In the email they announced that the show is going to be viewable via webcast. So, if I choose I can sit at home that night and watch one of my favorite bands put on an amazing show…via the internet. I guess this is a good thing. I mean, I LOVE The Kin. I’d love to see them every single time they play. I’ll know what songs they play, if they break out any new tunes, if Shakerleg makes an appearance. I’ll be able to hear any in between song banter, stories from the road or from their most recent annual trip to Australia (where they are from).

But, really, it won’t be the same. It won’t feel the same. I won’t be moved by the pulsating beats from the overblown speakers or sense the energy of the audience as they fall in love with every note. I won’t be able to join in the sea of voices as the songs hit that familiar chorus or turn to that stranger next to me and smile when Thorry and Isaac nail that whistle at the end of “Romeo” or begin to introduce “Abraham” as that song about two brothers…come to think of it, it might be MORE painful to watch the spectacle in this detached mode then to not see it at all.

But this seems to be the way things are going. I watched a couple songs from a Joe Firstman set the other day streaming live from some place or another. In a few minutes, I’ll turn on the live stream from a local Philly radio state (Radio104.5) to hear IKE play a couple of tunes live…I guess streaming entire shows is just the next logical step.

So, I think everyone should check out the stream from The Kin’s show next Weds. And let me know how it goes…’cause I’ll be out at The Troubadour that night having a Manchester Orchestra experience.

http://www.thekin.com/

http://www.fmworldcharities.org/events.html

~ Kristen