Kristen’s Concert Calendar: 12/20-12/26

Hope everyone’s gearing up for the holidays…after the Hotel Cafe Christmas party I attended on Friday, I’m finally starting to feel the spirit of the season. Unfortunately I am WAY behind with all the practicals (preparing for holiday travel, gift manufacturing, etc.).  Doesn’t help that my new computer is just not up to snuff (I need a tech savvy robot for these things).
Usually I venture to Philadelphia for the Christmas season. There is a fantastic show that takes place on the 26th each year supported by local radio station, WMMR. This year the Mistletoe Jam features IKE, SINAI, The Shakers, Venice Sunlight, and Anthony Renzulli Band.  I wish I could be there. But instead of spending the holidays with my musical family in Philly, I am opting to see my actual family in Missouri (to the grandparent’s house I go!). Have yet to look into concerting options in the Show Me State, so if anyone reading this happens to know of any good venues or local bands in the St. Louis region, let me know!

Unlike Philly, where over the holidays everyone is in town and local bands shows are plentiful, LA seems to disappear and shows become scarce. Still, here’s what I found:

Monday: Agent Ribbons at Bootleg Theater (midnight)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: It’s a School Night at Bardot featuring Midnight Magic (10pm)

Tuesday: Watkins Family Christmas show at Largo (9pm)
ALSO: Dead Country at Silverlake Lounge (11pm)
ASO: Amber Rubarth at Room 5 (9pm)

Weds: Jenni Alpert at Room 5 (7pm)

Thursday: last minute Christmas shopping

Friday: frantically processing my holiday presents

SaturdayMerry Christmas!

Sunday: recuperating from all that holiday cheer…

To Keep in Mind:

January 7th: Scarlet Grey at The Roxy
January 9th: Bonnie Dune at The Roxy
January 20th: Charlotte Martin at Bootleg
January 20th: Nikka Costa at The Roxy
January 22nd: Guster at The Music Box
January 28th: Free Energy at The Roxy
Feb 9th: Sarah McLaughlin at Nokia Live
Feb 9th: Tina Dico at The Troubadour
Feb 16th: Nicole Atkins at The Troubadour
Feb 26th: Josh Ritter and Scott Hutchinson (Frightened Rabbit) at The Music Box
March 1st: Biffy Clyro at The Troubadour

~ Kristen

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 10/24-10/31

Does anyone else sink into a depression when deprived of live music for over a week? This past week has just been brutal. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities for redemption this week…including the event I’ve been looking forward to alllll month, Nico Vega headlining at The Roxy with Saint Motel, Imagine Dragons, and Queen Caveat. You best be there in your witchy wear!
But that’s not all. Plenty of great shows this week to get me out of this funk. Here’s what I’ve got going:

Monday: Amy Correia at House of Blues Sunset (8pm)
ALSO: John Meeks at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)
ALSO: Jessie Baylin at Bootleg (10:30)
ALSO: Aqualung at Bardot for it’s a school night FREE with RSVP (http://www.itsaschoolnight.com/)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm) 

Tuesday: Curtis Peoples and Josh Hoge at Molly Malone’s (9:30)
ALSO: Jonathan Clark at The Hotel Cafe (10pm)
ALSO: Lights at The El Rey (9pm) 

Weds: The Nervous Wreckords at Bordello (11pm)
ALSO:  Steel Train and fun at The Music Box (8pm) 

Thursday: Free Energy and Foxy Shazam at The Troubadour (9:15, 10:15)
ALSO: Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale and Meiko at The Hotel Cafe (9,10)
ALSO: Kate Nash at The Music Box (8pm)
ALSO: Moving Picture Show and The Nervous Wreckords at The Viper Room (10,12) 

Friday: Nico Vega, Saint Motel, Imagine Dragons, and Queen Caveat at The Roxy (8pm)
ALSO: Electric Touch at The Viper Room (11:50)
ALSO: Maxim Ludwig and the Santa Fe Seven at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)
ALSO: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Stone Temple Pilots at Nokia Live (8pm)
ALSO: Rock N Roll Circus Halloween at The Echo featuring Andy Clockwise, Henry Clay People, Etc. (7pm) 

Saturday: last minute Halloween costume shopping….

Sunday: Purple Melon at The Viper Room (10:30)

To Keep in Mind:
November 2nd: Ingrid Michaelson at The Troubadour
November 4th: Five for Fighting at The Brixton
November 5th: Bayside at The Toubadour
November 6th-7th: Florence + The Machine at The Wiltern
November 8th-10th: A Perfect Circle at Avalon
November 12th: Teitur at Bootleg Theater
November 13th: Terrible Things and Mae at The El Rey
November 16th: The Lonely Forest at Spaceland
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 1st: Eve 6 at The Troubadour
December 2nd: Scarlet Grey at The Troubadour
December 4th: Joe Firstman at Saint Rocke
December 11th: The Black Crowes and Truth & Salvage Co. at Hollywood Palladium 

~ Kristen
https://twitter.com/_localmusicnat

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar: 7/26-8/1

Still struggling with coherency issues so I’m going to keep this short. This week, like last, is jam packed with musical goodness. I’m especially excited about the return of a couple of my favorite bands to LA. Truth & Salvage Co. on Friday at The House of Blues and The Kin on Sunday at Zanzibar in Santa Monica. But really, that’s just the beginning of all the awesomeness going on next week…check it out:
Monday: Soul Puppet at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)
ALSO: Aiden Moore and Abbot Kinney at Molly Malone’s (10,11)…last chance to catch Aiden before he goes off to NYC
ALSO: Mississippi Man FREE at The Echoplex (10pm)
ALSO: Paris Carney and Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (8,9) 

Tuesday: National Rifle at El Cid (?)…Philly band alert!
ALSO: Moving Picture Show FREE at The Viper Room (10pm)
ALSO: Adam Lambert at Pacific Amphitheater (7:30) 

Weds: Bang the Gong Tour featuring Civil Twilight, Paper Tongues, and Neon Trees at The Glass House in Pomona (7pm)
ALSO: Adam Lambert at Pacific Amphitheater (8pm)
ALSO: Purple Melon and Meiko at Pershing Square (8pm)
ALSO: Guggenheim Grotto at The Hotel Café (8pm)
ALSO: Beachwood Rockers Society at Crane’s 

Thursday: Queen Caveat EP Release and Transfer at The Viper Room (10,11)
ALSO: Garrison Starr and Civil Twilight at The Hotel Cafe (8,9) 

Friday: Truth & Salvage Co. at The House of Blues-Sunset (9pm)
ALSO: Dirty Sweet at The Viper Room (10:40)
ALSO: Army of Me and Tyrone Wells at The Hotel Cafe (7,9)
ALSO: Morcheeba at The Hollywood Bowl (8:30) 

Saturday: The Nervous Wreckhords at The Viper Room (9pm)
ALSO: Viza at The Troubadour (11pm)
ALSO: Morcheeba at The Hollywood Bowl (8:30) 

Sunday: Amber Rubarth and The Kin at Zanzibar in Santa Monica (9pm)
ALSO: Terra Naomi at The Hotel Cafe (9pm) 

To Keep in Mind:
August 6th: Endoxi CD release at Epicentre (SD)
August 12th: Semi Precious Weapons at Staples Center
August 21st and 22nd: Sunset Junction
September 4th: After Midnight Project at The Key Club
September 25th: Band of Horses at Greek Theater
September 25th: Muse at Staples Center
October 1st: Brandi Carlile and The Avett Brothers at Nokia Theater LA Live
October 13th: Frightened Rabbit at The Mayan Theater
December 11th: The Black Crowes and Truth & Salvage Co. at Hollywood Palladium

~ Kristen

Kristen’s Concert Calendar: 4/19-4/25

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: 6/21-6/27

So, I finally get to the point when I can actually take more nights off and have my weekends back and I was so excited about the prospect of being able to catch more of the shows I long to see every week and then…I go and get myself sick. Bleck! But just because I’ll probably have to take it easy this week doesn’t mean that you can’t benefit from all the great shows going on.
Here’s my dream list:

Monday: Carney at the Troubadour opening for Athlete (9pm)
ALSO: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (9pm)
ALSO: Abbot Kinney at Molly Malone’s (8pm) 

Tuesday: Adam Arcuragi at Silverlake Lounge (10pm)…PHILLY artist alert!!
ALSO: Automatique and The Shakers at Whiskey a Go Go (9pm)
ALSO: The Open Sea featuring Ari Hest at Room 5 (7pm) 

Weds: Abandoned Pools and Ashes Divide at The Viper Room (10,11)
ALSO: Lucy Woodward at The Hotel Cafe (10:30)…record release
ALSO: Josh Ritter at The Music Box (8pm)
ALSO: Hot Hot Heat and Links at Bootleg (8:30) 

Thursday: Kate Miller-Heidke at The Hotel Cafe (9:30)  
ALSO: Jonathan Clark at House of Blues acoustic lounge (9:30)
ALSO: Rick Cornette at Cafe Was (??)…plays keys for The Other Side of Morning…also has a solo project. Curious? So am I!
ALSO: Fitz and the Tantrums at Spaceland (10pm) 

Friday: The Rescues at The Troubadour (9pm)…Record Release show
ALSO: Andy Clockwise at The Hotel Cafe (10:30) 

Saturday: The Silent Comedy and Jonathan Foreman (of Switchfoot) at the BellyUp in Solano Beach

Sunday: The Webb Sisters at The Hotel Cafe (8:30)
ALSO: The Shakers at O’Brien’s (10pm)
ALSO: Austin Hartley Leonard at The Foundry on Melrose
ALSO: Warped Tour in Ventura 

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

Kristen’s LA Concert Calendar 4/5-4/11

Spent my day celebrating Easter with my LA family and then out at the movies (go see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!) so once again, this week’s concert installment may be missing a few things. All these options are making my head spin anyway…all you really need is one…or maybe two.
So here’s what I hope to be doing this week:

Monday: Paris Carney and Songwriters in the Round at Room 5 (8,9)

ALSO: Jakob Dylan at The Grammy Museum (8pm)

Tuesday: Paper Tongues at The Troubadour (8pm)

ALSO: Joey Ryan, Laura Jansen, and Jay Nash at Saint Rocke (8pm)

ALSO: Gin Wigmore at The Hotel Cafe (8pm)…another from my SXSW ’10 list

ALSO: Five for Fighting at The Wiltern (7pm)

Weds: Lelia Broussard at The Hotel Cafe (9pm)

ALSO: A Fine Frenzy at Largo at the Coronet (8:30)

ALSO: Beachwood Rockers’ Society at Crane’s

Thursday: The Janks at Molly Malone’s (11pm)

ALSO: Austin Hartley-Leonard, Rocco Deluca, and Honeyhoney at the Hotel Cafe (8,9,10)

Friday: Cary Brothers, Joey Ryan, and Truth & Salvage Co. at The Hotel Cafe (9-midnight)…my mind is blown at the greatness of this evening’s selection…also this is Cary Brothers CD release, so get your tickets in advance.

ALSO: Abbot Kinney at Molly Malone’s (10pm)

ALSO: Owl City and Lights at Club Nokia (7pm)

ALSO: Nikka Costa at The Roxy (8pm)

ALSO: The Janks at Bootleg (11:30)

Saturday: Saint Motel and Mississippi Man at The Echoplex (8:30)

ALSO: Truth & Salvage Co. and Rocco Deluca at Saint Rocke (8pm)

ALSO: The Elizabeth Kill at The Loft (9pm)

ALSO: Olin & the Moon at Bootleg (10:30)

ALSO: Ben Gibbard at Largo at the Coronet (8:30)

Sunday: ??

To Keep in Mind:

April 12th: Butch Walker at El Rey

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

April 17th: Fair to Midland at The Troubadour

April 16th-19th: Coachella

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

April 21st: Semi Precious Weapons at The Roxy

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

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

 

Mp3s

  • “Too Late for Lovers” – Gin Wigmore
  • “Ride”- Cary Brothers

 

~ Kristen

My New Monday: Songwriters in the Round at Room 5

 My Monday evenings will never be the same! I went to Room 5 to see Paris Carney. Unfortunately I was only able to catch the tail end of her set. BUT I stayed to see what was next and was in for SUCH a treat! Turns out Monday’s at Room 5 is Songwriters in the Round. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it’s where several singer-songwriters (in this case four) will all sit up on stage and take turns singing their songs. What always blows me away in these situations is when one of the singers will be debuting a brand new song but by the end the rest of the musicians on stage will have filled in harmonies, piano, bass, drums, harmonica, etc. despite the fact they’d never heard it before. Reminds me of one of the reasons why I love music so much…it’s just so dynamic and so accessible.
Anyway, this particular Monday, the round consisted of a couple of my fave LA crooners, Lelia Broussard and Chris Pierce, as well as a newcomer to Room 5, Medi, and the guy who throws this whole shin dig every week Joel Eckels. They were all quite good, especially when they played with each other. I especially enjoyed hearing some new songs from Lelia and anything done by Chris Pierce, whom I think I appreciate a lot more when he plays in this format.

 I also must comment on the venue itself as it was my first time there. The chairs rank as some of the most comfortable I’ve experienced at a music venue (next to that couch at Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville, PA and those big chairs at Milkboy Coffee  in Ardmore). Not only were they comfortable, they were fairly plentiful for most of the evening. For Paris’ set it was a bit crowded and this venue is not as pleasant when you don’t have a seat as there isn’t much excess room to stand.

Room 5 sits atop a restaurant (Amalfi Ristorante) and therefore has a full and delicious-looking menu. I was able to taste their caprese sandwich and it reminded me of Cosi (to the uninitiated, this is a very good thing). Their desserts also looked quite tasty and will definitely be my target for next time (they have crème brulee!!).

All in all, a perfect way to spend a Monday evening. Hopefully this was the first of many Monday Songwriters in the Round to come!!

 ~ Kristen