Monday, September 29, 2008

Shows I've Got My Eyes On...

Tuesday - 9/30 - House of Blues - TALIB KWELI, LITTLE BROTHER, and DAVID BANNER
FRIDAY - 10/3 - BYRNE AND ENO @ THE GREEK
Saturday -
Detour Music Festival
Friday 10/10 - Duffy @ Orpheum
Tuesday 10/14 - Santogold @ Wiltern

WEDNESDAY - 10/15/08 - JAY-Z @ PALLADIUM --> The Reopening of the theater
Black Kids @ Mayan; Kings of Leon and We Are Scientists @ Nokia Theatre
FRIDAY - 10/17 - Roots and Gym Class Heroes @ Palladium
10/20 - mc chris @ Roxy
FRIDAY 10/24 -
Devin the Dude @ Key Club; Girl Talk @ Henry Fonda; Mike Relm @ El Rey
Wed - 10/29 - JEL @ Henry Fonda
Thurs - 10/30 - New Deal @ Knitting Factory
Friday 10/31 - HARD FEST!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday 11/4 - DIPLO DIPLO DIPLO @ ECHOPLEX!!!!!!!!!!
11/9 and 11/10 (sun and monday) - BECK @ ClUB NOKIA
tUESDAY 11/11 - Redman and Method Man @ House of Blues
Wednesday 11/12 - Galactic @ House of Blues; Luple Fiasco @ Club Nokia
Friday 11/14 - Ben Folds @ Wiltern
11/18 - Matisyahu and club Nokia
Friday 11/21 - Medeski, Martin & Wood (MMW) @ El Rey
Sarah Silverman - "Jesus Does Magic"
11/26 - Nas @ Club Nokia

Get your tickets....

MSTRKRFT

MSTRKRFT kicked ass at the Fonda on Friday night. Played until damn near 2 am. All I have to say is "All I Do is party ha ha ha ha."

WTF with all the little kids in the crowd? WTF with 18 year old girls asking me to buy them alcohol and getting pissed when I say no? 18 year old girls (1) would be too easy to target (2) are entirely to immature to deal with and (3) should've drank before they came to the show. Why should I risk 'corrupting a minor' so a young hottie can get a drank? I shouldn't and I wouldn't, and I still won't.

The best part is when they get mad because you won't buy the drink for them.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Re-Opening of The Palladium

So, the Palladium is re-opening in October with a hustler's bang.....Jay-Z with a 12 piece orchestra! Wednesday October 15, 2008. I think the show is likely one for the record books. Tickets were $150 face value and they are going in the $200 neighborhood on craigslist and e-bay. My guess is demand for this one is going to go up (not down) as the show approaches...

But, if Jay-Z wasn't enough, the Palladium is going to bang out to the Roots and Gym Class Heroes two days later on Friday night! Who is doing the booking over there? They really know how to start off with a good slate.

Indescribably Dope

Finally back in the states (and by states, I mean California) after a long set of trips after the bar exam. I'm ready to get back to music blogging with a new vengeance.

Although I could describe what has happened to me over the last 2 months, and the music I've seen recently, it would be a disservice to not immediately report on the dopeness that I witnessed first-hand last night at the Wiltern. Atmosphere put on one of the most memorable performances I have ever seen, and certainly one of the best hip-hop shows to ever occur in Los Angeles. To put it bluntly it was indescribably dope.

Atmosphere performed a sampling of cuts from the latest full length, When Life Gives You Lemons..., including "Any Man", a personal favorite. The crowd was on full throttle even before Slug dropped his first verse of the night, with many fans beginning to spit verse after verse as if they were the MC himself. Slug even commented on how L.A. must just like to hear their own voice. His opening words to the crowd, after a standing applaud and scream filled welcoming, were that "we needed to slow down, don't fuck me to fast."

What impressed me most was how Slug seamlessly whipped through song after song, most of which were slightly re-worked both from the band perspective (with unique instrumentation - girl on the vocals, anyone?!?!?) and the lyrics (plenty of L.A. and Wiltern shout outs). Fans seemed to know the full catalogue, dating all the way back to old school shit from original Sad Clown Bad Dub...Slug has truly come along way with his casual performance flow; his cadence and articulation are exceptional and he delivers words like bullets; they cut through the drowning bass tones just enough to hear what he is saying and truly understand his metaphors as he rolls them off his lips.

He dropped several tracks from his latest Sad Clown EPs, including a song he called his personal favorite (I forget the name).

I got my personal favorite somewhere during his tremendously long encore, Women With The Tattoed Hands, which is a cut that they do not often play anymore. Although I was surprised that not many people were singing along with me, I was just happy to hear him play the original Atmosphere crowd pleaser. He topped it all off with a freestyle with Murs and Abstract Rude at the end, where, amongst more L.A. spot dropping, he killed it with a shout out to the Wiltern.

I have not seen a show that had me reeling like this in a while. Quite honestly the best Atmosphere show I've ever seen (and this was #16). The feeling of joy I experienced during his 30 minutes of encore are hard to define. I guess the best way to capture last night in words is to say that Atmosphere was indescribably dope.