Dakota Lounge Rocks Hard on A Monday In June

Well, I am pleased to report that the first complete Supergoodmusic event was a success. Monday's show at Dakota Live Music Lounge in Santa Monica went off without a hitch.

Beau Landry opened at 8 pm to a not so packed room. Although I was not nervous at the lack of persons at 8 pm, I felt bad that Beau had to go on with only like 10 people in the room. That said, those people were pretty damn cool - including the staff at Dakota (the sound man is a really nice, easy to work with guy and one of their bartenders, Brandon, not only has an awesome name...but he is cool too). Beau's music was good, not spectacular, but how spectacular can you be playing to a room with only 10 people? Everyone seemed to enjoy his tunes - there just were not enough people there to enjoy it. Maybe next time the first act can go on at 8:30 instead...

As Beau Landry finished, the room started to get a little more full. That is when I noticed the featured beverage of the night - the Supafresh. Not only was I pleased to see a beverage crafted from my special Naked Vodka Crack recipe - but it was named for the night too. Thus, I started on a Supafresh drinking extravaganza which ended in my being Supa-drunk and then Supa-hungover

By 9:00 pm the room was healthily supplied with faces young and old eager to see the indie-rock, shoegaze stylings of Helicopter Rounds, The French Semester and Moving Picture Show (Beau Landry opened, but was finished at 8:40).

Helicopter Rounds, a trio of doctors who work in UCLA's ER, took the stage with a fury. Although I am unfamiliar with the names of their tunes, I really, really enjoyed their music. I think they played "I'll Never Leave" which I wasn't feeling as much pre-show - but now I am totally digging it. They definitely have character and charisma on stage and they knew how to keep the energy going. They maintained the vibe of the night, were easy to work with and ultimately were a great assist band for The French Semester.

The French Semester, the headliner of the night (although they played second to last), took stage around 9 pm to a house of about 100-120 people and they straight kicked ass! This band is really starting to find their groove after having added a female vocalist to the mix (Elaine) and a new keyboard player (Russ). They played some happy-go-lucky crowd pleasers - "Remembering Right Now" and "Fourteen" - as well as the slightly darker, but equally as awesome "The East Man." The room was grooving, people were tapping their feet, bobbing their heads and even some people were dancing....on a Monday, at an indie, shoegaze show. The crowd ate it up, clapping and cheering for the band after every song. TFS pumped it out for a long set - pushing on for close to an hour on a Monday night. The crowd's enthusiasm and Dakota Lounge's great sound probably helped keep their musical gravy train chugging...

After The French Semester came Moving Picture Show, the only signed act of the night. With a well choreographed entrance which featured the drummer playing marching drums as he emerged from the kitchen, it appeared the performance would be on high octane for the rest of the night. While the band raged and powered through their set, the crowd began to thin out given that it was a Monday night. MPS gave a great effort - playing a powerful forty minutes before calling it a night.

All in all, it was a big success. Over 100 people through the door - more than half of whom paid.