Saturday night brought us to the second night of Flying Lotus for the epic introduction of Lotus with a band. With Lotus flying high off the release of Cosmogramma, the night was one to be remembered. Not only was there a Cosmogramma themed design-your-own-tee-shirt station in the back of the Echoplex, but there were Cosmogramma images being projected on walls both inside and out. The whole night had a very artistic avant-garde feel to it - which was only further emphasized by the improvisational saxophone playing of Ravi Coltrane.
Looking at the bill for Saturday night, I did not anticipate that we'd go from Gaslamp Killer to Coltrane's quintessential jazz in a matter of an hour, but it happened. Spanning the spectrum of multiple genres, the night became a melting pot of experimentation, collaboration and last, but not least, people. There were all sorts of heads out - from electro freaks, to hip-hop heads, to music critics, to seeming jazz aficionados. While the eastside is more often the locale for finding a mixed bag of people - this was one of the more diverse crowds I'd seen at a show recently. Although we tuckered out at the end of Flying Lotus' set, we were happy to have witnessed Flying Lotus' first full band performance. If you failed to make it - you can check out some free flying lotus downloads from www.rcrdlbl.com right here - http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Flying_Lotus/music - including his remix of Kanye West's "Love Lock Down."
Sunday we took the night off from concerts, but we were back at it again on Monday with stops at the Libertine and 14 Below. The Libertine, hosted Hunnypot Unlimited's radio show with guest Foster The People, who unfortunately cancelled their performance due to a band member's personal issues. Nonetheless, "Hot Tub" John Anderson asked the questions and produced some nuggets of information about the recently signed and rising LA indie-electro-soul buzzband. From Libertine we made an obligatory stop at Pinches Tacos (best Carne Asada taco in town), before heading to the westside to meet up with A/J and Dak of Saint Motel for Glen & The Sunshine Gang at 14 Below.
Arriving at 14 Below, A/J, Dak and I bumped into @berkorules of @theviperroom before witnessing the crazed unitard party that is Glen & The Sunshine Gang. With half the band in skeleton themed unitards, it was a spectacle to be seen. That picture was only made more graphic when the pantsless keyboard and effects player removed his shirt and started dancing in his tighty whities in the middle of the crowd. I was particularly down with their juiced up version of "We Didn't Start The Fire", the classic song from Billy Joel's Storm Front album. Glen, their front man, who began the song by jumping off stage in his not so flattering to the crotchal region all red unitard, gave a performance that can only be described as rock star. What this band might lack in great songs they make up for in great (and energetic) live show. Although I can't say SUPERGOODMUSIC will be rocking out to Glen & The Sunshine Gang tracks on a regular basis - we do look forward to seeing the band again and intend on being a bit more intoxicated to enjoy the balls to the wall party that is GTSG.
Last night we ventured to The Roxy in hopes of catching both Ironheel and Bigelf. Ironheel includes band members (Jim) that hail from Boom D's hometown of Shaker Heights, but unfortunately, SUPERGOODMUSIC missed their performance. We did happen to catch Vas Defrans and Bigelf - both loud, but both worthy of The Roxy's stage. Bigelf not only had big sound, but big make-up, big hair and a big wardrobe. For reference the lead singer - whose name I do not know - was wearing a striped scarf and a jacket, with a mane down to at least his shoulders and more eye make-up than you've seen since Cats. (Okay, the Cats reference is an overstatement, but I'm just saying - homeboy rocks the make-up hard). We caught most of their big performance but left a little early to attempt a run at seeing Steve Aoki and Special Guest at Dimmak....which was thwarted by Frankie & Johnny's scrumptious pizza and a desire to watch LOST. (BTW - LOST finally answered some questions!)
