Tonight in L.A. (October 30, 2012)

Its Halloween eve - so repress your costumes and embrace them for the second to last time of 2012.  Tonight there are a host of events to choose from - including traditional Halloween style shenanigans like The Rocky Horror Picture Show at Yost Theater or a costume dance party, like at Dim Mak Studios.

Close to Dim Mak, Miike Snow along with Niki & The Dove lay down some sexy tunes - so maybe hit up the Hollywood Palladium before closing down Dim Mak.  Another worthy Halloween eve concert is Cadence Weapon at The Satellite - where he is joined by Fat Tony and Subtitle for a night of eclectic hip-hop.

An unexpected Halloween treat comes in the form of Aziz Ansari and friends who roll out laughter at Largo for an Obama Benefit.  

Other notables include Bob Mould at El Rey Theatre, The New Limb at The Central SAPC (for FREE) and BuzzBands 4 Year + Anniversary party at Federal Bar with Voxhaul Broadcast, Gliss and more.  

• Miike Snow, Niki & The Dove @ Hollywood Palladium

• Mischief Night w/ Stellar Corpses, Plague Vendor, Brian Burn, The Knitts @ The Viper Room

• The Saturdays @ The Viper Room

• Parker Ainsworth, The Peoples Mic @ WitZend

• Stevie Starlight @ Harvelles

• Bob Mould, Abe Vigoda @ El Rey Theatre

• Aziz Ansari President Barack Obama Benefit Show @ Largo

• Avalon Omega, Sue Ray, Leggy Peggy @ Silverlake Lounge

• Retox, Bastard Noise, To The Point, Happy Pill Trauma @ The Smell

• Daughter, Choir of Young Believers @ Bootleg Theater

• Tammy Faye Starlite’s Defense of Opposite Marriage Tour: “Doom 2012” @ Bootleg Bar

• Balmorhea, Spindrift, Patrolled By Radar @ The Echo

• Cadence Weapon, Fat Tony, Subtitle @ The Satellite

• Harper Blynn, The Brendan Hines, Alex Wong, Tyler Lyle @ The Hotel Café

• Caravan of Thieves, Rubberneck Lions, Moon @ The Mint

• Moonchild, Erin McLaughlin, Shoshana Bean, Rafe Pearlman @ Room 5 Lounge

• Go West Young Man, The New Limb, Western Scene, The Shade @ The Central SAPC (FREE)

• Dim Mak Halloween Party! @ Dim Mak Studios

• Gjelina Showcase and Halloween Party @ Del Monte Speakeasy

• The Rocky Horror Picture Show @ Yost Theater

• Gardeners Logic, Let’s Drive to Alaska, Heavy Petal, The Antiques @ Detroit Bar

• Daniel Kirkpatrick & The Bayonets, Clint JuN Gamboa @ Molly Malones

• BuzzBands LA $+ Year Anniversary Show w/ Voxhaul Broadcast, Gliss, The Breakups @ Federal Bar

• Foreigner @ The Grammy museum

• Beach Party @ Harvard & Stone

• The Asteroids Galaxy Tour @ The Observatory

• Con Bro Chill @ Constellation Room

• Clash of the titans, Thoramay @ House of Blues - Anaheim

Tic Tic BOO!

Tonight begins a series of Halloween inspired concerts that are not likely to stop until some time late at night on Monday, when the holiday actually occurs.

Addicted to Shows is getting things started early with their Haunted Hollywood event featuring rising indie synth act Tic Tic BooM! and their friends Robotanists. Joining the haunted hump day spectacular are two well spoken (or written) local DJs, L.A. Weekly's Drew Fortune AKA DJ Tanner and Buzzbands.LA's Seraphina L, as well as Steve Livigni. Below is an acoustic version of Tic Tic Boom's latest single "Bees" and a video for The Robotanists "On/Off The Ledge."

LA's tasty (and sometimes spicy) Nacho Truck is joining the fun with some limited edition Tic Tic Boom! Nachos that come with a free download card of tunes. Anthony Greco is bringing scary beverage mixing skills too.

It all goes down at Harvard & Stone at 5221 Hollywood Blvd. beginning at 8 pm tonight.

Chasing Kings - "Empathy"

From a performance at The Central SAPC to the Echo to a video post on Buzzbands LA - it has been a busy 24 hours for Los Angeles locals Chasing Kings. Hopefully this video for "Empathy" helps the rest of the country (and world) feel these Kings...

To Haiti With Love Tonight

Support Haiti by going to the Bootleg Theater tonight to see Vanaprasta, John Carpenter, John Isaac Waters and Mariah McManus. The musicians are donating their services - and you should donate your $$$. On top of the intimate show - you'll get a complimentary download card of the To Haiti With Love Compilation for your time, money and effort....so it is well worth it.

Sideways Media ladies Nicole and Mary will be in the house, you can expect to see Mr. Kevin Bronson of Buzzbands L.A. and I also believe the lovely ladies of Planetary Group may be there too. It's going to be one of the better indie hipster hangouts of the night - complete with hipster publicists and bloggers - so if you're in a local L.A. band you might consider going just to mingle with some of our local music voicesm and support your fellow local talent, Vanaprasta.

Local Band Puts A Fun Twist on Meet & Greet

Last night, I had the privilege of being invited to Spaceland for a meet and greet with Eastern Conference Champions, the current FREE Monday night residency headliner.

ECC, originally from Philadelphia, is an American indie-rock trio featuring Joshua Ostrander, Greg Lyons and Melissa Dougherty. They've been building a steady buzz recently after receiving some hype when word got out that they would be featured on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. The band has furthered that buzz with performances at a handful of local festivals, including Sunset Junction and their current Spaceland residency. Last night, they upped the ante even more when they invited bloggers, including myself, out for some beer and pizza before their show.

Calmly enjoying the tasty (and free) suds of a freshly poured Stone IPA, I got to meet the bandmates, chop it up with Buzzbands Kevin Bronson and talk to the bands publicity team. The soiree, which took place in the back room at Spaceland, became a healthy forum for blog blotter, indie band rumors and brief arguments over who is the next LA band to blow. Although some of the tangential conversation may have taken away from the focus of the event (I got pretty caught up explaining how exactly Foster The People had screwed over me and SUPERGOODMUSIC), I left the soiree thinking I'd made new friends (shout outs to the members of ECC, Buzz Bands Kevin Bronson, J.J. from LA Beets, the new LA Chapter of Owl City, and all the lovely ladies from Planetary Group) and excited to see a rising band perform.

Before ECC hit the stage, local indie duo, The Pity Party, were throwing down their eclectic blend of music. I paid close attention to the drummer, who is clearly talented - she plays drums, keys and sings simultaneously while her partner strutted his guitar and maintained an image of being not that into it. The guy girl duo reminded me a lot of a reversed version of Odd Modern (those two bands should play a show together). Pity also employs some live video streaming and editing, a la Saint Motel.

Post Pity Party the crowd swelled slightly for Eastern Conference Champions - who after the show were taking off to Madison, WI and Chicago, IL for performances later this week. Although not familiar with all of their tunes (they've been a band since about 2005), I was eager to catch the entirety of their show. I unfortunately had to dip out, so seeing their encore will have to wait until next week....

In toto, it was a great time; what struck me most about the evening gathering was that other bands aren't doing this. I thought it was a great way to pull me into the venue early and actually get some face time with the band. I'm not sure who had the brilliant idea - whether it was Planetary Group or Eastern Conference Champions - but cheers to that genius. The simple act of kindness got me to write an article AND I am going back next week to catch some more ECC!

Hope to see you there; it will be the last performance of the Champions' residency.