Los Angeles Tonight (May 29, 2013)

Rockers on the rise Imagine Dragons invade Hollywood Palladium for the first of two consecutive nights with help from Nico Vega and The Envy Corps on Wednesday.  West on Sunset you’ll find the soul of crooner Bilal at Roxy Theatre and emerging newcomer Jez Dior, whose "Candles" track you might remember from a few months back, at The Viper Room.    Junip, On and On and Barbarossa at Troubadour should deliver some tasty audible pleasures too.

Catching Dustbowl Revival close out their residency at The Mint will most definitely be a party – so if you like some raucous rooty blues and jazz,check it out.    Kastle’s eclectic and eccentric electronic stylings travel to Low End Theory at Airliner where he is joined by regulars Daddy Kev, Nobody and Nocando as well as Odd Future crew's Mike G.

We have tickets to give away for both Bilal and Dustbowl Revival - so hit us on twitter with a shout out or email contest@supergoodmusic.com to get in on the action.  Full list of tonight's shows below

• Imagine Dragons, Nico Vega, The Envy Corps @ Hollywood Palladium


• Junip, On and On, Barbarossa @ Troubadour


• Oona, Feral Kizzy @ El Cid


• Ninja Betty & The Nunchix, 12 Dirty Lovers, Stonefeather @ Silverlake Lounge


• Kiven, Y Luv, Moostache @ Detroit Bar


• The Blank Tapes, Blackfeet Braves, The Abigails, Summer Twins @ Constellation Room


• Bilal @ The Roxy Theatre


• Jez Dior @ The Viper Room


• The Dustbowl Revival, The Get Down Boys, AK & Her Kalashnikovs and the Americans @ The Mint


• Carol Duboc, Jeff Lorber @ Catalina Bar & Grill


• Ballyhoo! @ Slidebar


• Larry Goldings @ bluewhale


• Mike G (OFWGKTA), Daddy Kev, Kastle, Emika, Nobody, Nocando @ Low End Theory at Airliner Club


• Scott Weiland @ House of Blues – Sunset Strip


• House of Vibe All-Stars @ Harvelle’s


• The Kids, The Stiches, Cyclops, Black Mambas @ Los Globos


• Chief, The Eeries @ Harvard & Stone (FREE)


• Dub Club w/ Tom Chasteen @ The Echoplex


• Inara George, Van Dyke Parks, Brazil You Never Heard @ Largo


• Mice Parade @ The Echo


• Radiation City, Cuckoo Chaos @ The Satellite


• The Gallery, Only You, Scrote, Tim Young, Ron Dziubla, Baby Copperhead, Peter Adams, Tim Lefebvre, Danny Frankel, Blair Sinta, Celia Chavez, Nicky Corbett, John Gold, Emily Zuzik @ The Hotel Café


• Ochal La Rocha, Silver Phial @ Redwood Bar


• The Moonbeams, The Fortress Social Club @ Club Moscow at Boardner’s


• Selina Nichole, Bella Noche @ HOB Voodoo Lounge


• Tyler Hilton, Curtis Peoples, Nick Shattuck, Pompous Highmen @ Saint Rocke


• Lamb of God, Decapitated, Anciients @ City National Groveo f Anaheim


• The Federal Affair @ Federal Bar


• Amber Ojeda, Bryce Wilson @ Vitello’s Jazz & Supper Club

WITCH HUNTED

The SUPERGOODMUSIC Halloween weekend started with our favorite frequently costumed indie-rock band, Saint Motel at one of our favorite venues, The Roxy.

Before I'd even crossed Sunset to enter the doors - someone was hooting "Rolling on the River" to my girl @stephiebri in her amazing Tina Turner outfit. What followed from the bands was worthy of just as much hooting a hollering...

Performing as part of a stellar line-up that included Nico Vega and Imagine Dragons, Saint Motel held down the middle slot with old material, new material and lots of holiday energy (I came after Imagine Dragons had finished). Their new material sounds better with each performance and possesses the fun vocals, dance-worthy rhythm and indie melodies that should propel this band to be on the tip of music enthusiast's tongues in places far from Los Angeles. I can only hypothesize how tight their show will be come the end of their November tour with the above-mentioned artists.

Highlights of Saint Motel's set included a riveting "Dear Dictator," a ninja bassist later revealed to be normal bassist Dak (pictured below) and an intimate (and cute) stage theatrics between guitarists A/J and Sharp and the industry heavy audience, which included a handful of the cities indie rock radio personalities.

A long hiatus ensued before Nico Vega - in no short part because Saint Motel is such a hard act to follow. But Nico Vega appropriately brought the terror to the stage. Their set began with a bright-eyed Aja Volkman summoning the crowd with a pseudo-vocal chant (she was singing).

Marching around in her white dress (which was later ripped as part of a theatrical mock execution ceremony), Aja shared her organic and raw vocals as Rich and Dan backed her energy. The crowd, slightly thinner than during Saint Motel's set, fervently thrust their fists into the air and those who knew sang along for almost the entire forty-five minute to hour long set.

Much of Vega's music was unfamiliar to me, although I did pick out a few recognizable songs and knew the raucous encore Beast. The night ended with a good post-show gathering of fans outside, including some fun photo play with Dak from Saint Motel and Tina Turner....who wouldn't stop talking. LOL

If Witch Hunt is a sampling of what these two bands are offering on their west coast tour, than I'm even more sad that I'm not accompanying them for the whole damn thing....

Saint Motel: Contest, Tour & More

Cinematically inclined local indie-rockers, Saint Motel, recently announced a handful of exciting news to their fans - a short west coast tour with Nico Vega and Imagine Dragons that includes a stop over Halloween weekend at The Roxy, a huge performance at LA Weekly's LA 101 Fest at Gibson Amphitheatre on November 7th and a fan-inspired music video contest.

We're here to remind you exactly why you should go see one of their performances and break down the details on all three offerings...

If you've seen the rising and rocking quartet, than you certainly understand why a show of theirs should not be missed - they are epic, different every night and infectiously fun. The band's concerts are extremely fluid displays of raw talent packaged in a high energy, visually intoxicating performance.

The visual stimulation comes in the form of a sequenced stream of live video (of the band members and the crowd) that is intermittently spliced with stock footage and other film which gets projected behind the artists on stage. Fans not only can enjoy the band's audible creativity, but they get to see their visual artistry skills too (several band members studied film in college). And, if you're dancing at the right moment, you may even see yourself caught on camera on stage or on stage itself (fans rush the stage during their encores).

The band's musical talents are also worthy of note. Front-man/Singer and guitarist AJ has matured considerably - his vocals are much improved from their Spaceland residency a year ago. Lead guitarist Aaron Sharp rifles off rock riffs with apparent ease, styling them with great guitar faces and occasional fancy footwork. Greg Erwin, the band's drummer, and Dak, their bassist, hold down the rhythm section with beautiful chemistry - seemingly intuitively tuned into each other's personal frequency.

AJ on Vocals

The exceptional musicianship combined with the DIY tech-savvy visual presentation combines for an amazing experience...one you certainly should not miss. AND, L.A. is offering you two chances to have that experience - one a week from Friday on October 29th at The Roxy for Witch Hunt with Nico Vega and opener Imagine Dragons (buy tickets HERE) and then less than two weeks later at The Gibson Amphitheatre on November 7th where they will perform on the same bill as Thievery Corporation and Massive Attack, amongst others (buy tickets HERE).

Not only do these guys play for their fans - they also engage with them too. Just recently Saint Motel announced a music video contest on their facebook fan page. We've included a few details of the contest below - but basically, they are giving you free reign to synch a song of theirs with your home-made video and share it with them - all you need is a youtube account, a facebook account and the ability to create a video.

Saint Motel loves the art of the music video, as we have made a music video for every one of our songs, and we want to see what you can come up with!


THE RULES:

1. You have from now to November 30th to submit.
2. You can do a music video for any Saint Motel song off our EP ForPlay.
3. Just upload your finished music video to your own YouTube account and embed on our Facebook page.
4. Get creative!

Everyone who enters gets a free CD, but there for the winner...

THE PRIZE FOR 1st PLACE:

1. (4) tickets to any SM show present or future. The four can also be split up amongst various show. (certain festivals or concerts may be excluded)
2. A SM T-shirt
3. A SM CD
4. A SM Necklace
5. You will be in Saint Motel's next music video. (subject to your availabity at the time of filming)
6. Secret Surprise Gift
7. We will feature your music video on all of our websites!

There are more details about the contest here - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=168491106495394&ref=mf - it closes November 30th.

For those of you outside of Los Angeles, you can still participate in the video contest and, if you live in San Diego, Santa Barbara, Portland, Grass Valley, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Santa Cruz or Fresno - you could see Saint Motel on their tour when they come into your town!

Check out their music videos and some behind the scenes footage from their Dear Dictator (Sam Sparro Remix) video shoot here: