Indie Music on A Stoner Holiday

If you're hip to cannabis culture, you'd know today is a holiday for the avid weed smoker. You might also know that Slightly Stoopid is playing at Greek Theatre tonight, where they are joined by Bad Brains, Barrington Levy and special guests Karl Denson, Del Tha Funky Homosapien and Don Carlos. This line-up is like a mini-festival and I'm sure it will be some stanky funky 'ish (both audibly and odorously).

If you can't foot the bill for that, or you just want to kick it low key with the Stoopid boys post show - El Cid is hosting the after party, where they will be showing Reefer Madness and have performances from Stonefeather and The Originalites amongst others.

There are plenty of musicians elsewhere around town, including ones that embrace the bottle over the cheeba. You could share a drink with some rising locals at any eastside indie enclave - and I plan on doing just that at Silverlake Lounge with Risers at 9:15, as well as with Tic Tic Boom! at Bootleg at 11:30. I like both acts songwriting a lot - Tic Tic Boom!'s catchy "Just Friends" on Locals Only has caught my ear (as well as their latest "Bees") and Risers sort of wowed me at The Satellite last week with their performance of Devil's Game. Check that out here -

Risers are joined by Aerial Stereo (8:30), Handshakes (10), Mile Greene (10:45) and Y Luv (11:30); Tic Tic Boom! are joined by Old Scholar (10:30) and Tyler Steele & The Helping Thieves (9:30) as well as I Promote Good Bands and Zoomania Music crews.

Hope to see you out tonight. New Los Angeles Concert Blast published tomorrow!

SUPERGOOD TUESDAY

Today is Tuesday and saying it is SUPERGOOD is no joke. All across Los Angeles, our blog is smacking you upside your head with some fantastic music.

For the true hipsters on their grind, we've got an amazing line up at The Satellite tonight that features bluesy buzz indie rock band, The Stone Foxes, who were just announced as a performer at Outside Lands Festival and are en route to open for The Black Keys in Arizona! They put on a raucous show and this is their first time playing east of the 101.

They are joined by local quartet sensation Chasing Kings, who've been very active recently and are known for their vocal driven rock jams. You can hear a few songs on their facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/chasingkings?sk=app_178091127385

The bill is opened by Risers (formerly Anglos), who released their EP full of strongly composed indie rock in early 2011, have had some spins on Moheak Radio. They go on at 9 pm. The show is anchored by Strange Vine - who should hit the stage around 12:25, after the Foxes have finished their hour long set....

Over on the westside, it is the second installment of SUPERGOOD (and FREE) Tuesdays at The Central SAPC. The event page is here . Residents Hello Echo (11 pm) are joined by VICES (8 pm), Benjamin Dunn & Friends (9 pm), Sing The Body Electric (10 pm). Having heard good things about the UK's VICES, who just recorded with Jeff Saltzman out here in Los Angeles, I suggest early arrival. Enjoy the sounds of some emerging indie talent that you might expect to find at the previously mentioned Satellite, but are willing to brave the westside. Plus, enjoy a 2 for 1 round of drinks if you check in on FourSquare!

FREE INDIE MONDAY w/ Risers, Kinch, Jenny O, Lucy Schwartz, Belle Brigade & The Fling

Josh from Risers

Tonight the eastside really is being taken over by phenomenal indie rock. Such good tunes that it would be foolish not to go. Packing in both Silverlake Lounge and The Satellite are handfuls of talent that make most indie-rock loving non Los-Angelenos regret their lack of residency here.

The shows I'm talking about are Risers & Kinch at Silverlake Lounge and Jenny O, Lucy Schwartz, The Fling and Belle Brigade at The Satellite (formerly Spaceland). Both events are FREE!

Risers get things moving at 9 pm at Silverlake Lounge where they will be premiering material from their first EP. I'm looking forward to indulging in a live version of "A Current Affair," which is probably my favorite track off of their EP. My plan is to stay for Kinch to catch at least one night of their residency, but with Jenny O pulling for my attention and rising start Lucy Schwartz too - it may be tough.

Schwartz and O play supporting roles on The Fling and Belle Brigade's Monday Night residency - the second to last residency show being hosted by Spaceland Presents. Schwartz is a singer-songwriter who has penned tracks for Shrek films, Grey's Anatomy and many other popular films/shows. Jenny O represents the crushing vocals behind every Yeah Yeah Yeah's track you've jammed to over the last half decade.

Returning for the second to last week are both Belle Brigade and The Fling. Both have generated considerable buzz from the residency - with The Fling using theirs to compete with Dangerbird labelmates Eulogies and Belle Brigade using theirs to maintain their indie cultural cache.

Regardless of which venue you head to, you're certain to have a not of good indie at either. If you can be a trooper and hit up both, than you're more than likely to find me somewhere....

The BV Ramble is TONIGHT!

It is technically "holiday season" and Los Angeles is already getting its fair share of presents in the form of music. Sure, Roger Waters is performing tonight - but if you aren't already committed to that - look no further than the Bag of Vagabonds Ramble going down in Santa Monica.

Local favorites of mine Risers are hitting The Basement at 2640 Main Street (also known as The Victorian) and are joined by Gamble House, Hi Ho Silver Oh, The Drakes, LA Font, Fatty Dearest and Gentle Hands. Oh yeah, and Voxhaul Broadcast was just added!

Its rare that such a smoking line-up of rising indie graces a westside stage, but maybe this Midnight Ramble spells a changing of the times....or maybe it is just a special present for the westside. Who knows?

What I do know is that you shouldn't miss The BV Ramble. Its free with RSVP (hit up sirfrancisdrake@bagavagabonds.com), drinks will be cheap and the festivities run from 7 pm - 1 am. There will be food trucks and live art, screen printing and even an area to donate clothing and shoes to benefit the Tashirat Orphanage.

You can found out even more about the event here - http://www.bagavagabonds.com/art-explosions/

AND, just for the sake of being a historian, The BV Ramble derives its name from Levon Helm's famed series of "Midnight Ramble" sit ins where the famous member of The Band would invite musicians old and new to to sit in and get dirty with music, jokes and dancing. The sessions would turn out cool takes on standards as well as originals from the participating musicians. In tune with the tradition of the rock legends midnight parties, Bag of Vagabonds has adopted the format for their very own party - The BV Ramble.

Guide to Collide

Filter's Culture Collide Festival officially kicks off tonight at The Standard with an intimate lobby performance from Theophilus London amongst others. But, the true festivities get going in the early evening on Thursday when six different venues open their doors to Filter's festival badge bearers.

You could get confused with all the different options presented to you - so we're giving you a little pointers in this friendly GUIDE TO COLLIDE.

With Echoplex, Echo, 826 and Taix all within legitimate walking distance of one another, it is hard not to gravitate towards the events at those four venues. Thursday offers artists at all 4 with notable performances from Black Lips, City Riots, Kamp! and LexiconDon at Echoplex, CasioKids from Norway at Echo, rising LA act Gamble House at 826 and the European sounds of The Black Atlantic (Netherlands), Gold Lake (Spain), Laleh (Sweden) and Nive Neilsen & The Deer Children (Greenland) at Taix. In audition to the aural pleasureas, Taix also offers some internationally themed happy hours that are likely to please the palate.

However, to draw some of the crowd away from a massive collision of people, Filter made sure the line-ups at Spaceland and Standard were super strong on opening night. I'm heading to Spaceland - which boasts Risers, a young band out of Los Angeles already making a statement with well crafted, somewhat epic songwriting, opening for Finaland's K-X-P and Zebra and Snake. For those with an international appetite for DJs, Standard hosts El Guincho (Spain), The Witness Protection Programme (Ireland) and Sebastian Tellier (France), along with a live performance from Voxhaul Broadcast.

Risers

Friday, your Collision Decisions get a little bit easier as only four venues play host. If you want to go to festival center - you'll have easy access to Klaxons, Land of Talk, The Besnard Lakes, Suuns and Baby Monster at Echoplex if you prefer music from North America. If you love the blokes from over the pond, The Boxer Rebellion, White Lies (Dj set), Amusement Parks on Fire and Witness Protection Programme at Echo is probably for you. Taix hosts artists fromt ehr est of the world - with Battle Circus (New Zealand), City Riot (guide says AUS - not sure if thats Australian or Austrian - reminds me of DUMB & DUMBER - put another shrimp on the barbie, mate!), Harrys Gym (Norway) and L. Stadt (Poland). We'd guide you to those three venues over Spain inspired Spaceland's line-up of El Guincho, Gold Lake, Capsula, The Outline and Two Sheds.

Saturday is the last "venue day" and also the last day of beer gardens and Happy Hours at Taix. I think I'm going to invest some time in the tribes culture by visiting Taix from 2-4 pm to check out the happy hour and special guest performance presented by the Israel Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Wonder if that special guest might be Pink Noise or Monotonix, both Israeli acts performing later at Spaceland where they will be joined by Mariachi El Bronx, The Franks and Jacuzzi Hi-Dive.

Also performing Saturday night are White Lies, Voxhaul Broadcast, Battle Circus + others at Echoplex; Cass McCombs, Laleh, The Black Atlantic at 826LA and Bambi Kino, Capsula, Two Sheds and Hello Saferide at Taix.

Sunday is the culmination, the climax, the entree course - as most of the above mentioned acts pour out into the streets and flood Sunset Blvd. with indie tunes galore. The Toyota Antics sponsored Block Party begins around 2:30 p.m. with Glaciers, followed by The Tender Box and a special guest. Things don't get going with multiple acts until around 5 pm - which leaves enough time to recover from a wild Saturday and poke your head in at the start of the Do Over (only 3 Sundays left after this one).

But, once 5 rolls around - acts multiply - Monotonix, Amusment Parks on Fire and White Lies all take the stage within that hour, followed shortly after by Phantogram, Cass McCombs and The Boxer Rebellion, who headline stage 2. The festival closes out with headline spots from Tokyo Police Club on the Main Stage at 8 and Seal Wolf and Fran Healy's respective acoustic performances at the Church.

Learn more details about Filter Magazine's Culture Collide Festival, including where you can get tickets - by clicking here.