Relentless Seven - Word's Out

So, looks like the word is out about Relentless Seven, Ben Harper's newest band. They are doing a 5 show tour through California, including 2 dates in Los Angeles - Thursday December 4th at Spaceland and Friday December 5th at The Mint.

The Mint is where Harper got his start, so it is going to be a memorable performance there I imagine.

I would say get your tickets, but they are already sold out. You might want to check craiglist, stubhub or some other avenue....except I know my tickets are will call. I think at The Mint that was the only option...Rolling Stone ran a story on the band and I think that may have let the flood gates open to people getting tickets. At the same time The Mint is only 100 people and Spaceland is tiny too.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO THE SHOW - PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I GOT TIX TO BOTH NIGHTS!!!!

Club Nokia is A New Top L.A. Venue

Went to Club Nokia's opening on Sunday night for Beck, and it was a great experience. Beck opened with "Loser" to a sold-out crowd. But, the venue didn't even feel packed. The planners of Club Nokia did a great job arranging the dance floor and upstairs to maximize comfort and concert experience. (the only biff is that the columns on the dance floor seem to be a bit larger than necessary and tend to obscure views from directly behind the columns)

Beck's performance reached a peak when every band member came to the front of the stage with handheld drum machines and headsets and broke into "Hell Yes." We were boogying like no tomorrow (we meaning me, Dylan, Elisa, Camille, Nate, Danny and their friend John).

I am already looking forward to going back to this venue. Definitely a great place to see a show. Lupe Fiasco is playing tonight (for those who are interested, I know someone with extras). Matisyahu and Flobots play on 11/18. Nas plays 11/26. The Wreck The Halls show with Bloc Party, Black Kids, CSS and The Pretenders is on 12/10. Don't miss your chance to go to this venue in it's inaugural season!

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 12th

How come Los Angeles always blows up with good music in the middle of the fucking week? I mean, I live for the weekends, but not when Wednesdays are like this ....

LUPE FIASCO @ CLUB NOKIA
GALACTIC (with Trombone Shorty) @ House of Blues
GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS @ THE TROUBADOUR

Are you kidding me? All 3 of those shows will be kick ass. Depends what your flavor is. If you want something somewhat pop oriented, but still hipster, go to Lupe Fiasco. You want some dirty, dirty funk that is going to rock out, go to Galactic. You want to here a sweet sultry voice, crooning over light melodies and classic rock, go see Grace Potter (plus, if you want to see a gorgeous women who can stroke the keys and the chords).

It would be hard for me to decide if I wasn't such a concert junkie. Having seen them all, I can say, unequivocally, Galactic puts on the best show. It is hard to hold a candle to Stanton Moore leaning forward from his drummer's seat beating his snare drum. They are the quintessence of dirty funk rock. Galactic owns the title and you should go see them if you haven't.

Obama's Way With Diplo

DIPLO IS PLAYING ELECTION NIGHT AT ECHOPLEX!!!!!!!!!!

Yes! Exactly. This is what I am talking about. Wouldn't you want to be at a party hosted by Diplo when you found out Obama won the election? I know I would and I know I will be.

I don't believe tickets to the event are sold out. http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=305465

Diplo parties are truly exceptional. He spins all the hip-hop we love - yet he mixes in flavors of things you recognize and things you wished you recognized - brazilian funk, techno, electronic indie pop, dub, etc. He has a special love for Los Angeles - and generally kicks in the indie rock crowd shout outs to stuff like LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip and more. He even has some vested relationship with Cansei De Ser Sexy - so hearing them would not be a surprise either.

If you are a lover of music in Los Angeles, and you want to be with the concert crowd when history goes down...I highly suggest Echoplex on Tuesday November 4th, 2008.

Burning Down The House

I know this is late, but forgive me....David Byrne @ The Greek Theatre was incredible! A triple encore!?!?!?! I'm not exactly sure I have ever been to a show where the artist left stage and returned three separate times.

Sure, I've been to shows where "the last song" or "encore" was 5 songs....but those are fucking L.A. indie rock shows where the headliner only plays for 45 minutes, leaves stage for 1 and then returns to say it is their "last song"...and then proceeds to play another 20 minutes. Who the fuck only plays for 45 minutes when the ticket is over $30 with fees?!?!?! You owe more to your customer (fan) than that and a minimum of a hour of playtime should basically be expected from a headliner. But, David Byrne far surpassed that; he played for an hour and 45 minutes total.

Not only did the main man do a 5 song triple encore, but he straight rocked out like "Stop Making Sense." Sure, they didn't play that song, but his performance was exceptional like the film. He favored doing more Talking Heads music then stuff from the new Eno and Byrne record. Byrne delivered what the crowd wanted. He played "Cross-eyed" and "Take Me To The River"... but as part of the triple encore he played "BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE" which is not even an ENO AND BYRNE song, it is off of Speaking in Tongues.


I never expected that coming into the show and it totally rocked the crowd. Everyone knows the lyrics to that song. What a crowd pleaser. I wish I could see David Byrne every Friday night.

Shows I've Got My Eyes On...

Tuesday - 9/30 - House of Blues - TALIB KWELI, LITTLE BROTHER, and DAVID BANNER
FRIDAY - 10/3 - BYRNE AND ENO @ THE GREEK
Saturday - Detour Music Festival
Friday 10/10 - Duffy @ Orpheum
Tuesday 10/14 - Santogold @ Wiltern

WEDNESDAY - 10/15/08 - JAY-Z @ PALLADIUM --> The Reopening of the theater
Black Kids @ Mayan; Kings of Leon and We Are Scientists @ Nokia Theatre
FRIDAY - 10/17 - Roots and Gym Class Heroes @ Palladium
10/20 - mc chris @ Roxy
FRIDAY 10/24 - Devin the Dude @ Key Club; Girl Talk @ Henry Fonda; Mike Relm @ El Rey
Wed - 10/29 - JEL @ Henry Fonda
Thurs - 10/30 - New Deal @ Knitting Factory
Friday 10/31 - HARD FEST!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday 11/4 - DIPLO DIPLO DIPLO @ ECHOPLEX!!!!!!!!!!
11/9 and 11/10 (sun and monday) - BECK @ ClUB NOKIA
tUESDAY 11/11 - Redman and Method Man @ House of Blues
Wednesday 11/12 - Galactic @ House of Blues; Luple Fiasco @ Club Nokia
Friday 11/14 - Ben Folds @ Wiltern
11/18 - Matisyahu and club Nokia
Friday 11/21 - Medeski, Martin & Wood (MMW) @ El Rey
Sarah Silverman - "Jesus Does Magic"
11/26 - Nas @ Club Nokia

Get your tickets....

MSTRKRFT

MSTRKRFT kicked ass at the Fonda on Friday night. Played until damn near 2 am. All I have to say is "All I Do is party ha ha ha ha."

WTF with all the little kids in the crowd? WTF with 18 year old girls asking me to buy them alcohol and getting pissed when I say no? 18 year old girls (1) would be too easy to target (2) are entirely to immature to deal with and (3) should've drank before they came to the show. Why should I risk 'corrupting a minor' so a young hottie can get a drank? I shouldn't and I wouldn't, and I still won't.

The best part is when they get mad because you won't buy the drink for them.