The Submarines, The Pity Party, Thao Ngyuen: Concert Review and Photos
By Carl Pocket
Even on a Saturday morning BeatCrave finds a way to go check out some live music. The non-profit organization 826LA was responsible for putting on the music for this day. The event was hosted by Diana Argon from the show Glee and was mostly accompanied by many of the kids that participate in the program. However, with acts such as The Pity Party and The Submarines, hanging out with little kids was worth it.
The Pity Party fought through a shortened set that was ravaged by technical problems. It seemed like the group was just hitting its stride after a noisy section that left many of the younger people in the crowd covering their ears and moving to the back, but the technical problems only worsened. After singing a song that was written by the kids of 826LA where the main lyrics were, “Two and a Half Men is boring…. and so are you!” Julie walked off stage. It could have been her microphone which stand kept moving on her or that the speakers were popping, but the abbreviated four-song set really gave many who had never heard of the group a good taste of how much sound can come from just two people.
Between groups Dianna Argon, from the show Glee, would come out with many of the kids from 826LA for different impromptu sessions. For this one we were treated to a speed round where she would start a story and let the kids finish. It was often unpredictable as was the special guest who would come out next.
Thao Nguyen (sans the Get Down Stay Down) made her was on stage as this special guest and immediately started with her foot stomping country folk number. She even had the kids on the side of the stage to join in on the foot stomps. Some change fell out from her pocket during this which resulted in one of the kids yell, “Can I have some money” to which Thao replied, “What?!?! I have no money, do you have some?”
The hilarity of children with artists continued as all the kids came out with brightly colored egg shakers and became the percussion section for a song they had written. Thao pulled out a toothbrush, not one she uses to brush her teeth as one adolescent asked, but to play the guitar. Everything was going well until the kids decided to start throwing these eggs into the audience. While most were throwing Jamie Moyer change ups into the crowd, one boy decided to rev up a Randy Johnson fastball that bounced off another audience member’s head with a loud clunk. The set ended with Thao asking the kids if they could beat box as Dianna came back on stage for a rendition of the Salt and Pepper song “Push It.” While Thao thew down the beat with her mouth, Dianna fumbled and struggled to find the words which would often be shouted out by the parents in the crowd. (How odd is that?)
Last up was the group that seems to be Apple’s favorite background music for commercials, The Submarines. The trio which now features a bass player who was introduced at the show navigated through a six song set featuring a unique cover. After the group got the audience dancing to a song that even Blake said, “everyone has heard in a commercial”, “Submarine Symphonika” the Submarines dropped into a heavy dance beat with synths into a cover of the song made famous by Jennifer Lopez, “The Fun Party.” The whole crowd erupted at this point and jumped with their hands in the air just as Blake was doing on stage.
“You probably know this song better than we do,” Blake explained before the group went into “1940″. As the song faded out Blake continued, “I said that because we have never played this live with bass and I am sure he hasn’t really practiced it either.” However none of that mattered when they closed with the infamous, “You, Me and the Bourgeoisie”
Now that we think about it, it might have been more fitting for them to have ended with “The Fun Party” because that’s what 826LA’s Chickens in Love was, a fun party.
Photography by Carl Pocket
