Lush Hollywood venue Bardot was all about drawing out a crowd of young beautiful people and modern sounds this past Monday evening. Themed “School Night”, the rebel factor was at the Ultra notch. And with strong enough drinks, high enough spirits, and the music a sufficient enough fusion of the two, it was a welcome place to see some acts, the up-and-coming and established alike.
Fitz and The Tantrums‘ sold-out show at the El Rey Theatre this past Wednesday evening was as big a thrill for audience members as it was for the headlining act themselves – as well as it was to opening acts The Belle Brigade and AWOLNATION. The three outstanding bands, all based in Los Angeles, California, personify quite possibly the opposite impression of what can be perceived as being “so LA.” Sure, they know they rock hard, but their expressions of gratitude – coupled with facilitating much mutual enjoyment – proved above and beyond anything they could have musically wielded at us during the evening’s progression.
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, after releasing their self-titled album in May, performed at Chicago’s Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island. On August 20, they proved that, after 20+ years, their music intoxicates more than a single generation of fans. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, giving the band a renewed presence on the stage and validating their position in modern rock. Continue Reading
To get to White River Ampitheatre in Auburn, Washington, one must drive along a two lane highway passing abandon shacks like “Bomb City” of a formerly booming fireworks business, mega bucks casinos, and cow crossing signs. The fields of horses most likely didn’t expect the metal gods to grace their humble land. Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival 2010 rolled through with an all-star tour with main headliners: Rob Zombie, KoRn, Lamb of God, and Hatebreed.
For some, summer means shopping, lounging around, and hot weather. For others, summer means sitting in an office watching other shop, lounge around and enjoy the hot weather. All work and non-work aside, summer means one thing for sure: Electric Daisy Carnival is coming to town. Since 1993, electronic music promoter Insomniac has been putting electronic music festivals on around the world.
Since 1996, however, Insomniac’s Electric Daisy Carnival has been a part of the music industry, promoting both indie and mainstream electronic artists through various events. This year, EDC (as it is so fondly called) fell on Friday, June 25th and Saturday, June 26th and took place at the Memorial Coliseum and Exposition Park in Los Angeles.
Starfucker—wait, Pyramiddd—no, Starfucker played the first show of their tour at Seattle’s venue Neumos, May 10th, 2010. This fledgling band has been plucked from the nest, perhaps a bit too early. They are known most for their name crisis and the Target commercial and it’s unclear what the actual story is behind the name fluctuations. Like that beloved old game called Telephone, everyone has their own story, perpetuated by uninformed blogs. Regardless, they have produced a sound akin to the Everlasting Gobstopper.
It was a busy week for us as we headed to the Troubadour once again for another fabulous show last Thursday. With Fuck Buttons and VV Brown helping us put electronica and pop under our belts, we were ready to get back to some rock – some great rock. With the recent release of their latest album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, The Besnard Lakes filled the venue with old and new fans and Los Angeles locals The Happy Hollows did a fantastic job warming us up for them.
Even though Tuesday is often a rather dead day for shows, BeatCrave was out on the scene at the all too familiar Troubadour in West Hollywood to catch an evening of pounding fuzz provided by the British group known as Fuck Buttons.
Everyone’s ears would need to tune up to get ready for the noise that would be blasting through the amps and Long Beach native Sun Araw was the perfect intro. The soft and mellow layers of chorused guitars over looped tracks gave an underwater feel to the sound. You could tell with the swaying of bodies that everyone was getting into the mellow vibes.
Although we don’t like to trek too far from our usual LA spots for indie rock shows, BeatCrave was more than excited to see Los Campesinos! play Pomona’s Glass House on Monday night. After playing a packed show at the El Rey Theatre, we knew the crowd this night would be a bit more tame as Angelenos don’t like to drive further than the have to but this didn’t mean that the British band would tone down their stage antics.
