That Buzzing Sound: Showcase: The Days That Followed SXSW (March to May)

We’re catching up on all our past showcases, #afterthebreak!

One of my biggest complaints from friends, family, and fellow readers is this: “Where is the Showcase Write-up?”. Where is it??!! I’m not like other blogs who is orchestrated by four or five members…one / two of which have no lives and can post whatever/whenever they please. Or night gigs. Trying not judge. Wish I could walk in their shoes. I’m merely one man showcasing a hobby that means a lot to me. Don’t need to defend myself or my habits for I love living life. You should too.

Thank you for waiting. Here is all the showcase notes I have been saving since I returned from Austin.

Vans Warped Tour Kick-Off Party 2013 At Club Nokia (03/28/13)

SXSW was an experience of a lifetime. I returned to LA in a weaken state with a broken body. Didn’t know it at the time, but I had a internal ‘leak’. Wasn’t feeling that bad when Picksysticks invited me to join him at the Vans Warped Tour Kick-Off Party for a second year in a row. No matter how I felt, it was sort of tradition. Can’t pass up tradition.

2012’s lineup was amazing — The Used, Forever Came Calling, Dead Sara, Yellowcard, etc. Still gives me chills. 2013’s card couldn’t hold a candle. There was no special guests, mostly acoustic stuff, and had so many ‘The Voice’ rejects (Charolette Sometimes, Dia Frampton, etc.) performing that it was “The Vans Warped Tour sponsored by ‘The Voice'”. Harsh, I know. But sometimes selling out provides tickets. (Pity, that didn’t help).

Picksysticks sure loved it. Perfect card for ‘Girls who Rock’ for it featured standout performances from Juliet Simms of Automatic Love Letter & Gin Wigmore that the night wasn’t a total bust.

The New Zealand powerhouse, Gin Wigmore, was my favorite act of the night. Her blend of bluesy pop rock soul vocalized by her wheezy Kiwi accent equaled what she sounded like on record or in those James Bond Heineken commercials that were played all the time last year. Picked up her album a few weeks later. Much needed ‘Rock’ to a lineup boarding on the lovelorn, weird, and boring.

Because of my condition, I wasn’t focused and bit bitter. Like a lion with a thorn in it’s palm. The worst thing I have failed to mention was the super annoying DJ / hype man between each set. He made the worst jokes with his high pitched, prepubescent, voice that wanted to go strike him in the face.

The pictures didn’t come out half bad despite how hard it was to keep it locked on target. Breathing always helps. Club Nokia is a photography venue that has mixed days. Lots of reds, static positions, not much variety per sets. For the most time, it leans on the dark side but when they want lights they go into overdrive. Some great shoots there (Childish Gambino) and some bad ones (Black Star). Really depends on the mood of the show.

Definitely not one of the most memorable showcases of the year. Probably the most disappointing. Still love the venue though.

Check out all the pictures here!

Sky Ferreira & How To Dress Well At The Bootleg Theatre (04/10/13)

Another joint Picksysticks showcase. Well, considered it a Picksysticks event that I crashed with extremely pleasure. Recall getting to the Bootleg Bar & Theatre in the outskirts of Los Angeles later than I wished. Was hanging with a friend. This evening marked my first time experiencing the hidden ‘Theatre’ room of the Bootleg. All my shows thus far had been played in the bar to the small crowd of 50+. The theatre held a good 200+ with seats located in the back of the venue. It was dark and felt like a high school auditorium that was hijacked by a bunch of punk music lovers.

Made my way up to the stage where Pixie was camped out with his blogging associates during How To Dress Well’s set. They were covering R. Kelly’s ‘I Wish’ in their surfer indie trance rap rock style. Watch it here:

Dig it. They should just stick to dream like covers of R&B classics.

The main event was Sky Firre…Freirrea…Ferrari…wait, let me go to google for a second– Sky Ferreira! Oh boy that’s tricky. Her music is electro pop. Picksysticks has covered her a few times in his career and was quite disappointed at her attitude during SXSW that he needed a fresh taste in his mouth. Understandable. Her comments about her made me interested in seeing her, and happily…she was in better attitude at the Bootleg. Her friends and family were there supporting. Concluding in a decent showcase full of smoke, lasers, and scratchy pop vocals. Pew Pew.

Sky’s music hasn’t made it into my musical catalog. She was decent. Didn’t blow me away, just a newcomer in a evolving pop genre. Her music is made for raves, teenage girls, and falls under what I consider to be the new genre of ‘lesbian pop’. Sexist term, sorry, but bands like Tegan & Sara, Icona Pop, and Sky are all starting to rise from our current sexual movement in a sort of 1980s European synth pop styling. Madonna & Prince should be proud.

I, still recovering from my condition, took position against the wall with my old school Canon Powershot S100. Still can’t believe what an amazing camera it has remained in the past year. This night was no exception for what it lacks in depth, it makes up for in nice sweeping long shots.

The dark pictures are here!

Molly Malone’s Showcase featuring Plus & Brandon Coleman (04/27/13)

My sister had been trying to get me to check out her friend’s band — Plus or + — for a few months prior to me actually going to Molly Malone’s on the edge of Hollywood. It was hard to get me to do anything at this time. I took a few weeks during the month to recoup from the overly mentioned injury. Also, my personal life had been starting to evolve. It was a fantastic start…sadly, needed to get back to the hobby.

For those who don’t know: Molly Malone’s is a famous Irish Pub with some unconventional very indie acts being showcases almost daily. They are know for their Irish Coffee. Hard to get me to drink anything besides Guinness at a Pub. For Pubs are made for Guinness. Car Bomb maybe? That’s the Irish side of me talking. It’s a bit of a drive, but if you’re a LA Boy or Girl no denying yourself some Irish liquor. Anything is better than Dillon’s.

The door to the concert hall nicknamed ‘The Snug” is located at the end of the pub. It’s a little dark knook with wooden chairs, a small bar, and enough room to fill 100+ music enthusiasts.

PLUS (+?) was the second act of the night. They sounded like Muse if they were being fronted by Cary Brothers. Electronic rock with a lovely breeze & shiny lights. Certainly made my head bob and the guitar solos shrieked with such ferocity that the harpies of hell rose clawed against the brick walls. Can’t recall most of their set for it just blended to together, which wasn’t that bad as it sounds. Quick, efficient, and perfect for the many couples listening. Wasn’t proud of the their set of the pictures.

Normally, I would’ve left but the ginger at the door hinted that Brandon Coleman, the act following Plus, was worthy checking out. I wasn’t driving so I hit the bottle harder than normal and googled ‘Brandon Coleman’ till six musicians took the stage. Didn’t know who was the’ Brandon Coleman’. At first thought it was the Saxophonist. Turns out the man at the piano with the big Ray Charles smile was the man in question.

There wasn’t much coverage on the 30+ year old electric jazz artist who has played multiple small venues around LA for the past three years. First it was a Trio, than Quartet, and now Sextet. Every year his band got bigger. His soul session full of more passion. Their set lasted a good 50 minutes without stop. It was pure instrumental big band jazz in it’s prime. I had chills rolling up my body for their entire session. Just lost myself in this dark brick room. For that broken man from Austin is now buried there.

My musical faith was restored by Brandon Coleman & His Merry Men. To know there were amazing acts hiding like jewels in a sandstorm desert made me feel as a writer & music lover that not all hope is lost. Want to get out there and cover/capture them all.

Again, my Canon Powershot S100 was my weapon of choice. Was close enough to get a decent enough shot.

Pictures from The Snug are here!

The Killers At the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (05/02/13)

Out of all the showcases that deserves it’s own solo post it’s this one. The pictures from that show have been retweeted, reblogged, tumbled, and showcases more on their own by Brandon & The Guys’ internet followers that can only imagine how many shares that showcase post would get. A serious heart warmer from a great community.

I fell in love with Music of The Killers in the summer of 2006 while I was in Maryland. ‘Sam’s Town’ had just come out and my old friend — also named Justin — left Best Buy with his copy of the record. We rolled back into town streaming “Bling (Confession of a King)” under the dry blue cloudless east coast sky that I grew quite familiar with. That record, along with the rest of their catalog, later became apart of my college MP3 soundtrack all the way to my work current soundtrack. Less we forget ‘Battle Born’ claimed album #3 on our 2012 list. Spoke too much about that.

This event was more about knocking them from musical bucket list. Could have careless about taking pictures or writing a review. Don’t forget, I am a music fan first. This merely keeps the memory alive for a few moments longer. Pray I hope I never lose the memory of me singing along to all my favorite tracks on a floor where I saw some basketball greats (like Michael Jordan) make pieces of art during my youth. Could feel ghosts everywhere. Ah! Such a cool venue. Probably would’ve been better if I grabbed a seat, but standing on the floor made the 10 year old boy hella excited.

They performed all their hits. No joke. 21 songs of pure Killer awesomeness with some covers sprinkled in between. Here they are:

Setlist:

Enterlude
When You Were Young
The Way It Was
Spaceman
Smile Like You Mean It
Bling (Confession of a King) (with ‘Spaceman’ piano reprise)
Shadowplay (Joy Division cover)
Miss Atomic Bomb
Human
Somebody Told Me
For Reasons Unknown
From Here On Out
A Dustland Fairytale
California Girls (The Beach Boys cover)
Read My Mind
Runaways
All These Things That I’ve Done
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
I Think We’re Alone Now (Tommy James & the Shondells cover)
Mr. Brightside
Battle Born

I had to book after ‘Read My Mind’. Probably could have got more if they would’ve started on time, but there was some lighting problems. Couldn’t tell really, the show was a spectacle — flashing lights, LCD videos, explosions, etc. Made my pictures lively and incredible. This was an arena show at it’s best with the vocals to match.

Went in expecting an A+ show. Didn’t fall short or left without any lowered expectations. Isn’t that just splendid? Or how I put it: Simply fantastic.

Enjoy the Killer Pictures!

Shout Out Louds & Haerts At The El Rey (05/24/13)

The only time I had for concerts over the weekend was Friday Night. I visited Buzzband.LA and came across a recommendation for Norweigean band’s Shout Out Louds second night at the El Rey Theatre in LA. Took a listen on Spotify, was pleased, and made a spontaneous decision to make a trip to my favorite music venue in the area.

Surprisingly, last time I was here was over a year ago. (Oh, The Boxer Rebellion.) There isn’t a better place to lose yourself in the music. Never have taken a date there. Saving it. For the right girl. Maybe. Regardless, if you have a chance, be like me and share the venue.

NY based Haerts, not Hearts, opened the show led by the eccentric Nina Fabi. Dressed in Kimono. I didn’t catchy their whole act so I’m not going to review it from a normal standpoint. Will say that their Haerts Single — Wings — is available now. Gives a little taste of their worldly NY pop stylizing. Take a listen to my favorite track of theirs, All The Days.

Nina and the guys are starting to blow up being featured all over the net. If you haven’t heard of them, you will. Promise. For good reason, they are more typical modern day electronic pop rock that those indie bloggers have a hunger for. Recommend you hunt them down now and tell your girlfriends so they can spread the word.

After a quick break came Shout Out Louds. The five piece pop rock band based out of Stockholm with a sound like The Shins, The Smiths, & The Cure. Same sort of vibe and vocal tone. Their tour was sponsoring the new LP — Optica — that dropped back in February and this night was the last one for awhile. Have been bumping Optica all weekend. Nice rise and fall for summer days that sounds heavenly live. Their earlier stuff gets a shameless plug too.

Even though I’ve just got around to them, their catalog is 8+ years strong. The more catchy stuff came from their 2005 record — ‘Howl Howl Gaff Gaff’. Their sound hasn’t evolved as much — still very catchy tracks to 1980s John Hughes soundtrack background beats.

If I did my homework before SXSW, would’ve checked them out there. Maybe. Much rather see them with all the bright lights, smoke, and in their element like at the El Rey. Because the whole stage was one of the standout elements of the show. It was like we were rocking out in front of a Star Trek, out of this world, teleporter. TARDIS perhaps? Each track taking us a little further into time. In their on going history & genre itself.

Was utterly pleased by the variety of tracks apart of their setlist. The pace did slow down halfway through, but it picked up towards the end. So forgivable. Overall, allowed me to dance to very loud music. Felt bad I’m a new fan and didn’t know any words. Went in hoping for a good time, and that’s what I got.

Weird side note: Not sure why troubled couples always find a way to stand like right next to me in the dark then try to phuck and fight. The girl kept giving me this stare like, “Save Me”. I just shrugged. Wish I could, but she put herself in that position and I’m not going to save her from her choice. I’m not a hero anymore. Sad, huh?

Never experienced a bad show at the El Rey, luckily…Shout Out Louds kept the record going. Bravo. May they have a pleasant break. The pictures are yours to share. Sorry for typos and grammar mistakes. Wrote super fast, but now you are all caught up. June will bring some new shows from two SXSW standouts. Check back soon.

Setlist: