The Mowgli's at The Roxy

Show: The Mowgli's (+Terraplane Sun)

Venue: The Roxy- Los Angeles, CA

Date: 5/8/12

Show #31

Ahh The Mowgli's. A friend of mine highly suggested I came with them to see one of their favorite bands, The Mowgli's. Given I'm always excited to find new bands to love, I agreed to go, and I'm so glad I did.  The Mowgli's are an 8-piece (yes, eight) band from Southern California that are all about having a good time. The show was  an album release party for their debut album "Sound the Drum". From beginning to end, the entire venue (myself included) turned into a non-stop dance party. Their music is so contagious and fun, you physically can't stop moving, smiling and singing along. They're a group of close friends who pride themselves on spreading the love and that definitely radiates on stage. I highly suggest you check them out!

I recorded 3 songs from that night, Slowly Slowly , Carry Your Will and We Are Free.

I got to The Roxy in time to see 2 opening acts. One of which was Samuel Larsen, the winner of the Oxygen TV show, The Glee Project. Not having ever seen the show, I didn't know who he was and for the life of me couldn't figure out why there were hoards of screaming girls freaking out over him. Glee aside, he's actually a very talented singer/songwriter. He even covered a Coldplay song (video here).

While I was impressed with Samuel, nothing could have prepared me for the band to follow him. I saw them setting up, not thinking anything other than "please don't suck", which is what I say to myself about any opening band. When they actually started singing, I was talking to a friend, but the second I heard the lead singer's voice, I stopped mid-sentence and gave my undivided attention to what was happening on stage.

Their name is Terraplane Sun, also from Los Angeles, and they sound like the Black Keys had a baby with Cage the Elephant and grew up in the South. The lead singer's voice is refreshingly different, which is what first drew me into them, but the variety of different instruments used (harmonica, mandolin and trombone to name a few) and catchy lyrics with swag are what turned me into a fan. Their song "Get Me Golden" has been featured in a few movies recently such as 21 Jump Street and What to Expect When You're Expecting. You can see the video I recorded of it here.

Now for photos!

Samuel Larsen

Terraplane Sun

The Mowgli's

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at The Greek Theater

Show: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Venue: Greek Theater- Los Angeles, CA

Date: 5/4/12

Show #29

It was opening night at The Greek Theater in LA, and I was so excited to be seeing Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. You couldn't have asked for better weather on that Friday night either. To top off the pre-show excitement, I scored the coveted front of the line parking spot for stacked parking, meaning I wasn't going to have to wait an hour for cars around me to leave after the show in order to pull out. High fives all around!

I had seen Edward Sharpe once before, on the Railroad Revival Tour with Mumford and Sons last year and they were so great, I had to see them again. In case you're not familiar with them, you may know their hit song "Home".

They look like a bunch of vagabonds who fell off a train somewhere in another era, and I love them for that. Edward Sharpe is a messianic figure of the imagination of lead singer Alex Ebert who according to Alex, "was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind...but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love." That pretty much sums up the persona of the band right there.

Opening the show was actually a former member of the 10+ piece band of Edward Sharpe, Aaron Embry. Given he was part of the band, I thought "He must be good!". Right? Wrong. As you may have noticed, I can usually find a bright side of just about any artist and find a way to enjoy myself, but I really really struggled with Aaron. The purpose of an opening act is to get the crowd warmed up and ready to go for the headliner, and Aaron more just put them to sleep, and just made them feel sorry for him. You needed a chainsaw to cut through the awkwardness in the air when he was on stage.

(Photo credit: Rozette Diaz of Restless Cities)

He seemed visibly nervous and unsure of himself. It was also just him, and no backup band. Just him and a guitar. There are few even well established artists that can pull off the solo, acoustic, singer/songwriter act at such a big, historic venue such as The Greek, so for a new act like Aaron, I think it was just a poor choice to throw him up there. Once that train wreck was over, it was time for the main event!

As I mentioned before, the one other time I saw these guys was on The Railroad Revival Tour, which if you're not familiar with that tour, it was one giant party on stage at all times, and SO much fun. So going into this show, that's what I had expected. This show was unfortunately a little slower paced than that one. Still good, I guess I just had some high expectations of the show that were not met.

(Photo Credit: Black Vinyl Magazine)

I think it was a the cadence of the show that made it weird. Alex at one point said that they had no set list for that night, they were winging it. Which if I were to be told that beforehand I would have thought "That's awesome!". But instead it just made for long drawn out moments of silence to give time for discussion after each song to figure out what they wanted to play, which then took setup in order to get the appropriate instruments in place. If they had written out a set list, I think they could have gotten at least 5 or 6 more songs in, that's how big the gaps were. It really interrupts the flow of the show when that happens. A great song will finish and you just wanted it to keep going, but instead it was talking, random banter, and stagehands running around.

One of the best moments was when Alex jumped off the stage to dance with his mother:

Wow this is getting long. Ok so in summary, I'd still suggest you see them live if you've never had the chance. Here are a few videos from the show that I recorded:

Fiya Wata

That's What's Up

Mayla

(Written about Aaron Embry's Daughter, Mayla)

Their latest album Here, is out now!

James Morrison at Avalon

Show: James Morrison
Venue: Avalon- Los Angeles, CA
Date: 5/3/12
Show #28

I'm going to let this post be mostly photos, but just in case you're not familiar with James Morrison, let me give you a little background. He's a singer/songwriter from the UK. He was most well known for his song "You Give Me Something" in 2006.

He put on a great show! I was really impressed with him and taken back a bit due to the fact I was expecting this scraggly/nerdy shy guy because for some reason that's the impression I get from his first album cover from 6 years ago. I guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover because he was charming, hilarious and had a cool swagger about him, far from the perception I had built up in my mind. The one pre-notion I had about him that was correct though, was that his powerhouse of a voice would be just as good, if not better in person. Highly recommend you see him if you get the chance!

By the way, you'll want to make it to the bottom of the post for a little surprise. :-)

Videos recorded:
You Give Me Something
Up
One Life
Slave to the Music
In My Dreams
Broken Strings

His opening act was a band named HoneyHoney, a country/folk group from Los Angeles. An odd choice I thought, since it didn't seem like the same fan base between the 2, but people enjoyed it. They're a little too country for my taste, but appreciate that they seem crazy talented, and I see why people loved them. I recorded a video of their song "Ohio".

Oh yeah, and this happened

Katie Herzig and Andrew Belle at The Troubadour

 

Show: Katie Herzig and Andrew Belle
Venue: The Troubadour- Los Angeles, CA
Date: 5/1/12
Show #27

A friend suggested I go check out these 2 singer/songwriters Katie Herzig and Andrew Belle, and seeing as I was bored and had nothing to do that night, I decided to go. I didn't know anything about either of them prior to going, other than listening to a clip of 1 song each before heading over.

Note- Sorry about the crappy pictures! I brought my Nikon in, only to find out that I left my battery at home charging. Womp womp. I took lots of video though to try and make up for it.

Up first was Andrew Belle. I hate calling him an "indie singer/songwriter" because I feel like that puts him in the same bucket as all the other million indie singer/songwriters, but he's so much better than that. He has such a soft, beautiful, soulful voice with just the right amount of grit to it. He reminds me a lot of Mat Kearney. Simple, beautiful, well written songs. He's also adorable and terribly charming.

 I recorded a bunch of videos of him that night, see below!

"Static Waves" ft. Katie Herzig

"In My Veins" (Featured in Grey's Anatomy)

More videos:
Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
Sky's Still Blue
The Ladder

Katie Herzig, also an indie singer/songwriter with a beautiful voice, was up next. You might know her for her song "Lost and Found", most recently heard on the season finale of Cougar Town. It's easily my favorite of hers. One of the reasons I loved her set was because of her crazy talented band. Any time I can see drums, guitar, cello and clarinet in the same set, I'm sold. I recorded 2 other songs from that night:

"Midnight Serenade"

"Make a Noise"

Coachella Day 2- Weekend 2

Show: Coachella Day 2
Venue: Indio, CA
Date: 4/21/12
Show #25

By day 2, we were pretty settled in to the camp site, and had embraced the fact that at no point for the rest of the weekend would we feel cool, refreshed, or the least bit clean. If you've never camped at Coachella, here's a few things you should know:

- Car Camp. It's reassuring having a car there to store your valuables in while you're sleeping and at the festival.
- Don't camp with more than 6 people to a camping spot. We had JUST enough room with our 6, but I couldn't imagine being able to squeeze anyone else in, comfortably anyway.
- You'll quickly learn that baby wipes work miracles, and will gladly use those instead of waiting 2-3 hours in line in the early hours of the morning for a 5 minute cold shower.
- Bring a BBQ! We ate pretty damn well in our campsite:

- Bring a tarp, or something to put over the campsite to block the sun. Seriously though, you'll be miserable without one.

On to the shows!

Childish Gambino
If you're not familiar with this guy, Childish Gambino is actor Donald Glover's (from Community) rapper alter ego. When you think Donald Glover you might think it's just a joke, but he's the real deal. Check out the video I recorded of him free styling:

Awolnation
This was hands down my favorite show of Day 2. You might know them for their hit song "Sail". Not only were they amazing live, but I got to take part in my very first crowd surfing experience! During the show they go "Let's see how many ladies we can get crowd surfing for this next one." A guy next to me turns to me and says "Wanna go?" and I gladly accepted. Him and one other guy hoisted me up and I was on my way! Just see for yourself:

"Not Your Fault"

The Head and the Heart
The Head and the Heart are an indie folk group from Seattle who have a strong underground following. A friend strongly suggested we go see them and I'm so glad we did. The highlight of the set was their performance of "Rivers and Roads" to close the show.

"Winter"

Manchester Orchestra
I only went and watched a few songs of these guys and wasn't too impressed.

Andrew Bird
This was our "let's go over there and sit and relax for a minute" show. So we sat in the back and just listened to him. All I remember is lots of whistling!

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
I had listened to some of Noel Gallagher before, and I was kind of bored with it, but for some reason I was really in to him live. The only reason I went over to watch him was in hopes he would sing Wonderwall, but actually ended up enjoying the rest of his set!

David Guetta
Same issue with Black Keys. I know I was there, but unfortunately don't remember much, but I'm told it was a great time. :-)

Coachella Day 1- Weekend 2

Show: Coachella Day 1
Venue: Indio, CA
Date: 4/20/12
Show #24

I'm not sure how to begin describing one of the most fun weekends I've ever had to date. This was my first Coachella and it lived up to be everything I wanted it to be and more. If you've never experienced Coachella or a music festival in general, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's such a great way to discover new bands, and just party for 3 straight days with your friends.

If you do Coachella, there is a definite list of things you'll want to make sure you have to make your experience as great as it can possibly be.

Below is what I called my Coachella Survival Kit. Some of the important items were:

- Sun Screen
If you think you're bringing too much sun screen, grab another bottle. Seriously, you have no idea how much sun screen I went through in 1 weekend. Due to the heat, and excessive sweating, it ends up just being sweated off so you're constantly re-applying. I recommend the spray type by Neutrogena, it's great and not messy!

- Baby Wipes
These bad boys are what kept me from feeling and smelling like a homeless person the whole weekend. Before bed at the campsite everyone wiped down with these to remove the layers of dirt we had accumulated on our bodies throughout the day. Even throughout the day, they were great to just wipe down your face with. You NEED these at Coachella, put these on your do not forget list, you'll be glad you brought them.

- Hand Sanitizer/Wet Ones Wipes
Coachella is in the middle of no where, in the desert which means you better get used to the smell of port-o-potties baking in the 106 degree heat. But to make you feel better after you step out of the rancid sweat box,  you can sanitize yourself with lots of hand sanitizer and hand wipes.

- Hat
The weekend I went, it reached 106 degrees. Being outside in it ALL DAY, any extra barrier you can put between yourself and the sun is a good thing.

- Large empty water bottle
Security doesn't let you bring beverages inside, but you can bring an empty water bottle in and there are water bottle refill stations throughout the grounds. You'll find yourself drinking more water in one day than you might usually drink in a week and never have to go to the bathroom due to the fact you just sweat it all out.

- Solar Powered Phone Charger
I saw people actually attach these to their backpacks so it would charge as they walked around the festival. So if you have a phone you know doesnt have the best battery life, you'll want to get one of these. Fair warning though, they require A LOT of sun in order to do anything to your phone.

Enough about sun screen and port-o-potties, on to the bands!

The first day, I hit the ground running and I was inside at shows starting at 12. I saw 9 shows on day 1, not bad!

Bands seen Day 1:
Wallpaper.
This guy was SO MUCH FUN. It was the perfect way to kick off day 1 of Coachella. If you like LMFAO and fun party music, you'll love Wallpaper. They're known for their song "FUCKING BEST SONG EVERRR" and "#STUPIDFACEDD". You can't help but want to dance and let it all go when you hear either of those songs. In addition to those 2 songs though, they also did some funk inspired tunes as well. I recorded one of them, called "Trouble"

Wolf Gang
I was really excited to stumble upon these guys, they've quickly become one of my favorite new bands. The best way to describe them is symphonic pop-rock. They're from the UK, so there's naturally a little European influence there as well. My personal favorite song is "Lions in Cages"

Givers
I left this show with my jaw on the floor. I was thoroughly impressed with these guys (and 1 girl). Listening to them at home just does not do them justice. It was one of those shows where everyone was looking around wide-eyed and in awe at each other admiring what it was that we were witnessing. When you listen to their album you might think they're just another indie pop band, but they bring it to another level when played live. I recorded a video of them, see below:

SebastiAn
My friend and I decided we weren't hot enough already in the 106 degree heat and headed over to the Sahara Tent (All DJ's) to join in on the early afternoon dance party. Besides the sometimes unnerving and political themed images on the screens behind him, it was a fun set!

Grouplove
Ahh Grouplove. They were #1 on my list for the weekend as my must see set, and they did not disappoint. Forget the Sahara Tent, this is where the dance party was at. If you're not familiar with the name Grouplove, and you don't live under a rock, you've probably heard their song "Tounge Tied" or "Colours". No one cared about how hot they were, or the sauna like conditions under the tent during this set. They had everyone dancing and sweating like they've never sweat before. People began shedding every ounce of clothing they could!

Watch Hannah draw some of their signature album artwork live on stage during the song "Slow":

"Naked Kids"

Dawes
This was probably my least favorite set of the day. They're a band from San Diego that has a decent following, but I wasn't having it. Just an overall boring set. 


Black Keys
I won't lie, I only saw maybe 5 minutes of this set, and I remember even less than that. I was having a great time at this point in the night if you know what I mean. But from what I remember, they sounded great, and everyone was having a good time.

Explosions in the Sky
Same comment as Black Keys.

Datsik
All of my friends had dispersed through the night and we all met back up at the Sahara Tent at the end of the night for a group dance party. I had never heard of Datsik, but we all had an amazing time. Lots of dancing, jumping and laughing. Just an all around good time.

I think that sums up Day 1 of Coachella. On to day 2!

M83 at Fox Theater

Show: M83
Venue: Fox Theater- Pomona, CA
Date: 4/12/12
Show #23

This was a super last minute show for me. I got a call from a friend at 7pm the night of the show saying he had an extra ticket. I was in Downtown LA at the time, and not being one to turn down a free show, I accepted and hauled ass down to Pomona and made it in the nick of time!

Downside is no pictures, just one video:

If you're not familiar with the name M83, you may know their big song "Midnight City". Watch the video regardless, it involves creepy children with special powers escaping from a mental institution. 

If you ever go see M83 live, don't worry about being close to the stage, everything is so dark, you can't see anything anyway. Maybe just don't get tickets in a seated area because when you stand, people around you get upset, but I couldn't care less and did it anyway. :-)

 They have a cool setup on stage with lasers and lots of smoke, and keep things dark which  plays to the overall mystique of their music. Fun show, check them out if you get a chance!

Mat Kearney at The Canyon Club

Show: Mat Kearney
Venue: The Canyon Club- Agoura Hills, CA
Date: 4/5/12
Show #22

So unfortunately, it looks like I accidentally deleted all but ONE picture I took at this show. I remember deleting them thinking I already uploaded them, but I was wrong. Bummer! Oh well, they all looked pretty similar to my other post on him from The Mayan, so if you really need to see more of him, you can go there.

I managed to get the set list.... by climbing on stage afterwords to grab it :-)

Luckily I took some videos and didn't delete those before uploading!

All I Have

Runaway Car

Ships in the Night

You Can Count On Me

Talking about the show "Ancient Aliens"

Dan Layus at Hotel Cafe

Show: Dan Layus (of Augustana)
Venue: Hotel Cafe- Los Angeles, CA
Date: 4/4/12
Show #21

There's something about simple shows, in small intimate venues that just blow major productions out of the water. Sometimes all you need is a guitar and some kick ass lyrics. That was the case when I saw Dan Layus of Augustana perform a solo set at Hotel Cafe.

If you're not familiar with Augustana, you probably are and don't know it. This was their big hit in 2005:

Armed with just a guitar and light piano accompaniment, Dan Layus proceeded to captivate the attention of everyone in the room that night. Usually at that venue there's always an annoying group of hipsters standing in the back chatting away, but that wasn't the case at this show.

He of course played the big hits such as Boston, and Fire, but he also debuted a few brand new songs that did not disappoint. I recorded a few:

Love in the Air
Need a Little Sunshine

The All American Rejects at The Troubadour

Show: The All American Rejects
Venue: The Troubadour- Los Angeles, CA
Date: 3/30/12
Show #19

Friday marked my 3rd, and sadly final All American Rejects adventure for that week. This was the one I had been looking forward to the most. The Troubadour is one of my favorite venues in LA, so to see one of your favorite bands there, in such a small intimate setting is just the best.

I won't say too much about this show and let the pictures speak for themselves, but if you've seen All American Rejects live before, you know just how amazing they are live. One of the best live acts around. They put on the type of show where you feel like you can't sing loud enough, jump high enough, or scream loud enough. You're a crazy sweaty mess after an AAR show, and it's fantastic.

Videos recorded:
Heartbeat Slowing Down
Fast & Slow (Feat. Audra Mae)
Beekeepers Daughter
I For You

 W/ Audra Mae (As heard on Fast and Slow)

And of course, I got a set list!