Show: The Lumineers
Venue: Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles
Date: 3/23/12
Show #14
So you may have noticed I've been on a bit of a folk kick lately. There have been so many great new bands emerging recently I can't help it! One of my favorite ones has been The Lumineers. They described themselves best as "...heart-swelling stomp-and-clap acoustic rock, classic pop, and front-porch folk." I was fortunate enough to see them at one of their 2 nights at Hotel Cafe, one of the best venues around. Their recent claim to fame has been their music video for "Hey Ho", which went viral last month. The video, the song, everything about it is just, perfect. I've watched it on loop more times than I'd like to admit.
Their self-titled debut album just came out, be sure to check it out!
I recorded a lot of great videos from the show, see them all here!
Another band to check out is the band who opened for them, Y La Bamba. Trying to describe their sound is sort of a hopeless case because it's that unique. Folk, pop, indie rock, with random bursts of Latin and Spanish influence, even full songs IN Spanish. They're VERY cool. Their album doesn't do them justice though, you really need to seem them live to fully appreciate what they're about.
Show: Of Monsters and Men
Venue: Troubadour, Los Angeles
Date: 3/21/12
Show #13
Show #3 of the week for me was Of Monsters and Men at the Troubadour. If you haven't heard their song "Little Talks" taking over alternative radio yet, I can guarantee you will soon be seeing and hearing much more from these guys. They're an indie/folk band from Iceland who have just begun to blow up stateside. They got their start in Iceland from winning a big battle of the bands competition called Músíktilraunir in 2010.
I felt very lucky to have seen them in such a small venue so early on in their career because I only see them getting bigger. Rolling Stone magazine even went as far as to call them "the next Arcade Fire". (Don't shoot the messenger!) This began the bidding war among the record labels and they ended up signing with Universal Music. Their debut album "My Head is an Animal" just came out this month and it's everything I wanted it to be. I highly recommend you check it out, you won't regret it.
This was the bands first trip to Los Angeles and shared that one of their first experiences here involved a couple of cab drivers fighting (as in fists flying, and blood being drawn) over who would take them around town.
Also wanted to call out their awesome opening act Lay Low, also from Iceland. She was so adorable! So humbled to be there and shared that she moved out to Los Angeles into a house with people she had never met to follow her dream. She even took out a 12 string she had just purchased and asked someone take a picture of her with it so she could send it to her Mom back home to show her that she tried. I recorded a video of her playing it, you can see it here.
To check out all the videos I recorded from this show, click here.
2. Sounds like- If Jason Mraz and John Mayer were to have a baby
3. Originally from Oklahoma but currently resides in Nashville
4. Currently on tour with Needtobreathe promoting his album "Something Like This"
5. What should I listen to first?- If you like a good love ballad (and i'm talking, "I want this as my wedding song" good) check out the video I took of him opening for Needtobreathe performing "Forever Like That". It's breathtaking to say the least.
Side note- The adorable baby laughing in the video, is his nephew.
Usually when an opening act comes out, the crowd is just counting down the minutes until it's time to see the headliner. While no one around me in the crowd had ever heard Ben before that night, I can tell you that no one wanted to see him leave the stage once they did. There were several looks being darted around which said "Where did this guy come from, and why have I never heard of him?" Myself included.
Everything about him was just, refreshing. Everything from his smooth vocals, catchy lyrics, sarcastic personality, and a smile that made all the girls melt. Sorry ladies, he's married! I know, I know, very sad.
If you still need convincing to love this guy, listen to his cover of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". It's pretty great.
Here's another video I took, called "Home"
All in all I definitely became a big fan that night and can't wait for him to come back to the west coast!
Show: Needtobreathe and Ben Rector
Venue: Club Nokia, Downtown Los Angeles
Date: 3/20/12
Show #12
I had been waiting for this show for what felt like an eternity because I had gotten my ticket several months beforehand. Tuesday finally rolled around and I could not have been more excited to see my favorite southern boys of Needtobreathe. Needtobreathe has easily become one of my favorite bands to see live. They somehow find a way exude even more energy on stage than the last time. It's difficult to explain how amazing they are live without seeing it for yourself. They just pour their heart and soul in to each and every note they play, and lure you in with their beyond compare powerhouse vocals, mesmerizing stage presence and overall expert musicianship.
Oh, and they're not half bad to look at either.
This was my 4th time seeing Needtobreathe, and each time, the lead singer Bear, let's everyone know how humbled by the response they get when the come to so cal. It still continues to baffle them, and will admit they used to be afraid of playing in front of us here in LA.
They also had an amazing opening act (I will be doing a larger post on him separately). His name was Ben Rector. I couldn't recommend him more highly.
For all my videos from the show, visit my YouTube channel!
Show: Voxhaul Broadcast
Venue: The Sattelite (formerly Spaceland), Silverlake, CA
Date: 3/19/12
Show #11
On Monday night I went to see Voxhaul Broadcast for their 3rd week into their month long residency at The Sattelite in Silverlake. I've seen these guys a few times, I believe the first time was when they opened for Rooney a while back. They really resonated with me when I saw them that first time, and I've seen them a few times since, each great. They're an indie rock group from Orange County. They released an album last year called "Timing is Everything" and I highly recommend checking it out. "Leaving on the 5th" is my favorite.
The Sattelite isn't my favorite place to see a show because of the poor sound quality and lack of stage lighting, so unfortunately this time seeing the guys isn't one of the better performances I've seen. I know they're better than what I saw that night. Either way, still glad I went. Here a few shots from the show.
To see my videos of Voxhaul Broadcast from this show, check out my YouTube page
Show: Jordan Knight Venue: House of Blues, West Hollywood CA Date: 3/8/12 Show #10
On this Thursday knight night in Hollywood, hundreds of 30 something women flocked to the House of Blues to see a childhood crush come alive again. Jordan Knight, of New Kids on the Block was in town on a solo tour. Yet instead of hearing the normal boy band talk in line about where to put that new poster you just got from Tiger Beat, it was "I wish I could have gotten here sooner but the babysitter was late." While the fans may have grown up, it was apparent their inner teenybopper never left them.
While New Kids on the Block was before my time (All about BSB for me), I had the chance to see them on the NKOTBSB tour (3 times :-) and after the first song, instantly knew I was a "Jordan girl" as the fans say. So I was very excited to hear he was coming to HOB.
The show was opened by a YouTube sensation named Chad, who was known for his 1 minute Boy Band Medley. Jordan saw his video and asked him to open the show! Pretty cool! The mash up can be seen below:
He also sang an original song which was pretty hilarious. Definitely reminded me of Andy Samberg.
He was followed by Spankie Valentine... She was... Hmm... Trying too hard may be an understatement. She acted like she was headlining at Madison Square Garden. Which I guess you gotta give her props for that, but it was just a little too over the top for Jordan fans, and the small venue.
Then it was finally time for Jordan to come out! He opened with "Let's Go Higher", which was the perfect song to get the crowd going. But let's be real, he could have just stood there and stared at the crowd for 20 minutes and everyone would have still showed up.
I think if you were to ask anyone there though, there would be a unanimous vote that the highlight of the night was when he performed "O Face". Why you ask? Let's just say, hip thrusting was back in full effect and the video I recorded of it is NSFW.
The other highlight of the night was when he picked 2 girls to come on stage with him during "Rockstar". Before picking the girls, he prefaced it by saying he always gets girls on stage who act crazy in the crowd, but when they get on stage, they're shy and don't dance. Unfortunately 1. I didn't get picked, and 2. the girls who were picked were extremely boring to watch and you could tell Jordan was upset they wouldn't do anything. Nonetheless it was fun to try and live vicariously through them for a few minutes.
All in all, it was an amazing show and completely exceeded my expectations. Can't wait to see him again!
Venue Tip
Do "Pass the Line"! While it's a ploy to get you to spend more money there, HOB has a program called "Pass The Line" where if you buy an entree from the restaurant, or spend $20 in the store, you get to go in a special line which goes in before the general admission line. A few things to remember for this:
1. Order food at the bar upstairs and then go eat in line. It's better to have someone in your party go order the food, while someone stays in line.
2. Make sure you tell them you're buying food for pass the line, they need to sign your receipt, that will be your early ticket in.
3. Ask where the Pass The Line is. You'll learn this place is super unorganized, and if you ask 10 different people, you'll get 10 different answers. I'll tell you that when I went for this show, I happened to ask the right security guard who told me where the right line was going to be, and everyone else had started a fake line, so I got to get in first. It was at the end of the hill, by the VIP entrance near the stairway to the Foundation room, near the Valet. Go there first.
4. Don't freak if a few people go in before you, there's usually a meet n greet that gets to go in even before pass the line. All in all it's worth it if you want to get up close.
To see all my videos from the show (yes, there's more!) visit my YouTube page.
Show: Daniel Bedingfield
Venue: Hard Rock Cafe, Hollywood CA
Date: 3/6/12
Show #9
Last night I went over to the Hard Rock Cafe because I heard about a free show going on, with headliner Daniel Bedingfield. Yes he may have been a one hit wonder nearly 9 years ago, but I was so infatuated with that album, I still put it on from time to time and belt out every word. Such a beautiful, fun, and addicting album. So I was VERY excited when I found out he was coming back.
I got to the venue around 10:30, and ended up meeting Daniel's assistant. Once he understood how big of a fan I was, he ran to get Daniel so I could meet him! So sweet of him!
Don't get me wrong, I love me some Daniel Bedingfield, but good lord, I've never seen anyone with a worse case of ADD. He was ALL over the place. It was amusing actually. I think at one point he was attempting to have 3-4 different conversations with all separate groups of people standing somewhat close together, myself included. I was surprised he stayed in one spot long enough to even take this picture.
His sisters Natasha and Nickola showed up! They performed one of my favorite Daniel songs "Honest Questions", to which he actually prefaced the song with asking the audience "Who has ever wanted to die? Like really really badly?" *crickets* "C'mon, no one?". So that was interesting. You could tell the 3 of them had not rehearsed this beforehand, but it was good nonetheless and a nice surprise to see Natasha.
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