Friday night marked both my first visit to Pehrspace and AAN’s first visit to Los Angeles. The small Echo Park club is more art space than a music venue. The moment I walked through the door, ghouls stared down at me from walls covered in black paint, creating a nightmarish mural that spans the entirety
Thursday night at Portland’s Wonder Ballroom might not have been the best place to see too many great singers, but stellar musicians abounded. First up was Walls, a two-piece electronic act that took the stage right at 9:00. The band lived up to the implications of it’s name, filling the room with thumping beats that
On Wednesday night, Los Angeles’ Bootleg Theatre hosted a celebratory show for local punk-meets-soul outfit, PAPA. RACES and THE FRANKS also hailing from the City of Angels, joined the duo-turned-quartet for a kickass night of rock ‘n’ roll. The guys (and gal) of The Franks set the night off to a playful start with their
On this a rainy Wednesday night, Arlene’s Grocery was dead town. My best guess is that it was quiet all night up until Blah Blah Blah took the stage. I don’t know where everyone came from, but Blah Blah Blah conjured them up from somewhere to get out on the floor. Not that it all
Last night was Jens Lekman’s (above) third and final sold out show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and his last show in the US. Actually, the majority of his US shows were sold out, so he’s definitely had a good run through. Last night was a magnificent end to his sweetly sentimental
Last Thursday, Florida indie artist Ben Cooper (above) brought his project Radical Face to the Brick and Mortar Music Hall in San Francisco. When I first got to the venue The Albatross Choir from Oakland were already onstage creating joyful sounds. I was only able to catch two songs from their set, but they closed
On Friday night, I was treated to a night of youthful energy, served up by the contagiously vivacious punk quartet from Oakland, CA: Emily’s Army. This group of kids–seriously, they’re still in high school–lit up The Roxy in Los Angeles and outshined the bright, colored lights beneath which they performed. Walking in to the dark
Three encores later and just shy of 2 hours of straight music playing, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (Sk6ers) played their last notes to close out an amazing first of two nights at Lincoln Hall in Chicago this past Saturday. Having been to several Sk6ers shows in the past I knew I would have a
On Wednesday night, I made my way down to The Independent in San Francisco to catch a night of music highlighted by Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear) performing as CANT. This is the new solo project of Taylor’s and also features the work of producer Twin Shadow (George Lewis Jr.). The debut album Dreams Come True
Being from the Midwest I have grown accustomed to changing the type of music I predominately listen to based on the season. Luckily, most of the time my transition month or so leads me searching for new bands that can help get through our Chicago winters. Dead Man Winter is just that band for this