The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger’s Los Angeles Visit Was A Trippy Delight

Los Angeles — The curtains of Los Angeles’ The El Rey Theatre were drawn and a face-painted and cloaked woman took the spotlight at The Ghost Of A Saber Tooth Tiger show. With a gold lamé-clad performer flying silver streamers on either side, the unidentifiable woman began to rant. “They will never stop f**king. Eat the f**king bunnies,” she ended, and I knew I was not in for only a musical treat, but also amazingly bizarre performance art.

Concert-goers might’ve flocked to Sean Lennon’s show in search of a piece of a lost Beatles member, but they were in the midst of a psychedelic production that was one of a kind. John Lennon’s son hit the stage donning a shiny, oversized pyramid hat, with five more rockers of varied hipster extravagance. A cinematic backdrop of masked children, llamas, shamans, and pink smoke started to churn and so the fantastic trip began. With his arms raised in salute of the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, the first surging drumbeat of “Too Deep” and Sean’s nostalgic voice instantly entranced as much as the spiraling colors projected in the background.

It would be careless to claim the music doesn’t have a Beatles-esque quality, but who can blame Sean? It’s in his DNA. Although he’s had numerous solo endeavors since 1996, Sean described The GOASTT (formed in 2008) as the “first cool band he’s ever had.” The music on the sophomore album, Midnight Sun, is a perfected, sleeker extension of their first compilation. The collection is still of an olden hippie era, but with an extra tab of acid. Rooted in melodic progressions, ditties begin simplistically and scramble the brain with hard, spontaneous riffs and otherworldly instruments for a furious, exposed sound. The dizzying spirit of the work was only amplified when it was live.

Sean was no doubt front and center as he jabbered charismatic nonsense between songs, but when my eyes wandered, I found myself intrigued by another character on stage— model/guitarist/singer/songwriter Charlotte Kemp-Muhl. Charlotte’s shockingly gorgeous features didn’t hurt, but it was her enigmatic attitude that was so captivating. While Sean had palpable enthusiasm, his lover stood by in her ripped vintage clothing and apathetically smacked on her gum. It was only when the notes escaped her pouty lips to take the lead on “Johannesburg” that her cool persona melted away. Her voice — sweet and thick like honey — took viewers to a faraway land of plucking instruments and relieving “aahs.”

Beyond the “story the gypsies know true,” Sean’s passionate fall to the ground, and the intricate clashing of strings, the real highlight came with the harmonies of “Golden Earring” and “Animals”. In addition to the transfixing talk of souls, milky ways, and devils, Charlotte and Sean’s voices didn’t just duet, they melted together. It was as though I was jumping down a rabbit hole they serenaded as we joyfully crashed and giggled into lovely distorted objects.

As he lifted both hands to grip the mic, Sean said he hopes the band “becomes a real thing” and I think it already did. Once the group began to dawdle away, screams of “I love you” echoed and cheers wouldn’t quit roaring. The motley bunch was so ecstatic by the demand for an encore that they played not one, but two more hazy jams. Believe it or not, the encore was even more kaleidoscopic than the rest, thanks to the addition of openers Fever The Ghost and instruments like the xylophone. Onlookers were too busy waiting to see what would happen next to move toward the door and the continued showcase of mad poetry did not fail.

Despite my sobriety, as the minutes passed during the hour-set, my brain cells felt like they were popping with mind-altering libations. What I heard was jumbled, but it was perfect in its imperfection. The audience that night was invited into Charlotte and Sean’s stunning world of chaos and I, personally, was tempted to stay forever.

Midnight Sun is available for purchase now. Visit The GOASTT‘s website to find out when you can experience an evening of musical magic.

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Ariela Kozin

Ariela was born and raised on Los Angeles' creative hunger and booming sounds. She grew up humming the Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan records her mother played on repeat until a driver's license gave her the freedom to obsessively explore the live music scene. It only seemed natural that when Ariela went to journalism school, she paired her love of writing with her passion for discovering amazing new music.