As frontman of the cheekily named but underrated O.C. quartet Venus Infers, Davis Fetter was a swaggering mod rocker whose Strokes-meets-Britpop music could have come from Manchester as well as much as Huntington Beach. With his foursome on hiatus, Fetter has done more than just adopt a stellar bouffant. Fetter’s first two singles ooze the […]
Few community festivals outside of Silver Lake can boast a better music lineup that this weekend’s edition of Lobsterfest at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. Oh, the waterfront affair still has a family-friendly vibe – it’s just that thanks to music curator Mark Sovel, the former music director of the sorely missed […]
This just in: The music lineup for the 2010 Port of Los Angeles Lobster Festival – Lobsterfest to everybody who got buttery fingers in past years – is its most impressive yet, featuring John Doe & Exene Cervenka anchoring a roster of some of SoCal’s most promising up-and-comers and genre-diverse indie artists. The three-day shindig […]
[Here we are, Sunset Junction hangover and all, starting another great week of shows:] One of the most memorable sets last April at Coachella was Friendly Fires’ early-afternoon assault in 100-degree (give or take) heat in the Gobi Tent. In fact, I’ll venture to say it was almost superhuman – both on the part of […]
[Why, it’s Paula Abdul’s birthday today. Isn’t that nice …] Today: A seriously busy weekend gets started with the seriously beautiful orchestral maneuvers of Grizzly Bear, who are joined by Here We Go Magic to play a (very) sold-out show at the Wiltern. … It’s also opening night at the Hollywood Bowl, where the Bowl […]
[Happy birthday to Jimmy Chamberlin, wherever he’s drumming …] Toronto’s Constantines [pictured], now in their 10th year (yes, it’s true), hit town for a show at the Echo with a couple of lively supporting acts – Long Beach’s Crystal Antlers, with whom you are probably familiar, and Norwegian psych-poppers I Was a King, with whom […]
[It’s Kanye West’s birthday, and I wonder what you’d get a guy who has his own line of limited-edition glow-in-the-dark sneakers.] Can’t think of another album from this year that has been a more slam-dunk mood elevator that Metric’s “Fantasies.” The Canadian-bred band, who seem to have had more homes that an Army brat (they […]
[Birthday shouts to Noel Gallagher of Oasis and Tim Burgess of the Charlatans …] Today: Where to start this evening’s bulging schedule except with Animal Collective? Having hit the Troubadour and the Music Box @ Fonda earlier in the year, the critical darlings now sell out the Wiltern. … The buzziest shows of the night […]
In their early days, the 88 used to get compared a lot to the Kinks. Now, as they showed on last year’s “Not Only … But Also,” they’ve come into their own, and three albums into their career they can flex their musical muscles any which way. Tonight at the Key Club, the L.A. outfit […]
[Once around the weekend, quickly and briefly, as we work toward Perry Farrell’s big 50th birthday on Sunday …] Tonight: Hard-touring Cold War Kids have just set off on a monthlong U.S. jaunt that brings them to the Orpheum Theatre in downtown L.A., with support from fellow Long Beachers Crystal Antlers. (Side note: On April […]
