Tonight in L.A.: Also I Like to Rock with Fitz & the Tantrums and the Heavy, Antibalas, La Roux, Frankel

Kevin Bronson on
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[Birthday greetings to Earlimart/Admiral Radley keyboardist-singer Ariana Murray. Now, on to our steamy agenda for the evening:]

It’s Week 3 of the Also I Like to Rock series at the Hammer Museum (curated by this very blog), and it’s going to get hot. Doors at 7 for KCRW DJ Garth Trinidad, followed by local soul sensations Fitz & the Tantrums [that’s Fitz, above] at 8 and the U.K. funk-soul quartet the Heavy at 9. Early arrival recommended.

Oh, and to mark the occasion, Fitz is offering a free download of the song “Moneygrabber,” off his band’s debut album “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” (due Aug. 24 on Dangerbird Records). Get it here (e-mail required).

||| Watch: The Heavy cover Bob & Earl’s “Harlem Shuffle” live on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”

Top 3 places I would be if not rocking out to Fitz and the Heavy:

‣ Antibalas brings its Afrobeats to the Echoplex.
‣ Dusty Rhodes and the River Band headlines Spaceland.
‣ Frankel plays a rare live show [loved his album] at the Redwood Bar.

Your tastes may vary: La Roux at the sold-out Club Nokia; KT Tunstall and Garrison Starr at the Hotel Cafe; Ben Lee at the Santa Monica Pier; Wakey!Wakey! and Olin and the Moon at the Bootleg Theater; Moses Campbell at the Smell; Killola at the Viper Room; Hawthorne Heights at the Troubadour; the Alex Band at the Roxy; Terraplane Sun at the Silverlake Lounge; and Meredith Meyer at Crane’s.

Photo by Laurie Scavo