Monday, December 15, 2008
Great weekend started with the homecoming show of Anavan on Friday. The band went on a month-long tour of Europe (brilliantly documented on their MySpace blog), ending with a final show in front of a lovely crowd at MotionLA. We love this band. At one point, we put down that stupid camera and just declared war on the dancefloor. That's how much we love Anavan. It was also nice to see members of The Press Fire! and Monolators within moshing distance of each other after their previous encounter earlier this year... Saturday, after a little holiday soiree at the Monolator house, we all headed to get our sweater on at Echoplex. Great crowd. E. Sharpe we love you... Sunday afternoon at the Montalbán hosted Little Red Radio, The Monolators, and Fol Chen. Later, Toys for Tots benefit with The Voyeurs, The Damselles, and others was good fun. And we ended our night at The Smell for the triumphant return of former PRS HLTN, MTHRFCKRS!! Michael Ray-Von's new punk band Okie Dokie and then later Alex's Bar, but just missed our ex-girlfriend Deep Sea Diver due to the mysterious effect of rain drops causing cars to crash into each other. In any case, good to see so many friends out and about all weekend...
Happy belated birthday to Koga. Happy birthdays this week go to Joey Siara (The Henry Clay People), Steve Aoki, Matt Eckel (Jack Wilson, Jr.).
Tonight: Tune into GTFU for a special pre-holiday gathering with special guest Daniel Ahearn along with the regular crew. Then off to the December residencies, yeah! Also, Sean Carnage, oh yeah! Funny or Die presents a very special show with very special surprise guests at g'net tonight. boxViolet, Golden Ratio, and others at The Bordello. Meiko and friends play at Room 5. Meiko also appears on Last Call with Carson Daly later tonight (taped last Thursday)... Kárin Tatoyan, War Tapes, EXITMUSIC, and Seasons at Spaceland on Tuesday. Spirit Vine, Vum, Gods Gang, and Native Fauna at The Echo. The Underground Railroad to Candyland, The Soft Hands, and Fast Dragon at The Prospector. The Randies, Automatique, and others at Mr. T's Bowl. Meredith Meyer at Crane's. Imaad Wasif opens for Mercury Rev at the El Rey. Gary Jules residency at the Hotel Cafe. Semi-local girl Missy Higgins, Joshua Radin, Robert Francis at the Anaheim House of Blues. Steve Aoki and Uffie celebrate birthdays at Cinespace. And The Dan Band appears on Last Call with Carson Daly (also taped last Thursday)... On Wednesday, Flying Lotus and The Long Lost get all dressed up at Low End Theory. Daniel Ahearn, Correatown, and EXITMUSIC at Que Sera. Annie Stela and others at the Hotel Cafe. Ladytron (DJ set) and Destructo at Viper. And boy bands Metallica, Lamb of God, and The Sword show off their new dance moves with two shows at The Forum... On Thursday, listen up for Juliette Commagere on Morning Becomes Eclectic and later performs at the Troubadour with Obi Best and Wait Think Fast. Dogweed and BollWeevil's on deck Spaceland on Ice (Free). Warpaint opens for Amazing Baby. Emily Wells at the Hotel Cafe. The Mormons, Bastidas, The Health Club, and Family Tree Analog at The Smell. The Henry Clay People, War Tapes, and The Secret 6 at The Prospector. Sarah and Sean Watkins at g'net. And Ozomatli have two nights at the House of Blues.
In other news: Only a few more shows before Tangier closes its doors at the end of the month. We're not certain of the circumstances of its closure but we certainly have enjoyed the times while it was around. Some of the best shows we ever helped with were at the club including our dear friends Kate Earl, one of the first Chapin Sisters shows, Amy Cooper, a pre-Submarines Blake Hazard (we still bug her about going solo again) and others for Tom Brosseau's residency in 2004; and a few other great shows that we are very proud to have taken part in. As far as we remember, Dead Rock West was the first band to have a residency there and if you're counting they were also one of the first bands to have a residency at the Hotel Cafe and Largo (back then known as Starbelly). The Haden Triplets did an amazing residency there in 2004, which might still be the best residency we've ever seen. The backroom had been used as a storage room prior to a performance space and it still smelled musty and damp like a wine cellar. Actually, it was more like a cave since there was absolutely no lighting in the room except for like one spotlight for the stage (which was of course where the soundbooth is now) and maybe some floor lighting that probably The Fold had something to do with since people kept tripping over things. In any case, goodbye Tangier. We'll miss thee... Please, no one outbid us. This is our one chance for love.
