Friday, January 29, 2010
Well, this last week of January was a rather unexpectedly eventful one. The highlight, of course, being Wednesday with the triumphant return of the Imaginary Bear and Barney puppet show at LaBrie's (pictured above). Ms. Haden has been presenting shows with that silly pink bear for as long as we can remember and every time one comes along it seems the entire scene circa 1997 comes out of the woodwork. We saw people we hadn't seen since the first years of The Smell there so that should tell you how beloved that little stuffed animal is. Jim Smith, himself, was in attendance (one of only a handful of times we've ever seen him in a venue that was not The Smell), as was Jack Black and all the rest of the Haden clan. Quite a fun show. It was also mentioned during the skit that IB and Barney once formed a band called The Nervous System. If this is true, we'd like to see a reunion for this year's Coachella. We're not even joking.
This weekend is an absolutely stunner. Choose wisely...
Tonight, listen to Demolisten for an appearance by Freaky Mountain. Later, Patti Smith presents her new book Just Kids at Book Soup. Alex's Bar celebrates their 10th anniversary with a weekend full of great shows including performances by Mike Watt, John Doe, Riverboat Gamblers, Adolescents, and Throw Rag. Figurine and others at pehrspace. Love Grenades opens for VV Brown and Reni Lane at Spaceland. The Damn Sons, Rumspringa, and White Arrows at the Unknown. Chris Cornell at the Troubadour. Sabrosa Purr opens for Polysics at the Roxy. Justine Bennett, Chris Seefried and others at Room 5. Realicide, BIRTH! and others at Women. Slang Chickens, Superhumanoids and others at Echo Curio. Greg Proops back again at g'net. Moses Campbell, So Many Wizards, Drew Denny and others at Hush Hush House. Thee Makeout Party and others at the Redwood. And the Key Club relaunches with a Grammy thing with LL Cool J.
Saturday, The Soft Pack play 10 shows all around Los Angeles and Long Beach. You could literally walk around Los Angeles blindfolded and run into one. The Pity Party, Pocahaunted, Letting Up Despite Great Faults, and Morgan Nagler play Cinespace to benefit Haiti. Another Haiti benefit with Ceci Bastida at Tropico de Nopal. Alex Prager's highly-anticipated "Week-End" opening at M+S. pehrspace benefit show with Big Phony, Kill Kill Kill, Manhattan Murder Mystery, and Meredith Meyer. 8-bit and The Monolators play their first show together in a long while with Rough Kids, Odd Modern, Dirty Dave and lots of party people at Señor Fish. Robotanists, Vanaprasta, Maldroid, Black Party Politics, and others at The Boogie Den. Nico Stai, Yikes A Lion, and Fences at Spaceland. Man's Assassination Man, Loyal Sons & Daughters, Garbaj Kaetz, and others at 2HeadedHorse. Paul F. Tompkins at g'net. The Roots host an all-star Grammy party at the Key Club that we didn't get the invite for. Live Footage, C. Vincent Plummer, and Detangler at Fais Do-Do. Farmer Dave Scher, Lithuanian Prince, and Hits & Mrs. at The Prospector. The Soft Hands and NOPAL at The Que Sera. Dancism party at Echoplex.
Sunday, it's the Grammys so beware of downtown traffic. Mos Def hosts an after-Grammy shindig at the Key Club for basically all those who can't get into the more VIP parties. Cafe Country, Tommy Santee Klaws and others at Dakota. PTP hosts a Depeche Mode night at The Echo. Katie Costello, Wesley Smith, and others at Room 5. Nightflower, The Vespertines, and Pale Wailers at The Que Sera.
For a more complete listing go to one of the other ten thousand sites that list events.
Happy birthdays this weekend to edIT and Philip Glass.
