TV On The Radio, Arctic Monkeys, Panda Bear, Warpaint & Smith Westerns @ The Hollywood Bowl - 9/25/11

My last (& 4th) 2011 concert at The Hollywood Bowl was a doozy! 

5 bands in 1 night was a little overwhelming but the rotating stage helped :-)

TV On The Radio - Staring At The Sun

TV On The Radio - Satellite

Arctic Monkeys

Panda Bear #1

Panda Bear #2

Warpaint

Smith Westerns

Bright Eyes @ The Hollywood Forever Cemetery - 9/23/11

Last Friday night, I accidentally ended up with concert tickets to 2 different shows (Twin Shadow at The Troubadour & Bright Eyes at The Hollywood Forever Cemetery) yet somehow completely forgot I needed to sell my Twin Shadow tix until about 4:30pm that afternoon. I made a couple last minute attempts on Craigslist & Facebook offering the Twin Shadow tix for far under face value but no one hit me up & the pair went to waste. 

I'm usually totally on top of my concert tix situation but, last Friday, I dropped the ball. When you go to multiple concerts each week, I'm sure these things are bound to happen but, despite the mix-up, I'm SO happy I picked Bright Eyes that night! They were INCREDIBLE! And Kurt Vile's opening set was super impressive too!

Kurt Vile

BRIGHT EYES

Bon Iver @ The Shrine Auditorium - 9/19/11

When I went to see Bon Iver at The Shrine Auditorium on Monday night only a few short hours after returning from visiting my Sasquatch 2011 crew in Vancouver for 4 days, I thought there was a chance I might get a little sleepy or bored since Bon Iver's music is relatively "mellow" but boy was I wrong. Bon Iver's lead singer Justin Vernon (along with the other 8 members of the band) literally gave me chills & took my breath away at the same time. It was incredible.  Another girl who was lucky enough to attend Monday night's show put it perfectly when she said, "It's the kind of music that makes you grateful to be alive." 

Towers

Wash.

I Want It All by Jules Larson

A hot, new video & great new track from super sexy singer/songwriter Jules Larson.

Find out more about Jules Larson at http://www.juleslarson.com/

The National & Neko Case @ The Hollywood Bowl - 9/11/11

Nothing beats spending 1 of the last Sunday nights of summer at The Hollywood Bowl with great friends & beautiful music!

Neko Case

The National #1

The National #2

The National #3

Identity Fest @ The Hollywood Palladium - 9/4/11

When it was originally announced that the LA leg of the Identity Fest tour was going to be held in San Bernardino on Sunday 9/4, I wasn't too thrilled. I wasn't looking forward to trekking close to 2 hours each way out to the middle of nowhere on the 2nd day of a 3 day weekend...ESPECIALLY after going to Handsome Furs on Friday night & spending all afternoon & night at FYF Fest in Downtown LA on Saturday. It was going to be quite the endeavor. Luckily, on 8/25, the organizers of Identity Fest made a wise choice by listening to their LA festival-goers' complaints & moving the festival to The Hollywood Palladium. I wasn't quite sure how they'd manage to have an all-day "festival" at an indoor venue but, by adding a 2nd stage outside the back of the Palladium & removing a few artists from the bill (I was most upset by the loss of Etienne De Crecy), Identity Fest totally pulled it off!

I didn't get to the festival until ~7pm because I was busy partying it up at a Labor Day BBQ in Echo Park but I caught the end of Bookashade which is who I was trying to get there in time to see. After Bookashade, Steveo Aoki demonstrated what a giant douchebag he is by spelling his name out in lights & spending 1/2 of what felt like an eternity of a set standing on his raised platform above his lit-up last name with him arms outstretched in the air. It felt like he just wanted everyone to praise him &, believe me, he doesn't deserve any praise. My favorite part of Aoki's set was when it was over...AND when the lead singer of Weezer came out & did a song with him but even that track wasn't very good. I just wanted Steve Aoki to finish up asap because all I really care about was seeing Disco Biscuits & Pretty Lights afterwards.

Despite my disdain for Steve Aoki, Disco Biscuits & Pretty Lights electrified my face off!!! And, thanks to them, Identity Fest redeemed itself & ended up being INCREDIBLE! I also happened to have THE best crew to dance & party with which made the entire event that much more fun. Be sure to check out my videos of Disco Biscuits & Pretty Lights below. Pretty Lights' lights are SOOOO pretty!!!!

Disco Biscuits


Pretty Lights' Opening Song


Pretty Lights #2

FYF Fest @ Los Angeles State Historic Park - 9/3/11

9 days before FYF Fest 2011, the festival's organizers sent out the following Email promising they would alleviate every problem from last year's FYF:

THE LINES: This year we are closing off Spring St. which will enable us to create more entrances into the park. With more entrances the line will move at a much faster pace.

WILL CALL: In addition to more entrances, we have made it so all presale tickets have been mailed to the purchaser or printed at home. A large part of the traffic jam getting into the festival last year was due to attendees having to wait in two lines. With that said, there is a WILL CALL located across the street in the parking lot on the corner of Spring St. & College St. and will be open from 11:00am-11:00pm on Saturday September 3rd.

FOOD: We have double the food vendors that we had last year and are providing more vegan and vegetarian options.

WATER: Water will be cheaper then last year and we are providing more hydration stations and water fountains that are accessible in all areas of the park (in other words, you don't have to walk far to get water and shorter lines).

DUST: Beginning Monday we are watering the dirt down with a water truck, after that we will be flattening the ground with a steamroller truck to compact the dirt to keep the dirt down. For further precaution we will be laying down a thick layer of wood chips in the space near the stages and in the beer gardens.

SHADE: There will be more shade tents and misters all over the park giving everyone more places to relax and get out of the sun.

BATHROOMS: On site we will have double the amount of portable toilets than we had last year. This will result in overall cleaner restrooms and shorter lines.

And I must admit that, other than waiting in a few brief beer lines, I didn't encounter a single problem at this year's FYF Fest (very much unlike last year) & had a blast!

Cults

Chromatics

Cold War Kids

Yacht - I Walked Alone

Yacht - Tripped & Fell In Love

Glass Candy

Simian Mobile Disco

Dan Deacon

Handsome Furs @ The Echoplex - 9/2/11

Handsome Furs are 1 of the coolest married couples EVER.



 

Crystalline by Bjork - Directed By Michel Gondry

A new Bjork track + another Michel Gondry video = WEIRD & awesome!!!