The Naked & Famous @ The Wiltern - 9/27/13

In support of the release of their 2nd studio album In Rolling Waves (released on 9/16/13), The Naked & Famous headlined The Wiltern on Friday night &, as expected, they were f*ckin awesome! It took me a few minutes to adjust to co-lead singer Alisa Xayalith's new, blonde, pixie-style haircut but she still looked & sounded fantastic!

I loved all the new songs...the majority of which I was hearing for the 1st time. There's no better way to hear 1 of your favorite artist's new material than live :) I had only heard the tracks Hearts Like Ours & A Stillness (which they opened with) prior to Friday night because I'm yet to obtain a copy of the new album. I need to get on that! I suggest you do the same!

All Of This


No Way

Here Comes The Night Time - Arcade Fire's Post-SNL Concert/New Album Premiere Special!!!

NBC earned some major points in my book on Saturday night/Sunday morning from 1-1:30am when they aired Arcade Fire's Roman Coppola-directed post-Saturday Night Live mini concert which featured three (3) new songs off AF's upcoming 4th studio album Reflektor. I know I'm biased because I'm already such a big Arcade Fire fan but I can honestly say I LOVED all 3 new songs (Here Comes The Night Time, We Exist & Normal Person) on my very 1st listen &, now, after having already watched this 22 minute spectacle 4x times straight through, I'm 100% OBSESSED with all 3 new songs.

I also think this mini concert production was absolutely flawless (i.e. the costumes, the colors, the lighting, the editing, the energy, etc, etc). The celebrity cameos (i.e. James Franco, Michael Cera, Bill Hader, Ben Stiller, Zach Galifianakis, Bono, Rainn Wilson) were fun too. Aziz was my fave.

I'm dying to hear Reflektor in its entirety when it's released on October 29th but I'm keeping my fingers crossed I'll be able to get my hands on a bootleg copy sooner than that. I'm even more excited to see Arcade Fire live again. Another concert tour HAS to be on horizon &, if & when Arcade Fire come to your town, you better go see them!

Prisoner by Har Mar Superstar (Official Video Featuring Juliette Lewis)

If this funky track by Har Mar Superstar doesn't get you in the mood to party this weekend, you need to lighten up!

The new official video features Juliette Lewis & Har Mar (aka Sean Matthew Tillmann) engaged in what appears to be a reenactment of the big prom dance scene in the 80s classic film Rad.

Har Mar Superstar is 1 sexy beast.

M83 & Phantogram @ Hollywood Bowl - 9/22/13

Before Sunday night, I had only previously seen M83 twice but both times were at festivals (Coachella 2012 & FYF Fest 2012) &, due to my usual music festival ADD, I only saw a few songs of each set. For that reason, I initially didn't think I absolutely NEEDED to see M83 again at Hollywood Bowl on 9/22 because I thought, "I've already seen them a couple times!". Luckily, as the date of the show drew closer, I reminded myself catching a portion of a festival set versus giving a full headlining set my undivided attention are 2 very different things. Plus, 1 of my favorite new bands of the last few years, Phantogram, was opening for M83 so, in the end, I was compelled to seek out a pair of last minute tickets to Sunday night's Hollywood Bowl show. It was a good call because both Phantogram & M83 brought their A-game & blew the Bowl crowd away.

Phantogram debuted a bunch of new material & I loved all of it! Sarah Barthel looked stunning in a long, flowing, silky black dress with a very high & sexy slit up 1 leg. I've had a girl crush on Sarah ever since I chatted & took a photo with her after seeing Phantogram perform live for my very 1st time at Troubadour in LA on 4/30/10. My admiration of Sarah was fully renewed on Sunday night while watching her dominate the Bowl's stage with her infectious energy, beautiful vocals & hot new look.

Then, M83's performance with The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra accompaniment took things to whole new level. Every single minute was absolutely BEAUTIFUL & awe-inspiring. Now that I've seen a proper, full-length M83 show, I can wholeheartedly insist that EVERYONE see M83 live at some point. As George so simply & accurately put it, "M83 was life changing."

Many thanks to my friend Lindsey Fisher (who was visiting from Kansas City last weekend) for the sweet photos of hers I "borrowed" for this post! I took 2 myself but the rest are all Lindsey. She has such a nice camera & always gets the best shots!

Another Girl by Wild Belle

Everyday I'm falling more & more in love with the Chicago-born brother/sister duo Elliot & Natalie Bergman aka Wilde Belle. Natalie's voice is so sultry & sexy! She's a lil hottie for sure & certainly NOT just another girl.

Big Black Delta @ The Getty - 9/21/13

How is it that I'd never been to free Saturday evening show at The Getty before this past weekend? It's 1 of the sickest venues I've ever seen! I've seriously been missing out!

On the bright side, getting to see Big Black Delta for the 1st time for my 1st Getty show experience was perfect because they put on an AWESOME live show. I'm very much looking forward to seeing them perform again sometime hopefully soon & I'm DEFINITELY going to as many shows at The Getty as possible next summer!



Mystery Skulls @ LAMP's Venice Music Crawl Event @ Floyd's Barbershop - 9/21/13

Killer birthday party, Brooksy!

LAMP (Los Angeles Music Project)'s 2nd Venice Music Crawl event at Floyd's Barbershop on Lincoln Boulevard this past Saturday 9/21 was bigger & better than I possibly could've imagined. I knew it'd be a good time but, with Newcastle, Vita Coco & Touch Vinyl sponsoring, LAMP was able to take their 2nd VMC to a whole new level.

One of my favorite acts of the day was Mystery Skulls although I know, if I'd been able to stay for the entire 8 hours (the event ran from 12-8pm), I would've LOVED the sets by Das Tapes & PZB as well!

Black Out Days by Phantogram (NEW!)

Phantogram debuted a bunch of new material at their Hollywood Bowl show last night & it was all SO good! Unfortunately, Black Out Days is the only new track of theirs currently available on Youtube so here is just a taste to get your Phantogram juices flowin'.

Stay tuned for my official Phantogram & M83 Bowl show post later this week. I should have it up by Wednesday at the latest. What an unbelievable show!

Jim James @ The Grammy Museum - 9/18/13

I'm so grateful I didn't miss all of Jim James' interview & Q&A session before his 6-song performance at The Grammy Museum on Wednesday night (I was about 20 minutes late due to a huge traffic jam on the 10 East caused by a FedEx truck being towed from the middle of the damn freeway! Ugh!) although I'm a little bummed I didn't (wo)man up & ask Jim a question! All the questions people were asking were extremely intellectual & deep-sounding. I just wanted to ask Yim if he's excited for My Morning Jacket's 4-night One Big Holiday extravanganza at the new Hard Rock resort in Maya Riviera (a few miles outside Cancun) this coming January...cuz I'm going & I am SOOOO excited!!! :) :)

I can't get enough of this man.



Thanks for the free copy of Regions of Light and Sound of God, Grammy Museum!!



Cool Song No. 2 by MGMT (NEW Official Video Featuring Michael K. WIlliams)

If someone could please explain MGMT's new video to me, I'd appreciate it.

All I know so far is I love that Michael K. Williams (currently Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire & previously Omar on The Wire) is the main character. Other than that, my only guess is the white dude is Chalky's boyfriend who somehow contracted that tree man disease I don't know the name of & Chalky tries unsuccessfully to cure him?

Any additional insight??

hh

City Rising from the Ashes by Deltron 3030 Featuring Mike Patton

1 of the only ways you can improve Deltron 3030 is by adding a little Mike Patton to the mix. A weird & kinda creepy, new music video doesn't hurt either.

Jimmy Cliff @ Santa Monica Pier = The 10th & Final Pier Concert of The Summer - 9/12/13

Last night was the 10th & final Santa Monica Pier concert of the summer. My boyfriend, George, & I successfully managed to attend all 10 pier concerts every single Thursday from 7-10pm starting with Surfer Blood on July 11th &, every week, we had an absolute blast. Because last night was the summer concert series' season closer & Jimmy Cliff was, by far, the biggest act of all 10 weeks, last night's show proved to be the rowdiest & most crowded pier concert of the entire summer.

Oh how I'll miss the delightful beach music, the beautiful sunsets, the excessive amounts of cheap wine (& being able to drink that wine on the sand without being bothered by the police for a solid 3 hours every week), the scumptious Trader Joe's snack smorgasbords, the trippy ferris wheel lights, the jubilant socializing & absolutely every other little component of my favorite summer activity, the Sant Monica Pier summer concert series.

Jimmy Cliff Performing The Harder They Come