LIARS @ Fonda Theatre - 5/27/14

Of course, after working until 8:30pm Tuesday, less than 20 minutes before I was supposed to pick up my old roomie (& 1 of my favorite concert buddies), Stephanie, to head to the Fonda, I got a flat tire!! Road hazards due to all the Metro construction going on in my neighborhood lately are SUCH a pain in the butt!

Luckily, my darling little Stephy Lou saved the day & we ended up having a kick ass Coachella camping crew reunion with Andrew & Jack at LIARS!!!!!!! Uh huh uh huh :) :)

Brats

SISYPHUS = Serengeti + Son Lux + Sufjan Stevens

tUnE-yArDs @ Masonic Lodge in Hollywood Forever - 5/5/14

The first time I saw tUnE-yArDs (aka Merrill Garbus) was at the 1st First Friday event of 2010 on 1/8/10 at The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles. I barely knew anything about this woman but, after seeing her short opening set for the headliner Atlas Sound (Bradford Cox of Deerhunter's solo project), I was absolutely hooked. Fast forward 4 years to Merrill opening for Arcade Fire for several weeks prior to start her own headlining North American tour! This woman's on fire!
  

A couple weeks ago on Monday, May 5th, I was lucky enough to see tUnE-yArDs for my 6th time in the Masonic Lodge in Hollywood Forever which was actually my 1st time seeing a show in the Masonic Lodge...what a cool venue! This was an particularly memorable & special show for me because I got to share it with 1 of my favorite Canadian Sasquatch friends, Brooke, who randomly happened to have a 20 hour layover in LA on her way back to Vancouver after attending a wedding in Mexico. I picked Brooke up from LAX & immediately drove her to a cemetery to see a concert. We joked that it was just another typical Monday night in LA! Also, Brooke had never seen tUnE-yArDs live before & I think it's safe to say she is now a new fan :)

In conclusion, I will continue to see tUnE-yArDs perform live every chance I get. She is 1 of the most uniquely talented live performers out there & her new album is simply FANTASTIC.

Check out of my video of 1 of her latest tracks Real Thing below!

The Roots Perform Never with A-Trak & Metropolis Ensemble on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Roots worked double duty on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night. Per usual, they fufilled their nightly house band duties but, then, they were also featured as the musical guest of the evening performing a track entitled Never from their new LP ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin with a little help from A-Trak & Metropolis Ensemble.

Cheap Sunglasses by RAC - Featuring Matthew Koma

A perfect little summer ditty from RAC...

The FYF Fest 2014 Lineup Looks Good!!

I guess I'll go ;)

Tickets go on sale at 12:00pm PST this Thursday, May 22nd! Get yours before they sell out because they most certainly will be gone fast!
 

We Exist by Arcade Fire - OFFICIAL VIDEO Starring Andrew Garfield in Drag!

After seeing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (which I thought was significantly better than The Amazing Spider-Man) a few weeks ago as well as his recent guest-starring appearance on Saturday Night Live, I'm a relatively new fan of Andrew Garfield. As of this morning's release of the new official Arcade Fire video for We Exist, I'm now an even bigger fan of Garfield.

Check out his powerful, emotional & VERY well-danced performance IN DRAG in the below video & keep an eye out for the Coachella cameo!

The National & Portugal. The Man @ The Santa Barbara Bowl - 4/25/14

Concert road trips ROCK...as does leaving work early on a Friday to drive up to Santa Barbara with 1 of my newest favorite concert buddies to see The National & Portugal. The Man at The Santa Barbara Bowl.

I'd only been to SB Bowl 1 time before for My Morning Jacket a few years ago & I'd been meaning to go back but 4/25 was the 1st time I was super inspired to make the trek back up there. The National & PTM are both just TOO good live &, on 4/25 at SB Bowl, both bands were better than ever!

The rain (aka April showers) was an added, unexpected bonus. Ally & I agreed it made the show that much cooler because it got everyone on their feet & made the beautiful lights look even more gorgeous. Some people might think rain ruins a concert but sometimes it makes it all the more special...awwww! :)

Portugal. The Man Covering Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall Part 2

The National Performing Mistaken For Strangers

The National Performing This Is The Last Time

Dangerous by Big Data

Coffee by Sylvan Esso

COACHELLA 2014 - WEEKEND 1 = 4/11-4/13/14 - My 10-Year Coachella-versary!!!

I realize, at this point, people have probably heard more than enough about Coachella but, because it took me several weeks to get all my photos & videos organized, I am only now FINALLY ready to tell the world...my 10th Coachella ever was 1 of the best Coachellas yet!!! It definitely ranks in the top 3 with 2008 still holding the #1 spot but 2011 has now been bumped to #3 because 2014 just stole the #2 position :)

For starters, I brought my boyfriend, George, who hadn't attended the festival since 2004 & who I feared I might run ragged due to how much bigger & exhausting the festival has become over the past 10 years. BUT, contrary to what I thought might happen, George ended up loving every second of the 3-day festival &, despite me saying I was ready to call it quits on Coachella after 10 straight years, George has already decided we're going back next year so I guess I'll be going for 11 after all!

Secondly, after camping at Coachella the past 3 years (& waking up with 1 eye crusted shut with dirt after the great dust storm of Coachella 2013 that occurred on night 3 of weekend 1), George & I stayed in a quaint, nearby, brand-new Holiday Inn Express & it was pure heaven. It didn't hurt that I booked the room back in December at an unheard of rate of only $115/night. The hotel wasn't opening until 4/2/14 & there were no reviews or photos online therefore the hotel had a zero star rating at the time of booking. It was a gamble because anything could've happened to prevent the hotel from opening on time & left George & I stranded but, luckily, it opened on time & couldn't have been more perfect. I cherished our California king bed, air conditioning, mini fridge & running water all SO very much.

Finally, this year's Coachella performances were especially outstanding. Our top fave acts of the weekend included ARCADE FIRE at #1 (of course because AF is always incredible & just keeps getting better), Broken Bells, Foster the People, Holy Ghost!, Empire of The Sun, The Naked & Famous, Little Dragon, Washed Out, Beck, STRFKR, Future Islands, MGMT, Jagwar Ma, Ellie Goulding, CHVRCHES, Muse & Outkast.

I'm already ready to sign up for the layaway payment program for Coachella 2015! I'm sure there will be an announcement about it any day now! Lol!

Jagwar Ma


Broken Bells Performing The Ghost Inside


Martin Garrixx

Foster The People Performing Miss You


The Knife


Outkast Performing SpottieOttieDopaliscious


Holy Ghost! Performing Do It Again


Cage The Elephant Performing Come A Little Closer


Chvrches Performing Lungs


Washed Out Performing Feel It All Around


MGMT Performing Time To Pretend


Future Islands Performing Long Flight


Muse Performing Madness


Lorde Performing Biting Down


Empire of The Sun Performing We Are The People


Empire of The Sun - Part 2


STRFKR Performing Bury Us Alive


The Naked & Famous Performing Young Blood


The Naked & Famous Performing No Way


Neutral Milk Hotel


Little Dragon Performing Blinking Pigs


Beck Performing Where It's At


Beck Performing Gamma Ray


Arcade Fire Performing Flashbulb Eyes