The Wombats consist of: Matthew Murphy on vocals, guitar and keys, Dan Haggis on drums and background vocals, and Tord Øverland-Knudsen on bass and vocals. With five singles out across the world (two of which cracked the UK’s top 20), the band has hit stateside to tour behind The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation.

Playing for just over an hour, the boys tore through “Moving to New York”, “Let’s Dance to Joy Division”, “Backfire at the Disco” and “Kill the Director”, which, as they tell it, is written about their loathing of the film “The Holiday”.

The sounds throughout the evening came off very fresh, at times a bit too “Arctic Monkey-ish”, but still very enjoyable for a non-packed night at Spaceland. The crowd was quite enthusiastic, and it was nice to see a fair amount of people actually dancing.

Photos by James Huddleston.

Jeremy Schmidt, the man on keys, has a style that’s transfixing. It’s almost as if Ray Manzereck was fused with John Paul Jones. His playing is not overly brooding, but just enough to set the tone of where the band is trying to take us. His synth work is like a vessel we’re encapsulated in. You’re somewhat frightened, yet relatively snug and warm. This especially takes precedence during the epic “Wucan” taking place later in the set. It’s a song that really shows the strong points of all members of the band. McBean’s Osbourne-like vocals coupled with Webbers’ complimentary backing tones are perfect. Bassist Matt Camirand goes back and forth between subtle rhythms to reverb-drenched notes, driving the song in an irresistible direction.

Webbers’ quivering vocal work on “Tyrants” conjures up memories of a young and radiant Grace Slick. Played live it comes off as a drivingly epic tune. This was a mid-set song that got the crowd absolutely reeling, crisscrossing back and forth between ballad and pure rock and roll. Webber and McBean trade off lyrics like pure soul mates. Drummer Joshua Wells starts off the epic jam with so much force, only to restrain himself abruptly for the slower portions. All night he delivered. Any drummer in the crowd, including myself, would concur .

Thankfully the Troubadour crowd got a breather during a very beautiful rendition of “Stay Free”, a more acoustic ballad between McBean and Webber. This led way into the frenzy of “Druganaut”. To hear Webber sing the ringing lyrics “Lighten up the sky” is a sight to see. Coupled with her rocking out to the whole bands’ licks…it would make any man swoon.

What can one say about “Bright Lights”? It’s like they harnessed the ghost of Sergio Leone and shook it until Rock and Roll came out of it. On the album it clocks in at 16 minutes plus, but at the show, for us, it clocked in at who the hell knows. I was so entranced by the magnitude of how the band meshed with each other; a fluidity that I haven’t seen in a long time. Pulsating drones from McBean, Schmidt, and Camirand took the crowd over like stream-of-consciousness held together by Wells’ constantly shifting backbeats. The song took the audience on a journey that could rival any that Pink Floyd could muster–at least these days. In the end, Webbers’ and McBean’s vocals were that of a multitude of evil archangels screaming to be let back into heaven.

I looked back at the crowd at this point for validation. What I saw was exactly that. Everyone was into it–wanting more as much as I. After “Wucan” came “No Hits”, a song I had come to find out at the show had been remixed by the amazing U.N.K.L.E. recently. “No Hits” has a driving beat that flawlessly accentuated by the rhythm section. The crowd clapped right along throughout the various drums and ambient noise provided by Wells, Schmidt and Camirand.

I’ve been going to the world famous Troubadour for a long time now (close to 15 years) and in that time, I’ve gotten to know the staff there pretty well. Never before have I seen Michael, a Troubadour bouncer for 24 years, get up on-stage to welcome a band back for an encore. The crowd went apeshit as Black Mountain came back on-stage, thanking the crowd for supporting them. They closed the show with “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around”. We thanked them by going all out. After the show I spoke with Alisha, a bartender that’s been there for some time. I asked her what she thought of the show, and she simply replied, “I’m fucking speechless.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

This remark came about mid set. I took his advice, so that may not be an exact quote. Aside from this group being total visionaries in the studio, I was very curious – almost a bit concerned, as to how they would translate live. All that concern was thrown out the window when they took to the stage playing “Chemistry” and “Hold My Hand” right out the door, both of which are off the amazing War Stories album. To say it was a thunderous opening would be an understatement. The band that was assembled for this their first live-band tour was amazingly tight. I’m really not sure about names which is sad because the bassist: SICK. Everyone was, really, but I need to single him out here.

Vocalist Gavin Clark came onstage several times to sing on “Broken”, “Keys to the Kingdom”, and “Eye for an Eye”; all tracks that he collaborated on with the band over the years. Despite Gavin Clark’s guest vocals, other vocal tracks from artists like Ian Astbury and Thom Yorke were played over the PA with the bands instruments accompanying. At first I wasn’t a fan, but hearing the actual voices of the creators of each track made me feel more comfortable.

Throughout the evening James Lavelle spoke about War Stories being recorded here in L.A. with Producer Chris Goss. He mentioned how enjoyable the experience was on numerous occasions. Toward the end of the evening, Mr. Goss joined them onstage to shred a bit, and it was absolutely brilliant. The entire evening was.

The crowd started off a bit blase at first, but once the band really hit their stride, or after James’ mid-set drug statement, they fell right into a rocking groove that didn’t stop till the last chord. Other notable songs of the evening were “Reign” and “Eye for an Eye” from Never Never Land, as well as “Lonely Soul” and “Rabbit in your Headlights” from Psyence Fiction. Rabbit and Eye closed the night off respectively, with the video for Rabbit playing on the screen behind the band.

Monday, 9.10.07: Jon
My girl insisted. We had just seen Spoon about a month earlier at a special show on a warehouse stage, downtown Los Angeles. She stole a beer from the drummer which led to a conversation. She was hooked and I was impressed. The LA show had vindicated what I had learned about two years ago after discovering Gimme Fiction and Girls Can Tell and more recently the once leaked, but now fair game, GaGaGaGaGa.

Yep. A Monday show in LA. But then we found out about Keepon. The show was billed as Spoon with special guest Keepon, which is a tiny little yellow Japanese robot designed to perform emotive and attentive exchange with humans. It is the star of the their new video for the new single”Don’t You Evah”, which can be seen on YouTube. The video featured Hideki Kozima, the psychologist who designed and built Keepon for his research with autistic children. Keepon gained cult like popularity on YouTube in April utilizing “I Turn My Camera On” as its background music.

So this was a cool twist. But the fact that Kool Keith was not named as the opener on the websites we looked into was a stinger. We missed most of it due to this clerical error.

The publisher of WIRED introduced the show and the creator of Wikipedia spoke to the half-filled venue. Then Spoon made me realize why I was there in the first place. “Don’t You Evah” was played second and brought all of the jumpiness from the album version. The venue was full by the end of this happy diddy. They kept pumping out 4 minute jams and the band was mellow, but determined to nail each song. I’m pretty sure Britt Daniel doesn’t ever miss a beat. He has an amazing music mind. I was content the entire show with everything the band was doing, but this is not dance music to the highest degree quite yet. A lackluster “I Turn My Camera On” let me realize how impressed all of the sweat the band had poured out in the un-airconditioned warehouse a month ago. But tonight they proved themselves with a short powerful set that included stellar versions of “The Delicate Place” and “Don’t Make Me A Target” and everyone’s favorite “My Mathematical Mind.”

I was not wired, but Spoon brought exactly what a Monday night in Los Angeles needed. My only wonders were if my buddies attending the next 2 nights would see the same “higher energy” songs in their sets and what the next convenient circumstance would be for me to see how Spoon is musically growing.

Tuesday, 9.11.07: Greg
I’m a middle child, so I didn’t really care that I only saw night two of a three-night stand.

That’s actually a bogus statement on all counts. Technically I’m an only child (I have a half brother who’s way younger), and I’d rather see the first or last of a three-night stand if I had to pick just one. Alas, Spoon is Spoon, and they rarely disappoint. The crowd was exactly what you would expect for a show like this. Crap. My roommate and a few people around us were the only ones dancing, and that was just fine by us. One lovely lady pointed out to us that “Small Stakes” sounded like “We Got the Beat” by the Go-Go’s. We all bust out into hysterics on that one. Britt Daniel did his best with what he had to work with, and I’m sincerely thankful for that. It’s hard to be a rockstar. Especially when your band comes to L.A. I’m not a rockstar, I just love rock, but if my band were to sell out three shows at the Fonda, I’d be super stoked and couldn’t wait to start shredding. I would not, however, expect to see people just going through the motions. People doing what they think they’re supposed to do at a rock show.

That’s what happened on Tuesday. Sad, but true. Expected? Most definitely. My griping aside, I did have a great time. I love the Fonda. It’s like a mini-Wiltern to me. The outside patio is just awesome, and you really don’t have to miss anything due to the screen/speaker setup outside. Spoon played a great set, which included a lot of new stuff mixed with older fare. They’re a band that I think is really doing well by me. They’re staying consistent without really bogging themselves down too much. Staying true to themselves without completely selling out. Britt Daniel is a helluva front man, and I really feel like he can take this band to newer and higher levels. He has a certain Springsteen quality in his timing. It’d be amazing to see them add more pieces. Not just the three horns they brought out for the tunes off Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. They added something, but left me wanting more, hence my realization of their potential.

Wednesday, 9.12.07: Ryan
This time I got the ewoks, let’s face it.

Actually the show was good, the band very tight, the brass spot-on and the crowd largely into it by L. A. standards. I enjoyed the hell out of pumping my fist to the Cherry Bomb. I have never been a fan of the camera song, call me crazy. I was bummed they played it, because it cost me $7 in beer plus a wait in line (Victor I swear to god your chart is coming). I’m going to just let it all out now, though, since I got the Return of the Jedi of this trilogy: I’m left wanting more. Daniel is the only person on stage with any presence at all. Songs like ‘The Ghost of You Lingers’ are atmospheric enough to invoke some sort of radiohead transcendence if presented correctly – something I was begging for – unfortunately that just didn’t happen.

They were very solid. Loud. Robust. Were I to compare their performance to an actual spoon that I might use in my kitchen, I would make them Tablespoon. Big, beefy, gets the job done. Nothing overly fancy, but you can always rely on it.

Image credits: Spoon Rocks Fonda Amazing Cell Phone Photo By Losanjealous Ryan. Second photo, also by Losanjealous Ryan. Third photo by somebody else.

Ryan Adams is an artist people either hate or love. I like to think that most people that hate him are either stunted by some pre-conceived notion of his lyrics and ability, or are just not versed in his catalog and history.

This year’s tour, supporting the new album Easy Tiger, has started out as an acoustic tour consisting of, as Ryan likens them, “blue cave” shows. As I type this I’m listening to the first “red cave” show, which would be an electric night. Reason being: Ryan has been healing his wrist from a skateboarding mishap.

The colored cave model should show you the versatility of Ryan and his “bestest friends in the whole world,”The Cardinals. That was a direct quote from the “blue cave” show at the Wilshire Theatre a few nights ago. Adams likes to play with his audience — not so much tell stories, but interact in a way that tells you that you are involved, but not part of, his show. The Cardinals, consisting of Neal “The NC” Cassal on Guitar & Vocals, Jon “The Slider” Graboff on Pedel Steel & Vocals, Chris “Spacewolf” Feinstein on Bass & Vocals, Brad Pemberton on Drums, and Jamie “The Candyman” Candiloro on Piano, are THE backup that Ryan has needed for so long. Some have been with him for years now, others just recent additions. All have the ability to not only look through, but also push Ryan through his ever changing visions of how his music can, and should be played. I think “dialed in” would be the analogy that one would use to describe their contribution throughout the evening.

The Wilshire Theatre seemed much like it’s estranged cousin down the street that is The Wiltern. Both have a very nostalgic and classic feel towards Los Angeles of old. The Wilshire being a bit smaller and seated seemed like the better venue for a “blue cave” performance.

The band’s setup was very tight and close quartered. Very much a “œliving room” vibe with hanging orbs, some with jack-o-lantern etchings, hanging from above stage. The show was mainly peppered with songs off of his albums 29, Cold Roses, and his newest, Easy Tiger. Starting off with “Please Do Not Let Me Go”, and the brilliant “Blue Sky Blues”, The Cardinals put on an acoustic evening that would give ANY act on the scene a run for their money in all aspects. From arrangements and harmonies, to ambience and lighting, The Cardinals gave us two hours of emotive psychedelia.

Granted the show was all-acoustic, the jams and flows of rock & roll still seeped out of the amps like it didn’t have a choice. Reworked versions of electric favorites such as “Cold Roses”, “Peaceful Valley”, “A Kiss Before I Go”, and “This is It”, all off of Cold Roses, with the exception of the latter, off of the oft looked down upon Rock n Roll album, had been turned into pieces of acoustic brilliance. All accentuated by every note played by The Cardinals. Whether it had been “The Slider’s” sexy down slope, “Spacewolf’s” ever consistent and much needed thumping on the bass, or the ever talented Neal “The NC” Casals constant compliment and expansion on every one of Ryan’s changes -musically or lyrically – the man is always there for him. There were many high points throughout the evening including the harmony laden “The Sun Also Sets” and “Dear John”, as well as the now favored “Let It Ride” and “Magnolia Mountain”.

As the evening progressed, and the man of the hour (actually two) got more loose, the banter kept the crowd in better spirits. Riffing on his own morbidness, he enjoyed introducing a few songs as, “this one’s a ballad” and “the prozac factory is where all these new ones were written.” Anyone attending any show of his would already know how morbid and introspective the man can be, but we all attend not for that, but for how true his lyricism is. Add to that his prolific and maddeningly brilliant scope of musical composition, it’s no wonder why he comes off (to the public at the very least) so unstable and unpredictable.

As an L.A. native, I was obviously hoping for at least one song that referenced my home. That came at the end of the set. When a nervous Ryan got up, paced around the stage for a moment, seemingly unsure whether or not to do what he was about to do (or was he placating?) or not, and then went to the stand up mic immediately busting into “Goodnight Hollywood Blvd”. Cascaded in beams of brilliant light, he tore through the ever familiar song like his life depended on it.

The final, and quite possible very integral, bit that I can say or commend based on my experience is the lighting. It rivals any act I have ever seen. The cue points were spot on, and the emotion they all hit just gave that much more to the audience in terms of emotional validity. Not that they need more considering the depths of his lyrics.

If you couldn’t tell already, I can go on all day about this man, his band, and their music. Some say they can’t listen to him because of his involvement with Phil Lesh, and what a “travesty” it is having him in the Jerry role at times. Others say that he’s too depressing and heavy handed. I’m talking about my friends of course, and of course, you can’t win them all over, but I will say that in regards to Ryan Adams and his band The Cardinals, I most certainly will try.

Photos by Nobody Grrl

I really like B.R.M.C. I’ve seen them a few times; most notably at Spaceland for an acoustic benefit show. They’re extremely talented guys. They just need to decide on what their sound is. This was made very apparent at the Wiltern last night. I’ll get to that later, though.

Now, I’m sure that a lot of people were disappointed at the fact that The Fratellis couldn’t make it last night. I was too…initially. That was until The Black Angels were slated to replace them. Words simply can’t do them justice, but believe me I’ll try. First off, if you don’t have their album Passover I demand that you run to Amoeba, click on your iTunes music store, or illicitly download it immediately. It is a must own if you’re a fan of raw, brooding, psychedelic rock n roll. If bands like The Doors, Velvet Underground, and even B.R.M.C. make you cream, this band will tickle your fancy to no end. The track-list and tone of their album makes it seems that this band has not only been inspired by 60’s psychedelia, but the Vietnam War(!)

As soon as the Angels took the stage I knew the crowd was in for some no frills tribal rock. They stormed through their set, which included most of the songs from their album, with ease that I liken to seasoned professionals. Not a band that has one EP and LP. As I looked around my section, I could see feet thumping to their tribal and psychedelic fervor. As I sang along, more than a few people around me asked who they were and what their story was. Granted, I already have my tix to their Troubadour show on June 1, so I had no problem promoting that word of mouth. Upon the closing of their set, I looked to my friend, and as I suspected, his mouth was agape. He was a little perturbed that I hadn’t mentioned them to him before, but I made my amends by buying him a nice and overpriced Heineken.

While smoking outside, I couldn’t help but thinking how on earth would B.R.M.C be able to follow that…the answer was simple. They couldn’t.

I have mixed feelings about B.R.M.C.’s new album. It seems that they’re trying to mix they’re styles together. It doesn’t work for me. I thought they were just O.K. years ago. Just an average alt-rock band. Then Howl came out, and I got extremely interested. Almost obsessed even. Their “folk-stomp” sound was music to my ears. The “Weapon of Choice” single came out about a month ago, and I wasn’t thrilled. Didn’t hate it. Didn’t love it. After a few listens to the new album, Baby 81, I was left kind of scratching my head. Being the concert junky that I am, though, I still wanted to see them.

They came to the stage with The Doors’ “My Wild Love” playing over the PA. I thought to myself, “This would’ve been a great pre-curser to The Black Angels set”. Opening up with “Took Out a Loan”, I instantaneously got bored. Was it the thrill of The Black Angels still in me, or was it the lackluster song that B.R.M.C. chose to open with? I honestly say it was a bit of both. They followed with a few more new tunes and went right into stuff from the pre-Howl era. Much of the first hour of their set went like that. I began to lose it from boredom. As did people around me. It seemed as if they were saving all their Howl songs for towards the end. I started to wonder why? Could it be that they were saving the best of their catalog for last? Of course it could. Personally I can’t get behind that train of thought. If you’re a band that has four albums out, only one of which was a “real” success, you really need to mix it up a bit. The wealth of the Howl material wound up coming after the encore. After a lot of people had left. Why did they leave? Probably the same reason I wanted to: they were bored. Plain and simple. Granted, this is L.A., and L.A. folks don’t give out that much excitement at shows usually. They’re too interested in looking and acting cool for no reason whatsoever, but still, I feel like if enthusiasm is warranted, enthusiasm is what we’ll see at shows.

I stuck it out till the end because I truly do like this band. I just feel they need to make a decision. Alt-rock or Folk-stomp. I personally feel like these two styles cannot be married. I’m all for being proven wrong. I just need to see the proof.