It’s hard to think of another contemporary act that could have pulled off what Gorillaz did with Demon Dayz LA this past Saturday at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena grounds. Held at the unique rambling, aging (and dusty) venue–decorated throughout with iconic Gorillaz character imagery–miles outside of Los Angeles proper, the one-day festival had a special feeling from the entry gate to the main stage, with local flourishes and messages of community and positivity echoed throughout the musical sets.
Appropriately, Mexican culture figured prominently across the festival–from the venue itself primarily used for banda concerts and rodeo events, Demon Dayz branded papel picado banners overhead, mariachis serenading at the entrance, a Dia de los Muertos skeleton procession announcing Gorillaz set (not to mention a strong contingent Latino Gorillaz fans among the well varied crowd).
It was particularly heartening to see multi-generational groups of Gorillaz fans—parents and kids, older and younger siblings, many dressed in matching themed outfits for the occasion. This is a band, now 20 years old, that uniquely cuts across demographics and allows fans of many ages to enjoy it on different levels.
There’s no denying that merchandising featuring the iconic band’s characters is a big part of appeal of the Gorillaz experience for a lot of the fans. The on-site “G Store” featuring exclusive items for sale had a long line for admittance for throughout the day, as did the regular merch booths.
Highlights from the lineup were plenty and varied…
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This year’s two-day Music Tastes Good festival, now in its third year, held again on long, narrow, comfortably laid out, slice of the Marina Green park alongside Shoreline Village in Downtown Long Beach, would appeared to have to been a success by most visible measures. While the Saturday and Sunday lineups were ostensibly headlined by closing sets by New Order and James Blake respectively, it was the daytime undercards of both days that made the a big impression–an eclectic, incredibly well curated mix of wide range of the possibilities of guitar-based songwriting.
Saturday’s 4-piece indie outfits Neighbor Lady, out of Atlanta, and Brooklyn’s Big Thief, brought uptempo folk-adjacent rock with honeyed female vocals and bright, occasionally loud scratchy guitar work. Big Thief in particular impressed; frontwoman Adrianne Lenker (who just released her first solo LP under her own name, abysskiss) must be included in mentions of today’s best singer-songwriters, with her uncanny knack for hooks. Her “Masterpiece” and “Shark Smile” might be the most memorable tunes of the weekend.
L.A. was represented with strong showings from gals FEELS channeling some vintage Doors jamming and X’s melodic punk, and all-around indie pop from Cherry Glazerr. Both are ready for the next level. Clementine Creevy of Cherry Glazerr in particular has honed her act–rock star shredding on guitar along with a very accessible pop sound in this year’s new tune “Juicy Socks.”
Closing in on their 20th year as a band, the National are a well oiled machine, operating at their peak, both in their craft and its presentation. Now on the back-end of touring in support of 2017’s Grammy winning Sleep Well Beast, the National machine roll into town for a pair of up-close general admission shows at the Palladium. It’s a treat to see them in the stripped down, in the club setting, no massive visual production, a nice contrast from the big Hollywood Bowl stage, which they headlined last Fall. As such, the Friday evening show had a fittingly looser, raucous, all around fun vibe.
While the 5-piece band are reliably solid and it can be easy to take the musicians for granite as strong players (Aaron Dessner gets his moment to step forward on the big guitar solo on Beast standout “The System on Dreams in Darkness”; he and brother Bryce raise axes and jab the air in rockstar poses a couple of times) but it’s singer Matt Berninger that’s the obvious focal point of the National live show. And he’s in good form tonight.
The National | americanmary.com
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From the grammatical joke in their name, it’s clear Let’s Eat Grandma, the brilliant up and coming English experimental pop duo, are into wordplay and have a mischievous sense of humor. (Titles include “Sax in the City,” “Chimpanzees in Canopies,” and “Eat Shiitake Mushrooms” [pronounce the 2nd word as two words..]. But it’s not all jokes. There’s a headiness to the music of Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth, well beyond their youthful years. Sterling production, tasteful electronic sounds and a certain seriousness of arrangement and the will to experiment offset any jokes and keep the listener a bit off balance and constantly interested.
Let’s Eat Grandma | letseatgrandma.co.uk
On what would have been the night before the canceled 2018 FYF Fest (see you next year?), Car Seat Headrest instead played the Wiltern, their largest L.A. headline to date, and an all around fantastic performance going far to help solidify their ascendance as one of our best young bands.
While it’s well documented that the band is the brainchild of mastermind Will Toledo, CHS is very much a proper band today. On the current tour the core live four piece–Toledo (in full frontman singer mode rocking the mic sans guitar all night), Seth Dalby (bass), Andrew Katz (drums and Subway sandwich giveaway–you had to be there) and Ethan Ives (lead guitar)–are expended into a big, loud and tight seven-piece unit by Seattle’s Naked Giants (Gianni Aiello, Henry LaVallee, Grant Mullen), who themselves opened the show with a thoroughly entertaining storming rock power trio set of their own.
Car Seat Headrest | carseatheadrest.com
Naked Giants | nakedgiants.com
