Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading U2, Rose Bowl, October 25, 2009

December 8, 2008 would have been Jim Morrison’s 65th birthday, had he lived. To celebrate, KLOS threw a massive party at Barney’s Beanery, one of Jim’s favorite bars in West Hollywood. Prior to this party I found myself sitting at the dining table of the Doors’ suite in the Pali House hotel down the block. Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek – aka THE DOORS – were sitting on the other side of said table. So what do they make of this birthday party? What might they have given Jim for his birthday? What would they be doing on this night, were he still alive? What do they think of Barney’s Beanery: The Franchise? And who’ll be the first to bring up Obama? Read on.

Ok, guys. What can you tell me about the Beanery between 1967 and 1970?

Robby: It didn’t change much between those years, you know, it was kind of a sawdust-on-the-floor type of place. They had pool tables, right?

Ray: Yeah.

Robby: Pool tables, you go in there and shoot pool, hang out, and generally waste time.

Ray: “A place where a man can go to waste time.”

I don’t think that’s changed.

Ray: I mean that place has been the same since the ’30s. It was a writer’s bar, kind of a writer’s intellectual bar, great assortment of whiskey behind the bar, great assortment of beer, beer on tap, lots of beer. Ed Kienholz, in the early ’60s, did a construction of Barney’s Beanery; it was fabulous. It was just a great place to hang out and very conducive to talk! It was a place where a man could go and have a drink and talk to another guy. And then the girls started coming too, which was kinda cool. Women started to come in. But before that, I don’t know.

Robby: Did they have a jukebox?

»continue reading Exclusive: A Chat With The Doors And A Stroll to Barney’s Beanery on Jim Morrison’s 65th Birthday

I got to the Echoplex around nine, and it was shockingly easy to get into the venue: no line, and no bouncer searching my groin area for switchblades, though he did act like I was a total moron for trying to give him my ticket before showing him my ID. Guess I had the order wrong.

Light FM (god, I wish they’d change their name to “Hat FM”) were on stage when I came in. Their radio promo moniker was actually quite fitting—their songs all had the same tired indie rock arrangements we’ve heard on the radio for the last four years, not exactly bedazzling the two-dozen early birds sipping their vodka and Red Bulls. The keyboardist distinguished herself with a couple interesting melody lines, but otherwise I felt Light FM were trying desperately to appeal to my demographic by riffing on just the right two chords, and it was not to be.
»continue reading Earlimart/Siggy/Voxhaul Broadcast/Light FM at the Echoplex, 5/17/08

Photo by Sung. Full set here.

Joe Jackson performed the aesthetic masterpiece of architecture with seating to match, one with gilded archways, ornate lounges and a total freakin’ mezzanine, The Orpheum Theater, Tuesday night. I was there and Sung was there, too, and he took pictures. For those who could not attend, I am not proud to tell you that you missed a gigantic opportunity to raise your standards. JJ opened with “Steppin’ Out” just to get it out of the way. That’s what kind of show I’m about to review.

After driving a bit into scary downtown near the Fashion District, I dropped $10 to park, went halfway up Broadway and entered a voluminous space. Euclid would just shit himself to behold the interior of the Orpheum, so rigorous in its geometry that you feel like making love to someone just hunting for the right row.

I was seated in one of those little balcony snob zones where rich ladies peer at “Cosi fan tutti” through bejeweled binoculars. Had it all to myself for the opening act, a duo named after the lead singer, first name: MUTLU. Not an Elder God of Chaos Mutlu but a bearded, friendly and bone-sincere Philadelphian white male who brought along his friend, Chris. Two acoustic guitars, two vox, and R&B folk songs for about forty minutes. I couldn’t leave. He sings like a soulful angel. Mutlu’s sound and style have a Saturn return that keeps bringing up the Blues Traveler and late Grateful Dead and Traffic. Or maybe this. Dig if you will, this. MUTLU is the magical earthy tell-it-like-it-is Pennsylvanian whose working class dramas are existential codeine, who we shell-shocked rock and roll veterans nominate as our personal savior when the world runs us down. No cynicism about him, nothing pretentious, just brotherly love radiating though a layer mask of Thin Lizzy’s “Romeo and the Lonely Girl”. Do I turn his rolling papers in my hand or his words in my mind?

Round of applause, thanks everyone, and leaves. During the wait, I exchange inanities with Sung on many topics including losanjealous, the general lack of eighties band coverage on the site, and more!

Let me tell you now what kind of a show it turned into. When JJ came out, the fan’s deafening cheer startled this fifty-three year old rock dignitary, an aging Malcolm McDowell in profile, into taking a gigantic wayward step backward. If he feels worthy of the outpouring, he’s not letting us know. If he feels we’re worthy of his outpouring, well, you could argue that one, too. For an opener, as mentioned, he trashes and simultaneously reinvents “Steppin’ Out” at twice its original speed as if to firmly demonstrate his unconventional powers first-hand. I wasn’t sure I liked it. He went from here to playing a short set from his new album of this January, Rain, a collector’s item by now loaded with wry Brit humor and a loneliness magnified from his protracted stay in Berlin.
»continue reading Joe Jackson at the Orpheum

The full-on downpour during Stevie Wonder’s headlining slot…the morning thunderstorm that kept us waiting for hours inside a dark house in the ninth ward…the musicians you’ve never heard of that unfailingly blow your mind…the food, the ridiculous overconsumption of that food you just can’t quite replicate anywhere else…truly, the weekend was full of all of the reasons that have kept me returning to New Orleans for its annual Jazz & Heritage Festival the last thirteen years in a row. I haven’t stopped since my first taste; they must be doing something right. Rough timeline goes a little like this:

»continue reading New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2008 Three-Day Photo Mix: The New Orleans Jazz Vipers, Aaron Neville’s Gospel Soul, The Roots, John Mooney & Bluesiana, Bobby McFerrin & Chick Corea, The John Hammond Quartet, A Tribute to Max Roach feat. Jason Marsalis, Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band, Snooks Eaglin, The Neville Brothers & More…

»continue reading SXSW ‘08: R.E.M. @ Stubb’s

The opening scene finds the domesticated (shirt tucked in, hair parted) Alan in the kitchen engaged in the motherly duty of packing a picnic basket for a night at the Hollywood Bowl with a date to see Michael Bublé perform. Meanwhile, his brother Charlie, the sexual extrovert of the duo, donning his familiar shorts and floral print rayon shirt, signifying his laid-back style, is overtaken this morning with ennui and laments that he has no one with whom to hang out, having soured on Jake, Alan’s son, who spends the bulk of this episode in a minor subplot involving constant telephone contact with friends. Alan suggests Charlie widen his field of female company from which to choose and attempt to date what he terms “age appropriate” women; the suggestion visibly baffles Charlie. To illustrate this point, Charlie further explicates, “You need a woman whose head is for more than resting your ankles!” the awkward imagery being that of Charlie engaged in sexual congress with a female, in the missionary position, his partner’s legs bent to the point were her ankles are physically able rest atop his head. Alan spells this out further to mean “40-year-old women”, the suggestion of which bowls Charlie over and sets him off on a strange tangent wherein he articulates a deep-seated fear of older women’s oversized earlobes.
»continue reading Emasculation and Ennui of the Man-Child Charlie on Two and a Half Men

The Vacation
Ben and Steve Tegel

Interview and photos by Brian Romero – February 7, 2008

Hollywood is filled with rock bands who look the part but fail to deliver the goods. The Vacation is not one of them. They continue to craft primal, sleaze-tinged songs that consistently bring the audience to a writhing frenzy. Brothers Ben and Steve Tegel talk about the band’s upcoming album and shows at the Viper Room.

Ben, you gave me a CD with rough mixes of the new album late last year. Is it all done?

Steve: It’s all done on the recording side of it. We just have to figure out how we’re going to release it. We’re talking to some small labels now and if it doesn’t work out we’ll release it ourselves.

Ben: We actually have way more songs that I haven’t given to you yet. There’s at least twice as many. Maybe even more than that.

Are those songs going to be released down the road?
»continue reading Interview: The Vacation

Hollywood Drink Prices By The People, For The People

We’ve been talking about doing something like this for well over a year and it is now time to get it out the door. Please bookmark this page. May it serve you when planning how much money to bring (or not to bring) the next time you hit the live music circuit. With any luck we’ll eventually be able to tell who’s doing things right, who’s doing things so-so, and who’s shafting everybody in the ass indiscriminately across the board.

The next time you go to a show you need to remember:

1. Where were you
2. What was the date
3. Who was playing
4. What drink did you order
5. Which bar did you order from
6. How much did it cost
7. Any other pertinent information (How was the drink? etc)

The ‘which bar’ category has been added based on the fact that within venues themselves, some bars offer drinks not available at the other bars. Example, beers are available in super big gulp sizes at the downstairs bars at Spaceland and Roxy but not at the upstairs bars. You get the idea.

Every time you see a show and order at least one drink, come back to this page and add your info to the comment section. Every week or so, we’ll update the master list with your input, sorting by venue then by date within venue. If this takes off we may eventually have a serious resource on our hands here, and we will database it. If it doesn’t take off, we’ll then know you are all (a) lazy or (b) non-boozers. Either way we win; demo data is prettymuch invaluable these days. I’ll start the chart with last night’s show and a recent foray at the Troubadour. Let’s do this, people! Price guide after the jump.
»continue reading The Los Angeles Live Venue Drinking Price Guide

»continue reading Morrissey @ Palladium, 10/13/07

»continue reading Devendra Banhart @ Orpheum Theater, 10/13/07

TIME TO VOTE

(a) Cafe Tropical (Either) (Silverlake pictured)
(b) King’s Road (Beverly)
(c) Groundworks (Any)
(d) Peet’s For Life, Brah (Any)
(e) Lost Souls (Downtown)
(f) Insomnia (Beverly)
(g) Urth (Any)
(h) Stella (Silverlake)
(i) Buzz (Beverly)
(j) Koffea (Ktown)
(k) Newsroom (Either)
(l) Nandarang (Ktown)
(m) Mr Coffee (Ktown)
(n) The Cow’s End (Venice Pier)
(o) The Griddle (Sunset/Fairfax)
(p) Stir Crazy (Melrose)
(q) One O’Them South Pasadena Joints (South Pasadena)
(r) Fucking Denny’s, Man
(s) Fucking Starbucks, Stop Hating
(t) Psychobabble (Los Feliz)
(u) Sabor Y Cultura (Armeniawood)
(v) Casa de Sousa (Olvera) (Downtown)
(w) The Coffee Table (Either)
(x) Cofftea (SG Valley)
(y) Casbah (Silverlake)
(z) The Pantry Goddammit (Downtown)
(aa) Whats-its-name, Studio City (Studio City)
(bb) MaGee’s Donuts, Duh! (Tranny Central)
(cc) Bob’s Donuts (farmer’s market, 3rd/fairfax)
(dd) My buddy Bjorn’s kitchen (redacted)
(ee) Silverlake Coffee Co (Where the fuck might you suppose)
(ff) Casa Blue (Highland Park)
(gg) Chango (Echo Park)
(hh) Intelligentsia (Silverlake)
(ii) That one joint on Fountain (Fountain)
(jj) The Scientology Celebrity Centre (Celeb Centre/BeHo)
(kk) UnUrban (Stallone’s Fave) (Santa Monica)
(ll) Portfolio (Long Beach)
(mm) Write-in:
(nn) Write-in #2:
(oo) Write-in #3:

This list is by no means exhaustive. Vote for no more than five. Criteria to consider: available coffees, crowd, waitstaff, clientele, comfort, wifi, couches, ambience, entertainment, readability, parking, # dogs, # writers, # bums, restrooms (free/25cents/fuckoff none here). Criteria will add weight to to your tally if provided. No login required to comment. No real name required to comment. Generally speaking you will not be humiliated or ostracized for whatever the fuck you decide to comment. Get out the vote.

I could not possibly think of a better way to cap my weekend. From an email I sent this morning:

saw scott booker checking in @ the front desk and knew I was in the right place. Hit the pool and saw a small stage. Fast forward to the gig: they changed it up a bit: they BEGAN the set with “do you realize”, said they were used to always leaving the stage after that song, left the stage at which time captain america came out, did the ear-cupping thing and made us all scream for an encore for ten seconds at which time they came back out and played another hour-and-a-half or more, finally closing with “race for the prize” …
»continue reading The Flaming Lips Poolside @ The Palms Hotel And Casino, Las Vegas, NV, 9/16/07

All Kinds of Awesomeness

The term “awesome” has become rather banal these days. It’s used for things such as seeing Charo in line in front of you at Whole Foods or your new jeans or that Thai restaurant on La Brea. But last night, I saw something that was truly awesome.
»continue reading Van Halen Practice @ Forum, 9/16/07

Every week Blake and readers just like him send me grainy, blurry, sometimes horribly-framed yet always interesting photos of life in Los Angeles as seen through the lenses of their trusted telephones. Every week, never fail. Join us now, won’t you, as we take a look at the latest offerings…From Blake’s Phone.

Believe it: This may be the longest week on record. Typically I cap myself but today I feel generous. Call it a change in the weather. Top billing is the famed burrito at El Tepeyac in Boyle Heights, which is so freaking big it’s delivered with a pie-serving utensil. Kudos to Ron who, we’re told, ate the whole thing:

El Tepeyac The Cake Server

After the jump: Submission instructions; more fun and games from tiny, incredibly shitty lenses housed in telephones citywide…
»continue reading From Blake’s Phone: Use The Pie Server To Pick Up Your Big-As-Shit Burrito

One night last month, John Vanderslice was kind enough to let our Sarah and her camera follow him and his guitar wandering around on La Brea, near Pink’s. This is her result of that encounter.

JV plays the Troubadour tonight.

The song “Kookaburra” comes from his new record, Emerald City. Beautiful 180 gram vinyl version available on September 18.

Film by Sarah. More by/about her here.

»continue reading The Flaming Lips @ The Petco Park Parking Lot, San Diego, 8/25/07

Last weekend I paid a visit to Chinito in Boyle Heights. After a brief, cerveza-fueled respite from the heat in his kitchen, we embarked upon a culinary and cultural mini-tour of sorts in the neighborhood with but one destination in mind: THE BUSIEST TACO TRUCK IN TOWN™. Read all about it after the jump…
»continue reading The Busiest Taco Truck in Town