October 5, 2008
Week Of Shows, Episode Nine

Liz Phair Performing Exile In Guyville in its Entirety – Again

“Hello.”

“Hey, it’s me. Did I wake you? Your cell went straight to voicemail, so…”

“What time is it?”

“Not that late. I just got home from a show. I know your iPhone gets crappy service so I figured your landline…”

“It’s one, on a Sunday. That’s late. Everyone’s cell is off.”

“Sorry. I was hoping you were up.”

(stifling a yawn)

“I am now.”

“Well, I can call you back, it’s stupid anyway…”

“No, it’s okay. What’s up?”

“This work thing, for the site? This ‘Week Of Shows…’ I’m sort of stuck. I mean, I went to Liz Phair tonight but I already wrote about her a few months ago. It’s going to be lame if I write her up again.”

“So don’t.”

“I don’t want to… But I bought my ticket way before this go-to-shows-every-night-for-a-week thing came about. I had to go. I wasn’t planning on reviewing it. And I’ve already written twice about this band mr. Gnome? I don’t know. I guess I kind of painted myself into a corner. You’re always good at figuring this kind of stuff out.”

(muffled noises)

“You there? Hello?”

“Yeah, no, I’m here. Why don’t you just go to Relax and write about whatever bludgeon metal band is playing.”

“I guess I could. I’m beat, though. And my ears won’t stop ringing – I’ve been to nine shows in the last seven days. Not sure Relax is the way to go right now. Plus, by the time I get over there…”

“So don’t write anything. It’s been a week. No one will care.”

“I’m kind of committed.”

“Sure, now you’re into commitment.”

“Funny.”

“So, how was the show?”

“Oh. Really, really good. Better than San Francisco. Much.”

“Did she do the one about the plane?”

“’Stratford-On-Guy?’ Of course she did. She played all of Exile. That was the point of the show.”

“Gee, I’m so glad I answered the phone.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it came out. Anyway, ‘Stratford’ was one of the highlights. That and ‘Divorce Song.’ She did an incredible version of ‘Explain It To Me,’ too. Really moving, like she was contemplating it while she played. Tender.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty familiar with that one.”

“Right… I guess you told me that before, back when…”

(awkward silence)

“Sooo… Did she do the whole fake ‘I’m not prepared for this’ encore she did last time?”

“No, it was sort of cool. I mean, she did some of the same stuff… A couple new ones, which were okay, but then she totally killed it with ‘Supernova’ and finished with ‘Polyester Bride.’”

“Oh, that’s like my favorite!”

“I know, I know. I totally thought of you. That’s sort of why I called. I thought if you were up, maybe…”

“What?”

“You know, I just figured, if you were awake… It’s not that far.”

(more muffled noise)

“Wait, are you… Is there someone there?”

“What? No. That was my cat.”

“Your cat?”

“Look, I’m pretty tired. It was good to hear from you.”

“Well, maybe we could get together this week…”

“Yeah. You know, I’m sort of busy right now…work and stuff.”

“Okay, no, it’s cool. Just, um, when you get some time.”

“I’m glad you went to Liz. I’d be disappointed if you hadn’t.”

“You would have loved it. Listen, I wanted to tell you – ”

“Have a good night.”

“Wait – I wanted to say… I wish things had been different. I’ve been thinking, maybe we could… I miss you, you know? Hello. Hello?”

(dial tone)

Tags: castle magic, ears, Exile In Guyville, gnome, google, iphone, landline, live review, Liz Phair, Los Angeles, Music Zeitgeist, musiczeitgeist.com, photo, seven days, Troubadour, Week of Shows, yawn

October 4, 2008
Week Of Shows, Episode Eight

“Who is this playing?”

I look to see who’s asking.  It’s a police officer – the kind who could snap me in two if so inclined — his huge, dark body barely contained by his deep blue uniform.

“Golgol Bordello,” I reply.

“What?”

Even though we’re standing at the very back of the large crowd gathered at Temple and Main, the volume from the P.A. overwhelms our exchange.

“Golgol Bordello,” I offer again, then gesture toward the stage where said band is issuing a madcap display of gypsy-cum-punk-cum-ska music from their perch, whipping the assembly before them into frenzy – as though that should explain the words coming from my mouth.

He smiles broadly, then makes a little air guitar move before disappearing into the throng with his partner, his step light in time with the music.

That’s the atmosphere at the third Detour Festival, LA Weekly’s gift to Los Angeles and more specifically, downtown L.A. — a part of the city that until recent years was a destination suited best for the adventurous few.

Today however, the crowd is a cross-ethnic mix of young and old, and most appear to be unfamiliar with the unusual single city block setting around City Hall where the festival is situated — it’s hard to walk more than a few feet without nearly bumping into someone sweeping their head back to take in the skyline, as if they’re seeing it for the first time.  And while not exactly a gathering of families, this diverse crowd is friendly and laid back, generally making the whole affair feel something like a kinder, gentler Sunset Junction.  Rain threatens throughout the day, but nothing falls other than a light dusting.  Instead, the mild temperatures and overcast sky make the experience all the more pleasant.

Some criticized this year’s line-up for not having draw-worthy performers in the manner Beck, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. and Bloc Party provided at previous Detour events.  Nonetheless, attendance is comfortably strong, yet void of the irritations typical of an overcrowded festival (i.e. long bathroom lines, an abundance of crowd jostling and the near-impossibility of good sight lines).

And while another common Detour complaint was the fact that alcohol drinkers had to be contained in a cage-like Beer Garden rather than being allowed to wander the festival grounds, the Beer Garden this year is underpopulated, giving credence to the suggestion that people really are here just for the music.

To that end, promoters Goldenvoice have done an admirable job of booking enough pop, rock and dance options to keep festival-goers engaged all day.  With enough overlap between start and end times on each stage, you can literally walk around the block from one show to the next and catch a little bit of everyone’s set.

Shiny Toy Guns does their enjoyable best to manifest their electro-pop as a form of arena rock, while Hercules & The Love Affair provide an upbeat dance party that embodies the festival experience (when their performance is temporarily marred by a loss of power to the main P.A., they continue playing anyway, their on-stage volume enough to keep the crowd going while a solution is found).  One of the more remarkable set-ups is the DJ Stage, which, instead of a standard tent or outdoor platform, is actually the courtyard at the top of the steps of City Hall.  Surrounded by marble and columns, dancers enjoy the unique experience of throwing their moves at City Hall’s entrance.  Probably not what the building designers had in mind at the time of construction, but the effect is stimulating and fun nonetheless.  Cut Copy’s synth-powered dance numbers pick up where Hercules leaves off, while the aforementioned Golgol Bordello plays a marathon two-hour set, easily keeping their audience engaged for the duration with a barrage of dance-friendly, tie-died pop awash in ethnic overtones.  Peanut Butter Wolf presents an entertaining show of video and music mash-ups as people start gathering for The Mars Volta, who take the stage next.  This is where things get a little more familiar.

There’s a crush at the front of the stage as The Mars Volta explodes in a volcanic eruption of Rage Against The Machine-meets-Hendrix and Joplin by way of “Bitches Brew”-era Miles Davis.  The crowd is predictably dominated by white males, many of who have made it their mission to get up front and push each other around and/or get their 1993 on and do some crowd surfing.  “Take care of each other out there,” Cedric Bixler-Zavala, the afro’ed Mars Volta front man asks in a rare break between songs.  “There are only four or five guys in yellow shirts up here and there’s a bunch of you, so you be nice to each other.”  Toward the end of a number I can only assume is named “Sweet-ass Space Odyssey Jam in the key of Rad Major,” Bixler-Zavala uses the lighting grid to hoist himself above the stage, hanging there above his band for a couple of minutes and taking it all in.  Looking out at the mass of people before him against the backdrop of downtown L.A., he must have had quite a view.

Tags: air guitar, black lips, city hall, Cut Copy, detour festival, downtown los angeles, ethnic mix, frenzy, golgol bordello, gypsy, hercules love affair, indie clothing, indy, la weekly, laid back, large crowd, live review, los angeles california, mars attacks, mars volta, mild temperatures, overcast sky, peanut butter wolf, police officer, presets, punk cum, shiny toy guns, single city, sunset junction, throng

October 3, 2008
Week Of Shows, Episode Seven

If all you knew about The Dandy Warhols’ leader – Courtney Taylor-Taylor – came from the documentary DiG!, you might be under the impression that he’s an ego-motivated, publishing royalty-hogging narcissist.  And you’re probably right.  But whether or not he’s a danger to himself and his band, he’s also enviably talented and prolific.  Part of what’s continually set The Dandy Warhols apart from other purveyors of smart, self-aware pop tunes with limitless and obvious influences has been their ability to find moments on their records for unexpected, experimental sub-rock vignettes to separate their radio-friendly wares.  It’s in these moments that Taylor-Taylor and company show depth, demonstrating their development as artists while simultaneously keeping the rest of their material fresh.

So it’s ironic that what’s made The Dandy Warhols most intriguing to listen to over the years also made them relatively uninteresting to watch live Friday night at the Wiltern Theater.

It would be unfair to expect any rock band to put on a live exposé of just their best-known, up-tempo songs, particularly when touring in support of a new effort (in this case, …Earth To The Dandy Warhols).  But at the same time, it’s not unreasonable to expect a group to deliver the goods with minimal self-indulgence.  That’s sort of the unspoken understanding between rock fans and their idols – “You can play the new stuff and the ones that make you feel artsy, but don’t forget the hits.  We paid for this shit.  Don’t get all Van Morrison on us.”

Things got off to a good start with the show opener, “Minnesoter” (from 1997’s The Dandy Warhols Come Down or their Black Album, depending how you want to look at it), but rapidly decayed into an uninspiring showcase of new material and less-than-live-friendly meanderings.  A once-bobbing crowd grew sedate, then became thinner as the night wore on.

This isn’t to say the group avoided their most popular songs entirely, but it was a Friday night, and people wanted to have fun and dance, generally all at once — and for sustained periods of time.

To that end, the show’s zenith was the triple threat of “All The Money Or The Simple Life Honey,” (which Taylor-Taylor introduced as “appropriate for L.A./Hollywood.”) “Bohemian Like You” and “Get Off.”  At no time during the night before or after was the crowd as kinetic as when this trio hit – made evident when keyboardist Zia McCabe’s face burst into a spontaneous grin as she surveyed the energized crowd during “Bohemian.”

Soon after, a pair of women beside me wondered aloud if they were then going to hear “Everyday Is Like A Holiday” (no), “We Used To Be Friends” (no), or “Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth (very understandably, no).

There were plenty of other well-known songs in the set (“Sleep,” the Bowie-esque “You Were The Last High,” “Godless” and “Welcome To The Third World” were high points, as was the first single from …Earth, “The World People Together (Come On)”), but the odd pacing and order of these songs combined with others (such as “The New Country” and “The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers…”) made the night a mixed bag at best.

By the time things got going again with the set-enders “Boys Better” and “Country Leaver,” a lot of the crowd was gone and there was plenty of room in the pit to stroll right up to the front of the stage.  Not a sold-out affair to begin with (with pockets in the balcony painfully bare), the Dandies must have decided it was time for them to go, too – and left without an encore.

Come to think of it – those unsold seats?  Maybe the people who didn’t come saw The Dandy Warhols last time around, and knew what to expect.

Tags: black album, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Dandy Warhols, DiG!, friday night, indie clothing, indy, live review, Los Angeles, los angeles california, narcissist, new stuff, pop tunes, rock band, rock fans, royalty, self indulgence, Sundance, taylor and company, van morrison, wares, Wiltern Theater