Brother U.K. (LiVE!)@Satellite (Los Angeles, CA)

Brother

@Satellite (Los Angeles, CA)

Tuesday.April.26.2011

Brother is getting a lot of press in NME and you would think, this night would be sold out, but it's not. Then I thought, maybe last minute and there would be a huge line, but no. I am surprised with the turn out. It's lite. So lite, that I can count all 50 people here at the NEW Satellite (the old Spaceland). Nothing was remodeled. The signature curtain is still up from Spaceland (shiny blue and gold or silver in the middle). You would think, new venue name, new everything, but no. Everything is still the same. Groovy, I think.

After watching two not so good bands, Brother delivered. I only have one song "Darling Buds of May" from them and from the songs I heard tonight, they sounded great. I was standing by the playlist and I really liked the last song they played, "Time Machine". Leonard Newell (Lead Singer) told us that we can download the album for free even though they signed to a major (Geffen) last year. How cool is that. You know what I am doing when I get home.

NME was right, Leonard was the guy to watch and boy does he have a mouth. I like. He noticed how lame the crowd was because he told us straight out. I was surprised that people did not booed him. Why should they anyway. It's true, L.A. concert goer's don't move (well some). After the last song, they just left the stage. No thank you or goodnight.

\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ - Rock ON!!

Coachella.(Sunday).2011.Videos

Here are the Final videos of some of the bands I saw on Sunday.

Green.Velvet - "Shake and Pop"

CSS - "Move"

Duran.Duran - "The Chauffeur"

Duran.Duran - "A View To A Kill"

The.Strokes - "Games"

The.Presets - "This Boy's in Love"

Coachella.(Sunday).2011.

Coachella.(Sunday).2011

Indio, Palm Springs, Ca

April.17.2011

Well it's the last day and I am getting drained. I think 3 days is more then enough because once that 3rd day hits, the heat and the dust gets to you. Once again, it was quick to get in. I am liking this fast system. Showing your wristband stops the extra people who don't have tickets and who try to sneak in. They really don't let you in if you don't show it. Right on.

The first band I went to see was Twin Shadow. They where okay. I need to see this band one more time. I headed over to the Sahara Tent to catch Green Velvet and he was good. He brought out some dancers to shake it up. I liked his show because it was amateur, but entertaining. He played "La La Land" and "Shake and Pop". I stuck around for a couple of songs to checkout MEN and this time they where good. MEN got rid of the props and the sound was polished. I love that JD Samson (Lead Singer and she was in Le Tigre) said "Alright, who is on Grinder right now, raise your hand?". I looked around to see if anyone one raised there hands, but no. That was funny. Then of course, it's not MEN without props. It was a pink triangle with helmets on each point that was placed on there heads. I was glad to stop by the tent to check them out once again. I saw them open up for Gossip and they bored me. I was gonna see Delorean, but the sound coming from the tent is what stopped me. It felt good to be there. A band that tells us to standup and be proud. We need bands like this for kids could look up to who are proud and out.

I stuck around for CSS. They always throw a good show and I wanted to hear the new stuff. They sure did and it sounded VERY promising. Lovefoxxx (Lead Singer) announced that the new CSS album was coming out in August, nice. Lovefoxxx came out with her face painted (kind of like a clown) wearing a bull fighter's outfit. After a couple of songs, she stripped down to a rip t-shirt that read "Trash" and cut off Levi shorts. Lovefoxxx is another female rock star. She has some big BALLs because she kept throwing herself into the crowd. Rock On!

After CSS, I took a break for awhile. I got something to eat and I people watched for about a hour and a half. I was gonna check out Ellie Gouldin, but I decided not to go. I wanted to rest my feet for my very long hour stand at the main Coachella Stage to see DFA1979, Duran Duran and The Strokes.

Death from Above 1979 (DFA1979) Kicked A$! It's very impresive to me that two people on stage had us glued to there performance. They rocked the Coachella Main Stage. The last time I saw two members kill that stage was The White Strips in 2004. People around me wanted to start a mosh-pit. FCVK. They did not succeed, but a few feet in front, there was one starting to form. DAM, here we go.

Duran Duran was up next and people started to clear. I moved up trying to reach the barricade, but no chance. This is gonna be my second time seeing DD and I am so excited. The new album is good, "All You Need Is Now" compared to the last one. There was this young kid in front of me and he was talking to this older guy that was from Ohio. The Ohio guy asked the kid if he was here to see Duran Duran and the kid said, "FCVK NO!". "I am here for The Strokes, why are you?". The Ohio guy (was maybe 40 something) was a bit embarrassed to say after the way the kid answered him. For the guy not to feel a bit silly, I said "I am here for DD and I cannot wait to hear the new stuff live". The Ohio guy felt a bit relaxed when I said that. Sure enough, when Duran Duran came out, the kid was taking photos. I tapped the Ohio guy and pointed at the kid and told him, "look, I thought he said "FCVK Duran Duran". We both laughed. $H!T like that brought me back to my childhood when I was picked on and called names for liking DD. I cannot believe some people are ashamed of liking them still. Get over it or you could be questionable.

Duran Duran opened up with "Planet Earth" and I felt like a teenager for about an hour. They played my song "The Chauffeur". I was hoping for "Save a Prayer", but no. WTF!!! They did play, "Girls On Film", "Hungry Like The Wolf (not a fan of that song, never was)", "Rio", "Notorious", "A View To A Kill (HELL YEA!)" and a couple of new ones. They brought out Ana Matronic (from Scissor Sister) for the song "Safe" that she sings in with Simon Le Bon. Did Simon Le Bon get a face left? It kind of looks like he did or did he just Botox his forehead? He looked a bit pulled, but other then that, Duran Duran Kicked a$$! The crowd was mellow and friendly, until DD played there last song. Kids out of nowhere started to rush and push to the front. The grown ups where trying to get out, but it was CRAZY if you where trying to leave. Some started calling the kids names and some pushed them. Welcome to peace and loving Coachella.

The Strokes where up next and I was still on my same spot. Once the rush of kids came, I just stood my ground. I did not see anyone who was here next to me for DD. The crowd has shifted to young. Once The Strokes came out, the madness started. I have never seen so many crowd surfing in less then 10 minutes. Bodies after bodies passing over my head. There was still people trying to push themselves to the front, but it was tight. I couldn't move. Some kids around me where giving up and ended up leaving. It's crazy how a band like them with so much energy in there music, just stand around and play there instruments and gets this crowd insane. They sounded amazing and "Games" (my favorite track on the New album "Angles") sounded...Awesome! After The Strokes, it was a mission to get out because Kanye was up next.

I headed to the Mojave Tent to catch The Presets. They don't hit the stage until 11:05p and it was 10:50pm and they still have not cleared the stage after Leftfield. I caught the last 10 minutes of there set and it was good. They had really cool visuals. The tent was not to crowded. Perfect. It was easy for me to get up front. I was 5 feet away from the stage barricade.

The Presets hit the stage around 11:35 pm and they KiLLED iT! Once again, they did not disappoint and the beats where, SiCK! I FCVKn love this band. All three days I did not dance until now. If you have not heard of them, you should. If you had and have not seen them live, you are missing out on a great show. They played two new songs and they sounded very promising (can't wait). Someone behind me talked about Kanye's performance. That it sucked a$$ and he was worse then Cee-Lo, ouch! Thank God I scratched him off my list. That reminds me, I have not heard anything about Ms Lauryn Hill. I heard she got slammed in the papers about her concerts in New York City. So that turned me off and I scratched her off my list. I came close to doing the same to The Presets because of the time. I just did not want to be stuck in bumper to bumper traffic leaving the Coachella grounds. That $H!T is a nightmare, but it was the last night and it's The FCVKn Presets. They speed through there set with almost no breaks. One song after after the next, mixed in perfectly. I was happy to hear them play "This Boy's in Love" (my favorite track from them). Nice.

It's 12:30 am and The Presets ended there set, nooooo! I wanted more but that was it. Coachella has come to an end and The Presets (for me) ended this year's festival in a high note. So many great bands this year compared to last year. Can not wait to do this again and again and again. Until next year. Peace.

Coachella.(Saturday).2011.Videos

Here are some of the Artist I saw on Saturday.

Foals - "Two Step, Twice"

Two.Door.Cinema.Club.

Yelle - "La Musique"

Empire.of.the.Sun - "Breakdown"

Coachella.(Saturday).2011.

Coachella.(Saturday).2011

Indio, Palm Springs, Ca

April.16.2011

Compared to yesterday, the traffic was lite. It kind of scared me a bit because I never seen it like this on Avenue 50 and it's Saturday. The new wristband is working. They won't let you drive up to the parking lots unless you show your wristband. I wonder if they do the same on the people who walk to the venue?

I was here a little early because it was quick to get in. I went to checkout the shirts once again, but nothing. So I went to get something to eat and I got this FCVKd up salad. I should of taken a photo of this somewhat Greek Salad. It was just lettuce chopped up into little pieces sprinkled with a couple of tomatoes and a pita. $8.00 for this salad, but you know what, it was okay. The dressing was good.

I went to checkout The Twelves at the Sahara Tent and they where...Awesum! They played a classic Blackstobe song that was remixed ("Me & Madonna") maybe by them. Then they dropped another remix by The Black Kids "I Am Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You", The Teenagers "Sunset Beach" and The Rapture "House of Jealous Lovers". My kind of music.

Went to see Foals and of course they where great. Yannis (Lead Singer) did his crazy stuff (stage dive into the crowd more then once). I thought he was gonna climb the rafters when he jumped onto the speakers and took off his guitar, but he staged dived once again. The crowd was a bit tamed until Two Door Cinema Club. People pushed there way in and some pushed there way out after Foals. This is when people start becoming dickheads. I thought this place was about peace and love? Watching the people trying to get out was FCVKd up. I thought it was gonna be a rough crowd watching this,but it was not to bad. Two Door Cinema Club tore it up. They had to get more security for all the crowd surfing going on. You know you won the crowd over when you need backup.

After that madness, I went to the Gobi Tent to checkout, Yelle. She came out with this costume that looked like a shag rug (dark green) and she wore this bright orange leopard print tights underneath. At least, she wasn't wearing some kind of saran wrap outfit like the lead singer of Glasser. Oh yea, say Glasser (BORE!) and what the FCVK was her and the band wearing? It looked as if they wanted a Safari theme as Yelle. At least Yelle was...simple and there new album (it's good by the way) is called "Safari Disco Club". It was great to hear some of the new stuff. The album was released two weeks ago and I cannot wait to see her again in May at the Music Box.

Wire (BORING!). Big Audio Dynamite (ZZZZZ). Thank God for Empire of the Sun, some excitment and entertainment. The only thing interesting about B.A.D. was that Mike Jones (Lead Singer) came out with this fancy outfit that made him look like one of the members of the Rat Pack. Royalties from Clash album it seems. Nice. Of course, you had a douchebag shout out a Clash song. Empire of the Sun was up next after B.A.D. at the Outside Stage and they killed it. The only thing different from this show from the others I've seen was Luke Steele (Lead Singer) was hiding behind a curtain and it showed his silohuette. It dropped and the crowd went crazy. I thought the crowd was gonna be crazy here, but it was not as bad at all compared to Lollapalozza last year. Lolla was insane. I stayed for a half an hour because I wanted to catch Suede, I mean, The London Suede.

This is my first time watching Suede and Brett Anderson kicked a$$! I have no idea why I never saw them in the 90's. I remember them being compare to The Smiths. I did not see the connection. Maybe they (Morrissey & Brett) are vegans, but it was a releaf to see a guitar band so connected to the crowd, compared to Wire and B.A.D (I guess they where there to collect). At Suede, you saw people bouncing up and down and singing along. Suede played hit after hit and they sounded amazing. Another great performance to wrapped up Saturday night.

Coachella.(Friday).2011.Videos

Here are some of my videos from Friday's Coachella Artists.

The.Drums - "Best Friend"

Cold.Cave - "Youth and Lust"

YACHT - "Psychic City"

Brandon.Flowers - "Bette Davis Eyes"

Crystal.Castles - "Not In Love"

Caifanes - "Los Dioses Ocultos"

Coachella.(Friday).2011

Coachella.(Friday).2011

Indio, Palm.Springs, CA

April.15.2011

Right when I got to Barstow, you started to see some cars already saying "Coachella or bust", "Coachella bound" and "Carpoolchella". This is only Thursday afternoon on the 10frwy, imagine Friday morning. When I got back from NYCity, I received this really cool package from Goldenvoice. They went all out this year. I thought they where gonna just send a special pass, but instead, they sent this package with collector cards, this year's calendar with passed Coachella line-ups and a Coachella sticker. Nice. The funny thing, they had the wristband inside this envelop size box with styrofoam. Are we not living in the GREEN? This package was not green, but it was nice.

Today is friday and it's 83 degree's.

I just made it for Hurts. I left the hotel around 11:20am just in case and it worked out well. The lines to get in went quick, this new wristband WORKS!!! Once inside, I glanced at the shirt stand for awhile because I wanted to make my way to the Mojave Tent. I noticed they added more space and the layout is the same. cool. Is it me or did they make the Gobi and the Mojave Tents a little bigger because they look a bit bigger.

I caught the last 15 minutes of Hurts and they where good. They had a opera singer with them on stage and when he would not sing, he would just stand there very stiff. Hurts reminded me of ABC (80's band) because they where sharply dressed. It was HOT and they are wearing suits, but they sound nothing like then (which is cool). What I mean about that is they don't have that cool pop new wave sound that ABC had. Hurts sounded at bit corny pop to me, but they where interesting to watch.

I walked around for a bit and I decided to go on the ferris wheel. Thank god I got on it because the view was Amazing. I was inside with these kids who where from San Fernando Valley and I asked who they where here to see and they said "everyone". cool.

I went back to the shirt stand and I was hoping for a Caifanes shirt, but no luck. They did not have any cool shirt that I wanted from some bands. After my 360 stroll around the shirt stand, I went to checkout !!! (Chk Chk Chk). They where at the Outside Stage and I only stayed ther for a couple of songs because it was HOT under the sun. I left to the Mojave Tent to catch Cold Cave.

It's 89 degrees now and one of the members of Cold Cave is wearing a leather jacket. WOW! I know you gotta look cool, but you can do that on your photo shoot. Wesley Eisold (lead singer) wore this black crocheted sweater that he might have borrowed from his grandmother, but they sounded great. The new stuff sounded good and the crowd was into it. What a gothic like band to play in the middle of the day instead at night. Not so Goth.

I stuck around after Cold Cave for the Drums. The Drums lead singer (Jonathan Pierce) was not as energetic like he use to, but I loved his 1990 shirt. I noticed they moved the other guitarist (Jacob Graham) to the keyboards. Why did they do that? He makes the band stand out because of his crazy dance and the use of the tambourines. WOW, they played "I Wanna Go Surfing", I thought they stopped playing that song. I read they got sick of it and they did not play it at the European tours. I wonder why they decided to play it today?

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti was a trip. I have a song "Round and Round" from them that's pretty cool, but I have not done the research on them. They look older and they sounded old. Kind of like a band that formed in the 80's and never grew out of it. It was a mix of early DEVO and the Cars. I was digging it. I stayed for a couple of songs to catch YACHT.

YACHT is a band I keep missing and what a surprise, I finally get to see them. They where good. They are this artsy kind of band, jamming to some cool disco beats. Nice. After YACHT, I went to get a bit of Kele.

Kele was doing his thing and played a Bloc Party song, but he would not say the name of his band. Are they not recording a new album or he is just doing this for press? After a couple songs I went to catch Brandon Flowers.

Brandon Flowers was okay and he did not play "Swallow It". What the FCVK! I was about to leave to catch Cut Copy and then he did his magic. Brandon brought out the guitarist from his band the Killers and people went, CRAZY!!! The only played two songs, "Mr. Brightside" and "Read My Mind". AWESUM.

It went to the Mojave Tent to catch Cut Copy and that place was PACK!!! It was a struggle to get in. I only got to see 20 minutes of the show and it was...AWESUM!!!!! I hope they come back and play Los Angeles sometime soon.

I went to checkout Monarchy because I read they put on a good show. NOT!!! Did Hurts come back on stage and put Miike Snow masks? That's what it felt like and the music was just okay. I stayed for 3 songs hoping for it to get better but it was not. I headed to the Outside Stage.

Crystal Castles where wrapping it up and they where ROCKing it OUT! Alice still has the cast (ROCK STAR!) and she is Punk rockin it OUT. She is the female Johnny Rotten. Johnny, give her the crown.

Cafaines was next. They opened up with "Amanece" (HELL YEA!). Saul (lead singer) sounded great. BUT...(yea there is a but), he couldn't reach those beautiful high notes on some songs. It was the original line up and they looked good. They did not play "Vento" (WTF), but they sure played my two favorite songs, "Los Dioses Ocultos" and "La Celula Que Explota" . Now I know how older people feel when they see a old band. It brought me back to my youth. It felt like they never left because there was chemisty within the band. I was trying to look for some bad blood, but no. Caifanes was the perfect band to end my night.

OMD (LiVE!) @the.Music.Box (Los Angeles, CA)

Orchestral.Manoeuvres.in.the.Dark.

@Music.Box (Los Angeles, CA)

Friday.March.25.2011

I bought the VIP package that gives me a shirt, the album, see them warm-up before the actual show, meet them afterwards and come back and watch the show. For a hundred bucks, that's a deal.

They send us a email telling us to be at the venue around 5 to get your package, ticket and for the sound check. They even told us do not be late because its a tight schedule. Sure enough, it's 5:15pm and we are not in.

The line has wrapped around the building and I thought it was gonna be a few people, but it's not. They where smart to do something like this. I am looking in to the crowd and I see people around 45-50 years of age. Some are wearing there old concert t-shirts from the 80s. A girl in front of me brought flowers. Just looking at this crowd it's gonna be a tamed show.

They started letting us in around 5:35p (I could of ate!!!). I looked over to the other side of the venue and you see people in line for the show at 8pm. Wow! Once inside, they handed us are package. We are all inside in the lobby and they have not let us in the actual floor. We hear them warming up and I thought that was the point. When they finished with one song, people clapped and yelled "let us in!". "Thank you and I hoped you enjoyed the show", said Andy (lead singer). Funny.

Right about 6pm they let us in the main floor. I think there was around 100 of us here. Some rushed to the stage. They played "If You Leave", "Tesla Girl", "Electricity" and "Made of Honors". They did not play the whole songs, just a few minutes of it. I noticed that they did not have any laptops on stage like Yazoo did, just two synthesizers and a drum set.

Someone in the audience yelled out "Hold Me". "Who is requesting that song?", Andy asked and people pointed at this girl. They said they never played that song live, NEVER. They continued to play and Andy was a bit crazy with the sound check. Asking the sound guy to come up stage because something was off. They kept on telling him that they sound great, but he was not taking that. He grabbed his mic and went around to each speaker next to him. It was cool to see that he wanted perfection. The sound check went by quick and we where out by 7pm. I thought we got to met the band, but that is if you gotten the VIP package. I only got the gold. DAM!!!!

I went to my car to drop off my package. Before I did that, I looked inside. I got my album, a shirt, the program and a singed autograph picture of the ban. Plus, the tote bag with there logo on it. Awesum!

I came back around 9pm and the place is PACKd! It was hard to move up to the front. I was stuck in the back for awhile, but when the opening band went off (they where Awesome by the way) stage, I moved up to the front very quick. There is this couple 2 feet away from me and the girl is sporting a Sioux Sue teased out Robert Smith hair-do circa 1983. \m/ - rock on. There was a younger crowd compared to the sound check, but still mixed with the older crowd.

OMD hit the stage and they opened with a new song from there latest album "History of Modern". Just to let you know, the person who designed the album is the one who did New Order covers. Andy came out with bulging eyes that where ready to come out. He looked a bit scary as if he did something before the show. They sounded great and the crowd was loving it. I was a bit disappointed on how plain the stage was. No cool visuals at all. I was hoping there would be something. I guess the music was the main focus and it was. It was a greatest hit list, but they did not play "Secret". Some people where shouting that, but they payed no attention. It was a good show, but I think they where better at the Rose Bowl when they opened up for Depeche Mode in 1988. Now that was a KILLER show that blew me away. I was hoping for the same reaction.

I looked into the crowd a couple of times just to watch the people get into the show. It was great to watch people sing along to the songs they grew up with. Some brought out that 80's dance move (think Bruce Springsteen video "Dancing in the Dark" when Courtney Cox went on stage and danced with Bruce).

It has been 23 years since they been back in the states and it was a good performance.

\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ - Rock On!