Show Review: Sleater-Kinney, Palehound, and Rachel Dispenza at The Belasco, 03-29-2024

It’s been a while since I got to see Sleater-Kinney. I was fortunate enough to score some tickets to the acclaimed and mostly sold-out return tour of No New Cities To Love, and let me tell you that it was a hell of an experience to watch the band back in action as if they hadn’t disappeared for ten years following 2005s The Woods. So, with great pleasure, I threw my camera bag over my shoulder and made my way to Downtown LA, The Belasco Theater, my concert home away from home to watch one of the coolest bands ever.

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Show Review: Stars at The Masonic Lodge 11/29/17

A concert in a graveyard? Why not!

STARS-8

What exactly is it about Canada that produces such intriguing rock and roll acts? The great North is home to dozens of groups that broke through international barriers and still continue to impress to this day. Of course there are the obvious examples like Neil Young, Rush, The Guess Who, Arcade Fire, and NoMeansNo, but there is also that unique brand of indie/art with groups like Metric, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, The New Pornographers, and Broken Social Scene, the indie super band of which Amy Millan and Evan Cranley are members. Easily one of my favorites of all of them is Stars who take up a special place with their lush production and exploration of the various themes of love and heartbreak. In support of their recent double LP release, There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light, the band took over the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for three whole days of intimacy with their long-time fans and first timers alike.

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Show Review: Javelin and Jamaican Queens at The New Parish, 5/5/2013

Javelin by Tim Soter

Lazy Sunday haze seeped through circumvallate pane. Showtime seemed everything but. Javelin and Jamaican Queens were scheduled to perform at eight. New Parish’s hallowed walls ached, hollered for bodies to enter its hollow hall. As the magic hour eclipsed, the static domain was a far cry from the neighboring Fox Theater, teeming with tacky teens. By 8:26, the promise of a show remained questionable as sparkling funsters trickled into the openness.

Nine — in a resounding, defiant, Deutschy “no” — finally bore revelry en masse.
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Album Review: Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs

I know a guy that can fix that cassette
I know a guy that can fix that cassette

I am going to let you in on a little secret- I have never heard Yo La Tengo before. I love the indie rock, and I have even worked at a record store (or 5). I understand who they are, and I understand the effect they have had on society. I know that every new record store employee will file them in the Spanish-language section. (Once I had a fellow employee bring me the Yo La Tengo section from rock and let me know that somebody was misfiling them) They are a band that has been through a lot, even overcoming this great tragedy!

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