So, we tried to go to The Standard on Labor Day. C said we could get in for free with RSVP. So, we get into the elevator to get to the rooftop. The elevator already looked pretty shabby and rundown and the floor was bright red plastic. J says it makes it easier to clean up all the vomit, which is probably true. Then we get off on the 12th floor to take the stairs to the roof. I thought this hotel was supposed to be really swank, instead it smelled rank, like old cigarettes mixed with something else disgusting. It was like walking through the corridors of Circus Circus. We took the stairs to the roof and the guy at the door kind of gave us attitude and told us we had to get a wristband at the parking lot. We took the dingy elevator back down and walked through a colorful modern lounge area to get to the parking lot.
We were told the rooftop was filled to capacity and to wait in line. We were at the front of the line and saw about 5 groups of people get wristbands. Apparently, you have to be really skanky or dirty to get in right away. The line was getting a bit long. After awhile, the rude hostess started charging people $20 per for wristbands. We took that as a sign to leave. I didn't need to see the rooftop badly enough to part with $20 that was obviously going into her pocket. The Standard was a pretentious craphole.
We ended up walking across the street to the Library Bar, which was a hip little bar with walls lined with books and good music (heard 80s, 60s rock, and The White Stripes. Just glad it wasn't the typical Hollywood pop / dance music). The bartender was friendly and they had nice leather couches. Their website says it's "the perfect escape from the Hollywood bar scene", which was definitely true. It felt like it would be a cool place to get drinks and hang out with your friends.
It was kind of like a green festival, which I thought was cool. There were booths set up to tell you about the environment and a photo booth (they displayed the photos on the big screens right before he came on) and food booths (disappointed that there was no grilled corn). For some odd reason they didn't allow blankets into the area (which was a giant field, so I don't know why they did that). My sis has a theory that Jack Johnson has a fear of blankets. Maybe a bad experience with a kidnap attempt? Some people suck them in anyways. Once we got to the merch booth, I found out they were selling Jack Johnson towels, so the restriction was probably to motivate towel sales. Also, maybe he doesn't have a fear of towels.
Culver City Dub Collective Paula Fuga, a Hawaiian songstress who has been touring with the jazz band on the Jack Johnson tour, has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard. Her voice is so big and full. You would never imagine that to come out of herwhen you see her. Seemed like the type of music Jack Johnson likes. I love love the duet they did calledCountry Road. I find her singing style very interesting. It's a mix of jazz and Hawaiian.
Rogue Wave Their background and shirts were really cute: Stars and parachutes or a keyboard with marionette strings of the letters spelling out their band's name. They have a very good designer...and that's about it. I was THIS close to buying a t-shirt because it looked so cute, but after I heard them play, I'm extremely glad I didn't. They played mellow Keane-like music, but not as catchy or as talented. They seemed really into their music though. I have to give the band members credit for acting like they were playing punk rock even though it was actually slow and Travis-ish. They were playing the singer's favorite song and I thought it was going to be fast and catchy and they started out, and it was like the slowest song of the bunch. Why is that your fav?! And they were jumping in the air and running around on the stage. My sis said that the girl standing next to me (who looked like she was 15, but she was dating a college student. Gross!) said that was her favorite song too. I was thinking to myself "Seriously? Someone actually knows who this band is? Not only that, they actually LIKE this music?!" And the singer came off as kind of cocky to me, like he thought he was playing the best music in the world. Then he said it was their last song, but he LIED! He started getting political and singing "Bust Them Out" of the white house as soon as their supposed last song was over! Ugh. It was torture. I was so glad when it was over. All their songs kind of sounded the same after awhile and they would've blended in together if he didn't stop in between all of them to say something or make a joke.
Jack Johnson OK, so a lot of people seem to be surprised that I like Jack Johnson. I don't know all the words to all his songs or anything (like my sis, heh. The show was mostly for her), but I must admit, I'm a total sap when it comes to his songs. I absolutely adore the In Between Dreams album. There are soooooooooo many sweet songs that appeal to the hopeless romantic in me (which I think has been growing due to watching too many episodes of How I Met Your Mother). My fav songs he played off this album: - Better Together (merged with the end of Angel played during the encore. Even though I think Angel has some silly lyrics, when I heard it live with Better Together, I almost cried because it was so heartachingly romantic. Made me wish I had a guy who could write me songs like that!) - Banana Pancakes - Good People - Sitting, Waiting, Wishing (1 of my all time fav Jack Johnson songs, but even I admit that a lot of his songs sound similar, so I couldn't even tell he was playing this song until it got closer to the chorus) - Staple It Together (1 of the few distinct songs he has) - Breakdown (great chorus) - Do You Remember (which also pokes at my heart. It just reminds me of college crushes) - Constellations (because I love looking at the stars in the sky)
That album is so fantastic. That's the only Jack Johnson album that contains songs that have 5 stars in iTunes. Anyways, I'll stop gushing about this album now. Other songs he played: - Sleep Through the Static (the first song) - Flake (which was fantastic live) - Bubble Toes - Fortunate Fools (love this song too. A bit disappointed he didn't play F-Stop Blues, but I guess it's too depressing) - Gone
He had Zach Gill sing backup vocals for him, who had an amazing voice, and he played a mean piano and accordian. You should've heard him play Devil Went Down to Bavaria. It was so awesome and that will be the only time I think you'll ever hear me saying the accordian is awesome, ha.
I was a bit worried about how Jack Johnson would be live because he tends to just do acoustic music. I was afraid he'd be the only one on stage, but he was fantastic. His voice is even better live and Zach Gill provided great support.
Liars W called them 'noise' and I'd have to agree. They were loud and screaming and their stuff sounded like some sort of mix of goth, metal, punk rock. Their drums were catchy and I liked that another guy was also playing drums, but other than that, I just didn't get their music. I got so bored after awhile. W said it resembled early The Rapture stuff, but maybe I blocked out their early music because I barely recall it resembling anything like that besides the screamy singing style.
Radiohead So, I'm not as obsessed with Radiohead as W and S are. Luckily, K wasn't either. She was listening to In Rainbows up until the show started. :P I was mostly there to be a part of history and say I saw Radiohead live. Don't get me wrong, I still like their music, I just don't know all the words like they do. I prefer the early albums like Pablo Honey and I love The Bends, so I was really excited when they played quite a few songs from The Bends. And OK Computer kicks ass too, so it was great hearing those songs. Hearing Talk Show Host and Karma Police were definitely highlights of the night. They put on a fantastic show. I'm so glad we sat as close as we did because onscreen they just played these abstract images of themselves on stage and you couldn't always see them. Since we were sitting so close, we got a chance to see Thom Yorke get really into the music and I loved his exciting dancing. And ok, hearing In Rainbows live was pretty damn good. The stage looked great. It had these gigantic wind chime-like things that set the mood really well for each song and displayed the lighting perfectly and made rain look quite realistic.
So, I was reading The Best of Los Angeles Downtown and what immediately caught my eye was Cicada Club http://www.cicadanightclub.com/main.asp under the category of something like "Best Flashback." I went to the website right away and I just knew I had to go there. The building looked amazing and they do a swing theme almost every Sunday and LIVE swing music. I LOVE swing music! and I love watching people dance. I knew I'd be in heaven there. Here's the description off the website:
With the grandeur of a classic Hollywood musical from the thirties, famed showman and impresario Maxwell DeMille's Cicada Club is a most unique experience that transports you back in time to the glamorous days of Hollywood's golden age of nightclubs.
Featuring the finest vintage dance orchestras and entertainment, Maxwell DeMille's Cicada Club is unlike any night on the town you have ever experienced.
Situated in the famed Art Deco Oviatt building, downtown Los Angeles' historic Lalique palace, the Cicada Club is a place fitting for experiencing an elegant romantic evening.
Originally built as a top-of-the-line haberdashery in 1928, The Cicada Club retains much of the original design that the French designers and artisans of the time created. This spacious nightclub features fine dining on the main floor as well as the mezzanine that overlooks the entire club, an Art Deco mezzanine bar and lounge plus patio seating in the forecourt lobby.
No setting in the entire city is more spectacular. The opulent dining and showroom, with giant old-growth oak columns that feature pairs of angels holding bells and gold-leaf ceilings, compliment the fine vintage entertainment and patrons dressed in their elegant evening attire.
Jennifer Keith was going to perform. I had heard some of her music on the site and I really liked her voice, which is rare for me because I tend to dislike female vocalists. Something about that high pitched screaming really annoys me. I don't know how people tolerate it.
Anyways, I mentioned the place to my sis and managed to gather 6 people total to get dressed up and head over there last Sunday. I was so excited. I've never had a chance to dress up for anything since I never went to prom. Plus, this is my favorite time period.
So, we pulled up to the building and saw the lobby, which looked gorgeous. People were taking pictures before they even went into the building. We looked around as we were being led to our table. The interior was beyond my imagination. It did look a lot bigger in their online gallery, but it was still just as beautiful AND there was an old fashioned mic on the stage.
A few couples were on the dance floor before the singer came out. I loved watching them dance and it's always nice to see dancing that doesn't involve some sort of pseudo sexual act. *shivers* And we were some of the youngest people there besides kids. :\ I loved seeing some of the outfits, but this couple wearing a polo shirt and sundress almost broke the whole illusion for me. I don't even know how they got in. Pfft. They stood out SO much. What they were thinking. Pretty much everyone there knew how to dance except for us and the little kids, but it was still fun.
Jennifer Keith was sooooooo glamorous when she came out to sing. Her voice was amazing live. All the music was fantastic. AND I got to dance to one of my favorite songs, "Bei Mir Bist du Schoen", LIVE. I never thought that would ever happen. We stayed for both her performances. We decided to have dinner there, but you can just go there to dance and listen to the music. There's a full bar on the mezzanine and no cover. It was a really fun and memorable night. I never thought I could find a place so anachronistic in LA. It was like being in the Bradbury building. I love thinking about what it was like to be alive during the the these buildings were at the peaks of their usage. And now I can say I've gone out for dinner and dancing.
I was a bit concerned when we got there early and saw guys wearing cowboy hats outside and chatting with southern drawls. The bar wasn't at Universal Citywalk like Wing kept claiming. Instead it was across the street from the studio, right next to the LA River. It was a bit more rundown than I thought it would be and the inside resembled a dive bar.
Bombaster It was the first show where they had a bassist. I wasn't sure if it was the sound or not, but it just sounded really muffled on some of the songs and on others, the bass filled out the songs very nicely, especially on their last song "Love is for Lovers." Oddly enough, this is the loudest and clearest I have ever been able to hear the vocals. I could actually hear all the words in the songs!
My sis and contributed some clapping to "Tick Tock" when we could (Wing had trouble teaching it to us even though she's played the song so many times!). It has a cool beat to it. It's one of my fav songs. And my sis' friend has a mancrush on Ryan and thinks he's an amazing singer and guitarist. :P I'd say they put on a pretty good show that night.
Big Lovin' Panda I had only heard them play a bit once at a party and the singer was sick that day. Even then, his voice wasn't too bad, just raspy. This time his voice was very clear and good. He does put on a good show. Although, he got really into their last song (which I have no idea why they chose that as a long song because it wasn't as good as the previous) even though it didn't seem fast enough for him to get THAT into. It's really obvious that they are all very talented, which really makes me wonder why they're playing stuff that sounds like old Incubus. Even the singing style was similar. All they needed was a DJ and they were pretty much retro Incubus. With their expertise their music could be so much more intricate and unique, but instead they sound a bit recycled. It was catchy; it's just that it felt like I had already heard all of it before.
