Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis

Sometimes I wonder if my next job interview will be anything like this:

Bowed Glockenspiel

Stef finally got his glockenspiel back. He was interested using a bow with it, but weren't any videos on the web showing how it's done or how it sounds, so we took the initiative and created one ourselves. With my little Flip cam taped to our floor lamp, we were able to get an awesome angle of the glockenspiel. I edited the parts together and Stef worked a bit on the sound. 'Twas a fun little project.

July in Music Retrospect

The Toughcats at Echo Curio

This is an early retrospect. Yes, it's being written a week before the month officially ends but there already has been a ton of great shows.

July started with Woolen and Lou Barlow and the Missingmen at The Hobby Shop which came the day after Stef's solo performance at Echo Curio. The next day, Stef and I saw a friend's band, Marcus Very Ordinary at Hotel Cafe. Three days of great music back to back to back. A great way to start the month.

Bayyyyy Areeeeeeaaaaaaa!

The next night, Sarah and I went to Freak City and experienced an all night party with various DJs and hoped to see one of our favorite French electro DJs play the afterparty after hearing the rumor. DJ Mehdi was in town performing as Carte Blanche with Riton and his posse showed, but he never played. This place was more of a urban/hip hop scene, but filled with good vibes. I remember one tiny room being aurally dangerous because the decibel levels were off the charts.

howardAmb at Pehrspace

Bobb Bruno's last solo show?

A friend of mine curated a video game themed art show at Pehrspace called Tetricide where howardAmb and Bobb Bruno played. howardAmb was spectacular, as always, and it was a treat to have Bobb decide at the last minute (that day) he was going to play. Being sleepless the night before, I walked around with a Red Bull in my hand. Bobb handed me his Jägermeister in a flask to make a Jäger bomb in my mouth.

Amanda Jo Williams at Las Perlas (I know, dark picture.)

Our friends invited Stef and me to watch Amanda Jo Williams perform at Las Perlas on the first night of music there. A friend plays guitar in her band. The sound system could vastly be improved, and maybe the loud nature of the bar isn't the right setting to have music, but her performance was still entertaining. They'll need a PA if they're serious about hosting music acts there. Though I must say, the tequila selection is pleasantly daunting.

Missincinatti at Human Resources

Someone I know recently opened an art gallery in Chinatown called Human Resources where they occasionally have music performances. Missincinatti is one of my favorite bands and they played outside under the perfect summer night atmosphere. I wish they would have had bands set up at the far wall so it wasn't so awkward for the audience. The entrance is located where I was standing, and people kept having to distractingly walk in front of everyone to get to the other side. Missincinatti released their debut CD at the show and it is a must have in your collection.

The Toughcats in color

The Toughcats traveled across the country from a small island off the coast of Maine to embark on a West Coast tour for two weeks. Their first stop was at Echo Curio in Echo Park and I haven't seen that place that crowded in a very long time. It was a great start to their tour. Many friends made it out and those who never experienced one of their shows were enthralled by their performance.

Here's to a great August.

Vegas and Beyond

One of the very few photos I took in Vegas

My month was kept busy attending several live music shows and taking a trip to Vegas. Stef has never been, so I thought it would be nice to take him to see The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil show for his birthday.

Funny story: I booked everything in advance and planned it out in my head--we'd drive out on Sunday, have the night to roam around Vegas, and then see Beatles LOVE Monday night to leave the amazing show in our heads during the long drive home. The website had technical difficulties so I had to book tickets via phone, which I absolutely abhor. They misspelled my last name by one letter and I never got my e-mail confirmation.

When we arrived at The Mirage on Sunday, we played around with the idea of picking up our show tickets since the lines weren't atrocious. By the time we got back to the hotel after enjoying a night out, the box office was closed.

The next morning, I opened the Word document that included the scribbled confirmation number and the date we were seeing the show.

The date was for the night before.
Ifreakedthehellout.

Coming to my senses, I remembered that I ended up booking tickets for Sunday night since there were better seats available for that show. Not getting the e-mail confirmation, that thought was buried in the back of my mind.

Luckily, The Mirage was very accommodating and were able to transfer our tickets to that night. Dancing around with an air of relief, we headed to the pool with a bloody mary and strawberry daquiri in our hands.

I am very grateful. The show was spectacular. One of my favorite parts was when the dancers were engaging in high-jumping acrobatics onto London-style telephone booths. Another awesome part was seeing the dancing yellow boots to Lady Madonna. The best part was seeing it with Stef.

Vegas is what you want it to be. For us, it was the perfect, relaxing (and hot!) mini-getaway.

The Hobby Shop Music Series - Woolen + Lou Barlow and the Missingmen

The July 1st The Hobby Shop music series featured Heard of Elephants collective band Woolen and Lou Barlow + The Missingmen.

Woolen is a band I haven't heard of before that night and it was great to see them at an aurally pleasant environment as my introduction to them. They are a great indie rock band to check out.

Lou Barlow played a couple of songs solo and then asked The Missingmen to join him for the rest of his set. I just missed him at the Bootleg Theatre and discovering that he was playing at The Hobby Shop was a treat. The set had a nice mix of heavy sounds and slow-paced music.

I was spoiled by the setting that night. It's going to be difficult to experience live music at a larger venue. Sadly, The Hobby Shop music series has ended, but there are plans to revive it in August.

To hear recordings and view video of past performances, visit The Hobby Shop Studios site (http://www.thehobbyshopstudios.com) and click on "Live at The Hobby Shop."