The Kills at the Observatory

The Kills will be descending into Southern California stopping by the Observatory on August 9th prior to their Outside Lands Gig in San Francisco. It is a pretty good opportunity to see Allison Mosshart up close and personal. Click here to get your tickets.

Fiona Apple at the Hollywood Palladium

Check out my photos of Fiona Apple at the Hollywood Palladium over at Stereogum.

Dirty Projectors at the Wiltern

Check out my photos of Dirty Projectors at the Wiltern over at Stereogum.

Dashboard Confessional at the House of Blues Anaheim

Chris Carrabba better known as Dashboard Confessional easily sold out the House of Blues Anaheim as he played a stacked twenty-four song set to throngs of adoring fans. Carrabba is touring to promote his new batch of cover songs entitled Covered In The Flood which includes covers from Cory Brenan, Big Star, R.E.M. and The Replacements.

Madi Diaz


Madi Diaz won over the crowd with her breezy acoustic tunes and charming smile as she unveiled tracks from her latest release Plastic Moon. Her cover of "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul was quite humorous. It would be interesting to see her with a full electric band. I would definitely keep an eye out for her judging from the appreciative response from the crowd.

Dashboard Confessional


Dashboard Confessional shows are a unique phenomena.  Fans sing just about every word to his songs to the point were Carrabba could actually just sit there a provide an acoustic guitar soundtrack and let the fans do the heavy singing. This wasn't the case as Carrabba worked through a marathon set hitting all of the crowd favorites.

Instead of throwing bras on stage, someone threw a Mickey Mouse ears hat embroidered with Chris's name.  While Chris mentioned he was having a good hair night, he relented and put on the hat for a quick photo opportunity.

Some of the many highlights of the set included "Swiss Army Romance", "Again I Go Unnoticed" and the fact that it was actually quiet for his Big Star cover of "I'm In Love With A Girl". Carrabba later mentioned on his Twitter account that this show was "one of his favorite shows ever".

Setlist:
01 "The Good Fight"
02 "Swiss Army Romance"
03 "As Lovers Go"
04 "Where There's Gold"
05 "This Bitter Pill"
06 "I'm In Love With A Girl"
07 "So Impossible"
08 "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most"
09 "Screaming Infidelities"
10 "The Sharp Hint of New Tears"
11 "Again I Go Unnoticed"
12 "Cold Comfort"
13 "Shirts and Gloves"
14 "Thick as Thieves"
15 "Carry This Picture"
16 "Don't Wait"
17 "Tall Green Grass"
18 "Ghost of a Good Thing"
19 "Dusk & Summer"
20 "You Have Stolen My Heart"
21 "Vindicated"
22 "Hands Down"
23 "Remember to Breathe"
24 "The Best Deceptions"

The xx at the Fonda Theater

Check out my photos of The xx at the Fonda Theater over at Stereogum.

Sea Wolf at the Observatory

Alex Church of Sea Wolf played his first gig in two years at a sold out show inside the Observatory at the Constellation room. Sea Wolf is gearing up to release their third album Old Time Romance on Dangerbird Records on September 11th. The new songs wove into his older material seamlessly and had that familiar trademark Sea Wolf swoon. Besides a broken guitar string and a some forgotten lyrics, it was a superb return to the stage given the long hiatus. It won't take too long for them to hit their touring form. I will be checking out the new album when it is released.

Setlist:
01 "The Traitor"
02 "Winter Windows"
03 "Dew In The Grass"
04 "Black Leaf Falls"
05 "White Water, White Bloom"
06 "Miracle
07 "Middle Distance Runner"
08 "The Rose Captain"
09 "Old Friend"
10 "Turn The Dirt Over"
11 "Wicked Blood"
12 "Black Dirt"
13 "You're A Wolf"

Shearwater at the Echo

Check out my photos of Shearwater at the Echo over at Stereogum.

Beach House at the House of Blues San Diego

Check out my photos of Beach House at the House of Blues San Diego over at Stereogum.