Make Music Pasadena 2008

It was hot. I mean really hot. The temperature did not ward off a large number of people coming out to enjoy a free display of music put on by the Make Music Pasadena organizers. I could only last from 12:00 till the end of the Raveonettes set as I think I came down with mild heat stroke on the hottest day of the year to date.

The Plasticines




A touch of France kicked off the festivities at the Toyota Matrix Antics/Filter Magazine stage in the form of The Plasticines. It was like watching the Donnas if they hailed from France and had a dash of Franz Ferdinand. The ladies of the Plasticines had a bundle of energy for it being over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. They did a raucous cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" as they wrapped up an hour set. The ladies of the Plasticines knew their gear opting for a Black Les Paul Custom Guitar along with a Rickenbacker bass.

The Switches




The "Special Guests" of the day turned out to be The Switches who would be playing later at the Wiltern opening for She Wants Revenge to close out the Nylon Magazine Music Tour. I am sure they couldn't bill the Switches on the program as it would violate contract obligations of playing two shows in the same city. It was a pleasant surprise to see them but most people didn't know who they were. The Switches still turned in a great set playing a batch of tunes such as "No Hero", "Snakes & Ladders", "Lovin' It", "Every Second Counts and "Drama Queen". I was lamenting the fact that I didn't have tickets to their show later in the evening but was glad I caught their show at the House of Blues San Diego.

Division Day




The festival took a turn to the local as hometown heroes Division Day were up next. I last caught up with Division Day at the Detroit Bar as they were winding down their tour for Beartrap Island. Division Day played "Colorguard" and "Ricky". I was transported back to 1982 with their cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This". "Reversible" closed out their set with its slick jet engine flanging that wins me over every time. Division Day is currently writing a follow up album which I am sure they will road test in a couple of months around town.

The Little Ones




The Little Ones have had me cheering for them since I saw them at the Orange County Museum of Art back in 2006. The Little Ones recently released Fallen Tales & Ferry Gates which has been holding me over until they release their full length album The Morning Tides. "Oh, Mj!" kicked off their sunny batch of songs as a larger crowd had started to formed in front of the barrier. The sun was at high noon and blaring directly on Ed Reyes (Guitars/Vocals) who was still smiling widely as he strummed his Rickenbacker guitar. The sing along chorus of "Unlock The Door!" had a salsa like rhythm with multiple forms of percussion accenting the song. My note taking ability started to wain as the heat was oven like. I did remember that they played "Face The Facts" and "Lovers Who Uncover". The Little Ones are off to England for a few festival dates and will probably be back to push their new album that is due in August or September.

Autolux





A free Autolux show was a good majority of the reason why I endured the heat. "Audience No 2" is a new song available for download on their homepage and only teases fans who anxiously await their new album Transit Transit. Autolux had to have been melting in the direct sunlight but they managed to melt ears with their hot lava eruption of sound. A new instrumental piece entitled "23 Watt" rang out as Greg Edwards (Guitars) had his silver taped Gibson SG reflecting brightly in sun. Carla Azar (drums) was blinded by the sunlight as she blinded the audience with his expert drum fills during "Subzero Fun". "Blanket" and the characteristic drum shuffle of "Turnstile Blues" were crowd favorites. Eugene Goreshter (Bass/Vocals) had his Fender precision bass at ground shaking frequencies. Even amidst the mind numbing heat and the dehydration, "Headless" was an oasis in the desert as the waves of sound were life saving. Autolux's set was hot in more ways than one.

The Raveonettes





I was torn that I couldn't catch The Raveonettes at the Detroit Bar earlier this year. Lust, Lust, Lust is an amazing collection of fuzz guitars and blissful vocal harmonies from Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo. I think it is the strongest Raveonettes album to date as every song pleases your ears. Sharin Foo (Guitars/Vocals) was not performing with the Raveonettes as she is pregnant. It took her sister Loui Foo and an accompanying guitarist Lisbeth to replace Sharin as the Raveonettes continue to tour. Loui did a fine job harmonizing with Sune as they worked through the Raveonettes catalog. Sune was playing a shiny Fender Jazzmaster that was a Nokie Edwards reissue from the band the Ventures. I predict the Fender Jazzmaster will make even more waves now that Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine is back in action. I would think Sune is due for his own Raveonettes Jazzmaster model the way he weaved sheets of fuzz and feedback. Some of the highlights from their set included "Blush", "Love In A Trashcan", "Lust", "Red Tan", "Twilight" and "Aly, Walk With Me". I staggered back to my car for an emergency Gatorade for rehydration and to increase my blood sugar into a normal range. I hope the weather is more forgiving next year.

The Little Ones at the Detroit Bar

I incriminated myself last time I made the double concert night of Autolux in San Diego and Eskimohunter at the Detroit Bar. So I won't give out time lines and distance traveled when I caught all of The Little Ones set after watching the Smashing Pumpkins destroy at the Open Air Theatre.

The Detroit Bar was hopping again with a splendid double bill of The Deadly Syndrome and The Little Ones as part of the Busy Work night on Wednesday. I unfortunately missed The Deadly Syndrome but caught the full shaking set of The Little Ones.

The Little Ones had invaded Orange County before at The OCMA. I was an instant fan after that performance. When I saw them at the Troubadour, my review was linked by Spinner.com.

Opening their set with the uptempo shimmy shake beat of "Cha Cha Cha" the crowd started to warm up. Ed Reyes (Guitar/Vocals) was playing a sparkling Gretsch guitar and had forsaken his old pedal board for a lonely Analog delay pedal. They played a new song that had a flurry of Oh's and Ah's and the steady beat of the tambourine in the background. The hypnotic guitar line and electric piano flourishes of "Oh! MJ!" inspired some early crowd participation with hand claps from the audience. "Face The Facts" was even more uptempo then the recorded version. Another new song "Unlock The Door" had a calypso/ tropical feel to it that had me tapping my foot in time. The Little Ones took crowd participation to The Hold Steady level by bringing up various people onstage for added percussion on "There's A Pot Brewin'". The Little Ones will embark on an East coast tour with Voxtrot before heading across the pond to tour with Kaiser Chiefs and We Are Scientists. I look forward to their full length release.


The Little Ones Pedalboards

Cold War Kids and The Little Ones at the Echoplex

While I was patrolling Ticketweb for upcoming shows I stumbled upon The Cold War Kids and The Little Ones benefit show for 826 and African Water Wells at the Echoplex. 826 is a student program that helps students improve their writing skills. African Water Wells is self explanatory. I figured I needed another show prior to my vacation to Las Vegas and it happens to be for a good cause.



Let's Go Sailing have conjured up a respectable amount of buzz lately. They happened to be the special guests openers for the show. You may have heard one of their songs featured in Grey's Anatomy or heard their KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic broadcast. Let's Go Sailing is the brainchild of Shana Levy who used to be in Irving. Clad in a retro Radio Clyde t-shirt like Frank Zappa, Shana and her sailors led the audience through a nice collection of mellow indie pop with flourishes of violin and piano. The mix at the Echoplex was horrible as it was difficult to hear Shana's vocals. I may have to catch them again at the better sounding Troubadour on July 19th with Oh No! Oh My!.






The Little Ones have been garnerning an equal amount of buzz with their EP release "Sing Song". The Little Ones also recently did a session for spinner.com were they recorded some tracks in a studio for a podcast. If you check out the Little Ones page at spinner.com you will see they used my quote describing The Little Ones as "Bubble Gum pop with an infusion of Beatles like sensibilities". I still stand by this quote and think they have a bright future ahead of them. The Little Ones were also a victim of bad mixing as Ed Reyes (Guitars/Vocals) vocals were mixed too low. They played a short and sweet thirty five minute set that left the crowd wanting more. My song recommendations are the whole EP but especially "Oh! MJ" and "Lovers Who Uncover". They will be heading across the seas to do some more touring in the U.K. before returning to record their full length debut album.





Cold War Kids Setlist for The Echoplex (6/12/07)

The Cold War Kids keep heating up. They are onward bound for the Bonnaroo festival and then have the lofty job of opening for the White Stripes on their U.S. tour. By the time the Cold War Kids started playing, the mix at the Echoplex was decent enough to hear Nathan Willett's vocals or it could be that Nathan was yelling them out. The crowd was singing along like a choir when "Hang Me Out To Dry" was played. The Cold War Kids have fine tuned their live show and are extremely tight live. It was also interesting to see members of the Delta Spirit set up their gear and help out on "Saint John" by banging on cymbals and snare drums. The real treat of the night was when they played their new song "Expensive Tastes". It was a wistful love song that centers around Nathan Willett's vocals but quickly becomes encroached by reverb laden guitars and a shuffling drum pattern that quickly disassembles itself back to Nathan's vocals. I got my tickets for the White Stripes and Cold War Kids show in September to see how many White Stripes fans they can convert. My guess is that they won't be playing the Echoplex or the El Rey theatre in the future. I foresee multiple sell out nights at the Wiltern.

The Little Ones at the Troubadour

I almost aborted this show due to the fact that I was attending the Battle of Los Angeles (Los Angeles Lakers vs the Los Angeles Clippers). With a victory by the Clippers, I double timed it up to the Troubadour to catch the last thirty minutes of The Little Ones set. It was ironic however that after two songs, Ed Reyes (Guitar/Vocals) asked the audience if the Lakers won the game. I did manage to catch "Lovers Who Uncover" and "High on a Hill" but missed my favorite song "Oh, MJ!". If you enjoy bubble gum pop with a infusion of Beatles like sensibilities, then I highly recommend The Little Ones EP Sing Song. For a description of their gear, check out my archival shows in December 2006 when they played at the Orange County Museum of Art. Unfortunately I did not catch Sea Wolf but they will be playing again with the Canadian wonders Sloan in a few weeks. The Little Ones will be embarking on an intriguing tour package of The Kaiser Chiefs, and The Walkmen before returning back to the U.K.

The Little Ones at the Orange County Museum Of Art

Justin Timberlake has been trying to bring sexy back. The Little Ones are trying to bring the Mellotron back and that is what I consider sexy. For those unaware, the mellotron is a primitive sampler that used tapes that contained recordings of strings, flutes and other musical instruments. The classic example of a mellotron song is the Beatles "Strawberry Fields Forever". Speaking of the Beatles, I noticed some other examples of Beatles influence including a Hohner Bass, and a Rickenbacker guitar in the Little Ones setup. I missed the Little Ones at the Echo recently and now I regret it in retrospect. They put on a great set at the Orange County Museum of Art that rocked the house and had everyone singing and clapping along. They had an assortment of instruments littered all over the stage and even recruited some "Little Little Ones" for some shaker help during their songs. They managed to channel The Hold Steady in that it looked like they were having more fun on stage then everyone else which became infectious. Their guitarist was rocking the Korg Kaoss Pad using it to add some rhythmic effects to his guitar sounds as well as a Z.Vex Super Hard On pedal (Overdrive). The keyboard setup involved a Nord Electro and a USB keyboard controller hooked up to Apple Powerbook running Reason for Mellotron sounds. The lead singer/guitarist had a nice collection of pedals as pictured above. Their 7 song EP Sing Song is a great little sampler of what is to come. The album art looks very similar to that of The Shins "Chutes Too Narrow" which is fitting given that they right great pop '60s influenced songs. I highly recommend "Oh, MJ!", and "Cha Cha Cha". They will be touring the U.K. in January and will continue to win over new fans. Hopefully they will tack on some U.S. dates later.