Passion Pit at the Hollywood Palladium

After tackling the herculean task of opening arenas for Muse, Passion Pit returned for another Southern California swing supporting their album Manners at the Hollywood Palladium for an impressive dance party.

Pepper Rabbit




Pepper Rabbit unfurled a crowd pleasing set of their off kilter folk pop replete with ukulele. Their debut album Beauregard on Kanine records has been slowly building a nice buzz. Rumor has it that they will have another new album in 2011 and will continue to tour.

We Barbarians





It was not surprising to see We Barbarians slay another crowd just as they did in Pomona. The Long Beach based locals released a highly overlooked debut album There's This There's That and have a new seven inch vinyl released on the label run by Matt Maust of Cold War Kids.

Mister Heavenly





Mister Heavenly had tons of buzz due to the addition of actor Michael Cera on Vox Phantom bass. A super group to start with consisting of Honus Honus of Man Man, Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse and Nick Thorburn of Islands recently signed to Sub Pop records. While I wasn't too familiar with their tunes, the band sounded fairly solid given it was roughly their fourth gig. Wonder if they make it onto the Coachella bill.

Passion Pit





Armed with tons of synthesizers, and Michael Angelakos's sky high falsetto, Passion Pit threw a high energy dance party from the moment they hit the stage. Having released their album Manners in May of 2009, it is impressive that Passion Pit can still tour and fill theaters off an album a year and a half old. The crowd was dancing all night to songs like "The Reeling", "Little Secrets" and their requisite show closer "Sleepyhead".

Passion Pit at the Fox Theater in Pomona

Check out my photos of Passion Pit and Mister Heavenly with Michael Cera on bass at the Fox Theater in Pomona over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

Tokyo Police Club at the Detroit Bar

A whole lot of shows were going on Wednesday. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Spiritualized, and Cat Power were at the Hollywood Bowl and MGMT was at the Henry Fonda Theater. I didn't hear about MGMT but I heard Nick Cave was epic. I opted for my own epic show with We Barbarians, The Whigs and Tokyo Police Club at the cozy Detroit Bar.

We Barbarians




It has been almost a year since We Barbarians hit the scene opening for the Delta Spirit at the Detroit Bar. I have practically worn out my copy of their debut EP "In The Doldrums" and was excited to see they posted a few new tracks on their myspace page along with the news that a full length album is due in December.

The crowd had started to file in as We Barbarians constructed a solid set featuring a few new tracks that hopefully will be on their new album. The sullen organ notes of "Yesmen and Bumsuckers" gave way to some ambient guitar notes as Davey Quon (Guitars/Vocals/Keyboards) switched back and forth between the instruments. Nathan Warkentin (Drums) and Derek Van Heule locked down the rhythm section to give Davey space to float his textural guitar arrangements on top of their songs. "Sixes and Sevens" starts with a volume swell of reverb guitar before Nathan comes in with a tight drum shuffle. We Barbarians will be back at the Troubadour with Mando Diao on November 3rd.

The Whigs





The Whigs rocked the Detroit Bar like their life depended on it. An explosive trio hailing from Georgia, The Whigs had nothing left on the stage as they were sweat drenched two songs deep into their set. "Mission Control" served as a slow cooking introduction to the band as Parker Gispert (Guitars/Vocals) strummed his Gibson hollowbody guitar. The floor started to shake courtesy of Julian Dorio (Drums) as he pummeled his drum kit for "Like A Vibration" and the Whigs started to unleash their rock fury on the unsuspecting Detroit Bar audience.

The jangling guitars of "Hot Bed" immediately triggered mass foot tapping as the Whigs were already hitting their stride. Tim Deaux (Bass) was adding background harmonies and a heart thumping bass line via his Gibson SG bass. The Whigs imbibe the essence of southern rock but assault it with a ferocity that I haven't seen in awhile. Vocal harmonies rained down once more for the southern fried "Production City". Parker kept the momentum alive with a rambling version "Right Hand On My Heart". It was impressive to see a trio conjure this much noise as each member was vital to their collective sound. The Whigs will be back in October with the Kooks playing the House of Blues Anaheim on the 27th and the Hollywood Palladium on the 28th. I probably will be at both shows.


Tokyo Police Club





I had mentioned in a prior review of We Barbarians that I will probably like your band if you play a Gibson Ripper bass. When Dave Monks (Bass/Vocals) approached the microphone with his own Gibson Ripper bass, it only took a few notes for me to be sold. Tokyo Police Club strategically mixes elements of Jawbreaker, Weezer and the Rentals for bash and pop caffeine fueled songs.

Graham Wright (Keyboards) was primarily anchored to his Alesis Micron keyboard frantically whipping up ascending or descending synth lines to the fast paced rock tunes. A twenty song setlist blazed by in 55 minutes as they raced through their tunes. "Box" kicked off their blazing set as Josh Hook (Guitars) worked in some colorful guitar squalls to racing bass line.
"Graves" had the requisite "oohs and aahs" hovering around the bursts of tremolo guitars. Elephant Shell is the latest release from Tokyo Police Club and clocks in at the 28 minute mark. The brevity of the album actually helps the band as it is very easy to hit the repeat button. I will admit I was suckered in by the combination of the Alesis Micron and strategic guitars of Josh.

"Your English Is Good" had people breaking out the dance moves and I even spotted a mini mosh pit. I wasn't surprised they covered The Rentals "Friends of P."."Tessellate" reminded me of an upbeat song from The Promise Ring. Tokyo Police Club capped their set with a number of selections from A Lesson In Crime and strongly closed the evening with "Be Good". Tokyo Police Club will head out with Angels & Airwaves as the openers for Weezer. I hope to catch either the Forum show on 10/17 or the Cox Arena show in San Diego on 10/17.

Tokyo Police Club pedalboard


Tokyo Police Club setlist at the Detroit Bar
"Box"
"Graves"
"In A Cave"
"If It Works"
"Sixties Remake"
"Juno"
"Your English Is Good"
"New New Song"
"Centennial"
"La Ferrassie"
"Cut Cut Paste"
"Friends of P."
"Nursery, Academy"
"Citizens Of Tomorrow"
"Tessellate"
"Shoulders & Arms"
"The Harrowing Adventures Of..."
"Nature Of The Experiment"
"Famous"
"Be Good"

The Alex Benefit at the Detroit Bar

Check out my review of We Barbarians, Delta Spirit, and some special guests at the OC Weekly here. The slideshow is here.

We Barbarians at the Detroit Bar

I just had to check in on the We Barbarians finale of their Monday residency at the Detroit Bar. I caught their first show of their residency a few weeks ago and was impressed with some of the new songs that they unfurled.

Greater California




Greater California from Long Beach played their sunny California indie pop in the vein that reminded me of Ben Folds Five crossed with the Beach Boys. Terry Prine (Vocals/Guitars/Keyboards) was behind his Roland VK-8 hammering out their Sunday morning tunes. It seems like they cooking up a few demos on their Myspace page for a future release. Greater California will be playing with The Year Zero at the Prospector on April 17th which should be a good show.

The Morning Benders






It was lucky show review number seven for The Morning Benders who continued their blitzkrieg on Southern California after two high profile shows with The Kooks at the Troubadour and Echo. I am anxiously awaiting their new album "Talking Through Tin Cans" due out in May. The Morning Benders slashed out the opening chords of "I Was Wrong" as Julian Harmon (Drums) started to smash his cymbals. The Morning Benders had a new look as Tim (Bass) was holding down the low end admirably. "Loose Change" is another drum shuffle display before Chris Chu (Guitars/Vocals) starts in on his Fender Telecaster. "Waiting For A War" is another catchy song with Joe Farrell (Guitars/Keyboards) hunched over his Rhoades keyboard playing a bouncy riff backed by a walking bass line. Chris dedicated "Crosseyed" to himself as he jokingly mentioned it was his 35th birthday. "Damnnit Anna" closed out their set with a good reception from the patrons of the Detroit Bar.

We Barbarians







We Barbarians continue to impress me and played their best show to date with a solid set to close out their residency. We Barbarians opened with a new song "Trickle Down" that is a slow burner with Davey Quon (Vocals/Guitars) weaving a reverb soaked guitar line before Derek Van Heule (Bass) adds his creeping bass. "Spun Out" really gets the show started with its faster paced tremolo guitars and drum furies by Nathan Warkentin. "In The Doldrums" is their debut EP and is quickly running out so I suggest you get to their myspace page and order one before it is gone. "There's This" is easily my favorite We Barbarians song and I hope the song will make it to their full length debut album. The dynamics of the song are excellent as it mixes fast tremolo guitars and heavy bass lines perfectly with Davey's distraught vocals. "Yesmen And Bumsuckers" has Davey alternating between his guitar and some haunting keyboards that starts at a slow tempo before blasting into overdrive."Walls" shows the urgency and desperation in their music as Davey sings "Don't let these walls... Close in". "War Clouds" closed out their all to brief forty minute set. We Barbarians will be playing with Tokyo Police Club at the Troubadour on March 26th and 27th so you better get your tickets now.

We Barbarians at the Detroit Bar

The Monday residency shows in January were so fierce that I missed We Barbarians at the Silverlake Lounge. I have been closely following We Barbarians ever since I saw their first show at the Detroit Bar. They also opened for the Cold War Kids at the Wiltern winning over a bunch of new fans. I managed to get a copy of their soon to be out of print limited EP "In The Doldrums" and recommend you get down to the Detroit Bar next Monday to get your copy before you pay Ebay prices.

Canon Blue




Monday night residencies are a great way to discover new bands that you might not ordinarily get a chance to see. This was certainly the case with Canon Blue. The gentlemen of Canon Blue hail from Nashville, Tennessee and opened the show with a bang. I haven't seen many bands armed with a guitar, drums and some Akai MPC's hit the stage. They list some of their influences as Autechre, Boards of Canada, and Bjork. Their overall sound was a musical stew of electronic tinged folk ambient space rock. It was airy at moments with a mixture of grit to change up the consistency. Canon Blue has a free downloadable EP that one can get from their Myspace site. Their set seemed to be criminally brief and another observation was that I noticed the bar chatter in the club was extremely low as many patrons were taking in their set. I wish I could catch them again but they departed back to Nashville. I don't know too much about the Nashville scene but I think Canon Blue could easily find a welcome home in California.


Aushua






Aushua generated some buzz before quietly returning back to the studio in order to work on a batch of new songs. I am excited about hearing their new material judging by their performance at the Detroit Bar. "Stained Glass Blues" was the first dose of cascading reverb soaked guitars led by the marching drum pattern of Lee Newyear. The song plays as an urgent call to arms of people rising up and taking action. Nathan Gammill (Guitars/Vocals) was backed by Eric Newyear(Guitars) and Phil Newyear(Bass) on vocal harmonies to make the song a great opener for their set. "Reverberation" was a new song that they debuted in September when I saw them and can testify that it sounded even sharper then I remembered with the vocal harmonies cementing the song in your playback mental memory. The chord changes within "Sister Saves" are dynamically genius and close out the set with punctuation mark. Aushua will be more then ready for another residency if not bigger things when they complete their album.

Aushua setlist at the Detroit Bar (2/4/2008)
"Stained Glass Blues"
"Soldier"
"Slowly To Me"
"In A Way"
"Reverberation"
"No Harm"
"Sister Saves"

We Barbarians






I correctly predicted a Detroit Bar residency in future of We Barbarians when I saw their first show. In the span of five months, one of their many missions are accomplished as they had a full room for the first night of their Detroit Bar residency. Derek Van Heule(Bass) started the evening on a fuzzy note with his Gibson Ripper bass on "White". If your band has a Gibson Ripper bass or Gibson Hollowbody bass, odds are stacked that I will like your band. We Barbarians played a newer song "There's This" which was a barnburner injected with dark tension as Nathan Warkentin (Drums) would yell out in the midst of the song. We Barbarians do an excellent job of hitting the listener in the gut with the primal force of drums and bass as major components of their sound with Davey Quon (Vocals/Guitars) providing the framework with his dark streaked voice and fiery reverb drenched guitar lines. I can't help but think they are referring to the music industry with their interestingly titled song "Yesmen and Bumsuckers". "In The Doldrums" sounds upbeat in contrast to the title of its name until Davey comes in vocals with his somber voice. "War Clouds" is another drum and bass assault with Davey providing his storytelling lyrics before the clouds rain with his falling guitars. We Barbarians will be heading out with Tokyo Police Club at the end of March but you still have plenty of time to catch them at the Detroit Bar before it is too late.


We Barbarians setlist at the Detroit Bar (2/4/2008)
"White"
"Walls"
"There's This"
"Yesmen and Bumsuckers"
"Sixes and Sevens"
"In the Doldrums"
"Black and Crooked"
"War Clouds"