SoundDowntown in Santa Ana

Despite the blazing fires in the hills of Orange County and the flakes of ash visibly floating in the air, SoundDowntown was a success. SoundDowntown was an all day festival held at multiple venues in downtown Santa Ana. The lineup was as ecclectic as the city of Santa Ana offering a large number of bands from a wide range of musical genres.

Free The Robots


A storm of electronic beats and blips greeted me as I walked into the Yost Theater. Free The Robots were in the midst of their mind expanding set. Chris Alfaro was furiously tapping out beats and samples on his Akai MPC system while Phil Nisco was behind the keys of his Nord Electro 2. I remembered seeing Phil before during his last show at the Detroit Bar with Northern and was impressed with his abilities on the keys. Vintage Jazz and Heavy Metal collided as if they were being tested in a large hadron collider. An excellent way to start the evening.

Mika Miko





It was a 2 minute walk from the Yost to the Festival Hall to observe the musical madness of Mika Miko. My last encounter with Mika Miko was when they played with YACHT at the OCPAC. The darkened festival hall made a perfect setting for the lo-fi fractured rhythms of Mika Miko.

Jennifer Clavin (Vocals/Guitars) blasted out vocal jabs in her red telephone microphone as Jenna Thornhill (Vocals/Saxophone) piled on her shouting vocals when she wasn't slaying on the saxophone. Mika Miko played a way too short 30 minute set but did manage to blast through "Keep On Calling" and "I Got A Lot".

Sparrow Love Crew



A four minute walk placed me in front of the Proof Bar to soak up the positive hip-hop beats of the Sparrow Love Crew. Burgertime is their sonically delicious EP that is guaranteed to get your party started. Sparrow Love Crew constantly have been tweaking their songs by adding more hooks to their catchy jams. "Naidu" and "Nightlife" turned some heads at the Proof bar as DJ Opi Styles manned the 1's and 2's. I heard rumors of a new mixtape and some new material being recorded which should help widen their audience. I think if they played SxSw they gain a vast amount of notoriety.

The International Noise Conspiracy





What do Slayer, Neil Diamond, The Dixie Chicks and The International Noise Conspiracy have in common? The answer would be production credits by the esteemed Rick Rubin. The Cross of My Calling is the new rambuncous album from the self-proclaimed Socialist garage punk rockers.

Dennis Lyxzén (Vocals) didn't stop moving as he energetically paced the stage. It was a matter of seconds before he grabbed a sign from the audience that referenced the controversial decision of Proposition 8. "The Assassination of Myself" from their new album seethed as Inge Johansson (Bass) wielded his Rickenbacker bass as a weapon of dissent. The Yost Theater is primarily a seated venue but a large number of folks had amassed in the pit raising their fists while singing along. It didn't take long before they gun blasted through a handful of politically charged songs.

I already hear rumors of another SoundDowntown in 2009. If they continue to curate ecclectic line-ups and keep prices reasonable, this festival has the potential to reinvigorate the festival concert scene in Orange County.

Helmet at the House of Blues Anaheim

Did you regret not going to see Helmet at the Viper Room on Halloween when they played all of Strap It On? I was joined by heavy metal loving brother who was hoping for a repeat of their performance of their show at Canes in San Diego when they played all of Aftertaste. Which album would Helmet perform?

Bullets and Octane






Local favorites Bullets and Octane brought out their hard driving rock tunes to get the crowd warmed up. It turns out that Page Hamilton from Helmet produced their second album In The Mouth of The Young. Gene Bullets (Vocals) clutched a cigarette in his hand as his smoky voice complemented the double Gibson guitar assault for "Going Blind". Bullets and Octane played an eleven song set closing with "I Ain't Your Savior". A fair sized contingent of their fans cheered them on in front of the stage.


Fu-Manchu






If Black Sabbath surfed all day, skated in the afternoon and lived in Southern California they might have been Fu-Manchu. I have missed a few Fu-Manchu shows at the Detroit Bar and was eager to finally catch their super fuzzed out jams. I was also interested in watching Scott Reeder (Drums) demolish the drum kit as he used to drum for Costa Mesa legends Smile.

"California Crossing" was bombastic as the fuzz was turned up to eleven. Scott Hill (Vocals/Guitars) had a fleet of clear Ampeg guitars plugged into his Marshall TSL amplifier head. Bob Balch (Guitars) had a First act guitar plugged into his Marshall stack. Bob was also responsible for triggering the super sloshing swirl of phase from his MXR phaser 100. "King Of The Road" roared like modified Chevy El Camino as Brad Davis (Bass) and Scott Reeder were rhythmically locked in. Fu Manchu also did threw in a few moments of Slayer which was quickly pointed out by my brother. I will have to check out their latest release We Must Obey which has a cover of The Cars "Moving In Stereo".

Helmet






The crunchy guitar chords of "Pure" quickly confirmed my suspicions that Helmet would play Aftertaste in its entirety. I was impressed how well rehearsed Helmet was during their Viper Room show on Halloween. Helmet sounded even better blaring through the House of Blues soundsystem.

Dan Beeman (Guitars) had his Gibson Les Paul plugged into a Marshall amplifier while Page Hamilton (Vocals/Guitars) was able to have two VHT half stacks on the larger stage. I also spotted an Eventide Time Factor added to Page's pedalboard. Jon Fuller (Bass) nailed the slinky bass line breakdown for "Exactly What You Wanted". "Insatiable" and "Crisis King" were outstanding as they are some of the sharpest riffs in the Helmet catalog.

The band left the stage after completing all of Aftertaste and returned to the stage to take requests from the audience. "Wilma's Rainbow" from the album Betty elicited a large number of cheers from the crowd as it was executed flawlessly. Page mentioned he named the track "Ironhead" after Craig Heyward of the New Orleans Saints. I should also note that Page tried to cram as many songs in until the curfew as they exited with "Milktoast". Helmet will stop by the House of Blues San Diego along with Fu Manchu on December 10th and I speculate they may play all of Meantime.

Helmet setlist at the House of Blues Anaheim (11/12/08)
"Pure"
"Renovation"
"Exactly What You Wanted"
"Like I Care"
"Driving Nowhere"
"Birth Defect"
"Broadcast Emotion"
"It's Easy To Get Bored"
"Diet Aftertaste"
"Harmless"
"(High) Visibility"
"Insatiable"
"Crisis King"
"Role Model"
"Blacktop"
"Just Another Victim"
"Wilma's Rainbow"
"In The Meantime"
"Ironhead"
"Milktoast"

The Breeders at the Wiltern

"Divine Hammer" and "Cannonball" are worth the price of admission alone to see The Breeders at the Wiltern on Monday. Get your tickets here. Check out the photos and review here.

Hum reunion! Second show added!

Update: Check out the review here.

Hum sold out quickly after I posted about their reunion show at the Double Door on New Years eve. In case you missed out, Hum added a second show at the Double Door on January 1st! Get your tickets here. I can't believe I get to kick off 2009 with two shows of Hum. If anyone has suggestions where to stay in Chicago, hit me up.

Earlimart and Afternoons at the Echoplex

A new era dawned with the debut of Check One Twosdays at the Echoplex. As much as I enjoyed the light setup at the Viper Room, the Echoplex will draw a larger audience for those who were unwilling to make the trek down the Sunset Strip.

It is hard to believe that I have been attending these Check One..Two nights dating back to August 2007 when I saw Gliss, The Moderates, IO Echo and the Black Kites. Mr. Shovel has long been a champion of the local scene and I would speculate his presence forced KROQ to introduce their Locals Only program with Kat Corbett.

Red Cortez





Red Cortez proctored in the new spirit of the Check One Twosdays, as it was one of their first shows having previously being known as The Weather Underground. I caught the tail end of The Weather Underground when they opened for the Airborne Toxic Event at Spaceland and was impressed with the conviction of Harley Prechtel-Cortez (Vocals/Guitars).

Red Cortez had a batch of songs that mine the same Americana dirty blues rock as Delta Spirit, Cold War Kids and the Walkmen. I didn't catch too many song titles but I do remember the southern tinged gristle of "Neal Cassady". Calvin J. Love (Guitars) eschewed traditional guitar parts as he added oblique lines to the locomotive driven songs. Red Cortez will be stopping by the Detroit Bar on December 6th when they open for Little Joy.

Afternoons






As sad as I was to see the demise of Irving, Afternoons have tapped into a sound that is refreshing. I wouldn't be surprised if Dangerbird records steps up to the plate to sign them and release their debut album. A slow swirl of keyboards kicks off "Love is A Western Word" until Claire McKeown (Vocals) unfurls her operatic range and the guitars crash into the song. Brian Canning (Vocals/Guitars) handles the vocals with a deliberate pace as he strums his Gibson Hollowbody guitar.

If I could choose one song to be played at Barack Obama's inauguration, I would easily choose Afternoons's "Say Yes". I might have speculated that they wrote this song after Obama's victory if I previously hadn't heard the song. A wave of hope and positive reaffirmation infuses your soul upon hearing the smorgasbord of sounds. Afternoons had a four song EP available, but I hope to hear their full-length debut album soon.

Earlimart






How is it that I keep missing Earlimart? Aaron Espinoza (Guitars/Vocals) and Ariana Murphy (Bass/Keyboards) are the two principle members of Earlimart. They have been quite prolific releasing Mentor Tormentor and Hymn and Her within a year. Earlimart has a cinematic twinkle to their songs as I can imagine each of their tunes being incorporated into television or movies.

A crisp combination of breezy guitar chords formed the skeleton of "For The Birds". Aaron and Ariana carefully interweave their vocals together that complement the subtle bubbling keyboards. "Face Down In The Right Town" has the guitar structure similar to that of a lost Grandaddy song, but is carried to loftier heights with Aaron's soaring vocals. Aaron introduced "The Movies" as a song named after the locally worshipped music troupe. The fuzz came to the forefront with "Susan's Husband's Group" as Aaron switched to a Fender Jaguar. It was tempting to leave on a very high note but I soldiered on to see what was next.

Dazzler





A long change over occurred before Dazzler was finally ready to play. If your prior band name was Totally Radd, you have a lot to live up to in the name department. It was really late, but this did not stop some fans from crowding the barricade ready to take in some party jams. I stayed because I saw them setting up a Hohner Planet T keyboard, a keytar and an electronic drum set. Dazzler did throw down with their synthesizer heavy groove anthems with judicious use of the vocoder. "Cold Mountain" is a good example of their display of keyboards. Dazzler will be closing out every night of this month for the Check One Twosdays at the Echoplex.

Next week's Check One Twosdays looks to be a packed house for Everest, The Henry Clay People, Nico Stai and Dazzler. I am trying to switch my work schedule to make sure I can catch this show.