Bear In Heaven at the Echo

Check out my photos of Bear In Heaven, Twin Sister and Beach Fossils at the Echo over at Stereogum.

The Offspring and 311 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

Check out my photos of the Offspring and 311 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

Rage Against The Machine at the Hollywood Palladium

Check out my photos of Rage Against The Machine and Conor Oberst at the Hollywood Palladium over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

Queensryche at the Grove of Anaheim

Check out my photos of Queensryche at the Grove of Anaheim over at OC Weekly.

Tool at the Nokia Theater

Check out a few pics and a review of Tool at Nokia Theater over at OC Weekly.

MGMT at the Fox Theater in Pomona

Check out my photos of MGMT at the Fox Theater in Pomona over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

Thrice at the Fox Theater In Pomona

Check out my photos of Thrice at the Fox Theater in Pomona over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

Kings of Leon at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

Check out my photos of Kings of Leon at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

Admiral Radley at the Hammer Museum

Check out my photos of Admiral Radley at the Hammer Museum over at Stereogum.

Dum Dum Girls at the Detroit Bar

Check out my photos of Dum Dum Girls at the Detroit Bar over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

A Place To Bury Strangers at Spaceland

As a devoted fuzz and pedal fanatic, A Place To Bury Strangers immediately catapulted into my realm of favorite bands when I saw them in December of 2007 at the Viper Room. Needless to say, my schedule was cleared once A Place To Bury Strangers announced their show at Spaceland.

Useless Keys





My busy concert schedule has prevented me from catching a lot of the local up and coming bands that have been popping up on my radar. Useless Keys have long been on my list to check out and they did not disappoint. Their impressive EP, Is The Painting Changing shows a number of facets of their musical potential.

Michael Bauer (Guitars/Vocals) aggressively attacked his left handed Fender Stratocaster unleashing squeals of fuzz from his Big Muff distortion pedal. Rounding out their sound is Michael Regilio on his Gibson SG guitar, Rory Modica on drums and Guylaine Vivarat on bass. Some of the highlights of their set were "Down Threw", "Seabells" and the fiery closer "White Noise". I will be looking for their full length album when it comes out.

Light Pollution




After the fuzz storm of Useless Keys, the ambient textured synthesizer songs of Light Pollution struggled to grasp the Spaceland audience. If Light Pollution had opened prior to Useless Keys, the dynamics of their sound might have came across better. They did have their supporters as I ran into Martin Klingman of Gliss who came out to check out their set.

Lead singer James Cicero alternated between his guitar and a Korg MS2000b while unveiling tracks from their upcoming album Apparitions which is to be released on Carpark records. Even though the crowd was growing restless, Light Pollution quickly worked through their set. I would need to check them out again to form a better opinion.

A Place To Bury Strangers






Touring in support of their excellent album, Exploding Head and recently released EP I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart, A Place To Bury Strangers wrapped up their West Coast tour at Spaceland. When I caught APTBS at the El Rey, they had a new line up that included Dion Lunadon on bass. While I thought it would be difficult to replace Jonathan Smith's propulsive Gibson Thunderbird bass playing, Lunadon has found his place with a fierce attacking style via his Fender Mustang bass.

Minimal stage lighting and fog soon filled Spaceland disorienting your senses. While I wasn't feeling that well on this particular night, the torrent of noise that was unleashed magically improved my mood. "In Your Heart" was the equivalent of going from 0-60mph instantaneously with its bombardment of sound. The unrelenting drumming of Jay Weilmeister was impressive as his hands were a blur for "I Know I'll See You" which is performed much faster compared to the recorded version.

It was surprising to hear "Girlfriend" from their newly released EP and its sound aesthetic could have easily found a home on Exploding Head. The buzzsaw attack of "Ego Death" was pulverizing as Lunadon crushed the bass riff in between the blasts of noise from Ackermann who triggered the white noise on a modified wah pedal. A see saw guitar riff backed by a buzzy bass line fortified the structure of a new song "Leaving Tomorrow" which made me wish my camera had video.

"Exploding Head" was phenomenal watching Ackermann strum his Fender Jaguar while using the tremolo arm to give the song a watery feel. A severe amount of disorienting tremolo guitars kicked everyone's face in during "To Fix The Gash In Your Head". Ackermann crafted a miniature symphony of feedback as the intro to "Deadbeat" which transitions into a '60s spy movie car chase theme.

Once the seizure inducing strobe lights were triggered,everyone knew that it was time for their epic closer of "Ocean". The band went crazy destroying the stage as Lunadon hammered his bass onto some poor pedals on the ground while Ackermann punctured the bass drum with the headstock of his guitar. It was terrifying and exhilarating being so close to the destruction at the front of the stage. When lights turned back on, the band members had disappeared and a barrage of broken gear occupied a stage. Easily one of the top shows of the year.

The Henry Clay People at Fingerprints Records

The Henry Clay People have long established themselves as darlings of Los Angeles music scene with their tireless gigging. I can't think of a local venue the band hasn't played in the last two years. While most bands stick to the immediate Silverlake locales, The Henry Clay People did a residency down in Costa Mesa at the Detroit Bar to geographically widen their fanbase.


I first caught Henry Clay People at the tiny Prospector in Long Beach in February 2008 and knew big things were in store for the band. Some of the various puzzle pieces that came together include being managed by C3, scoring a deal with TBD records, and support from Aquarium Drunkard who released their full length album For Cheap or For Free on Autumn Tone records.


Things continue to shine brighter for the Henry Clay People as they are in the midst of a national tour supporting Silversun Pickups. Prior to their departure, the Henry Clay People celebrated with a packed record release party at Spaceland and treating the folks at Fingerprints Records for a free performance in support of their latest album Somewhere On The Golden Coast.


The stage at Fingerprints couldn't contain all the members of the Henry Clay People as Jordan Hudock had his keyboard stationed to the side of the stage while drummer Eric Scott was obscured behind bassist Jonathan Price. Henry Clay People shows are renowned for being fueled by lots of energy, volume and topped with a shot of whiskey.


Andy Siara displayed his slide guitar skills for the woozy "Slow Burn" while his brother Joey Siara jangled away on his Rickenbacker guitar. "End of An Empire" is a straight ahead rock song highlighted with its frantic piano notes. Taking requests from the crowd for cover songs, "Can't Hardly Wait" by the Replacements and "Knowledge" by Operation Ivy were easily tackled by the band. Henry Clay People will be back in Los Angeles at the Greek Theater on 8/6 so make sure you show up early and sneak in your metal flask.

The Smashing Pumpkins at the Viper Room

Check out my photos of the Smashing Pumpkins at the Viper Room over at Stereogum.

The xx at the House of Blues San Diego

Coachella seemed liked a haze running around from stage to stage in order to capture as many bands as possible. One of the few sets that I vividly remember not wanting to leave was during The xx. Initially, their debut album didn't click with me right away but somehow their icy, cool tunes gained a sheen of repeat listening warmth.

Phantogram






A large white scrim hung in front of the stage positioned as the target for Phantogram's array of visuals that blended well with their arresting electronica laced dream pop. Supporting their latest release on Barsuk records Eyelid Movies, Phantogram conjured various twinkling synthesizers, pulsating synthesizer bass lines and textured guitars to hypnotize the audience.

The mix for Phantogram was criminally low as chatty patrons in the back of the bar were overpowering the band on stage. "Mouthful of Diamonds" was not nearly as propulsive as it should have been due to the lack of volume. Some fans in the front were yelling in between songs to tell the band to turn it up. Unfazed by the sound problems, Sarah Barthel and Josh Carter still managed to pull off a solid set.

Another visual aspect of their show that should be noted was their intermittent use of strobe lights during the noisy parts of their set that blitzed your sensorium. Despite the sound problems, Phantogram is on my list of bands to check out when they come back around the area.

The xx







Icy. Calculated. Cool. These are just some adjectives that raced across my mind while watching The xx. Ever since I started photographing concerts, paying attention to lighting is a vital component to capturing the right moment. The lighting director for The xx deserves an award for their outstanding use of lighs in a concert setting.

A large white scrim flashed the shadows of Romy Croft and Oliver Sim while they initiated the tension mounting "Intro". When the scrim dropped, the band immediately started into "Crystalised". The lighting director methodically alternated the spotlight between Croft and Sim when they were trading vocals. Visually, it made the members pop out of thin air and vaporize instantly after singing their respective part.

Knowing the songs was key for the first three songs as I quickly aimed my camera back and forth. The sparseness of "Islands" was impressive with Sim adding some extra kick on his sliding bass notes. Croft deftly handed the ringing guitar notes of "Heart Skipped A Beat" while Jamie Smith pounded away at his electronic drum pad.

Things became moody with the calm quietness of "Shelter" as the tension building guitars would ignite momentarily before quickly folding back into a wash of reverb. The lack of drums throughout the track pulls in the listener and adds a shade of contrast to the bleakness of the song.

Twinkling keyboards of "VCR" elicited cheers from the crowd as many started to sing along. The xx would sequentially tackle "Basic Space", "Infinity" and "Night Time" to close their main set. The background of the stage changed to numerous illuminated "Stars" for another visual ace serving as the perfect encore.

The fire alarms that went off before The xx played should have sounded at the ending of their set. It was that good. The xx will be back on 9/22 at the Hollywood Palladium.

Psychedelic Furs at the Grove of Anaheim

Check out my photos of the Psychedelic Furs and She Wants Revenge at the Grove of Anaheim over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

Pantha Du Prince at the Echo

Check out my photos of Pantha Du Prince at the Echo over at Stereogum.

A Place To Bury Strangers and The Big Pink at the El Rey Theater

The pairing of The Big Pink and A Place To Bury Strangers was not for those faint of ear. The audience collectively lost a tiny percentage of their hearing at the El Rey Theater. I severely lagged in posting these pictures but figured I would wait awhile to give everyone a reminder that they should get tickets to A Place To Bury Strangers at Spaceland this Saturday.

A Place To Bury Strangers





The Big Pink