Last Shot: Surviving with Quicksand

Check out my eighteenth Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

Austra at the Troubadour

Check out my photos of Austra at the Troubadour over at Stereogum.

Last Shot: Working a Steady Job while Fighting Cancer

Check out my seventeenth Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

Camera Obscura at the Wiltern

Check out my photos of Camera Obscura at the Wiltern over at Stereogum.

Atoms For Peace at Club AMOK

Check out my photos of Atoms For Peace at Club AMOK over at Stereogum.

Alkaline Trio at the House of Blues Anaheim

Check out my photos of Alkaline Trio at the House of Blues Anaheim over at OC Weekly.

Last Shot: The Roller Coaster of Cancer

Check out my sixteenth Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Fonda Theatre (6/11/13)

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers capped their stellar six-night residency at the Fonda Theatre on a high note. Having been fortunate enough to catch their second night at the Fonda for Stereogum, it was hard to pass up the opportunity to photograph the legendary band one last time.

The Fonda Theatre was completely transformed for this six night run as everything from the lighting, the stage monitors and the air conditioned vents that blasted air directly to Tom Petty were brought in to make Petty look, sound and feel great. Petty is a class act and was all smiles as he kicked into "So You Want To Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star" strumming away at his gorgeous blonde Fender Telecaster.

Mike Campbell's guitar tone was simply phenomenal. It was probably the best live overdriven tone I've heard in ages as he switched out through an assortment of valuable guitars. The flight cases containing their guitars were probably worth more than the cumulative amount of money spent by the audience to attend the show. Both Petty and Campbell switched to Rickenbacker guitars for the hypnotic jangle of "Listen To Her Heart".

Petty hinted that it would be a long night and that the audience may have to pay the babysitter extra which garnered some cheers from the appreciative audience. In another class act move, Petty offered refunds for those who attended the fourth night of their run which was cut short due to a fire marshall claiming the floor was too crowded.

While the setlist pulled from prior nights, it is hard to complain about hearing "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" alongside "Rebels" and "Two Gunslingers". The four song hit parade to close out their set is a practice in audience karaoke as everyone sang along to "Refugee", "Runnin' Down A Dream", "You Wreck Me" and "American Girl". Tom Petty will probably return to the arena and amphitheatre touring circuit but hopefully you were lucky enough to catch one of these memorable shows.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers setlist (6/11/13)
"So You Want To Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star"
"Love Is A Long Road"
"Listen To Her Heart"
"Baby, Please Don't Go"
"Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)"
"The Best of Everything"
"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone"
"A Woman In Love (It's Not Me)"
"Kings Highway"
"I'd Like To Love You Baby"
"Tweeter And The Monkey Man"
"Rebels"
"Two Gunslingers"
"Time To Move On"
"Image of Me"
"Willin'"
"Melinda"
"I Should Have Known It"
"Refugee"
"Runnin' Down A Dream"
"You Wreck Me"
"American Girl"

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Wiltern

Between all the chemotherapy and number of years that have passed, I have lost my count of Black Rebel Motorcycle shows.  I do remember a particular great show by them at Canes in San Diego during their second album. Since October of 2006 when I started my site, I have 11 accounts of seeing Black Rebel Motorcycle Club live and they all have been solid shows.

thenewno2


It has been awhile since I caught up with thenewno2.  Fronted by Dhani Harrison, thenewno2 are touring in support of their latest release Thefearofmissingout. thenewno2 have three guitarists with a heavy arsenal of modulation effects, moody atmospherics and swirling keyboards that will inevitably bring comparisons to Radiohead. They worked through a strong set that included "Station", "Timezone" and "I Won't Go". thenewno2 are working on a soundtrack to the movie Beautiful Creatures as their next release.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club


Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are not known for having brightly lit shows. Two isolated flood lights provided just a sliver of light as the brooding bass of "Let The Day Begin" begun to echo throughout the Wiltern. In his trademark black leather jacket and hoodie, Robert Levon Been held up his red Gibson hollowbody bass and attacked it fearlessly.

It was a full on sonic assault for the rest of the evening as "Rival" and "Red Eyes and Tears" got the crowd worked up. Leah Shapiro was rock solid behind her drum, tirelessly pounding away without missing a beat. She is definitely one of the more underrated drummers out there in the rock world. Peter Hayes had his huge guitar setup of two Fender half stacks and a Marshall half stack blaring at a volume beyond ten to blend in perfectly with his bandmates.

"Hate The Taste" from their new album Specter at the Feast served as the perfect transition to a foot stomping and hand clapping version of "Beat The Devil's Tattoo". The hounds of hell were unleashed for a white hot rendition of "Whatever Happened to My Rock 'N' Roll (Punk Song)". The momentum didn't stop as their hits kept coming with "Ain't No Easy Way" and "Berlin".

Hearing old favorite "Love Burns" brought back memories of seeing BRMC in the clubs giving it their all. I eventually remembered that I saw them at the Wiltern back in 2007 during the Baby 81 tour. Things took a turn for the introspective as slower songs "Promise", "Some Kind Of Ghost" showed how BRMC can be just as powerful at lower volumes.

The trio of older gems "White Palms", "Six Barrel Shotgun" and "Spread Your Love" had me on cloud nine with their mix of razor sharp bass and super fuzzed out guitars. It was the perfect way to close out their main set. Even though they have been touring tirelessly since April, BRMC came back for an inspiring encore of "Sell It" and "Lose Yourself". They were just as good, if not better for their tour closer at the Observatory the next night with a red hot version of "US Government".

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Setlist at the Wiltern
"Let The Day Begin"
"Rival"
"Red Eyes And Tears"
"Hate The Taste"
"Beat The Devil's Tattoo"
"Whatever Happened To My Rock 'N' Roll (Punk Song)"
"Ain't No Easy Way"
"Berlin"
"Returning"
"Love Burns"
"Promise"
"Some Kind Of Ghost"
"Fire Walker"
"Funny Games"
"Conscience Killer"
"In Like A Rose"
"Lullaby"
"White Palms"
"Six Barrel Shotgun"
"Spread Your Love"
"Sell It"
"Lose Yourself"

Ink and Iron Day 1 at the Queen Mary

Check out my photos from the Ink and Iron Festival at the Queen Mary over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.

Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson at the Gibson Amphitheater

Check out my photos of Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson at the Gibson Amphitheatre over at OC Weekly.

Last Shot: Meeting Meshuggah

Check out my fifteenth Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Fonda Theatre

Check out my photos of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Fonda Theatre over at Stereogum.

Queens of the Stone Age at Apogee's Berkeley Street Studio

Check out my photos of Queens of the Stone Age at Apogee's Berkeley Street Studio over at Stereogum.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Observatory

Check out my photos of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Observatory over at OC Weekly.

CHVRCHES at the Fonda Theatre

Check out my photos of CHVRCHES at the Fonda Theatre over at Stereogum.

Fleetwood Mac at the Honda Center

Check out my photos of Fleetwood Mac at the Honda Center over at OC Weekly.

Stones Fest at the Fonda Theatre

Check out my photos of Stones Fest at the Fonda Theatre over at Stereogum.

Last Shot: The Difficulty of Updating My Friends About My Health

Check out my fourteenth Last Shot column about my battle with Stage IV colon cancer over at OC Weekly.

The Presets and Dragonette at the Avalon

The Avalon was sold out for the co-headlining tour of The Presets and Dragonette. Along with electronic producers Classixx, it was a synthesizer fueled dance party. I had missed Dragonette on prior tours and was intrigued to catch them. The Presets have long been a favorite of mine dating back to when I saw them at Spaceland in 2006.

Classixx


Classixx also have come a long way since I saw them back in 2008 opening for Cut Copy at the Echoplex. Michael David and Tyler Blake have added more live instrumentation to their engaging live set instead of hunkering behind a laptop. While their list of remix credits are impressive, Classixx recently released their own full length debut album Hanging Gardens.

Dragonette


Billed as a co-headline tour, Dragonette are still on the road touring in support of their latest release Bodyparts. Their popularity has surged due to the ever present song "Hello" by Martin Solveig that features Martina Sorbara's vocals. Dragonette got the dance party whipped up into a frenzy early on as Sorbara danced around the stage like an energetic cheerleader while nailing her vocal parts.

It was impressive to see Joel Stouffer rock a Roland electronic drum kit while Dan Kurtz handled an accoutrement of synthesizers and some bass. The audience were throwing their hands up in the air as they danced frantically to "Pick Up The Phone". Other highlights include "Live In This City", "Run Run Run", "Untouchable" and "I Get Around". Dragonette are finishing up their run of US dates and will probably be back soon.

The Presets


The Presets have never let me down in the live department. I caught them earlier on this tour at Club Nokia and was excited to see them again. Julian Hamilton was stationed behind his Dave Smith Instruments Prophet '08 and Korg MS-20 keyboards while Kim Moyes manned his drum kit for some live drumming for most of the set.

Pacifica is their third album and "Push" kicked things off with its glittery chirping synthesizers and Moyes steady beat.  Hamilton would occasionally pull away from his keyboard to get the audience stirred up. "Girl And The Sea" is still one of my favorite tracks from their debut album Beams and sounded pristine.

The Presets knew how to keep the audience grooving as they whipped through "Promises", "Ghosts", "This Boy's In Love" before dipping back into "I Go Hard I Go Home". Things really heated up when they played "Youth In Trouble" and closed out their main set with "My People".  The encore featured a slamming "Are You The One?" and a closing salvo of "Talk Like That". It was a great synthesizer night.