The Kills at the Observatory

The Kills will be descending into Southern California stopping by the Observatory on August 9th prior to their Outside Lands Gig in San Francisco. It is a pretty good opportunity to see Allison Mosshart up close and personal. Click here to get your tickets.

Fiona Apple at the Hollywood Palladium

Check out my photos of Fiona Apple at the Hollywood Palladium over at Stereogum.

Dirty Projectors at the Wiltern

Check out my photos of Dirty Projectors at the Wiltern over at Stereogum.

Dashboard Confessional at the House of Blues Anaheim

Chris Carrabba better known as Dashboard Confessional easily sold out the House of Blues Anaheim as he played a stacked twenty-four song set to throngs of adoring fans. Carrabba is touring to promote his new batch of cover songs entitled Covered In The Flood which includes covers from Cory Brenan, Big Star, R.E.M. and The Replacements.

Madi Diaz


Madi Diaz won over the crowd with her breezy acoustic tunes and charming smile as she unveiled tracks from her latest release Plastic Moon. Her cover of "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul was quite humorous. It would be interesting to see her with a full electric band. I would definitely keep an eye out for her judging from the appreciative response from the crowd.

Dashboard Confessional


Dashboard Confessional shows are a unique phenomena.  Fans sing just about every word to his songs to the point were Carrabba could actually just sit there a provide an acoustic guitar soundtrack and let the fans do the heavy singing. This wasn't the case as Carrabba worked through a marathon set hitting all of the crowd favorites.

Instead of throwing bras on stage, someone threw a Mickey Mouse ears hat embroidered with Chris's name.  While Chris mentioned he was having a good hair night, he relented and put on the hat for a quick photo opportunity.

Some of the many highlights of the set included "Swiss Army Romance", "Again I Go Unnoticed" and the fact that it was actually quiet for his Big Star cover of "I'm In Love With A Girl". Carrabba later mentioned on his Twitter account that this show was "one of his favorite shows ever".

Setlist:
01 "The Good Fight"
02 "Swiss Army Romance"
03 "As Lovers Go"
04 "Where There's Gold"
05 "This Bitter Pill"
06 "I'm In Love With A Girl"
07 "So Impossible"
08 "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most"
09 "Screaming Infidelities"
10 "The Sharp Hint of New Tears"
11 "Again I Go Unnoticed"
12 "Cold Comfort"
13 "Shirts and Gloves"
14 "Thick as Thieves"
15 "Carry This Picture"
16 "Don't Wait"
17 "Tall Green Grass"
18 "Ghost of a Good Thing"
19 "Dusk & Summer"
20 "You Have Stolen My Heart"
21 "Vindicated"
22 "Hands Down"
23 "Remember to Breathe"
24 "The Best Deceptions"

The xx at the Fonda Theater

Check out my photos of The xx at the Fonda Theater over at Stereogum.

Sea Wolf at the Observatory

Alex Church of Sea Wolf played his first gig in two years at a sold out show inside the Observatory at the Constellation room. Sea Wolf is gearing up to release their third album Old Time Romance on Dangerbird Records on September 11th. The new songs wove into his older material seamlessly and had that familiar trademark Sea Wolf swoon. Besides a broken guitar string and a some forgotten lyrics, it was a superb return to the stage given the long hiatus. It won't take too long for them to hit their touring form. I will be checking out the new album when it is released.

Setlist:
01 "The Traitor"
02 "Winter Windows"
03 "Dew In The Grass"
04 "Black Leaf Falls"
05 "White Water, White Bloom"
06 "Miracle
07 "Middle Distance Runner"
08 "The Rose Captain"
09 "Old Friend"
10 "Turn The Dirt Over"
11 "Wicked Blood"
12 "Black Dirt"
13 "You're A Wolf"

Shearwater at the Echo

Check out my photos of Shearwater at the Echo over at Stereogum.

Beach House at the House of Blues San Diego

Check out my photos of Beach House at the House of Blues San Diego over at Stereogum.

Juliana Hatfield at Q Division Studios

Check out my photos of Juliana Hatfield at Q Division Studios over at Stereogum.

The Offspring "Days Go By" party at Chronic Tacos in Huntington Beach

Check my photos of The Offspring "Days Go By" record release party at Chronic Tacos in Huntington Beach over at OC Weekly.

Also check out the Gringo Bandito taco eating competition pictures with Takeru Kobayashi at OC Weekly.

Lit at the House of Blues Anaheim

Almost 11 years ago I went to the grand opening of the House of Blues Anaheim to see Lit break in the venue. Well, both Lit and House of Blues Anaheim are still in business and bringing the rock to the masses of Orange County. Lit are touring in support of their new solidly rocking new album "The View From The Bottom" which was just released on Megaforce records. Check out the pictures above and the setlist below.

Setlist
01 "The Broken"
02 "Four"
03 "You Tonight"
04 "C'mon"
05 "Something to Someone"
06 "U-Turn"
07 "Looks Like They Were Right"
08 "She Don't Know"
09 "Lipstick and Bruises"
10 "Over My Head"
11 "Ziplock"
12 "Same Shit, Different Drink
13 "Miserable"
14 "Miss You Gone"
15 "Here's to Us"
16 "Last Time Again"
17 "The Wall"
18 "No Big Thing"
19 "My Own Worst Enemy"
20 "Peace Love and Understanding"
21 "Wrathchild"

Def Leppard at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

Check out my photos of Def Leppard at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater over at OC Weekly.

Ministry at Club Nokia

 Check out my photos of Ministry at Club Nokia over at OC Weekly.

The Offspring print feature for OC Weekly

Check out my print feature with from Dexter Holland of The Offspring over at OC Weekly.

Some excerpts from the interview were assembled into a Q&A post also at OC Weekly.

Thrice at the Observatory (6/18/12)

Thrice

The farewell tour for Thrice is winding down as this was the last night with openers O'Brother and Animals as Leaders. Thrice's final show will be a multi-hour affair with no openers at the Observatory.

O'Brother
 

O'Brother really blew me away. Tapping into a primordial sludge in the vein of Queens of the Stone Age, they are touring behind their full length album Garden Window. Check them out if you have a chance.

Animals As Leaders


Dueling detuned eight string Ibanez guitars. Yes. Animals as Leaders shredded the audience with their inspired gymnastic dancing on their 2x4 sized fretboards. One must see them live to grasp their musical talents by colliding off kilter drumbeats and ten ton hammer riffs. Their latest album is Weightless on Prosthetic records. Don't miss them when they play your city.

Thrice
 
Thrice received a hero's welcome when they appeared on stage. I've been a long time fan of Thrice dating back when I saw them film the video for "Deadbolt" at Chain Reaction in Anaheim. As it was one of their last shows, I decided to absorb their set and enjoy myself more as a fan instead of taking copious notes.

Setlist:
01 Yellow Belly
02 Image of the Invisible
03 The Artist in the Ambulance
04 Kill Me Quickly
05 Hold Fast Hope
06 Silhouette
07 In Exile
08 The Weight
09 All the World is Mad
10 At the Last
11 Promises
12 Words in the Water
13 Of Dust and Nations
14 The Earth Will Shake
15 The Messenger
16 Flags of Dawn
17 Stare at the Sun
18 Deadbolt
19 To Awake and Avenge the Dead
20 Beggars
21 Higher (Creed Cover by O'Brother)
22 Helter Skelter
23 Phoenix Ignition
24 T&C
25 Anthology

The Jesus and Mary Chain at the House of Blues San Diego

Check out my photos of The Jesus and Mary Chain at the House of Blues San Diego over at Stereogum.

Thrice at the House of Blues Anaheim

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

Van Halen at the Honda Center

Check out my photos of Van Halen at the Honda Center over at OC Weekly.

My review is also over at OC Weekly.