Live Music

FINALLY! We’ve been waiting for a local Los Angeles show with A Tribe Called Quest, and it looks like it will finally happen in August. The reunited hip-hop group have performed a few shows here and there, but always seem to skip us Angelenos for some reason. They will be headlining the H20 Festival which blends both English and Spanish acts. Last years event flew under the radar and we’re surprised that it’s coming back! The rest of the lineup for this years H20 Festival is not that great, but they will have Big Boi, La Santa Cecilia and some other dude called Ne-Yo (bleh). You can see the full lineup through the festival website and more are expected to be announced in the near future. But lets be real, I would let Miguel leg drop me a couple times just to see Tribe perform live. This will be taking place on Saturday, August 17th at L.A. Historic Park. The same location as FYF and HARD Summer. Tickets for H20 are available to purchase online now through Ticketmaster and range between $39.50 - $95.00 plus additional service fees. This is a rare appearance by A Tribe Called Quest and is not to be missed! Click on the link below to buy tickets. Purchase: Tickets for H20 Festival at L.A. Historic Park on 8/77

This is sad festival news that we don’t want to hear. Bloomfest producers have announced today that Bloomfest will be postponed to the fall. October 16th is the date that is floating around right now but not confirmed as the festival might be cancelled all together. Bloomfest has brought us some amazing acts in the past years including, Grouplove, The Neighborhood, Superhumanoids, NO and more. We even got to produce our own stage last years event, so this is really sad for us to hear.  So what’s the reason why Bloomfest is postponed? Here is a bit from the statement made from the organizers: “BloomfestLA will be postponed this summer, according to a LARABA board report at the April 2013 meeting. The decision was made two months after event producers Edgar Varela and Melissa Richardson Banks shared that they were unable to produce the event this year due to “an increase in projects and clients for our own successful full-time businesses, the impact of local construction on the area’s available parking for a large-scale event, and escalating costs of presenting a free community festival on the streets of Los Angeles.” …the impact of local construction on the area’s available parking for a large-scale event, and escalating costs of presenting a free community festival on the streets of Los Angeles. For the past two years, we were in a position to donate our expertise and services that resulted in BloomfestLA becoming such a resounding success. Unfortunately, with heavy hearts, we came to realize that it was not the case for 2013.” We do hope Bloomfest returns in October and doesn’t go away for good. This was a great free event for the whole family that dedicated itself to good up and coming talent in a beautiful section of Downtown Los Angeles. We’ll keep you guys posted if any more info comes out in the future.

Didn’t get a chance to see Fitz & The Tantrums at the sold out Weenie Roast this past weekend? Worry not, because the band have announced that they will be coming back to Los Angeles for another headlining show in support of their sophomore release “More Than Just a Dream”. You can see Fitz & The Tantrums on Saturday, July 27th at The Wiltern. Their live show is always a good time and the new album is one of our favorites of the year so far. Tickets for Fitz & The Tantrums at The Wiltern will go on sale starting on Friday, may 31st at 10am through Live Nation. Ticket prices will range between $25.00-$27.00 plus any additional service fees. Click on the link below to get your hands on those tickets and don’t miss out on Fitz & The Tantrums in July! Purchase: Tickets for Fitz & The Tantrums at Wiltern on 7/27

There’s a pretty solid lineup coming into Downtown L.A. tonight as The Black Angels will be headlining a show in support of their latest release “Indigo Meadow”. The psychedelic rock band will be joined by Hanni El Khatib and Wall of Death to open up the night. This will all be going on at the Mayan Theatre tonight (May 22nd). Tickets are still available to purchase online through Ticketmaster for $23.00 plus fees. But we’ve got your free tickets to see The Black Angels live. All you have to do to win these tickets is send us an email at DowntownLobby@gmail.com and include your full name and contact information. We will choose all winners at random. Get your entry in soon and you could be on your way to see The Black Angels tonight at the Mayan Theatre. In the meantime check out the band’s track “Don’t Play With Guns” to hold you over. Purchase: Tickets for The Black Angels at The Mayan on 5/22

Laura Stevenson Club Cafe Wednesday, May 22, 2013 Southside "Some day in the not too distant future, America will dip its corners deeper into the ocean, the waves ever grinding at its shores as tectonic plates shift and sink. The effect of melting icecaps on the beaches of her native Long Island is one of the triggers for Laura Stevenson’s worrying mind, as she struggles with the

More festival announcements to be made! This is a new one that will be taking place in the west side in October. Festival Supreme will make its debut this year and take over the Santa Monica Pier for a day of music and comedy mashed up with carnival rides and games. The only act that has been announced so far with be the almighty Tenacious D. The full line up will hopefully be revealed in the near future. Head over to Festival Supreme’s official website for a couple clues on who will be playing. This is all scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 19th on the pier.  No ticket onsale information for Festival Supreme has been mentioned, but we suggest that you sign up for the fest’s newletter to get anymore updates as they are released. We’ll also keep you guys updated as soon as we find anything out.  Purchase: Tickets for Festival Supreme at Santa Monica Pier on 10/19

Live review: Silent Cities ‘Eigenlicht’ EP launch Support from Thom Morecroft & The Full Moon Band, Magic Arm, Mr Wolf Collective @LEAF on Bold St Saturday 18th May 2013 Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Silent Cities EP launch party entitled ‘Eigenlicht’, organised by Mellowtone and Rebel Soul. ‘Eigenlicht’, for those of the less Germanic persuasion amongst us, is the colour your eyes see when it’s perfectly dark. Very strange, very mysterious, very Silent Cities. Just try to imagine that this word set the tone for whole evening and you’ll begin to get an understanding of how the evening looked and sounded. I entered a little bit early feeling slightly awkward, as I’d never been allowed early entry to anywhere prior to this gig! I claimed a seat somewhere in the back and watched the world flurry by as the set teams constructed a fifteen high tree arch round the stage, set up no less than five projectors for the visuals overall, and build an entire puppet set before the gig! Finally when everything was ready, all the lighting set up, candles flickering on table tops and a giant gothic hand projected behind me with word Eigenlicht emblazed across it we were ready to go. I felt like I had wandered into some surreal fairy tale from a Grimm’s bedtime story and nothing could have suited the night more. First on the line-up were Thom Morecroft and the Full Moon Band from Liverpool, playing jazzy, heart-warming folk music that worked as a perfect opening for the night. From using the full band for the faster paced songs to taking the stage solo for a little more intimacy each and every song was one I wanted to hear again. I got a great sense of range from these guys with slower more melodic numbers and other up tempo more playful songs like “The French Girl” I found myself getting a little bit lost in the music. What really got me about the performance, aside from the competently composed songs, were the lyrics. The way the words fell and the topics they covered displayed a maturity far outstretching Thom’s own age. Next up was Magic Arm from Manchester and I still, truthfully, don’t know how to describe what I heard, which I must say is a wonderful thing for me as a listener. I sat there thinking, “What does this sound like?” but came up blank. Using a wide variety of instruments I won’t pretend to understand, backed up by his resident drummer and violinist, Magic Arm creates something of a haunting lullaby rooted in experimental folk. This guy transcends genre, and will continue to refuse musical categorisation with his innovative use of multi-instruments and effects. I would love to hear Music Arm’s music as the soundtrack for a major film; this is music that creates pictures in your head when you choose to close your eyes to it. In the middle of the night we were given a special treat that I was completely un-prepared for, a shadow puppet show brought to life by the Mr. Wolf Collective. An eerie show of professional quality, the amount of time, practice and dedication that performance must have taken is staggering to imagine. A fantastic addition to the night! Then it was time for Silent Cities to take to the stage, the moment we had all been waiting for. Silent Cities (Simon Maddison) is a one man act who on this special occasion was joined on stage by an accompanying four piece band. Let me say his proficiency with guitar and vocals was an astonishing, resonating heartfelt expression that coursed out through the speakers into the room and settled like it wasn’t real. After the first few songs the band departed leaving him to do what he does best and I have to say the band was brilliant but Silent Cities is something that needs no additions in my opinion. In one song, “All Ghosts Are Tiny Travellers” we heard one man create an orchestra of sound with only his guitar and voice. Silent Cities is chorus unto himself, pure, unbroken falsetto executed perfectly in sync with finger

Goldenvoice have released details on the inaugural debut of First City Festival. That’s right, the same people behind Coachella will be heading into Northern California to kick off a new fest in Monterey. The lineup has been announced today and will include performances by Modest Mouse, Passion Pit, MGMT, beach house, Toro Y Moi, Devendra Banhart, Purity Ring, Dr. Dog, The Hold Steady, Tennis, Bleached and so many more. The full lineup can be seen afer the jump below. This will all be taking place on August 24th and 25th at Monterey County Fair & Event Center which is an hour south of San Francisco. Do those dates sound familiar? They should, because First City Festival will be the same weekend as FYF Fest here in Los Angeles. Tickets for the two day festival will go on sale starting on Friday, May 31st at 10am through Frontgate tickets. A 2-day general admission pass will go for $149.50 and a VIP pass will set you back $279.50 plus fees. You can also get unlimited carnival rides for $22 bucks. A payment plan is also available so you don’t have to drop all the cash at once. Not a bad reason to head up north this summer! Purchase: Tickets for First City Festival at Monterey Event Center on 8/24-8/25

Tyler The Creator will be heading into Pomona this week to perform a headlining show at the Fox Theater in support of his latest record “Wolf”. You can check him out on Wednesday, May 22nd when he is joined by special guest Earl Sweatshirt! Tickets for this show are still available to purchase online through Ticketmaster for $29.50 plus additional service fees. We’ve got one pair of tickets to giveaway to send a reader to see Tyler The Creator for free! If you want to enter to win, all you have to do is scroll down to the widget below after the jump. Enter in your email address or use your Facebook account. There are also additional ways to enter to better your chances. We will choose all winners at random. Get your entry in soon and you could be on your way to see Tyler The Creator and Earl Sweatshirt as our special guest! Purchase: Tickets for Tyler The Creator at Fox Theater on 5/22

James Blake has just announced a massive tour that will travel all across North America this year. The tour will bring Blake into Los Angeles for not just one, but two local shows to kick off the NA leg. You can catch the singer-songwriter when he headlines the Wiltern on Tuesday, October 22nd or wait a day and see him perform at Hollywood Forever Cemetery on October 23rd. You can take a look at the full tour schedule after the jump below.  Ticket onsale information on both of these James Blake shows at the Wiltern and Hollywood Forever has not been released just yet. We’ll be keep our eyes peeled for details and get that back to you guys as soon as possible! These are two great venues to see Blake live, and expect them both to be fast sell outs. Use the links below to purchase tickets for James Blake in the fall. UPDATE: Tickets for the Wiltern show will go on sale starting on Thursday, May 23rd for $35.00 plus fees. Tickets for the Hollywood Forever show will be outdoors on the lawn and tickets will go on sale starting on Thursday, May 23rd at 11am for $40.00 plus fees. Purchase: Tickets for James Blake at Wiltern on 10/22 Purchase: Tickets for James Blake at Hollywood Forever on 10/23 10/22 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern 10/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery 10/24 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues 10/25 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom 10/27 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues 10/28 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s 10/29 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues 10/30 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic 10/31 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works 11/02 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club 11/03 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club 11/04 – Philadelphia, PA@ Union Transfer 11/05 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues 11/06 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 11/07 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 11/09 – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis 11/11 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Michigan Theater 11/13 – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theatre 11/14 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom 11/15 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue 11/16 – Iowa City, IA @ The Englert Theatre 11/19 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre 11/20 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo 11/21 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater