Live Music

"It may be a surprise to hear the country rock sounds of Detroit's Deadstring Brothers coming from a city better known for loud rock and roll, but disillusionment can take many channels. Desolation, frustration and regret have always been present where great country music was played, and from its bombed-out inner city to its sterile suburbs, Detroit has its share. Deadstring Brothers

Sea Wolf is scheduled to take the stage this week over at the El Rey Theatre for a headlining performance in support of his latest album “Old World Romance”. You can see him on Friday, June 21st along with Savoir Adore who is also on the bill to open up the show. Tickets are still available to purchase online to check out Sea Wolf this week through Ticketmaster for $17.00 plus any additional service fees. But we do have a couple of tickets to send a few of you to the show for free! All you have to do to win tickets for Sea Wolf at El Rey Theatre is send us an email at DowntownLobby@gmail.com and make sure to include your full name and contact information. We will choose all winners at random and send them to the show for free! Get those entries in soon and you could be on your way! Purchase: Tickets for Sea Wolf at El Rey on 6/21

Monday night at DocFest at the Roxie I saw Magic Camp, a documentary about Tannen's Magic Camp, a week-long summer camp for magic geeks that takes place in what looks like an old English castle at Bryn Mawr College. The campers are overwhelmingly teenage males, & the film focuses on 5 of the most committed, who arrive with professional aspirations & hopes of winning the camp's magic competition. The filmmakers record fragments of classes, coaching sessions, performances, & random social interactions. Both the kids & camp staff can be embarrassingly earnest. We get small hints that for many of the campers their immersion in magic is an escape from difficult family backstories. They are real adolescents & not performing prodigies.A lot of the film is shot in low light & has the blurry look of a homemade YouTube video. The sound recording is similarly fuzzy, & some of the dialogue requires subtitles. Mood music plays under most scenes. The screening was held in the Roxie's uncomfortable 2nd theater. I overheard someone behind me say that they felt like they were in an airplane. Somehow the house lights came on prematurely during the movie's epilogue. The theater was at capacity, & the audience was amused by the film's many demonstrations of adolescent awkwardness.§ Magic Camp (2012)dir, Judd EhrlichUSA, 85 mins. 12th Annual SF DocFestRoxie TheatreMon, 6/17 7:00 PM

We hold a special place for the indie-pop sibling trio known as HAIM. One of the first shows we ever covered was with HAIM opening for The Bird & The Bee and [Post-foetus] (who later became Baths) at a Downtown loft back in 2009. Since then we’ve enjoyed seeing the band grow and move on to make some major noise. Now, the San Fernando Valley based band have announced that they will headline a show at The Fonda Theatre on Wednesday, October 16th. Good job HAIM. That’s their song “Falling” streaming below for your listening pleasure. Tickets to see HAIM at The Fonda Theatre will be going on sale starting on Friday, June 21st at 10 AM through AXS. Prices are set at $20.00 plus additional fees. Click on the link below to get you hands on some tickets and we strongly encourage that you check out this show in October. Purchase: Tickets for HAIM at The Fonda on 10/16

We’re excited to hear that synthpop singer Charli XCX has plans on coming to Los Angeles for a headlining show in support of her latest release “True Romance”. That’s her track “You (Ha Ha Ha)” streaming below. It’s infectious, you’ve been warned. For her upcoming visit to LA, Charli XCX plans on headlining a show at the El Rey Theatre on Thursday, September 5th and will be joined by Little Daylight to open up the night.  Tickets for Charli XCX at El Rey are set to go on sale starting on Saturday, June 22nd at 10 AM through Ticketmaster. Tickets will be going for $22.00 plus any additional service fees. You can buy your tickets through the links below. We suggest that you don’t miss out on Charli XCX when she comes into town in September! Purchase: Tickets for Charli XCX at El Rey on 9/5

Jack Johnson just finished recording his next album and has decided that it’s time to hit the road and play some songs off of  ”From Here To New York”. The singer-songwriter will be hitting some smaller theatres in North America and he will be coming to L.A. for a special show in the fall. You can see Jack Johnson when he takes the stage on Saturday, October 19th at the Orpheum Theatre. The tour also includes a show up in Santa Barbara at the Arlington Theatre on October 20th. These shows are going to be a little tougher to get into, but it’s to weed out those pesky scalpers. In order to get tickets for any of Jack Johnson’s upcoming tour dates, you must enter your name into a lottery. If chosen, you’ll receive an email with information on how you can buy your tickets to the show. Winners will be selected randomly on Monday, June 24th and contacted right after. No info on ticket prices as of now, but we’ll keep our eyes peeled for those details. Click on the link below for the page to enter the lottery. Enter: Tickets for Jack Johnson at Orpheum Theatre on 10/19

For the past couple weeks, I've been listening relentlessly to Phoebe Hunt's Live at the Cactus Cafe. I've been following Ms. Hunt since her days with The Belleville Outfit so I leaped at the chance to hear a preview version of her live CD. Why, first - I love her voice - sultry and sweet. And her fiddle. And the range of her musical influences. There's blues, gypsy jazz, old time jazz, western swing, country. You name it, it seems like she can sing it - authentically. This release is a little pop-ish then what I'm normally accustomed to, but paired with her pal, Reed Turner, hits home - as in Take Me Home. Hunt also covers former band mate Connor Forsyth in Before I'm Done - with Forsyth on the keyboards - that shows the range of her vocals. Very nice. As is Walk Away - my favorite track. This CD is also economical - 16 songs in total - with Turner leading with guitar plus his I Got Love. Still listen to Turner's Ghosts in the Attic on a regular basis and I think Live at the Cactus Cafe will join it in the rotation. Cheers.

Another Red Bull Sound Select will be taking place in July, and this time they’ll have Scottish indie rock band Frightened Rabbit headline the next event. They’ll be playing on Saturday, July 27th at the House of Blues on Sunset in support of their latest album “Pedestrian Verse”. Just like all other Sound Select events the opening lineup will feature some amazing local acts. Tapioca and The Flea, Gothic Tropic and HOTT MT are all on the bill to get the night going. This upcoming Sound Select will be completely FREE to attend! That’s right you can see Frightened Rabbit for nothing out of your pocket! All you have to do is RSVP and get your tickets. You can reserve them through the link below. Expect this to sell out fast! Click on the link and get yours soon! RSVP: Frightened Rabbit at HOB Sunset on 7/27

The Big Pink are in Los Angeles right now working finishing up their third studio album, but before they get that done they’ve announced that they will be holding down a month long residency. You can see The Big Pink in September when they play Monday nights at Bootleg Bar. That’s five Mondays and five chances to see them live.The best part about these residency nights? They’re completely free to attend! That’s right! each of these shows with the London based band are totally free to get in but they are 21 and over. We included their track “Stay Gold” below to give you a little taste of whats to come. September just got a little better and we can’t wait to see The Big Pink at Bootleg Bar!

Dave Chappelle will come out of retirement to co-headline the Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival and will be joined by a reunited Flight of the Conchords! That’s enough to get me to want to buy a ticket, but there’s more! Demetri Martin, Jim Jefferies, Hannibal Buress and a more will be performing at this multi-staged event which will tour through the US. There is a local show on the schedule which will take place on Sunday, September 15th at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine. Check out the announcement video that was released today after the jump below. Tickets for Oddball will go on sale starting on Friday, June 21st at 10 AM through Live Nation. Ticket prices are set at $95.00 plus any additional service fees. Click on the link below and get your tickets which are sure to move fast. Don’t miss out on your shot to see the return of Dave Chappelle and Flight of the Conchords live in September! Purchase: Tickets for Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival on 9/15