I <3 BRMC

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club + The Black Angels = Fantastic Night

Location: The Wiltern
When: Last night

Best part of the night: Seeing both BRMC AND the Black Angels. The surprise for us is that the Black Angels weren’t suppose to be at that show. But since the original opening band had to cancel, the Black Angels filled in. Fantastic show. My (new) idea of heaven involves seeing these two bands play for eternity.

Second best part of the night: Great seats. Let me just say that there is no bad place to stand in the Wiltern. But, last night we managed to grab a table right behind the soundboard so we were able to sit AND have an unobstructed view of the stage. Awesome.

Third best part of the night: the idea of grabbing a donut after the show at one of the many 24 hour donut shops that litter southern California.

Worst part of the night: biting into the donut I’d been eagerly anticipating all night long only to realize it was dry and stale.

Random sighting of the night: Seeing the Griffith Park fires up close, as we were on the 10. We could see the flames and the huge cloud of smoke that rose from the fires and blanketed the downtown-scape.

Coachella 2007

Favorite acts

1) LCD Soundsystem

2) Arcade Fire

3) Amy Winehouse

4) The Decemberists

5) Gogol Bordello

6) Brazilian Girls

7) Lily Allen

8) Jesus and Mary Chain

9) Arctic Monkeys

10) Cut Chemist

11) Peter Bjorn & John

12) Kaiser Chiefs

Biggest Surprises

1) Gogol Bordello. it's raucous gypsy rock - what's not to love?

2) Lily Allen. After seeing Amy Winehouse with her powerhouse voice I was sure I was going to be disappointed with Lily Allen's set. I was wrong. It's unfair to compare the two. They're in two different leagues and make two different kinds of music. Lily Allen's was very dancey and fun. Amy Winehouse's voice was reminiscent of Ronnie Spector.

3) Lemonheads. Can you believe Goldenvoice arranged to have the Lemonheads play in the same timeslot as Rage? They set Evan up for disaster. But it was cool to be 1 of 150 people watching them play, as opposed to being 1 of 60,000 watching Rage play.

Disapointments

1) Air. I left Lily Allen's set because Sean REALLY wanted to see them. He'd been talking all weekend about seeing them. We show up and 30 minutes after their set was suppose to begin, they still hadn't started playing. 2 minutes after we left, they started playing.

The next group isn't quite a disappointment, they're just not at all what I was expecting:

2) The Good, the Bad and the Queen. They'll have to go in the same category as M. Ward. Love the album, could listen to it forever. But when I see them live I just want to close my eyes and take a nap.

Sad I had to miss
1) Interpol
2) Kings of Leon
3) Tokyo Police Club. This week's Gilmore Gils referenced them at least 5 times. Wish I could have seen what all the fuss was about.
4) Rufus Wainwright. Luckily, we're seeing his "Judy Garland Live At Carnegie Hall" show at the Hollywood Bowl in September. Can. Not. Wait.
5) Rodrigo y Gabriela

Big Thumbs Down (aka: I will never pay to see these guys again)
1) Peeping Tom

Sadly, Danny Devito Watch 2007 was a failure. Sean and I had ZERO sightings. Although our friend Todd saw him onstage when he introduced Peeping Tom. Next year, Danny. Next year.

My 1 celebrity sighting: Adrian Young - of No Doubt and Tim Olyphant's 'sports reporter' replacement on Indie.