Location:Carson, CA
Location:Carson, CA
The concert season is slowly ramping up. Seen any good shows? Here were a few:
Mariah Carey played to two packed houses at the Gibson Amphitheatre, delivering her reliably satisfying show to her “lambs” or whatever she wants to demean her fans with these days.
She laid a straightforward show, playing nothing but hits and was disarmingly charming to the crowd, in her own special “Princess Mimi” way. It was typical, vintage Mariah which would satisfy every fan everywhere, with spot on singing and Mariah’s typical lack of dancing. Excellent show all around.
Gabriel Iglesias played the Wiltern Theatre, amid heavy security due to a threat against him levied earlier that day. A collegue of mine warned me to watch out for this comedian as he will be the next big thing and she was right. Iglesias, on a Comedy Central-sponsored tour, had a warm and acceptably different style of mexican-american humor, not so wrapped up in heavy Spanish which you get at a George Lopez show. Iglesias’ show is quite funny, approachable and charming, and his delivery is such that you find yourself relating to his anecdotes, despite ever being in his shoes. Watch out for Gabriel Iglesias – you’ll be seeing more of him!
Diane Birch, a former client of AyesseMedia and darling of the L.A. indie scene in 2005 played the Wiltern Theatre for the first time, opening for Nick Jonas. This clearly was one of those “buy-in” opening slots, as their music and audiences simply didn’t mesh. Unfortunately, the charm and goofiness of Birch’s earlier performances were lost somewhere in her UK travels. Birch’s performance, although technically proficient and the music was quite well performed, seemed soul-less and contrived, which could explain why her sales are not skyrocketing given the euphoric nature of Jonas’ audience. Birch just didn’t seem to connect with the audience, despite a clearly planted set of fans who tried to rally cheers at every pause. We had the advantage of seeing her shows between 2005 and 2006 in Los Angeles, and she carried such a charm and approachability which was unrivaled in any other singer/songwriter of her day. We feel sad to say that such approachability is gone, leaving what can only be described as another singer/songwriter pushed into the same “do this and you’ll be famous” formula which has proven to fail time and again in this modern era of music. Her songs didn’t have those hooks you look for in a hit, and were very singer/songwritery, but not in a way which makes you want to buy a song. We hope that she comes back with a bit more of the old-school charm which made her the name she was 5 years ago.
Justin Bieber, fresh of his conquering of millions of tween-age hearts, blew up the Hollywood Palladium on Valentines Day (yes it’s not March, but I still had to mention it!) He led with one of the worst acts we’ve seen in seven years – the robotic and talentless Wonder Girls – which gave him an easy road to travel in terms of charming his audience. Look, let’s cut to the chase with this guy – he can’t sing and can barely dance. He’s cute as a button and makes the tweeners discover themselves far faster than any parent wants to believe or admit - and that’s why the girls were literally killing themselves to get close. Before he even hit the stage, security was removing girls from the barricade pit area at a rate of almost 30 per minute…then the show started. We witnessed girls kicking and pushing their way close, only to be crushed in the throng of other girls. Many a girl went partially shoeless due to the massive melee at the front, with almost 40 per minute of girls being removed from the barricade or blocked from accessing the stage during the show, all of them inexplicably losing their shoes in the process. Never did see where any of these shoes went.
Bieber sure knows how to throw a raucous party. We’re hotly waiting for his upcoming “keep my career alive and relevant” VH1 show, probably coming soon…just as soon as he turns 18.
Make sure you check out Scarlett Cherry tonight at Air Conditioned Lounge in Venice. Part of the magic of the Zodiac Show, Scarlett Cherry is backed by a powerful band of professional musicians and is sure to deliver a fantastic experience in a fun, chill venue.
Looking for something more Hollywood? Check out the always unique Honeybreath at Spaceland, bringing their dark, classic alternative-ish charm to the hallowed halls of Spaceland tonight.
Or you can go and see all the other bands in town doing variations of what everyone else is doing.
But why would you torture yourself?
On the web:
Scarlett Cherry (www.scarlettcherry.com)
So all these shows are bending around. What does it mean?
Think of this: the high-profile shows which used to go to HOB, now go to Nokia and Club Nokia. This is because the venue is newer, nicer, and HOB will have lower-end booking.
The shows which used to go to Knitting Factory and Key Club now will likely go to HOB. This is because there are no small venues to accommodate. No, the Avalon won’t pick up the slack: they make too much $ on filming and nightclubs.
The medium size venue shows which went to Gibson on occasion, now go to Nokia. Gibson compensates by booking more latin shows.
The medium size venue shows which used to go to HOB will probably go to Wiltern, and if they can’t draw, then the Palladium.
The rock shows that seem to draw now are all latin shows – look for more of those in 2010.
For indie/low-low end shows, well, you’ll see them showing up at more lesser-known, lesser venues like Good Hurt in Santa Monica, The Mint off Pico and The Echo, and probably more secondary market venues like Palladino’s in the Valley and Brixton in the South Bay. It just doesn’t pay to play L.A. any more.
It used to be Gazarri’s (did I spell that right? Does it matter?) in the 80’s, when hair and heavy metal collided.
In the 90’s, it re-opened as Billboard Live, then renamed the Key Club.
One of the best stages in Hollywood, looks like is closing its doors. The Gauntlet and KROQ are both reporting that the Key Club shall close at the end of the year due to poor attendance, virtually absent booking and the fact that Steel Panther (aka Metal Skool) can’t play every single night…plus Key Club can’t pay salaries by charging $20 for a Bud Light - $8 is already robbery.
The Key Club was heavily buoyed by the rise of Indie Rock, Punk Rock and Camp Freddy. Burlesque and Fetish shows abounded and filled the floors with rockers and regulars every night. We shot many, many shows on that stage (and off it!). Names of all levels had graced the Club and left their sticker on the wall.
As always, all good things must come to an end. And I’ll miss it…of course until it re-opens.
The Key Club had expanded to the new Morongo Casino in Cabazon, opening for one year before bad attendance and crappy booking did the club in. It seems that plague had followed it to Hollywood.
The club had been in disrepair. While the Troubadour showed no signs of slowdowns, with improved sound and lighting, the Key Club used to rock state of the art production values, but lately had boasted bad sound, antiquated lighting and a really bad video screen. Unprofessional wait and bounce staff (generally speaking) didn’t help.
So down in the grave with other infamous rock shops like Lava Lounge, Safari Sams, and Knitting Factory: a sign of the times that good o’le fashioned rock shows don’t draw like they used to; and the end of the line for another quality venue in Los Angeles.
There’s still the Roxy, Viper and Troubadour: three quality venues in West Hollywood. Otherwise, you’ll have to pay too much for HOB and haul way out for Spaceland.
Such is the way of the world.
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