Helmet/Local H, December 1, 2016 at the Roxy

Local H seem to take any tour, since if it gets them out and makes them a relevant, active band again, especially when albums don’t sell, and it makes it so that we get to see them, no matter that it’s been a lot by now. Coming up with a combo tour is like a slot-machine, possibly even making it so we don’t have to risk seeing Everclear with them, and they come through L.A. as frequently as anyone does, even though that city would seem too easy to stoke their persistent ire. They’re even pissy about it in an out-dated, grunge rock-star kind of way, though they might or might not be like that anywhere, and it’s gotten a certain charm about it, especially when no one seems to be grumpy about rock anymore (and inspiring just for someone to be emotional toward it). It was time for another loop into the city, this time pairing up with Helmet, another band relying on anyone remembering them from the old stuff rather than knowing anything since 2000, but putting them together could make for a compelling bill, even to see how they’ve updated anything. I’m always in to see Local H but to miss them this time would be to have the opportunity to catch them again in a few months, but still it was a good package for a weekday night, enough to even get a second ticket. The wife might have been persuaded to go if she hadn’t already seen Local H before but she stayed out, so instead I got Vanessa to go, and it gave us the chance to catch up before the show at the pizza place a few blocks away, along with hashing out our very dire concerns for the future after the recent election. Local H had just been at the Roxy the previous June on their tour playing As Good As Dead, probably the best draw they could make on their own, and here they were opening a show. Sure, they could say the bands were co-headlining, but Local H went on first and they played a much shorter set, enough to be openers by any measure. Yet, they were still explosive, as forceful as any other show they’ve done, and more impactful for the smaller space, which was packed and hot, even in December. Surely loud, too, as their system may not differentiate between wherever they’re playing, and they might as well turn the volume all the way up. We might have also been standing as close as we could to the stage, since there wasn’t too much further to the back from the front, and it’s a rock show. They even played some tunes I wasn’t familiar with (both their earliest tracks and from the new album, Hey, Killer), reminding me I hadn’t been keeping up with them enough, but good to hear something fresh (and being one time they didn’t bother dredging out “Bound For The Floor” yet again). Helmet once again sounded like crap, with lackluster new songs (especially from the newest album, Dead to the World) and Page not singing with the grit or even tune that he once had and now doesn’t even try when recording. I thought maybe they could make something of the junk newer stuff or lean on the reliable old stuff but what we got was a lot of sludge that wasn’t even entirely well-meaning. We had some drinks but there wasn’t any point in staying so, assuming “Wilma’s Rainbow” was only a brief aberration and there wasn't going to be a miracle to redeem the rest, we took off. We got enough of a show, with a furious if short Local H set and enough to know that we didn’t need to bother with Helmet anymore. This is the one time that setlist.fm worked against me, as I gave in to my curiosity to see how close we were to the end of the show and see what else they played. That’s when it got me, that they were saving the best (or just good) for the end: every song I could want to hear them play (save for all of Aftertaste) is what they did, only after we left. Whether they were finally free of the new material they thought they had to get out to consider themselves still relevant or they begrudgingly played the stuff that anyone knew and wanted to hear, they brought out material for a good show in a long encore and maybe they rocked it. Page’s voice probably didn’t do the stuff any favors but it was the effort that (would have) meant something  At least the music could cram the room with some heavy, pounding sound. So their case could still be open, that maybe there could be a reason to see them, but I wouldn’t bet much on it, and they would need a good partner to make it worth risking some cash for it.

Helmet’s set-list:
“Give It“
“Life or Death“
“So Long“
“Enemies“
“Bad News“
“Drunk in the Afternoon“
“Overrated“
“I ♥ My Guru“
“The Silver Hawaiian“
“Red Scare“
“Blacktop“
“On Your Way Down“
“Bury Me“

“Rude“
“Milquetoast“
“Sam Hell“
“Wilma's Rainbow“
“Ironhead“
“Just Another Victim“
“Unsung“
“Speechless“
“Turned Out“
“In the Meantime“

Local H’s set-list:
“Nothing Special“
“Cynic“
“User“
“Fritz's Corner“
“Paddy Considine“
“Stick to What You Know“
“Scott-Rock“
“Jesus Christ! Did You See the SIZE of That Sperm Whale?“
“The Misanthrope“
“Hands on the Bible“
“California Songs“
“That's What They All Say“

Car Seat Headrest, November 15, 2016 at the Teragram Ballroom

All I knew about Car Seat Headrest was that they/he was getting some love from KCRW and the name was fairly ridiculous. It could have been some indie rock that might have pulled me in at some point but I didn’t necessarily have a connection to it save from noticing they were playing it on the radio when they’d say they had. This was when indie was so obscure that any success no matter how minor was a big success, even if it didn’t mean that they could get out so far but they could fill a venue most of the way. So seeing them was a show that wasn’t sold out when schedules aligned. Just a Thursday night out with Tana and the drinkers, and drinks consumed, but not too much to get too rowdy, since that wasn’t the vibe anyway. It wasn’t too exciting, but it didn’t try to be, as the music was more grainy than peppy. Introducing a Leonard Cohen cover as an opener was a nice surprise (as a tribute after the legend’s passing or just a respectful part of the set), even better if it had been a more familiar song, but it was a promise of some pleasant, smart tunes ahead (from their newest album, Teens of Denial), even if they were forgettable later. And so it was a night at the indie-rock show in the indie venue and a stop along the way as the act got bigger (if slightly, if at all), but we can say we saw them when they soundtracked a night out and we could focus on our drinking.

Car Seat Headrest’s set-list:
“Field Commander Cohen“ (Leonard Cohen cover)
“Cosmic Hero“ (with Velvet Underground’s "Sweet Jane" interpolation)
“Fill in the Blank“
“Vincent“
“America (Never Been)“
“Unforgiving Girl (She's Not An)“
“Sober to Death“
“Strangers“
“Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales“
“Destroyed by Hippie Powers“

“Five Years“ (David Bowie cover)
“Connect the Dots (The Saga of Frank Sinatra)” (With Them’s "Gloria" outro)

Rolling Stones, October 22, 2016 at T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas)

In all my years and all the concerts I've been to, I've never seen the Rolling Stones. For a lot of my life my interest would be out of an obligation to seeing living legends while they were still around, to not regret missing them later on, but for all that it was a very expensive proposition for not having a better reason. But then I had a Stones phase, and they were still alive and doing shows, though sparsely, but I only needed one. I could have put it off again, especially with the assumption that later I would be able to better afford it, but it could happen suddenly a missed chance could be a point that couldn't be returned from. Desert Trip was out of the question -- I can't imagine any band we could have considered doing it for (since we'd already seen McCartney and Dylan), for all the things we didn't do Coachella anymore for and amplified, especially the price -- but the Stones were doing a few shows around it, though obviously none around L.A., but Vegas could easily be an option, if not an ideal one for anywhere outside our home range (especially since I could stay with my mom while there). Getting tickets started with me staying up all night after working until dawn on the first day of a gig and coming up with nothing for my efforts. Another attempt for the next date came up with a pair that weren’t great, though the most affordable (and still plenty expensive), but it would be more about being at the show than being close enough for the best show. The wife balked at the price, but she had seen them before, so she passed, which didn’t seem like a big deal when I figured I could sell what I had (and maybe even make a profit). In the meantime I bought another ticket just for myself, planning to go solo, and it turned out to be a little closer to the stage, or at least not as far to the side as the pair were. I posted the originals but they didn’t move, then I lowered the price  within a week of the show, and still nothing, then finally the day before I got them down to face-value, which I would have been happy with, just to get my money back, but even then they still didn’t move. Even after they canceled their other Vegas show, my tickets wouldn’t go. Finally, about an hour before the show, while at dinner with my mom (after driving up solo the day of), I got a notice that the last one sold, for about half of face, but I decided to count myself lucky for that. In all, I lost close to a week’s pay, not counting the price for the other ticket, but maybe that’s the price of seeing the biggest rock n’ roll band in the world (and the luck that they're still alive and doing it), and it would only be once. On top of the ticket misfortune, I had the wrong time in my head and only got lucky when my mom dropped me off at T-Mobile arena (a cleaner copy of the Forum) just in time. I just barely got a tub of popcorn (making this one of the best shows ever) and missed only half the opening montage -- videos going through their history showing how great they are  -- when, fairly (and a little un-rock-n'-roll-y) punctually, the Stones took the stage. It wouldn’t be hard to consider that this was a cut-out show like most in most of our lifetimes. They’ve done this long enough, and they’re rich enough to pay people to figure it out, to come up with the formula for the fans to feel they got value from the ticket (though assuming those fans are of fortunate means), including not bothering with a marathon show to pack in more than a just-enough amount of songs. Getting deeper into my Stones phase, I may or may not be a particular fan of their singles, putting their more obscure stuff on equal footing, making them for me more of an album band, which becomes a problem when they’re making a point of sticking to a prescribed set of hits. It’s not a crime for a band to trot out the same set, since you’re probably there more for the band than the songs, but they packed it with enough hits that the most average fan couldn't complain (leaving the obsessives for whom this is a much more serious deal, and even though the band throw in a swerve or two, sometimes even a deeper album cut (though, for this show, not “Shattered” (which my brother told me sucks live, and wouldn’t make much sense outside of NYC) or “Monkeyman”, which might be a little too deep)). It could be generously be said that they were touring for Blue & Lonesome from earlier in the year, but you could assume they'd play blues covers whether they had laid down official versions of them or not. But regardless of what they played, I was there and I can say I was there and I saw them, and it wasn’t a bad show. They know how to work, even at that age, and they know how to work it, even if at this point they're only doing it to dare the others to be the first one to drop and finally end the band. Still an extravagant expense, even without with the problems I had, but once in a lifetime it was like being charged for a necessary life experience. And for the record, there were other chances to see them after this, especially for the Sticky Fingers tour that stopped in San Diego, which would have been been some choice, deeper cuts (though I would have preferred the Exile or Some Girls tour), but I can’t fault what I got. It worked out, I got what I wanted and needed, and it even made for a minor story (to get something from losing that much money).

Rolling Stones’ set-list:
“Jumpin' Jack Flash“
“Let's Spend the Night Together“
“It's Only Rock n' Roll (But I Like It)”
“Tumbling Dice
“Ride 'Em on Down“ (Eddie Taylor cover)
“Paint It Black“
“Honky Tonk Women“ (followed by band introductions)
“Slipping Away“ (Keith on lead vocals)
“Little T&A“ (Keith on lead vocals)
“Happy“
“Midnight Rambler“
“Miss You“
“Gimme Shelter
“Start Me Up“
“Sympathy for the Devil“
“Brown Sugar“

“You Can't Always Get What You Want“
“(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction“

Garbage/Cigarettes After Sex, October 21, 2016 at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

I’d gambled on missing Garbage at the Jack FM show, betting that they’d be back later in the tour, and it paid off when they played at the cemetery, a much better choice, for the venue, for getting a full set, and for getting to not have to see House of Pain. This was on the tour for Strange Little Birds, a fair effort well after we expected the heights of their earliest stuff, and the comfort of playing a home-town show once they moved here (to whatever degree that was, but their mailing address was on Edgemont, also not far from there). Carla & I had been to the cemetery frequently in the summer for movies, and we had been to the lodge room for a smaller show, but not a full concert on the main lawn. We knew to take a picnic, not expecting to move too far up to get into the claustrophobia of bodies jockeying to get close to the stage (if they have fans still young enough to want to get so close and sweaty). It turned out the stage was expansive enough to afford a view from the comfort of the back, as close as we needed to get, and the music sounded fine. On a cool early-autumn evening shortly after the sun went down, it was a singular environment, with much of the moody material from their newest album making for a lush atmosphere. There was still plenty of rock and pop in there, too, the mixing of which is only one of the great things they’ve always done. Shirley was in fine form, being in vamp mode, maybe with the focus of a bad mood, on display when she got into an altercation with someone in the front of the crowd, an incident we only found out about afterward (like finding that it wasn’t Butch on the drums). Another club show would have been redundant, and frustrating for them and us since they deserved to play somewhere bigger on their own, that seeing them in this unique venue that doesn’t regularly have concerts in the first place made it seem like a special thing. Even if the set was unexciting with familiarity and the new stuff still needed more time to sink in, their experience as veterans paid off in a slick show, even if it became just another show for them. Not knowing the set-times we showed up early enough to see the openers, Cigarettes After Sex. They started getting around shortly after this, but at the time just sounded like Slowdive, which was actually fine, for easing into the evening.

Garbage’s set-list:
“Subhuman“
“I Think I'm Paranoid“
“Stupid Girl“
“Automatic Systematic Habit“
“Blood for Poppies“
“The Trick Is to Keep Breathing“
“Sex Is Not the Enemy“
“Blackout“
“Magnetized“
“Special“
“Shut Your Mouth“
“Even Though Our Love Is Doomed“
“Why Do You Love Me“
“Night Drive Loneliness“
“Bleed Like Me“
“Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)“
“Vow“ (with "Don't Hurt Yourself" snippet)
“Only Happy When It Rains“
“Push It“

“Sometimes“
“Empty“
“#1 Crush“

Kraftwerk, September 18, 2016 at the Hollywood Bowl

Jen sometimes has extra concert tickets, and I like going to concerts with Jen, and we didn't have anything going on on a Sunday night, so I was in for seeing Kraftwerk. I wouldn't have planned on the show because I’ve never been much familiar with the group, but I knew they were influential enough to be something I should know (and with the cred of having Kim Deal more excited to see them than play with the Pixies at Coachella). And it’s hard to come up with an excuse to pass on a Hollywood Bowl show on a summer night (and then so many friends and so much cheese beforehand). Every cool (almost cold), angular song seemed at least familiar, as most of their stuff has been appreciated and lauded then mined and swiped and sampled for longer than I’ve been alive, leading up to “Computer Love” which has been outright stolen by Kanye and Coldplay, just to name two (and my entry to the original, and more than one Google search to dig up what cover the newer acts were playing). The vaunted 3D aspect of the show could have been cheesy and even tired for any other group, surely not a component that would at all be necessary for a concert, but for them it worked. It was a visual for four German dudes who didn’t move from their synthesizers, without even the energy of a drum-kit, and making it extra-dimensional gave the show another level, and actually kinda cool to watch, though it could far too easily be overdone if everyone else wanted to try to make it work (and the paper glasses were a nice souvenir). I can’t tell if there was much deviation from the studio versions of the songs, especially when they could have had all the music tracked ahead of time, so I don't know what seeing them in concert had really done, save for being in their presence, but I can now say that I paid respect to our ancestors and heard the originals performed by the originals, who are still active and moving (except in concert) and iconic enough to get to play the Bowl a decade after their last recorded effort (or a generation and a half if that was considered a token)).

Kraftwerk’s set-list:
“Numbers“
“Computer World“
“Home Computer“
“Computer Love“
The Man-Machine“
“Spacelab“
“The Model“
“Neon Lights“
“Metropolis“
“Autobahn“
“Geiger Counter“
“Radioactivity“
“Electric Café“
“Tour de France“
“Tour de France Étape 1“
“Chrono“
“Tour de France Étape 2“
“Trans-Europe Express“

“The Robots”

“Aéro Dynamik“
“Planet of Visions“
“Boing Boom Tschak“
“Techno Pop“
“Musique Non Stop“

FYF Fest 2016, August 27 & 28, at L.A. Sports Arena and Coliseum, Exposition Park

By this time we knew how these festivals work, and FYF Fest in particular, our big, local fest, and what we could get away with in our day(s). We’d gotten the hang of getting to shows just in time to see the headliner (a scheme that often worked), and we applied the same thing to a weekend festival. Once the set-times came out (an event second only in excitement to the line-up reveal) we could make a plan, a necessity when there are other adult concerns in life (which could also be a friends’ kid’s birthday party). As much as Carla & I go to festivals and FYF to hang out with our people as much as see bands, we don’t usually bother to get there early without reason, and sometimes we get fairly surgical about it. There’s also the consideration of leaving two hours to get in, so it might necessitate using up a lot of the day and being there early but just not getting to see bands right after parking (which can also take a while then the walk from). Sometimes going one day is just an obligation for the two-day event and since we planned for the whole weekend in the first place. And so was our Saturday at FYF that year. We’d planned the whole weekend for it anyway, and had the headliner we most wanted to see, even if it was just because we probably wouldn’t see him anywhere else outside of a festival. So, after the walk from the parking and the line (both just as we’d planned), we got in to wander, to see where we wound up, which initially included some of Shellac, maybe just to establish seeing a band even if it wasn’t anyone we planned for; it was late in the day/early in the evening, with the sun going down, and without much of any other draw on our attention we just wandered, ending up for a minute at Air, who hadn't much advanced beyond their sound (still playing most of Moon Safari) but still had the merit of establishing it in the first place, and Ty Segall, who we always seem to wind up near anyway, whether we know someone in his band or not; we finally got around to seeing Kendrick Lamar (touring for Damn), the big draw, by far, for the weekend. It wasn’t too long before then that I had discovered To Pimp a Butterfly and found out the hype about him was true, if not understated, and that his stuff was too good to be pigeon-holed as just “rap”. FYF had progressed far beyond just being a punk show, even branching out to include hip-hop groups not just as novelty, so Kendrick might have been reaching to win over the indie and punk kids, and headlining the bill was at least enough for all the cred. He put on a full-blown show and pulled a lot of the crowd at the fest, though we didn’t see the beginning and left before long to beat the crowd out. It might have been a truncated day but for the event we got enough out of it, especially with a bigger day behind it.
Missed: Peter Bjorn, & John (probably just as well since we didn’t keep up after “Young Folk”), Diiv (I had the album ahead of time but it didn’t do much for me), Vince Staples (a renowned local guy but no one I knew), Grimes (who I should have known but didn't bother with at this one), Oneohtrix Point Never (if only by the association of having remixed a NIN track, but no reason to see even with the remote possibility of that in the set), Hot Chip (who perpetually have never done anything for me, even if they were lumped in with a lot of other acts that I’ve liked), Explosions in the Sky (who could probably be great if their songs had words), Moby (who I didn’t realize had some valid work, even after Play, but not enough of a pull to see).

Sunday worked better for us for the fest, being the day we could focus on and make more of an effort to take in, including leaving for it earlier and working some luck to only spend 30 minutes getting in. I got into Preoccupations when they were Viet Cong (a spectacularly ill-advised name, the story of which is probably less interesting than why they chose the name in the first place), and thanks to Tana on our camping trip, and they got out an early-day set that didn’t need to stand out one way or another; if it were up to Carla we might have missed Banks & Steelz, flying under the radar without their recognizable names as Paul from Interpol and the RZA. Luckily I caught it, and they ended up being a high-point for the fest. The angular music set to hip-hop beats and rhymes was disconcerting coming in on it cold but anyone can trust either of those guys to do something worth the time. They both went back to their own projects after that, but for us to get them even for a moment was a treat; soul-legend Charles Bradley was making a name for himself with the indie crowd when soul might be a harder sell to a modern audience that could be looking for it in R&B more attuned to hip-hop. But the guy was the real deal, and he brought as much energy and grit to the stage as anyone half his age. We got lucky to see him since it wasn’t much later that the passed, so we got a performance that became more special looking back; Father John Misty was arguably at the height of his fame, after the “Real Love” single (and around the Pure Comedy album), and I had been on the train, after being unable to avoid him in association with everything else I listen to. We, as a group, also couldn’t avoid the dudes with bushy beards and shaggy, long hair, which seemed to surround us, so we got back by naming them all "Misties". The man himself put on a sufficient high-afternoon set in sunglasses and a lightweight, open shirt, and spinning his cynical but tuneful songs for his flock, of girls too smart to go for that kind of thing and the dudes who may or may not be hipsters but still openly cop his look; it wasn’t until I was killing time and had randomly wandered to Ahoni that I came on the realization that it was Antony from Antony & the Johnsons. I wasn’t a big enough fan to be into more than his first albums but I had assumed that I would catch a new project (though it had been a big deal on eMusic, I figured it was for a reason beyond me). As it was I didn’t have enough time to get much more out of it than the recognition, but it was good that the new project could get a prominent place on the schedule, as well as being accepted with what could be a challenging or at least non-conventional character, though that would be the crowd to start; I never got how Mac Demarco was such a big deal. He was a dude who kept popping up on the FYF line-ups but he didn’t seem like he had much reason to have a place there. Maybe a local guy, sure, but L.A. has plenty of musicians that would kill to get in to that fest. He’s a tuneful guy but, really, just a dude with a guitar and a cap. But whatever it is I didn't pick up for the few minutes as we passed by, and if there was anything there I knew I could get it at the next one; Beach House are another band that always seem to be there, even when they don’t need to be. We might have caught a bit of them as we passed by, but by then I’d had enough of them. Haunting but not gothy light rock and I had parted ways by then; we caught a bit of Grace Jones while we were waiting, and I realized that it was probably a distinguished and distinctive appearance and we were lucky to get it but I only knew her from the weird, arty TV appearances back in the ‘80s (probably commercials, for what I don’t remember). That she was a musician was a level beyond to me, and nothing I could get my head around, in spite of it being more performance art on a large scale which could be more accessible, or because of it being such. As it was I figured that if I got it later a recorded performance could be just as good, and I could always say I was there anyway, but maybe there was just something mildly frightening about it -- and her -- coming in without proper preparation; LCD Soundsystem were the big deal for the day, finally earning a name big enough to headline, after being on the under-bill of pretty much every festival when they were originally together. It didn’t hurt that that this was part of their big, ballyhooed reunion, even if they’d only been gone five years, the length of time some bands take between albums as a matter of course (and LCD taping their last shows as if there would never be another and not just a cash cow to pay for their next side-projects). It hardly seemed like they had been gone anyway, with just a few new songs to mark any difference (off their "comeback" album American Dream), and while it was good to see them back as a musical and cultural force and hopefully not leaving again any time soon, it also made it easy for us to check in and get a few songs before heading out since there was work the next day. Such was our surgical strike for FYF, knowing exactly how to hit what we needed and get in and get out, filling the time between sets with whatever friends rotated in and out of our mutual presence, and maybe picking up some new music if not a new experience, then entrusting next year's fest to come soon enough and getting on with our lives in the time until then.
Missed: the Black Madonna (who I didn’t know, but Jenn said was great, and she has a great stage-name), the Black Lips (another “Black” band that get mixed up with a lot of others if they’re not the Keys or Rebel Motorcycle Club), Young Thug (who had been getting some press but didn’t have a reason to stand out for me), Chelsea Wolfe (whose full show we’d seen, without really knowing her, and who plays more local fests than she doesn’t so we went somewhere else).

Kendrick Lamar’s set-list:
”untitled 07 | 2014 - 2016”
”Institutionalized”
”Backseat Freestyle”
”m.A.A.d city (Part II)”
”Swimming Pools (Drank)”
”Collard Greens” (ScHoolboy Q cover)
”THat Part” (ScHoolboy Q cover)
”Free Lunch” (Isaiah Rashad cover) (with Isaiah Rashad)
”These Walls”
”For Sale?”
”untitled 02 | 06.23.2014.”
”Complexion (A Zulu Love)”
”Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe”
”Money Trees” (with Jay Rock)
”m.A.A.d city (Part I)”
”King Kunta”
”i”
”For Free?”
”Wesley's Theory”

”Alright”
”A.D.H.D.”

LCD Soundsystems’ set-list:
”Us v Them”
”Daft Punk Is Playing at My House”
”I Can Change”
”Get Innocuous!”
”You Wanted a Hit”
”Tribulations”
”Movement”
”Yeah”
”Someone Great”
”Losing My Edge”
”Home”
”New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down”
”Dance Yrself Clean”
”All My Friends”

Father John Misty’s set-list:
”Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings”
”When You're Smiling and Astride Me”
”Only Son of the Ladiesman”
”Nothing Good Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow”
”Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)”
”Bored in the USA”
”Holy Shit”
”True Affection”
”I Love You, Honeybear”
”The Ideal Husband”

Charles Bradley’s set-list:
”The World (Is Going Up in Flames)”
”You Put the Flame on It”
”Love Bug Blues”
”Heartaches and Pain”
”Let Love Stand a Chance”
”Changes” (Black Sabbath cover)

Belly, August 24, 2016 at the Teragram Ballroom

It was a great year for my beloved girl bands from the ‘90s to get back together, and Belly were probably the crown of them all (or at least Tanya Donelly being active again). (And, yes, I am aware of segregating girl bands (even if none of them were completely). Sometimes I wasn’t attracted to such groups because they were girls but because they weren’t guys.) I had still followed Tanya’s work, even as it got more obscure and sporadic, and she left off playing tiny venues, so it wasn’t likely that she could have come back in a notable way without her original outfit (not counting Throwing Muses, since Belly were still arguably bigger). Believe it or not, Tanya may also be one of the few musical acts who I held as an object of infatuation, beyond just the music, but I had plenty of crushes then and in the time since, and I could still appreciate just the music. The band also hadn’t bothered to put out any substantial new material for this tour, which somehow came to be more legit than touring just to flog a new album that no one particularly wants to hear. Though they still had plenty to play, even off the only two albums they made together (though as many B-sides, which I also knew), and they had as much energy as they did 20 years ago (even if they had to put an intermission in the middle). As always it was the band not just their front-woman, and she got lost amidst the songs and the compact space that they managed to fill (at least giving the appearance of it, if it wasn’t for all the old-school fans physically expanding in the years since, and was really just me standing close enough with enough sweaty bodies vying to get close to the stage to make it seem like it was packed-out), as if to prove that their comeback was welcome enough to bother with it. There was even some mystery, with a few new cuts (to be included later on Dove), burying their few, modest hits within the set like they were anything else, and a lady bassist with her head covered by a cap, who turned out to be Gail after all. (No one needed band introductions, but it's been a while and we haven't always known what's been going on with them.) For as much as I hadn’t looked up much to re-familiarize myself with the band again before the show (as I figured I'd been covered for back then and all the time since), playing their music over and over instead, I also wasn't entirely present for the show: Vanessa and Andrew were going to the show the night before ours so I got a cheap ticket and switched (for $29, then couldn’t sell our original pair for $8 for both) and we got drinks at Plan Check before, then kept drinking at the show, in the usual heavy amounts with them. But these songs had become so buried in my psyche and being and soul since the band’s heyday two decades before that I could ride it out and enjoy letting those tunes carry me and my sweaty, follow concert-goers, no matter what state I was in and how much I might have gotten over my Tanya crush (since it had been a while, but going maybe to prove that it was always more about the music).

Belly’s set-list:
”Dusted”
”Slow Dog”
”White Belly”
”Puberty”
”Army of Clay” (working title: “Punish”)
”The Bees”
”Low Red Moon”
”Red”
”Gepetto”
”Judas My Heart”
”Full Moon, Empty Heart”

”Seal My Fate”
”Now They'll Sleep”
”Feed the Tree”
”Human Child” (working title: “Comet”)
”Spaceman”
”Angel”
”Super-Connected”
”Thief”

”Stay”

Guns n’ Roses, August 22, 2016 at Qualcomm Stadium

It was inevitable that Guns N’ Roses would get back together. No matter what anyone says, or how much anywhere swears it’s not going to happen, as long as the band is still alive, there is a chance that they will reunite -- and even then it’s usually only just the front-man they need. Pixies (though mostly Frank Black) swore up and down they wouldn’t reform, then when they did they wouldn’t go away; if Morrissey and Marr can stay alive, the Smiths will eventually get back together (even if, or especially if, it's just those two). It was Axl who caused the most problems for GnR, and the one who swore a reunion would never happen, and he was also the one who had the most to gain from a reunion, artistically if not financially (since he was the one who connived to own the band as a company in the first place). He wasn’t hampered by not having the actual band, and he even reformed GnR for himself, and they were as solid as they could be but they weren’t the originals and that still makes a difference to some fans (casual ones since they don’t know the difference, and die-hards since they do). So eventually they got the old band back together, even if the big deal was only three of the five total (though it would have been more of a reward to get Izzy over what Steven would contribute). Anyone might think those two members would be the deciding factor, even if everything else was what Axl already had in place by that point. And even being the fan I am -- including seeing the latter Slash-&-Duff-less version -- I wasn’t moved to go, especially paying stadium prices for what would be poor seats. I’d already been there (actually literally, since it was also at what became Qualcomm): I saw the originals (well, most of them, at that point when they were just about done squandering any cred they had left after going as massive as anyone could (and also when Izzy and Steven weren't with them)) then the new version in a show that was just fine, and couldn’t tell the difference between them if you closed your eyes. And it was hard to get excited about how any new stuff would have to be grudgingly played by the old guys, and that new stuff being Chinese Democracy (by this point 8 years old). Carla wouldn’t have been an encouraging factor to go (my time with GnR in younger days was her time with bands that aged better), but it was a night out with Tom & Tati, and it’s not like they’re going to go to a club show for anything but a mass-market band. But it didn’t take twisting my arm to pony up for this show, if we were going out together, and I’m fan enough to let myself be obligated to contribute something to their effort to get the old magic back (even if they were already choking on cash). And it was pricey, and the seats weren’t great (though better in my memory than the first time, and we were on the floor back then), and it was as good a show as could be expected. They brought more energy and tunes and arm-pit sweat than anyone would have thought they had left in them, and, in a two-hour show, gave as much value to the ticket price as the band could. The others made a big deal about how the show was even better than they expected, with Carla becoming a fan for strictly one night only, and going on about how much Slash wailed on guitar to say anything at all about it, but I knew the truth: It was the same show that Axl had been playing before the reunion. The only difference came down to two guys on stage, not the sound, and the fact that they could pack a stadium instead of the House of Blues. Even the set-list was the same, skipping a few of their big songs (“Don’t Cry”) to try to retain some artistic pickiness, then the Godfather theme that Finck played when he was Slash, and the same Who cover (but getting major points for airing of “Coma” and “Double-Takin’ Jive,” which could have been a concession to Slash playing, and the overlooked moment when he truly shined). This was literally business as usual for Axl, except with the popular members he could proclaim a return to greatness even if it was the same as he’d been running it for a while. The truth made it a bit queasy, that this was still a company owned by and lorded over by Mr. Rose -- Axl Rose Inc. dba Guns N’ Roses -- and the radio silence in the press for this run didn’t shed any light on what deal they all had to make to get just two of the guys to come back again (though clearly Izzy was having none of it, which would infer that it wasn’t a great deal to begin with). Slash and Duff couldn't be hurting for money, and they didn’t have anything to prove artistically, since post-OG GnR they'd kept working, unlike Axl, and it’s not likely they wanted to have to spend more time in any proximity to Axl, even on stage, but maybe one day we’ll get the story about how and why it came back together. But for that night the band was (kinda, mostly) back together, and that was good enough (and massive enough to keep us from getting inside in time to see openers The Cult, probably the only time I would have bothered to see them). They could keep flogging the same material for a while and making a big deal out of the shows and the fact that they were back together, treading familiar Pixies ground, but a fan-base that grows as the hits keeping living then get their kids into them can be a lucrative and enduring thing. Though it's clear a place is cluttered with shallow fans when they don't know the rules of concert-going enough to avoid wearing the band’s T-shirt to the band’s show. 

Guns N’ Roses set-list:
“It's So Easy“
“Mr. Brownstone“
“Chinese Democracy“
“Welcome to the Jungle“
“Double Talkin' Jive“
“Estranged“
“Live and Let Die“ (Wings cover)
“Rocket Queen“
“You Could Be Mine“
“Attitude“ (Misfits cover; with "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" intro)
“This I Love“
“Civil War“ (with "Voodoo Child" outro)
“Coma“
“Speak Softly Love“ (Love Theme from The Godfather; Slash solo)
“Sweet Child O' Mine“
“Better“
“Out Ta Get Me“
“Wish You Were Here“ (Pink Floyd cover; Slash & Richard Fortus guitar duet)
“November Rain“ ("Layla" piano exit intro with Axl Rose playing grand piano)
“Used to Love Her“
“Knockin' on Heaven's Door“ (Bob Dylan cover)
“Nightrain“

“There Was a Time“
“Patience“
“The Seeker“ (The Who cover)
“Paradise City“

PJ Harvey, August 19, 2016 at the Fonda

PJ Harvey has always been an interesting creature. Once she had some the pull from a quasi-hit in the alt-mid-’90s, she went from rough demo-level catharses to changing up her sound from the ground up with each album, which became an event unto themselves. This also led to some wholesale inconsistencies, sometimes just in alternating albums, and the moments of brilliance had to do a lot of work to make up for the lesser stuff. Still, in concert to present new stuff, she would pull in the older stuff to match it and somehow make it flow seamlessly, or at least put a new spin on material we’d gotten used to. She didn’t even have make a statement as an artist, she just did it. Still, lesser moments existed but with some rejigging weren’t an albatross in the modern shows if the new material didn’t drag them down on its own. Some of the albums took a while to come around to, and often they would work out anyway (save for the still-challenging Is This Desire?), but we were still waiting on The Hope Six Demolition Project. By the time for that show I still hadn’t found official word if that project was a side experiment or if it was an official album intended for the same level as the rest, with the attendant tour and all accompanying a full-on album release, and the fact that I had to wonder might say it all (or just take it for granted that it's all official). But every release gets its shows (at least in L.A.) and we probably would have gone anyway no matter what she was playing for. We’d had tickets for the next night at the Shrine well in advance but when Carla had a chance for the Fonda show that was announced just before, even trading a Friday night for a Thursday, we went for it (though she was playing much the same set each night, so the only big difference was the smaller and closer venue). Unfortunately, the show didn’t do anything more to sell the album/project but she had enough of the old stuff -- not being too much of an artiste to eschew the stuff the crowd might have known (and liked) more -- and reconfigured it to make it interesting for herself, if not us. In her habit of learning a new instrument and writing each new album with it, this was the one with the saxophone, which must have been ill-advised, even beyond its being out of style to the point of ironic/non-ironic ridiculousness, it at least was a way to change up her stuff. This was also the tour where she filled the stage with musicians, evidently to reach the sonic ranges she needed for the material, but it sure looked crowded up there. It might have been better to approach the material as a project instead of a release expecting the same respect that her other stuff has gotten, even the weird stuff, but as a show, even at worst it could be performance art that gets appreciation from what she’s given us for so long and how much we love her.  So, in total, a score for experimenting with the familiar (even trotting out that familiar alt-mid-’90s quasi-hit), but a failure in trying to make something moving from these experiments.

PJ Harvey’s set-list:
“Chain of Keys“
“The Ministry of Defence“
“The Community of Hope“
“The Orange Monkey“
"A Line in the Sand“
“Let England Shake“
“The Words That Maketh Murder“
“The Glorious Land“
“Medicinals“
“When Under Ether“
“Dollar, Dollar“
“The Wheel“
“The Ministry of Social Affairs“
“50ft Queenie“
“Down by the Water“
“To Bring You My Love“
“River Anacostia“

“Near the Memorials to Vietnam and Lincoln“
“A Perfect Day Elise“

Autolux, July 23, 2016 at the El Rey

There was a time when it seemed like Autolux were everywhere. Their management was wise enough to put them in every festival just when that was becoming a thing in the summer of ‘05, though that they were playing so close to their home turf in SoCal seemed to be capitalizing on what they already had. Then opening for NIN & QOTSA at the Hollywood Bowl, which was an accomplishment for a young band, even if the members had been in other bands that had deserved to go farther than they did. So the group was in front of a lot of fans and they made a name with a great debut album, then they disappeared, and for a while. This isn’t the place for that story, but they were missed, gone before they really started going (or getting night slots), a band that fit because they didn’t really fit. But everything eventually comes back and they finally made another album, Transit Transit, which might as well have been as good as the first, then the attendant tour, though taking their time again, now six years later. They also weren’t doing all the festivals, maybe since they didn’t want to play that grind again. This is a band that has gotten by with doing whatever they want, even if that meant they weren’t such an ongoing presence. So, with only two albums worth of solid material 11 years after they first made a splash, their hometown show at least got the El Rey, a mid-range venue that says you’re neither doing as great (like at the Wiltern) or as poor (smaller) as you could be in front of your own people. As much as I enjoy their material, I might not have considered the show but a buddy had to bail on his plans and he contacted me to take his tickets and we were free that night (even though I was just coming back from San Diego from the comic convention, going with Carla from the train station straight to Wilshire (but including dinner across the street first (then getting to the show just in time))). For this show the band at least got a sound-check and could work out any kinks beforehand. They also had an enclosed space they could manipulate to their ends, creating a tunnel that wrapped everyone in sound and darkness (which still worked, and without all the dust in the air and pressed up against bodies I didn't know). Then they had some abstract, grid-based visuals behind them, as if they needed to play up the math-rock artiness of their songs. They didn’t change the music so much, staying tight to accommodate the three-person set-up they carried into a live setting, though some differences could have been welcome just to give variety to the limited amount of material they had, especially to evolve after all this time. So, a good show, without having to be packed in under a tent in the middle of the afternoon heat.

Autloux’s set-list:

“Reappearing“

“Soft Scene“

“Hamster Suite“

“Plantlife“

“Junk For Code“

“Subzero Fun“

“Selectallcopy“

“Audience No. 2“

“Capital Kind of Strain“

“Anonymous“

“Brainwasher“

“Listen to The Order

“Turnstile Blues“

“The Science of Imaginary Solutions“

“Change My Head“

“Blanket“

Lush/Tamaryn, April 25, 2016 at the Roxy

I was getting into Lush back in the ‘90s at the same time as “Ladykillers” but at least it was an entry (one I should have connected to earlier but was helped along by my pen-pal Stephen), just before they broke up abruptly. I remember seeing an ad in the Weekly for the Glass House show they did back then, and knowing that it would have been a great show but not obsessed with them yet enough to get out to see it. I didn’t put much hope into them getting back together, since I know I missed that moment, though I picked up the Sing Sing album (then put it back down again), and figured they never recapture that moment that I missed. But their front-women were still alive, even if Miki had moved out of music (though answered the phone when Spin called to see what she was up to those days, more than once), so there was still a chance, but also a chance of mounting some comeback that would involve new music that would distract from the classic stuff I didn’t get until late. And so, as all bands do eventually, they reformed, which was fortunate for anyone to pay for wrongs done years ago. Though they never broke America (by not being sugary or slutty enough), they were big enough to sell out the Roxy in a second, and I happened to get in for tickets (you can't win unless you try). Even if they were only together to play Coachella, we’d already sworn off that fest, though they would have been a band that would make me even remotely consider it, just for them and even a shortened set. But this was also a band playing a festival doing other dates around it -- since they’re around anyway -- and getting around the proximity clause to make it possible for us, and to get a full set to boot. There’s a convoluted story about that show (how I originally would have missed it for Carla’s mom’s retirement party, then some minor miracle for the band to postpone that show then come up with a date I could make that wouldn’t threaten my marriage (but meaning I had to cancel the flight I booked to go to the San Francisco date)), but it got to include Josh, a buddy from work who had a story about meeting Miki in Chicago that always had me mystified. (This was also a trade with him for the Autolux tickets a few months later.) And so we got to experience the band again (or for the first time), and in a club that might have been small for them even on their first album. This show might have even been better, since they stuck to their best stuff, pushing Gala harder than it got over here, not bothering with any of the pandering lower-lights from Lovelife, and airing one of the tracks from the new Blind Spot EP, even if it was enough that they didn’t have to make a show of trying so hard to avoid a best-of set, which is what we wanted anyway. Up there, under the lights, they looked like this could have been a month after they last stepped off the stage, especially Miki (another rock crush). After this test for demand/warm-up, they did a full tour but I skipped it, knowing that trying to top this show would have just been greedy and foolish (though Carla reconsidered passing on it for a moment). I could finally live with having missed them the first time around. Opening the show was a special bonus, being Tamaryn, a moodier, more lavish cousin to Lush's early stuff, that the wife had gotten me into. I may not go to shows for the openers anymore but it’s a treat to get on something already familiar but, even better, might have seen on their own. (And I’ll skip the story of embarrassing myself in front of Ms. Tamaryn.) There may or may not have been a reason all those ‘90s girl-bands were getting back together at the same time, but if it was an epidemic, I didn’t have a problem being taken over by it.

Lush’s set-list:
“Undertow“ (Spooky remix; intro)
“De-Luxe“
“Breeze“
“Kiss Chase“
“Hypocrite“
“Lovelife
“Thoughtforms“
“Light From a Dead Star“
“Undertow“
“Lit Up“
“Etheriel“
“Scarlet“
“For Love“
“Out of Control“
“Ladykillers“
“Downer“
“Sweetness and Light“

“Stray“
“Desire Lines“
“Leaves Me Cold“

“Monochrome“

New Order, March 19, 2016 at the Shrine

Once again Corey had an extra ticket for a show, so it's good that our music tastes match up when it's important. I had been burned enough by New Order playing live (once was enough, even for a band I've been obsessed with for years) that I was hesitant, especially when the last time seeing them was good enough to not pave over that poisonous Coachella performance but at least leave a positive taste in my mouth for as long as I would go until they would put out new material good enough to compel me to see them live again. Music Response wasn't quite that material, but it wasn't Waiting for the Siren's Call, so something in the middle wouldn't make me opposed to seeing them. Though to hang out with a friend for an evening, I'd probably see anyone short of Dave Matthews Band (and it's a good thing none of my friends are into them (or we might not be friends.)). After missing the stop on the subway, we got there just in time, missing Run Run Run and a DJ or whoever played before, and got in our seats -- balcony, far right -- just as the lights went down. Of course they don't have much of a stage-show -- somehow Bernard pulls off making everyone look more interesting than him -- but they have always left the fireworks for the music, even with new stuff mixed in, and the half-dozen new songs got enough of a cordial reception to show that they still have fans hardcore enough to know the stuff in advance or polite enough to not show their boredom with stuff that wasn't what they've known by heart since well before their kids were born. "Bizarre Love Triangle," in particular, got a great response, making anyone wonder why they didn't switch it with "Blue Monday" and close strong with it. They still seem bored with playing, even with new stuff to energize them (off the newest album Music Complete), but it's hard to fault them when they've always been that way as well as being British. Then the sound was muddy, which might be why there aren't more rock shows at the Shrine, or Bernard didn't care he was speaking with a mush-mouth. Then the Joy Division songs dragged out from obligation (once they started they can't just stop (or leave it to Hook to play in his band)), including "Love Will Tear Us Apart," played yet again but at least as listlessly as everything else. No, no one ever got a chance to see Joy Division but a lot of us also didn't get to hear the best New Order songs, anything besides the hits, including "Regret," which they skipped yet again, but cheers for "Ceremony."

New Order's set-list:
"Singularity"
"Ceremony"
"Academic"
"Crystal"
"5 8 6"
"Restless"
"Your Silent Face"
"Tutti Frutti"
"People on the High Line"
"Bizarre Love Triangle"
"Waiting for the Sirens' Call"
"Plastic"
"The Perfect Kiss"
"True Faith"
"Temptation"

"Atmosphere" (Joy Division song)
"Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division song)
"Blue Monday"

Electric Six, March 18, 2016 at the Troubadour

Dylan deserved a make-up show for the disaster that was taking him to the Observatory to see the Electric Six, though you know I probably would have gone with the opportunity anyway. I got three tickets but Carla decided at the last minute to not go, so it was just me and my brother, getting there (after burgers in Studio City on the way) about 10 minutes before they went on, which was just fine, and we missed Parlour Tricks, the opener. Also since I was with a pre-21 Dylan there was no drinking but it was about the show. They played much of the same set they’d been doing for a while, with all the (should-have-been) hits, and some of the newest album Bitch Don’t Let Me Die! mixed in. I might have seen them enough to be able to call this a typical show, and part of their ongoing tour of the smaller and smaller clubs in the L.A. area, but being in the middle of the road also means there aren’t particularly bad ones. We saw the show then left.

Electric Six’s set-list:
“Synthesizer“
“After Hours“
“Down at McDonnelzzz“
“Dance Pattern“
“Roulette!“
“The New Shampoo“
“Gay Bar“
“Gay Bar Part Two“
“She's White“
“Night Vision“
“Dime, Dime, Penny Dime“
“Future Is in the Future“
“Improper Dancing“ (with "(Who The Hell Just) Call My Phone?" played in-between "stop!" and "continue!")
“Danger! High Voltage“
“Adam Levine“
“Formula 409“
“Dance Epidemic“
“I Buy the Drugs“

“Jimmy Carter“ (Dick (acoustic) & Tate)
“Dance Commander“