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“

Sleigh Bells, October 18 at the El Rey

We'd seen Sleigh Bells at various festivals and they were always great.  Not so much of a main course but as a side dish they were fantastic.  I might have missed them if not for Carla, though I could have run into them somewhere else and they might have made an impression if not a deep mark.  As it was, while I'd check them out at at festival, I probably wouldn't have gone out to see them for their own show.  But it was a Friday night, Carla was out, and I was finishing up at work when Rick texted me and said he had an extra ticket for the show.  I didn't have any reason not to go.  It's hard to turn down a concert, especially on a free night, though it might have been more to hang out, since he and I hadn't done that in a while and it's always a good time. On our way we stopped at a Rite-Aid to pick up a pack of ear-plugs -- I've never felt older in my life but I rolled with it.  We got in before they went on (skipping the Doldroms), maybe enough time to get up close like we used to but ended up staying in the back -- we knew the volume would overcome us anywhere in the facility anyway, and we'd already seen Alexis up close on SNL.  The crowd was fairly young -- I don't keep up with popular music enough to know how they rate, even in the indie world. I don't think too much about the intended audience when I get into a band, and I can't assume that any band I'm into will fit in my age range. I just like the music. But if the audience reflected the band then it was led by Alexis screaming and jumping and thrashing about the stage. The walls of the venue were stacks of amps, making for volume approaching MBV levels. This is a band outfitted for festivals and large spaces, and this night they were crammed into the El Rey which, to its credit, somehow continued standing after the show. I ended up being grateful for those ear-plugs. Age brings wisdom. I'll let the kids go deaf. The band, as always, were over-caffeinated and over-amplified and I wouldn't expect anything less. The show was noticeably short, over in just over an hour, which could be for any number of reasons we won't find out, whether for a curfew for the crew or for the kids or whatever. It was satisfying, even if I still don't know why she has her bean & cheese in a drawer. Thanks again to Rick for the ticket!

Stars, September 19 at the El Rey

I've followed Stars since the beginning but I've missed some shows of theirs in town.  Carla & I had talked about seeing them the last time they were in town, at the Wiltern, but ended up not going (as we had a special night at my place, of all nights, but it was worth it).  We tried to make up for it by seeing them on this tour, for the North album (and got tickets on Stubhub for $39 each, nearly a steal). There was some dancier material but it still had their brand of melancholy and just enough playfulness to get through, just like any other day in real life. I can connect to that.  It's always great that they can feature such a survey of all their material, and the stuff from their worthy most-recent album, but by this time they have enough stuff behind them that they don't have to bother with their oldest stuff, that they might be sick of after all these years, though I still miss not hearing anything from Nightsongs (which would have fit at the El Rey).  I can't fault them for going by their whims, especially when it still makes for an enjoyable show.  It was another pleasant night out for us, dining before the show at the suitable Tex-Mex place across the street, then home afterward. Trails and Ways opened the show but we missed them.  The El Rey sometimes seems lonely, offering some of the only neon on Wilshire at night, but they know how to put on a good show, also much like Stars.

Stars' set-list:
"The Night Starts Here"
"Backlines"
"A Song Is a Weapon"
"We Don't Want Your Body"
"Wishful"
"The North"
"Tru"
"Window Bird"
"Your Ex-Lover Is Dead"
"Fixed"
"Do You Want to Die Together?"
"Set Yourself on Fire"
"Krush"
"The Loose Ends Will Make Knots"
"The Light"
"Bitches in Tokyo"
"Take Me to the Riot"
"Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It"
"Walls"

"My Favourite Book"
"The Theory of Relativity"
"Elevator Love Letter"
"Tonight"