FYF Fest, July 21 - 23, 2017 at Exposition Park

 I always assumed we would be a lock for every FYF Fest forever more. We had hit the last few, even I had gone to the last one before it seemed to hit the big time (and when they were still at the Historic Park, which should have been big enough), and it was a weekend with our friends. So it had become just a regular weekend event, though one we always looked forward to, as possibly our last big summer weekend with everyone (though we had plenty of events in the cooler months, even if they didn't always have anything to do with music festivals), and even more out-sized when FYF went to a three-day format. As such and as usual, we spent a lot of the time drinking together, and many of the bands we saw were just picked up as we were meeting and traversing beer gardens, though that could be as good as any casual sampling could be. This year, I had just gotten back from the San Diego comic con the night before, and Carla had worked the early half of the first day, so it was akin to a local show for us, though with a line-up that could get world-wide attention. We would have done the thing anyway, but the line-up, even with fewer rock acts than we were used to, was exceptional, with plenty of new bands and acts we had never seen, and were fortunate to be here. Even better, we had no problem ever getting in, which we could chalk up to them getting their act together or us just being early or lucky enough to slip in between the cracks. We also got to have Jenn ride over with us, adding to the spirit of all of us together and having a good weekend among the great music and lots of beer.

Friday was the usual day of easing in, if only because we got there later, to beat the early crowd, because of being a weekday and traffic, though it was still a shorter day. Yet we took our time, with Angel Olsen being our warm-up as we were walking in. She’s one of the acts that seems to always make it to the fest, being a local, so we knew she’d be around anyway if we one day got into her stuff, so we didn’t push it and made our way past; Björk had headlined Coachella and plenty of other festivals around the world, as well as being a figure for alternative culture (not always for music, though some reputations can fall away when other elements outlast them). Oddly she got stuck mid-bill for the slowest day, perhaps her own concession just to come over for the show and be done with it, or whatever negotiations we’re not privy to. Even if I haven’t sat purposely through one of her whole shows, I knew enough that a small chunk of her set could be background music for standing in line for beer. Though the joke was on me: Dave said she did “Hyperballad,” which would have been worth it to have sat for the rest of the show; we got the middle half of Survive, which was probably as much Stranger Things synths as we needed (and more than anyone needed a live performance for, besides the fandom for the show, if they anyone would survive the entire fest just for them), while meeting up with Tana; Slowdive were a fantastic get for the fest but being there for the same thing again didn’t have the thrill of their coming out of hibernation and feeling we had something particularly special, as well as the risk that they could just do the same show again. So it became meeting up with everyone in the field for a drink in the early evening (though a chance conversation with Lingo became the seed of a plan that would pay off at the next fest); Missy Elliott was the main draw of the day/night, for as much as we saw as we moseyed over just to check out the headliner. She came up in the ‘90s when I had little to do with pop music and she’s earned her place as a surviving legend in the time since, and it was a big deal that they got her, especially for what was once an alt-music/punk fest, but she could pull as large a crowd as she wanted. There was too much talking between songs, which might be the style, and maybe they were actually saying something, but it wasn’t enough music to keep us dancing for too long. We checked in, could say we were there, then we started to head out; we got Osees (or whatever variation of their name they were using) on the way to the exit -- finally a full-on rock band with plenty of guitars and volume. They sounded heavy and great and probably would have been as good for a full set as the sliver we caught, but it was the plan to leave early so we made our way to go.

Missed: Flying Lotus (apparently a big deal but for us still only a Thom Yorke connection (and now not worth the chance of seeing if Yorke showed up)); Hannibal Buress (a comedian at a festival could be a welcome novelty but we weren’t there for laughs (even for as much as we became fans later on)); Royal Headache (a sampling on Alexa’s Spotify that might have been a good find but we didn't get over there, being too busy casually picking up minimal bits of the other bands).

Saturday was much the same deal, but the comfort of familiarity can be nice when you have a schedule to keep and bands to see. We were there in time to see Big Thief, who we were excited about, but they went on 15 minutes late (deadly at a festival, especially early in the day and for a band trying to break out when they need every advantage they can get), then had sound problems, and were too delicate to make much of an impact anyway. That threatened to be as far as they would go; Mitski deserved more excitement but we barely knew her at the time. Luckily we had foresight enough to be near her set and caught a bit of it, even if it was just a passing distraction while we had an early beer. As it was, we should have paid more attention; we thought Thundercat could be great, for as much hype as he was getting, but it was just a lot of jazz which wasn’t enough to grab the rock fans of us; then Cap’N Jazz weren’t jazz at all, being as much a punk thing as the fest got that year, and pretty good. If we knew they were going to rock that hard, we would have given them more than 10 minutes (which isn’t much more time than their set got in the first place); it was almost a trick to have seen King Krule, as we only heard him because we were passing by, but this was another Spotify scout and he did not grab me in advance and didn’t win me over in person; A Tribe Called Quest were another rap act I missed in the golden age of hip-hop in the early-’90s, but luckily I was saved by Carla’s encouragement later on and I had another rich discovery (if not also an entry into a version of jazz). I got on that boat about as late as possible, and would have missed it completely a day later, but I was able to get their monumental last-ever L.A. show (and without founding member Fife Dawg they might actually make that stick, to say nothing of coming back together to do anything they did, including this, without him). I didn’t have the breadth of fandom to appreciate the entire set, but I knew I was seeing something special and it sounded great, with boundless energy. At least everyone was with me and them on those counts since they pulled an enormous, excited crowd. Maybe it was just for scheduling, but this was a coup over Coachella or any other festival in the world to get them, especially across the country from their hometown, so we could be even more proud of our local festival.

Missed; Frank Ocean (the headliner for the day but that didn’t mean we had to give him time. I had some albums of his but just didn’t connect. He might have been worth the time to get into but there didn’t seem much point after passing this rare crossing of our worlds); Sleep (Rollins-recommended and sounded great at home, but we left early); The Faint (a scratchy, techno, Mid-West band, maybe robots, but I could not get myself to be a fan for as much as I made the effort some years before. Could have checked them out live but would have taken nearly anyone else over them); The Drums (made a comeback years after I took their album out of rotation. Couldn’t bring me back); Built To Spill (who are probably important and maybe I’d love them, but missed again); MGMT (never got my interest beyond those first few singles, and had no interest in making the effort to test it again. Though Dave was a fan, and we could have ridden along on that, but there was probably beer elsewhere); the Black Madonna (Jenn-recommended and  sounded good at home, but one of those last-on late acts that we just didn’t do anymore)

And back on Sunday, same deal. We got most of Chicano Batman, a rock band that went beyond a Latino affiliation, but they were just in the background while we were meeting up with Vanessa (which also meant drinks); you’d know Ty Segall from ever listening to Rollins’ radio show and he’s a local guy who would be there anyway, so we still probably would have checked him out even if Heather’s boyfriend wasn’t in the band. As it was, he sounded great; our biggest excitement for the weekend was seeing Iggy Pop, the man, the legend, and he didn’t disappoint. It’s shameful to have missed him through the years, save for a snippet or two of passing by at a festival, which could have been taken for disrespect or stupidity (or both), so this could just be a limp attempt at a reparation, a bit late but also showing appreciation for his putting out solid, new material (American Valhalla; enough to open with "Dog," flipping one of the greatest closers of all time). We had also watched Gimme Danger not long before, just to twist the knife a bit more, then probably shoved it in the rest of the way to realize that I could have seen that legendary performance at Coachella with the Stooges (who barely knowing at the time became no excuse to willingly leave early). But the only way to live with a concert regret is to at least see the new thing, and Iggy doesn’t age anyway. He was out there writhing and wriggling and screaming and living as much as he ever has, and we got the full effect, as much as anyone could without traveling back through time. It’s hard to even count off a tinge of disappointment when it wasn’t QOTSA backing him, but missing that Greek show is just another to add to the list. If Iggy was another name to bring cred to the festival, he was also an act to show that he lived up to it and that it was a world-class fest to have him (though maybe not such a task to get him since he keeps working); Blonde Redhead, a band I decided I didn’t need to have anything to do with years before, were just our soundtrack while making plans for Vanessa for the evening; Run The Jewels were going to be there anyway, as if there was a festival or show they would turn down, and they still kept turning out albums and getting good placement on fest bills. They turned out to be not my flavor of aggressive hip-hop but seeing a high-energy performance was just the right place for that evening. As it was, I got to enjoy them alone when the girls headed out, and I could get warmed-up for the main event; I admit to not having much expectation for Nine Inch Nails. As much of a fan as I will eternally ever be, and still picking up the new stuff and showing up for the shows (at a festival (most of the time) at least), they were just another good headliner for a fest, and one I’d seen before, at small shows up to other festivals. My level of fandom couldn’t be disputed, but there could be a limit. They were still turning out new stuff that had its moments (if not as angry as it once was or what I wanted from it at one time), and the live stuff still would have the high-points of ages past, but it almost felt like an obligation to see them, and even to stay behind when my lady wanted to go home. The Bakersfield set just before was only okay, most of the pieces of an obligatory run through a show I’d seen before. But still I installed myself in the crowd, closer than I’d gotten for any other act, and got as ready as I was going to be (and assuming the lady next to me wasn’t going to yammer through the whole thing (but she did anyway)). They went on and it could have been any other NIN show with the same set-list he’d been playing for a while, but then he pulled out the rug by ripping into “Wish” as the second song. That was usually in the encore, a blast of rage to send off the good people (or to leave everything on the field before bringing it down with “Hurt”), and that explosion of surprise seemed to state the band was there to tear it up like they hadn’t before, even if the audience didn’t catch it, But I did. From there the set was up in the air, even though they still ran through most of the standards (though with playing "Something I Can Never Have" for the first time on this tour, and a latter Bowie cover), since a festival audience wouldn't react well to deep cuts. But changing up the list early on, for whatever reason they did it besides a whim, set a wild pace that maybe anything could happen. Even though it’s rock n’ roll, there are even still limits, and some of these folks, like the biggest fans and including Reznor, are over 50, so it could only go so far, but the set had more energy than they’d shown in a while, and some excitement if you knew where to look for it. I waited out the entire set, more to meet up with Jenn afterward, but I’m glad I got to catch the whole thing -- it would have been hard to leave with that much energy then not know if I might miss something great. As it was, it was just another NIN show with a hint at some minor surprises, but to say it was a little afield from the usual, and still good, meant that it was exceptionally great. Also learning that it paid well to leave early the nights before, as that place became depressingly desolate at night after the last band.

Missed: Solange (discovering interest in seeing her would be as befuddling as why she was there in the first place), Mac Demarco (headed over to see him but got distracted by beers on the way); Whitney (some interest since they used to be Smith-Westerns but couldn’t get in to the new version as much), Cherry Glazerr (could have been a strong chance but got in too late).

A Tribe Called Quest's set-list:
"The Space Program"
"Oh My God"
"Common Ground (Get It Goin' On)"
"Busta's Lament"
"Let's Ride"
"Dis Generation"
"Mobius"
"Excursions"
"Find a Way"
"Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check" (Busta Rhymes cover) (snippet)
"Whateva Will Be"
"Luck of Lucien" (snippet)
"Butter" (Phife's first verse a capella)
"Spaceship" (Kanye West cover) (Consequence solo on stage)
"Movin Backwards" (Jarobi solo on stage)
"Sucka Nigga"
"Phony Rappers"
"Black Spasmodic"
"Steve Biko (Stir It Up)"
"Buggin' Out" (with Raphael Saadiq)
"Bonita Applebum"
"Electric Relaxation"
"Vivrant Thing"
"Check the Rhime"
"Can I Kick It?"
"Award Tour"
"We the People...."

Nine Inch Nails' set-list:
"Fireman (Angelo Badalamenti song) (intro)
"Branches/Bones"
"Wish"
"Less Than"
"March of the Pigs"
"Something I Can Never Have"
"The Frail"
"The Wretched"
"Closer" (with "The Only Time" snippet)
"Copy of A"
"Gave Up"
"I Can't Give Everything Away" (David Bowie cover) (Farewell Mix)
"The Lovers"
"Reptile"
"The Great Destroyer"
"Burning Bright (Field on Fire)"
"The Hand That Feeds"
"Head Like a Hole"
"Hurt"

Iggy Pop's set-list:
"I Wanna Be Your Dog"
"Gimme Danger"
"The Passenger"
"Lust for Life"
"Skull Ring"
"I'm Sick of You"
"Some Weird Sin"
"Repo Man"
"Search and Destroy"
"Gardenia"
"T.V. Eye"
"Mass Production"

Slowdive's set-list:
"Slowdive"
"Slomo"
"Catch the Breeze"
"Crazy for You"
"Star Roving"
"Machine Gun"
"Souvlaki Space Station"
"Sugar for the Pill"
"When the Sun Hits"
"Alison"
"No Longer Making Time"
"Golden Hair" (Syd Barrett cover)

Mitski's set-list:
"Francis Forever"
"Townie"
"Your Best American Girl"
"Dan the Dancer"
"First Love/Late Spring"
"Happy"
"Drunk Walk Home"
"I Will"
"Thursday Girl"
"My Body's Made of Crushed Little Stars"

Ty Segall's set-list:
"Break a Guitar"
"Freedom"
"Warm Hands (Freedom Returned)"
"Finger"
"Orange Color Queen"
"Oh Mary"
"Squealer"
"Candy Sam"
"Love Fuzz"
"Sleeper"
"The Crawler"
"Feel"

Big Thief's set-list:
"Shark Smile"
"Shoulders"
"Great White Shark"
"Mary"
"Magic Dealer"
"Masterpiece"
"Real Love
"Paul"

Blondie/Garbage/Sky Ferreira, July 9, 2017 at the Hollywood Bowl

It's taken me years to come to the harsh realization that Garbage never got as far as they deserved, that they never played the very biggest venues and even occasionally were still an opening band, but it was still a surprise and perplexing that they never played the Hollywood Bowl. Maybe they could have pulled off headlining it back in the day, but especially now they had to be part of a shared bill, especially when they were still moving forward instead of chasing some '90s nostalgia thing that never hit as hard as the' 80s thing did (for better or worse). Putting Blondie on that bill might have split the difference between the two eras, but it was still two bands that made for a great show, even if a person weren't obsessed by one of those groups. There was never much reason to go out of the way to see Blondie, especially when they hadn’t shown up on festival line-ups, but they're probably a bucket-list band. But really, they were just extra frosting for seeing Garbage. Garbage by this point had probably gotten around to every venue in L.A. (if not the world, the tour dogs that they are), but playing the Bowl isn't usually about the size of the crowd that place can pull but connecting to the history, majesty, and notoriety of the most noteworthy performing space in the city, if not the world. Garbage probably appreciated that, at least, if not for the fact that they still had the pull to make it there, even if they weren't heading the bill. It's always a place threatening to envelop whoever's on stage but Garbage could trot out their hits and hold their own. We even got a song I didn’t know yet (the opener, a single, noting how they weren’t touring on a new album for this show). It might have been just another tour stop for Blondie (the band, not just Debbie Harry (as some radio DJs haven’t even gotten right)), who out-veteraned Garbage, and maybe they had even played the Bowl before, back in their heyday, but they still held up a good show, strolling through their hits while having the confidence in their new stuff (off Pollinator; not strong enough to continue their string of having a #1 hit in multiple decades) to play it alongside. It might have been inconsistent but with as many noteworthy songs as they have, there's only so much they can do in a tour through their history. “Hanging on the Telephone” was probably a gimme, though welcome (as my main reason to see them, even if it was just them), and they didn't bother giving it a lead-up by playing it early in the set, but they had enough other, more-recognizable songs, even if those weren't necessarily better. “Dreaming” wasn't a big hit, yet they left it to the end, a bit of a mellow lead out, but we left before it (during “Heart of Glass”), on a more spirited note (and just wanting to beat the exiting crowd). “Voices Carry” might be one of the most perfectly-recorded songs ever committed to tape, a song so exquisite that covering it should be a perilous risk, but Sky Ferreira (there without a recent release, probably just to pop up to play the Bowl) did her best to make it work. In a live setting its performed imperfections could be overlooked, as well as the guarded admiration in making the attempt, but as part of a set that didn't need to stick by an opener, and who we just happened to see when going in early after our picnic with Jen (who I arrived with, taking the shuttle over from Lankershim), Vanessa, Dave, Liz, and Liz’s family outside, it amounted to a novelty, albeit pleasant, for a nice evening at the Bowl with some rock from the eras.

Blondie’s set-list:
“One Way or Another“
“Hanging on the Telephone“ (The Nerves cover)
“Fun“
“Call Me“
“Rapture“
“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35“ (Bob Dylan cover)
“Fragments“ (An Unkindness cover)
“Long Time“
“Atomic“
“Too Much“
“Heart of Glass“
“Union City Blue“
“Dreaming“

Garbage’s set-list:
“No Horses“
“Queer“
“#1 Crush“
“Empty“
“I Think I'm Paranoid““
“Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!)
“Special“
“Cup of Coffee“ (with Inara George)
“Even Though Our Love Is Doomed“
“The World Is Not Enough“
“Stupid Girl“
“Only Happy When It Rains“
“Push It“
“Vow“

Sky Ferreira’s set-list:
“24 Hours“
“Ain't Your Right“
“Guardian“
“I Blame Myself“
“Voices Carry“ (’Til Tuesday cover)
“You're Not the One“

U2/the Lumineers, May 21, 2017 at the Rose Bowl

U2 are one of those bands, maybe the only one, that everyone should see -- I’ve said it before, even on here. They cross a lot of genres, with splendor enough even for non-fans, and they have the rare production deserving of a stadium, even greater if it were available. Though by now I’ve seen them more than once so I should be good, unless somehow they could pull off something extraordinary, which is within their scope but they could only do so much with songs we all know already. Then they come out of nowhere with not only playing an album in its entirety -- a trend you might have thought they were beyond -- but it’s an album as classic as it is beloved, and one that deserved a run-through if any did, based solely on how stellar each song is and how it holds together, even now. The Joshua Tree would be my by-far favorite by them if not for Achtung Baby, which seems like any entirely different thing by an entirely different band anyway, but most bands, even ones I love, generally only get one really great album, at most. Playing that could have been enough. I would have even considered putting down going to a stadium show, though going alone, since Carla had already been and was good for it, but I could have gone alone. Then Carla and her friend started to make plans to go, which left me free for the night, possibly to go to the same show. So the plan went to us going together, along with her friend's spouse, making it an even four. Somehow I got the job to get the tickets, which were pricey but at least I only had to pay for two (up from the one I was going to get originally, if I had even committed, which would be iffy considering how much they cost). The seats weren’t great, but if you were going to a stadium show and not wanting to spend through the nose, you would take what you could get and hope that the screens were big and the sound holds up. Carla’s friend balked at the price of the tickets and decided not to go, leaving me with the cost of theirs. I figured it was a big enough show and I could sell the extras, maybe even make a profit on it (though that didn't pay off for the Rolling Stones tickets, which was its own debacle). I took my time listing the tickets, not sure about the price, and even more unsure when they didn’t sell, until a few days before the show, when I dropped the price to about half of face. That wasn’t the biggest deal -- I was still getting money for them and I would be wiser about getting tickets for others in the future. And we had our own tickets so at least we were in for the show. I got the money for the extra tickets and had ours printed out, then they scanned when we got to the Bowl, assuming that if I gave them the tickets I sold they wouldn’t have worked. They checked out so we got in, no problem. In our seats, we even talked to the girls next to us who bought the tickets and they didn’t say anything about any difficulties getting in. At the time it seemed like everything worked out and we could enjoy the show. As it turned out, the tickets didn’t work for the girls who bought them from me. They bought some scalped tickets so they could get in, explaining why they were still there, but not from my tickets. Apparently I scanned the wrong tickets for us getting in, since the change in ownership didn’t register in their system, so I could have given them either, and I happened to give them the ones that we had sold. Maybe if we had gotten there after them our tickets wouldn’t have worked so we would have used the others ones and it would have worked out. Instead, we lost on 50/50 odds and they demanded their money back since I was a fraud. Luckily, they got a refund and I worked something out with StubHub. I didn’t quite have to pay for all four tickets, but it was a lot more than just one. The show wasn’t quite worth that -- no show with just one or two bands playing is -- but they made a great effort. U2 usually get great openers but they don’t always bring them to southern California. We didn’t need to have anything to do with the Lumineers, though owing Joshua Tree for their sound if not their existence, they were one with the theme of the night, a rock band rooted in American folk music, so they were an opening band in the purest essence, being a warm-up in the same vein for the main attraction. And even if U2 were playing a gimmick, this show was as grandiose as anything they’ve done. They had the age of the album behind them, and all these fans had been living with it possibly their entire lives, so they were sold on more than one level. The band even treated it as more than a run-through of the album as the entirety of the show, playing a mini-set of pre-album hits as a warm-up or a defiance of relying on just one work before getting into the album itself. U2 probably couldn't get away with anything but most of the hits, even if there were obscurities from that era. The songs from Joshua Tree still hold up but the context is different, with a political landscape that changed then changed again then changed again, and had currently gone to shit, as well as a sound that had been ripped off so deeply and so widely since that it was just engrained in what was rock music (including the better opening bands they got elsewhere in the tour, including Beck). They played the songs, half of which are usually a chunk of their set-list for any tour, but the fans got the deep cuts on this turn (including “Exit,” which had recently risen from obscurity among louder highlights into contention as my favorite track on the album, for its foreboding, subtle beat and rise to a contained fury, which Bono does well when he bothers to). In a place that size they couldn’t rely on just playing the songs so they dressed up the performance with visuals spread across screens as wide as the stadium space, movies just for that but probably literally the same as bigger versions, for as much as they could do with them and as much as they needed to match the intensity and majesty of the performance. The visuals were fine but just a backdrop when it was about the greatness of the songs, which were played as well as they have even been, not needing to risk changing up anything to disrupt the comfort of the experience. The album isn’t long enough to fill an expensive, out-sized performance, so they followed it up with more tunes, playing hits they were obligated to do no matter the theme of the show, and throwing in a few deep-ish and new cuts. Getting another recital of “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)”, there are no complaints from me. U2 didn’t turn down the grandness of their show, despite playing the lower-key album that vaulted them into being the grandest band for the next few decades, but made it work for filling the biggest-possible space. They didn’t bother with trying to make it intimate but they turned the opposite into its own monumental spectacle, and no one could expect less or want more (except for a fair price for a ticket).

U2s’ set-list:
“Sunday Bloody Sunday“
“New Year's Day“
“Pride (In the Name of Love)“

“Where the Streets Have No Name“ (with "California (There Is No End to Love)" snippet)
“I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For“
“With or Without You“ (with "Shine Like Stars" snippet)
“Bullet the Blue Sky“
“Running to Stand Still“
“Red Hill Mining Town“
“In God's Country“
“Trip Through Your Wires“
“One Tree Hill“ (dedicated to Chris Cornell)
“Exit“ (with "Wise Blood" and "Eeny Meeny Miny Moe" snippets)
“Mothers of the Disappeared“

“Miss Sarajevo“ (Passengers; with "The New Colossus" snippet)
“Bad“ (with "America" snippet)
“Beautiful Day“ (with "City of Stars" snippet)
“Elevation“
“Ultraviolet (Light My Way)“
“One“ (with "Hear Us Coming" snippet)
“The Little Things That Give You Away“

That Dog/Imperial Teen, April 8, 2017 At the El Rey

That Dog just barely missed the big time back in the ‘90s. They were tuneful enough, a girls-with-guitars vibe, and locked into the post-grunge sound of the time. They even got some play on KROQ and 120 Minutes, which was probably my entry into them (not going to enough shows in town to witness their ubiquity), and “Never Say Never” was fun and crunchy enough to lead me to Retreat From The Sun. It was more that the album got into my rotation early when there was less stuff rather than playing it so much because I loved it, but even if it was a little longer than it needed to be, there was still plenty to like (including “Long Island,” which was the most painful earwig I’ve ever had, taking at least one night of sleep from me). I even followed Anna to her solo album, though the band’s first album, which was even more acclaimed depending on who you asked, was too indie for me. Anna might have been in the L.A. scene but didn't stay as present as her early promise showed she might have been at. So That Dog could have kept being away, but then suddenly, almost at random all these years on (before catching whatever '90s nostalgia fad might have brought them up by default), they had a show. Their getting back together would have been special (or inevitable) enough, but then they were also playing Retreat in its entirety, so we could pretend that album had been a big deal back in the day. I may have passed on a standard show by them, risking that they would play too much earlier stuff that I hadn't been worn into familiarity with, but I'm automatically interested when a band plays an album I've heard as much as I did that one. They only did this one local show, with only one other for the year (which I also happened to be at but didn't need it twice, especially since they played so early), and it didn’t sell out the El Rey, a medium-sized club at best, which goes to show that there wasn’t exactly a crazed demand for them, so they might as well have done it when their schedules met up. It was a casual rock show without pretension or concern that this could lead to something bigger, like it might have seemed earlier on, and with a crowd that didn’t pack out the place, and maybe a bit older, made it actually fairly intimate, like they were doing a show for friends and family, and some of those finally got to bring some people to see them play after all these years, but not necessarily the usual fans (though also eschewing that it would be a show to make money at, given how long that guest-list must have been), balanced by those who have been obsessed with them since back when. They probably worked that album so hard back then trying to break through that it was a stroll to play it, and they, and the audience, now could have a good time with it. They even did one new song, as if to show that they’re still in it (though that one could have had a long time to sit around). The album sounded great even without the polished production (maybe the result of Anna’s connections rather than paying to position them), showing that they could be carried by good songs veering close to what pop back in the '90s (though not as always as rock-out as “Never Say Never,” a misrepresentation that might have peeved some fans expecting more of the same (like me, though I found more than I might have thought)). She even sweetly dedicated a song to her husband, from Redd Kross, since they’re a cute, L.A.-scene couple that's also lasted. Imperial Teen was another band that missed being a big deal, despite getting around here and there (though Roddy had things to do with Faith No More). They were coming back after the same post-’90s hiatus, and it could have been a toss-up who headlined this show, though each were friendly enough that they probably would have been happy to give it to the other. Less the theme of two groups sharing low-key reunions that didn't need to go anywhere and more a group of friends hanging out on stage and rolling through some hits that didn't make it, together with the fans that saw them through originally and family that had seen them since, or at least getting out just because they want to, without expectations. They all had some years on them, but they still knew their way around some tunes that deserved more than simple nostalgia. Carla didn't know them as well but went along anyway.

That Dog’s set-list:
“I'm Gonna See You“
“Never Say Never“
“Being With You“
“Gagged and Tied“
“Retreat From the Sun“
“Minneapolis“
“Annie“ (original version)
“Every Time I Try“
“Long Island“
“Hawthorne“
“Did You Ever“
“Cowboy Hat“
“Until the Day I Die“

“Just the Way“ (new song)
“Jump“
“She Looks At Me“
“Old Timer“
“He's Kissing Christian“

Imperial Teen's set-list:

"Sugar"

"Ivanka"

"Our Time"

"No Matter What You Say"

"You're One"

"Yoo Hoo"

"Room With a View"

"Lipstick"

"Waterboy"

"Million $ Man"

Bash & Pop/the Yawpers, March 7, 2017 at the Troubadour

It’s no surprise that I followed Tommy Stinson after the Replacements, through his various post-’Mats bands in whatever form they took. I didn’t find them until well after they’d stopped doing anything, being behind the curve on my Replacements obsession pretty much down the line, but I caught up eventually. His post-'Mats' band Bash & Pop's Friday Night Is Killing Me is a gem that I would have missed if not from the association. No matter who else Stinson had behind him, his groups were the familiar, scrappy bar-bands, though without the achy ballads and poppy tunefulness that Westerberg could bring to their former act, but it was still Stinson getting out and being a presence. I would have seen his solo shows (including the one at Spaceland with Alien Crime Syndicate opening, which still perplexes me why I wasn’t there), but even having been in a legendary band (two, if you count GnR), it still didn’t often get out that he was playing a show. I never would have thought Bash & Pop (or whoever that could be) would have played another show, because they weren’t a musical entity or Stinson had moved on, using a new name if he wanted a new band (though he had also been using his own, solo), but there it was, and the listing for the show actually got to me (from an e-mail mailing list if not the newspaper). I was working the late shift at the time but it was a friendly gig and I took one night off in the six months I was there (finding from that that I had PTO, but too late to do anything with it). And it was outside of the wife’s wheelhouse, as well as being a show during the week, so I went solo, flowing with the ease of the Troubadour. The night was so open I even treated myself to not making a mess of getting to the show, being there early enough to see the openers, the Yawpers, a bar-band in the usual tradition, and solid enough to be a good lead-in to the main act. The 2017 version of B&P might as well have been the same or completely different, with as much as anyone could remember about them from 24 years before (or, for me, no memory at all), and whoever was still a lingering fan enough to bother to show up (and judging from an energetic reaction to a casual mention to his former partner, likely the ‘Mats fans are still hanging on (like me, of course)). Stinson might have had a reason to keep the name even without the line-up, but he was still the draw. He could have played all the B&P stuff in a solo show (and probably had), but it was only half the set anyway, with his solo stuff and covers thrown in. Though it was still scrappy, even for Stinson’s legend, and we were still in a bar. It might have been all that Stinson had left after the lackluster Replacements reunion that was either too late or too ambitious and Duff went back to GnR, but he did it with a grungy panache. As long as he kept making music (especially if Westerberg wasn’t going to) he could call it whatever he wants.

Bash & Pops’ set-list:
“Not This Time“
“Rip This Joint“ (The Rolling Stones cover)
“On the Rocks“
“Bad News“
“The Kids Are Alright“ (The Who cover)
“Breathing Room“
“You're My Favorite Waste of Time“ (Marshall Crenshaw cover)
“Tiny Pieces“
“Anybody Else“
“Zero To Stupid“ (Tommy Stinson song)
“Come To Hide“ (Tommy Stinson song)
“Midnight Rambler“ (The Rolling Stones cover)
“Not A Moment Too Soon“ (Tommy Stinson song)
“He Means It“
“Unfuck You“
“Anything Could Happen“
“Never Aim To Please“
“Friday Night (Is Killing Me)“
“First Steps“

“Fast & Hard“

Deafheaven/Health, January 12, 2017 at the Echoplex

Shortly after I met Carla she got me into the Song Of The Week group, an e-mail circle of friends who would share music. Not every single thing was life-changing -- there were tracks that weren’t to my taste, some stuff I hadn’t acquired the taste for, a few things just for musicians to appreciate -- but there was overall just some good, new music, and, with some frequency, some tracks that stood out and made me have to pursue them. In our post-radio/post-music-magazine (sometimes even post-blog) world, I don’t pick up on a lot of the new stuff, even enough of it to sort through to find the really engaging stuff. But a track jumped out at me from Deafheaven. I’m not always taken by scraping, screeching metal, but anyone knows I love shoe-gaze, and somehow they not only somehow make melding those two make sense but they also make it tuneful, even poetic. It’s a lot of elements, with barely a semblance of traditional song structure, that pull a minor miracle of being anything listenable. They even did it for more than one album, like they know the trick and this is their thing that they’ll keep doing. And the first one still hasn’t been touched by anyone: Sunbather is still a maze to me no matter how many times I’ve gone through it. We missed the band at FYF due to working the next day so there was an obligation to finally see them, and playing the Echoplex made it an easy sell. It wasn’t exactly a metal show with a bunch of headbangers, but some indie heads and modest, conservative appreciators of alt-metal, the kind that would have been as into Helmet if that wasn’t now their dad’s music. It got hot and sweaty in there but there was barely a pit. The singer could have looked the part, with the long hair, and as magnetic as he’d need to be to get something so “screamo” -- as Carla called it, surprised this was that kind of band -- even facing toward anything resembling approaching the mainstream. If that guy had to front some kind of band, it might as well be screeching metal (or “blackgaze” or “post-metal” or whatever). The rest of the show was an electric grind through a lot of show cuts, constantly being interwoven and recombined into a lot of new things, showing off the newest album, New Bermuda. and layering on thick slabs of noise that might have wandered forever if the riffs didn't wear out  Like their albums, there weren’t a lot of actual songs but the sound was in massive chunks of emotive metal. Truth in advertising: there was heavenly bliss in going deaf (as if that has never been printed in a review before). We had to leave just before the last song, which could have been half the show for all we knew, but for all the force and intensity and volume, we’d gotten a lot. The openers were Health, some local fellows who have gotten around but we’ve already missed. They had their guitars but they were jauntier (as anything would be, compared to the headliners), even dance-y at point. They didn’t even have to play their “Blue Monday” cover (even if that was my only connection to them, on the Atomic Blonde soundtrack). They might have been prized for being available rather than being in line with Deafheaven, but they were a good warm-up and maybe a band we won’t miss at festivals anymore (though I might still run into at O'Hare airport). WIFE and Chasms might also have opened, but we didn’t get there that early.

Deafheaven’s set-list:
“Brought to the Water“
“Luna“
“Baby Blue“
“Language Games“
“Unrequited“
“Cody“ (Mogwai cover)
“Dream House“
“Irresistible“
“Sunbather“
“Daedalus“

Health’s set-list:
"Victim"
"Men Today"
"Die Slow"
"New Coke"
"Tears"
"Salvia"
"Crimewave"
"Stonefist"
"L.A. Looks"
"USA Boys"
"Courtship II"
"Dark Enough"
"Heaven"
"Crusher"
"We Are Water"
"Perfect Skin"

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“