Moderat + Tokimonsta = Thursday Turn Up

Club Nokia and Los Angelenos get a special treat tonight when Moderat - the esteemed collaboration of Modoselektor and Apparat - unleashes that good sort of filth as Thursday turns to Friday.  The collab does not tour often - so electronic music aficionados take note.

The late addition of Tokimonsta only makes the bill significantly better --- and makes the decision to not go that much more ignorant.  Don't miss the queen of electronic beats (TOKiMONSTA), where she is likely to perform a handful of tracks from her Ultra release "Half Shadows."  It's rare that such high quality musicianship and production skills packs a bill in Los Angeles and tickets are still available day of --- but they are, and for all ages.  

Doors are at 9 and Patricio will be first to the decks.   Follow this link if you want to ensure you're in the building when the music drops.

 

Nick Waterhouse Takes Over SaMo Pier

Tonight is not your average twilight series performance down by Santa Monica Pier.  The Santa Ana born, Huntington Beach raised Nick Waterhouse brings his bluesy and soulful vocals and guitar right by the beach.

Making his recording debut in 2010 with the release of "Some Place" and "That Place" - the storied musical journeyman has been on a wild ride ever since.  In May 2012, he released his first full length album, Times All Gone, via Stones Throw imprint Innovative Leisure Records.  He continues to maintain a strong working relationship with the Allah-Las and is contributing to production of their sophomore record as well as his own.

Catch the Cali crooner tonight at Santa Monica Pier for FREE.  Boogaloo Assassins open.

Kiev Residency at Bootleg

Quasi-local (OC and Long Beach) act Kiev enjoy the third night of their stellar residency this Monday night at Bootleg. Their Radiohead meets My Morning Jacket meets Medeski Martin & Wood sound recalls all things that are good about music, without any of the pop, begging to be discovered, drivel. These guys make music they like - and they appear to have fun doing it too. Celebrate their latest projects at Bootleg tonight with Miya Folick, The Steelwells, MYPET and DJ Kat Corbett! And, its FREE! 

LocAl fLAvor: Breakfast "True Love Waits"

Fierce, beautiful, well-orchestrated all aptly describe Breakfast's "True Love Waits" - but nothing does it justice like the song itself.  The deeply emotional ballad belted by the beautiful Andrea Adolph is enhanced by dramatic accordion and perfectly peppered ivory and ebony.

The clap breakdown is charming and cute, as is these seemingly young artists opining about how true love waits.  Does it?

Los Angeles Tonight (August 15, 2013)

Its a summer Thursday - which means FREE shows at the Santa Monica Pier (The English Beat w/ Maxwell Smart) and Levitt Pavilion's (Christian Scott at McArthur Park, New Found Road in Pasadena).  Locals The Neighbourhood pack Fonda Theatre and Lakers hero Kobe celebrates the release of Kobe Up Close at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.

A list of more entertainment options is below the videos.

• Pancho & Sancho, The Kepler Mission, Selina Zakaria, Indigo Child @ Troubadour


• The Neighbourhood, Big Black Delta, DJ Skee @ Fonda THeatre


• Kobe Up Close @ Nokia Theatre LA Live


• Dudamel Conducts Verdi’s Requiem @ Hollywood Bowl


• Lauren Waller (early showcase) @ The Mint (7 pm)


• We Poppin’ feat The Lockwest, B.Y.G., Shye Eaze, Cocc Pistol Cree @ The Mint


• The English Beat, Maxwell Smart, Troup @ Santa Monica Pier (FREE)


• Southern Culture on the Skids, Kitchen Hips @ The Echo


• Alex Bleeker & The Freeks, Matt Kivel @ Bootleg Bar


• Sango, Atlantic Connection, Nikko Gray, ESTA, Jarell Perry @ Bootleg Gallery


• Goldensun, Polytype, The Subtle Knife @ Silverlake Lounge


• Buyepongo @ Los Globos


• Hobart W. Fink, Blackfeet Braves, Jeffertiti’s Nile @ Grand Park


• Overeasy, Western Bells, Guardian Ghost, Professor Possessor, Tijuana Cartel @ Hotel Café


• The Messengers @ Harvard & Stone


• New Found Road @ Levitt Pavilion Pasadena


• Christian Scott @ Levitt Pavilion McArthur Park


• Brevet, Caxiton, Pacific, Dylan Emmet, Steps of Doe, Courtney Randall, Sarah Kaplan @ Roxy Theatre


• Derrick Hodge, TS and the Vines @ The Viper Room


• LNGWKND @ Del Monte Speakeasy


• David Gordoni @ House of Blues – Foundation Room


• Tera Naomi, Ben Carroll @ WitZend


• Spaceship, Merciless Jive, Pompous Highmen @ Saint Rocke


• Cherokee, JNL Cinemafunk, Chronic Mncher @ Detroit Bar


• Goddamn Gallows, Restavrant, Delaney Davidson @ Alex’s Bar


• Yellow Red Sparks @ Constellation Room


• Foreign Beggars @ Constellation Room (late Show)


• Cash & Freedman @ House of Blues – Anaheim


• Michael Bolton @ City National Grove of Anaheim


• GTA @ Yost Theater


• The Reckoning, St. Clair, Morris @ IO West Theater

Los Angeles Tonight (August 10, 2013)

Enjoy an excellent Saturday and find some good music to check out live in this list below.   We like Cloud Control and Tapioca & The Flea at Bootleg Bar if you want to be on the next tip, Hardwell at Palladium to dance your ass off, Mark De Clive Lowe presents Church at Levitt Pavilion McArthur Park if you want some FREE entertainment and The National with Daughter to rock out under the twilight sky at Greek Theatre.



Check out a more complete list below!

• The National, Daughter @ Greek Theatre


• Emeli Sande @ Club Nokia


• Smith Westerns, Wampire @ El Rey Theatre


• Chicano Batman @ Levitt Pavilion Pasadena


• White Fence, Jessica Pratt and Jonathan Rado @ Trouabadour


• Mark de Clive Lowe presents CHURCH @ Levitt Pavilion McArthur Park


• One Direction a@ Staples Center


• Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett & His Large Band @ Hollywood Bowl


• Ivete Sangalo @ Nokia Theatre L.A. Live


• Hardwell @ Hollywood Palladium


• Cloud Control and Tapioca & the Flea @ Bootleg Bar


• The Shadow Principle, Odd Owl, the Verm and Adam’s Breakfast @ Silverlake Lounge


• The Obsessed, Hirax, From Ashes Rise and Final Conflict @ Echoplex


• Plus, Smiles, V-3P0 and Dust & Chrome @ Satellite


• Star & Dagger, Boots Electric and Purple @ Los Globos


• Turbo Lightning, Zebroids, Dirty Few and Heller Keller @ the Smell


• Shivering Windows, Nicole Kidman, Filardo, Eyes Seas and the Cthulhus @ Lot 1 Café


• The Bluebonnets, Upset and EZ Tiger @ El Cid


• Derek Rogers, Good Willsmith, l’eternebre and Black Hat @ pehrspace


• Animal Cloud, NTNT, Science Fiction Theater, Darren Frank and Robb Benson & the Sheik @ the Hotel Café


• Taro Hart and Melvin Seals & JGB @ the Mint


• Dilana and Bleck @ Roxy Theatre


• Original Sinner, Opus Dai, Thick as Thieves, Day Above Ground, Kraterface and Sunset Cannons @ House of Blues


• Brad Kay’s Regressive Jazz Quartet @ Del Monte Speakeasy


• Free Moral Agents, Stab City, Plague Vendor, Ghostnerd and SoCal Tennis Pros @ Alex’s Bar


• Jessie Ware @ Observatory


• Passafire and Stick Figure @ Constellation Room

Los Angeles Tonight (June 19, 2013)

Midweek brings a handful of catchy shows to Los Angeles - including recently signed Mystery Skulls to the Troubadour and a return of resident Steve Taylor to The Mint. Taylor is joined by virtuoso keys god Marco Benevento - and we have some tickets to give away for the show - so don't sleep on that!

Former jam in the vanners The Diamond Light take their talents to the Satellite, and just around the block The Steelwells rock out at Los Globos. Other notables include Free Moral Agents and Sole at Low End Theory and Warships with Thrillionaire at The Echo. For other good shows - check out our list below:

• 
  
  
  
  • Warships, Thrillionaire @ the Echo
  
  
  • Kisses, Carousel, Mystery Skulls @ Troubadour
  
  
  • Holly Cook and Prince Fatty, Dub CLub DJS @ the Echoplex (FREE before 10)
  
  
  • The Steelwells @ Los Globos
  
  
  • The Diamond Light, Tall Tales & the Silver Lining, Fort King @ the Satellite
  
  
  • Steve Taylor, Marco Benevento @ The Mint
  
  
  • Red Plus Vattica, Killset, State Line Empire @ the Roxy
  
  
  • BLOK, the Garden and Terminal A @ Detroit Bar
  
  
  • Fuzz, Pangea, Restavrant and Three Two Ones @ Alex’s Bar
  
  
  • Free Moral Agents, Sole, Eureka the Butcher @ Low End Theory at Airliner
  
  
  • Dita Von Teese "Burlesque: Strip Strip Hooray" Variety Show @ House of Blues - Sunset STrip
  
  
  • House of Vibe @ Harvelle's
  
  
  • Victoria Justice @ Nokia Theatre L.A. Live
  
  
  • Ferenc Nemeth @ Bluewhale
  
  
  • Knee High Fox, Malaki, Royal Sound, Future Villains @ The Viper Room
  
  
  • The Paris Echo, Lucky Lonely, The Brevet, Big Monsta @ Constellation Room
  
  
  • Outside Animals, Steel Toed Slippers, The Echo and The Sound, Blind Owl @ Silverlake Lounge
  
   

Los Angeles Tonight (May 1, 2013)

Wake up, wake up its the first of the month.  So get up, get up, get up on that concert list....

Its after noon and our concert list has not been pressed, you're about to get real blessed after we figure out this concert mess.  SO...here are the shows to which you might want to go, we recommend Dustbowl Revival at The Mint for the start of their residency!

• Paramore @ Wiltern


• The Killers, The Felice Brothers @ Honda Center


• Clinic, No Joy and Electric Flower Group @ Troubadour


• Newsted, Hysteria and Christian Martucci @ Roxy Theatre


• NO, So Many Wizards and the Dead Ships @ Bootleg Bar


• Adam Green & Binki Shapiro, Pageants and Tall Tales & The Silver Lining @ the Echo


• Victor Essiet & the Mandators and Judah Eskender Tafari @ the Echoplex


• Vietnam, Gap Dream and the Shine Brothers @ the Satellite


• Alejandro Sanz @ Nokia Theatre LA Live


• The Mots Noveaux, Totsy, Chase Bell and Mika Newton @ the Hotel Café


• The Dustbowl Revival, Leftover Cuties and the Two Man Gentlemen Band @ the Mint


• Cult Vegas, No Small Children, the Echo and the Sound and Mars and the Massacre @ the Silverlake Lounge


• Restavrant and For the Kings @ Harvard & Stone


• Wonderfox, Undead Kennedys @ Los Globos


• Pompous Highmen @ Saint Rocke


• Built to Spill and Junior Rocket Scientist @ SoHo Restaurant & Music Club


• Maps & Atlases @ UC Riverside


• Spirit Family Reunion @ the Constellation Room


• The Originalities @ House of Blues Anaheim


• Zakk Wylde @ Coach House


• Reggie Watts @ Largo


• Old Crow Medicine Show, Robert Ellis @ El Rey Theatre


• Adult Books, Froth, Wax Children, Habits @ Los Globos

Los Angeles Tonight (April 30, 2013)

Its the final day of the month - which could mean its time to tame down spending to make rent...or its time for the turn up.  If its the latter - we've got a host of musical offerings to suggest.

Topping our list are two shows on the eastside.  If you're feeling Brit Week, then Chad Valley is your man.  He produces and sings simultaneously, effecting his vocals into some sexy, somewhat ambient strange indie electronic music.  His show at The Echo is definitely worthy of your attention.  For more sexy vocals, albeit a different variety that is more hip-hop and poetry informed, consider Robert Raimon Roy at Bootleg Theater.  The triple R threat is joined by the soul of Jack Davey and the electronics of Jonwayne making for an eclectic, eccentric night of dopeness.

We have tickets to give away for both shows - so hit up contest@supergoodmusic.com or mention us and the artists on twitter to get in on the action!





On the grittier rock side of things consider Great White Buffalo at Hemingway's or The Record Company at The Mint.  For the latter, I might advise sticking out for their Cinco De Mayo show at Venice Love Shack because its $10 for all you can drink and all you can jam out to.

Full list of shows below.

• Robyn Hitchcock [pictured] & the Venus 3 and Peter Buck @ the Troubadour


• Marnie Stern, SISU and Qui @ the Satellite


• DWNTWN, the Mercy Beat and the Hard Knocks @ the Central SAPC


• Robert Raimon Roy, Jack Davey and Jonwayne @ the Bootleg Bar


• Chad Valley, Ski Lodge and Oddience @ the Echo


• Masaki Batoh @ the Echoplex


• Irontom, the Echo and the Sound and the Spreewells @ Silverlake Lounge


• Jerry Ulcer, the Dan Castle Review, Early Bizrd & the Bees, Jacaranda Red, Snake Charmer Ensemble, the Mother Vines and Sweet Bump It @ Los Globos


• FM Radio, SanguineDrake, Vanish Valley and Samantha Mollen @ the Hotel Café


• Anna Lunoe and Rick Rude @Dim Mak Studios


• Spirit Family Reunion and the Record Company @ the Mint


• Black Apples, Body Parts and Missing Teen @ Harvard & Stone


• Great White Buffalo @ Hemingway’s


• Kan Wakan@ Sayers Club


• Taproot and Boy Hits Car @the Whisky


• Wizeguy, Vertigo Shock and Enjuillet @ the Viper Room


• JoJo, Austin Brown @ Tru Hollywood


• Incendio @ Catalina Bar & Grill


• Vittoria, Sox 4 Christmas, the Sterling Clan, Adanna Duru and A Thing Called Smelly a@ House of Blues Anaheim

ATTN. SXSW! DON'T MISS THE SUPERGOODMUSIC X G-PEN X ALLHIPHOP.COM BREEDING GROUND SHOWCASE

What happens when you've got an amazing venue, a great sound and production team, and two weeks until your SXSW show date and absolutely no line up? You call SUPERGOODMUSIC and they come to the rescue like Ghostbusters.

With a couple years of SXSW shows under our belt, and some great family in the G Pen team and Allhiphop.com crew, we've recruited some serious heavyweights as well as emerging artists to perform at the GPEN & SUPERGOODMUSIC Present the Allhiphop.com Breeding Ground Showcase.

Local K. Paul paves the way on the main stage for No LImit Forever, Talib Kweli, Problem and Raekwon to get rowdy and the patio is going to be pretty amped too with the likes of Kosha Dillz, Sahtyre, Watch The Duck and G-Eazy!

If you're looking for a healthy dosage of hip-hop - this is the place to be Thursday night. RSVP to the eventbrite page here.

DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS!!!!

Local Vocalists Shine at Troubadour - Lady Danville Concert Review

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves Saturday night at Lady Danville’s sold-out show at The Troubadour. There was an energy so uniform filling the room as people waited for Lady Danville to appear on stage, that it felt as if everyone knew each other. The stage was set with string lights, small sailboats, and a rug in front of the microphone that added to the “Home Sweet Home” feel that was kept throughout the entire show.

The first couple of songs had a low, calming energy and the energy built and built with each composition. One of my favorite moments of the night was when they did a cover of MGMT’s incredibly popular song, “Kids,” which I happened to enjoy much more than the original. Unlike a lot of other shows I have been to, this show wasn’t all about the lead singer. The drums were set in the center, in line with the guitar on the left and keyboards on the right. It was strange to me at first, but Lady Danville used this setup to their advantage.

Composed of three members from UCLA’s A Cappella group, each member of Lady Danville has an incredible voice. I was refreshed by this break from the usual mono vocalist groups, and their voices add a unique depth to all their songs. At one point, all three members shared one microphone and sang “I Want You Back” with just a harmonica and guitar.

The whole thing felt like a coffee shop show, rather than a show at a major music venue. The band told stories relating to their songs, and when lead vocalist/guitarist Dan Chang asked how many people spoke French, about half the room cheered. He then replied with, “I know that many of you do not speak French,” and continued to talk about the story behind their song “Sophie Roux.”

At the end of the night, Lady Danville left the crowd with one of my favorites, “Cars.” And as they sang “And I know/ You said/ I’ve always been a bit too sensitive for a man,” the fans were laughing, talking with each other, and being captivated by Lady Danville’s performance, clearly not wanting the night to end.

Article by Converse Rockstar @converserockstr

Vanaprasta Show & Giveaway

This Thursday there are a handful of shows on my radar screen - but when it comes to indie rock, Vanaprasta, Hanni El Khatib and Rumspringa at The Echo are my top pick.

You may have heard Hanni El Khatib with Florence & The Machine at The Wiltern in early November, or heard music from Vanaprasta's Forming The Shapes EP on KROQ or KCRW or at Spaceland or Silverlake Lounge, or heard Rumspringa open for a handful of other local indie talent - but you've probably never had them all in the same room on the same night.

Vanaprasta & Sideways Media are giving you the chance to do that for FREE through our ticket giveaway. You could be the lucky winner of a pair of tickets AND also a limited edition 7 inch. Not only will you get too enjoy their sexy sounds at The Echo, you'll get to continue enjoying it on your record player post performance!

To enter the contest just send an e-mail to contest@supergoodmusic.com with the word Vanaprasta in the subject or body of the e-mail. You can also enter by making a post on our facebook page or mentioning @supergoodmusic @vanaprasta and @sidewaysmedia in a tweet.

If the opportunity to cop some limited edition vinyl and see good tunes from an LA band like Vanaprasta isn't enough to convince you to come - have you seen Hanni El Khatib? Hanni killed it with Flo early in November with a stripped down indie nostalgia-inducing sound that I really dig. You can really feel that in Hanni's "Dead Wrong" video:

Funktober First Round Up

Los Angeles' autumn concert season opened on a high note this past Friday when Funktober First took over The Roxy. An intimate crowd of funk, soul and boogie enthusiasts gathered at 9009 Sunset Blvd. for what became a memorable, enjoyable and highly dance-able evening.

Things got started and were kept moving all night by KCRW's Jeremy Sole, who was performing in the DJ booth upstairs just above the SUPERGOODMUSIC banner. Playing a smattering of old school soul, including some choice Sly & The Family Stone, he had the crowd vibing out before Tha Boogie even stepped on stage.

Shortly after 9, the only act I had not yet seen on the bill, Tha Boogie, made their presence known. The group, led by two male and one female vocalist, entered with choreographed movements and extremely loud clothing.

Playing for about thirty minutes, Tha Boogie made sure the crowd did just that. The energy of the band seemed to leach into the crowd, as the band drew nearly all of the VIP section onto the dance floor to enjoy the rising band's set. Toe-tapping and butt-bumping with strangers before 10 pm signified that this night was just the music I was looking for.

Sadly, Tha Boogie did not play longer as I truly enjoyed their lively performance and exciting stage theatrics. Once Tha Boogie had wrapped up their set, Jeremy Sole resumed his duties as the nights mixmaster of ceremonies. I would love a copy of his playlist because he was spinning nothing but supergoodness as the not to sizeable crowd barely budged from the dance-floor.

Next up was The Soul of John Black - who confidently took to his guitar almost immediately. While the music was very enjoyable, TSJB lacked the driving rhythms and energy of his predecessor. The pleasant melodies emanating from the accomplished musician's guitar kept the mood right, but the slowed pace led many patrons to the bar for re-hydration.

John Black ripped his urban bluesy rock soul for a good half hour before retiring backstage and letting the funk take over the room again. Sole kept the crowd's ears saturated with funktober's finest beats for at least a half hour while the stage crew repositioned instruments and prepared for the 9 piece extravaganza that is Orgone.

The band opened with a nice dirty funk jam that again got almost the entire crowd to join them on the dance floor. The crowd, which had grown considerably between the end of TSJB and Orgone, definitely were ready to get down....and so was the band.

Running through a handful of original tracks from Killion Floor, Bacando and their latest release, Cali Fever, Orgone and Fanny Franklin reminded the crowd why they are not only the best funk band to ever come out of Los Angeles, but also the perfect act to headline Funktober First.

Fanny (pictured above and below), got absolutely wicked on the microphone. Her voice has so much range and her soul is so deep that she occasionally reminds me of Sharon Jones - just a very petite one. She killed on "Who Knows Who," amongst other originals, and as always, nailed vocals on some of my favorite covers - including "Ain't No Use," "Brothers on the Slide," and their P-Funk closer "Cosmic Slop."

The rest of the band, including Stewart Killen (pictured below), backed up Fanny quite nicely. Holding down a very heavy rhythm for about 90 minutes, Stewart and crew kept the crowds feet moving almost as quickly as Sergio's (guitarist) hands.

As the night wound down around 1 a.m., I couldn't help but be pleased with the enthusiasm the acts brought and the seeming delight of the intimate crowd. Although the venue was not packed full, Funktober First was a good step in the right direction for not only all the bands that performed, but SUPERGOODMUSIC as well. Couldn't be happier with the quality of sound(s) at our very first event at The Roxy.

Rookie Festival Makes Splash - Pacific Festival a Relative Success

EC Twins

Mike Tunney - Pacific Festival Organizer

SUPERGOODMUSIC.com spent part of this past holiday weekend in the slightly warmer Orange County for the 1st ever Pacific Festival. Put together by Mike Tunney and friends and featuring two distinctly different days of music, one electro and one reggae-dub soul, I thought it was well worth my time.

Day 1 definitely caught the attention of more Los Angelenos. This should come as no surprise as it was headlined by Dim Mak's Steve Aoki, hosted by Mark The Cobransake, and featured a host of rising talent from the indie-electro-dance scene. From Classixx to Miami Horror to Dan Sena to EC Twins to all the fellas from Guns in The Sun - there was something new to be turned on to. The performances of Rob Roy and Chiddy Bang also brought in some much needed hip-hop downtime when the performances transitioned from outside to inside at the Sutra Lounge. In addition to Aoki, there were also heavyweights The Sounds and Alan Braxe, as well as a planned SILENT DISCO to ensure fans stayed until the end of the night.

Chilling w/ Kenya from Guns in the Sun

Chiddy Bang

And fans did stay. I exited shortly after Them Jeans came on at 1 am to a packed lounge of people barely capable of standing. The 21+ festival crowd was definitely in effect, especially in the VIP section, where the bar was all you can drink. For a mere $45, you could upgrade from regular admission to the inspiring black-out extravaganza that was VIP. While that unbridled access to alcohol may not have been the best way for the organizers to make money, it certainly gave the fans something to be excited about in addition to the music......and excited they were. The sloppiness went from about a 4 to a 9 or 10 between five and eight pm.

Intoxicated Concert Goers

Having agreed to provide press coverage (like this post), SUPERGOODMUSIC was able to catch some dope performances and snap some choice pics, all starting with Classixx on the main stage. The rising LA duo, who have released material on Dim Mak records, treated the crowd to a host of remixes including their excellent version of Listzomania which, in our opinion, should have been featured on the Wolfgang Amadeus Remix album (it is not).

Classixx

Miami Horror

After Classixx, Miami Horror made what I believe is their first festival appearance for a live band, or at least their first festival appearance anywhere remotely close to LA. The quartet brought a lot more energy to the stage than Classixx, in no small part because they play live instruments as opposed to computers. Benjamin Plant, the major brains behind Miami Horror, was all over the place - from playing wooden blocks to climbing the support beams and hanging off the side of the stage. They played their recognizable songs and then some other tunes that I'm hoping are on their album, Illumination, which was released on August 20th.

The Sounds followed before Aoki took stage, but I didn't catch much of their performance. I was scrambling around trying to figure out where other stages were, chopping it up with the Guns in The Sun crew and figuring out that press access did not include VIP admission. Although organization was not the festival's forte, at least they did realize that allowing press to get knee deep in booze probably wouldn't facilitate coherent or accurate feedback.

Steve Aoki

Nonetheless, SUPERGOODMUSIC negotiated their way into some free libations and took in Aoki's dance party from afar before moving in close for pictures and a potential champagne shower. With his mom and friends on stage, Aoki sprayed bottles of bubbly, facilitated crowd surfing and tossed around his signature long hair from behind the boards. Sporting a typical Aoki outfit of tanktop and hipster shoes - he paraded back and forth across stage inviting up a few carefully selected guests for their minute of festival fame, including this girl:

After Steve Aoki, the expected Skull Candy sponsored Silent Disco just never manifested. While that was extremely disappointing (silent discos are really f'ing cool), I was pleasantly surprised to find the Guys and Dollas party animals, EC Twins, throwing down in the Sutra Lounge. Their on stage excitement and enthusiasm definitely infected the crowd, and before you knew it, the room was at capacity for their blended dance anthems. The night continued with performances from Rob Roy, Chiddy Bang, Alan Braxe and Them Jeans, whose set we unfortunately missed.

Chiddy Bang

Unlike most Day 1 attendees, we returned for Day 2. The paradigm shift from indie-electro to reggae-dub-soul certainly did not offend SUPERGOODMUSIC's sensibilities because the headlining act for Day 2, Rebelution, is one of the hottest items on the reggae-dub soul scene. Although we didn't come down as early - we certainly were not going to miss Rebelution.

Boasting a tight young nucleus of talent (the band consists of four young to mid 20's charmers who met at UCSB), Rebelution has been putting on amazing performances long before and ever since their second album, Bright Side of Life, dropped in August 2009. Avoiding the sophomore slump, Bright Side of Life reached #1 on Billboard's reggae charts and obtained a #3 spot on i-tunes top albums downloaded, and has provided the fuel necessary to oil this band's touring machine. With spots at almost every festival this summer, from Summer Camp to Wakarusa to All Good to Lollapalooza, Pacific Festival was lucky to score them at the end of the tiresome run.

Eric from Rebelution

Expendables

The band (Rebelution) definitely delivered on their hype - bringing their dub-soul fire for almost 100 minutes on Sunday night when they took the stage after Expendables (who were good - but not quite as good as their Sunset Strip Music Festival performance at The Roxy). Rory (keys) and Wesley (drums) played cleanly from behind their respective instruments, while Eric (vocals, guitar) and Marley (bass) provided the eye candy, energy and lyrics up front. The quartet served up crowd pleasers from both Bright Side of Life and their first release, Courage to Grow, to close down the festival, inviting pseudo-rastas to spark it up on songs like "Green to Black," before smashing it with their bass heavy encore of "Safe and Sound" (Marley brought it on SaS).

Eric & Marley of Rebelution

As most festivals due in their earliest years, Pacific Festival probably lost money. In a tough economy - it would be hard to expect major returns from a first foray into multi-day event production. The absence of massive corporate sponsors (no major brand sponsor although Skull Candy and a few other companies did appear to sponsor the event at some level) and the presence of unlimited drinks for VIP, also probably did not help the Festival's bottom line.

All that said, Pacific Festival has a lot of positives to take from their rookie year, including a good foundation to build on and a client base that seemed pleased with their experience.

We had a great time and hope the festival is back for year 2 :D

You can see more pictures of our experience here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=498751&id=255784860346&ref=mf

SUPERGOODMUSIC NYC: Lomma's Trip To East Coast Hipster Heaven

If you ever make your way to New York City during the muggy summer months that most people avoid like the plague (think: over-crowded, over-heated subway systems and a pungent aroma of homeless wanderers with their accompanying excrement frying in the sun), you will find yourself with a plethora of musically delicious options that will surely detract from your seemingly overwhelming olfactory sense. With an abundance of thrifty (and nifty) happenings all around the city for three summer months, you hardly even need to have a job! That said, you should totally get a job because, let’s face it, living on your buddy’s couch or in your parent’s basement or in cardboard boxes that some New Yorker's call home is so not hip n’ cool.

So on one of these particular steamy New York City weekends, I thought it a good idea to invest one night in making my way over to one of the inexpensive, if not free, shows on Governors Island. A short subway ride and a ferry trip later, and I made my way through the island and toward the expanse of land where the stage was set up for Los Angeles' own Local Natives to play.

Local Natives is a band that reminds me of The xx - not necessarily in sound but in quality. Both are very good bands, but both have only released one album. Sure, pretty much every song on that album is relatively delicious, but when you go see them, there isn’t going to be too many surprises in the set list or in the sound. As I had predicted, they ended their set with the most obvious choice, “Sun Hands”, but the hit by far of the night was my own personal favorite, “Wide Eyes”, a track with a ridiculously sweet beat and darkly enchanting lyrics. Local Natives, like The xx, is the kind of good quality band where you can go to a show, close your eyes, and not really know whether you are sitting alone in your car or standing amongst a swarm of people in the middle of Governors Island.

They sound exactly like their album, which is good, but it also means there are no surprises up their sleeve... but can you really expect a monstrous light show, an epic jam session, or elaborate costumes from a mellow indie band? Not really. So my point is that they are good. Would I pay $60 to see them at this point in their career? No. But for a mere $10 (the near-equivalent to purchasing their album on iTunes), I got to hear them play outside on a beautiful summer night with a cold beer in hand, the New York City skyline serving as a backdrop, and not through my low-quality car speakers while sitting in agonizing traffic on the 101.

Another New York City summer time treat is the free Jelly Pool Parties at the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn. These parties are like a daytime hipster haven complete with a misting station and epic city views. I mean, what does every New York-based hipster want to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon? The answer is simple: head to the motherland (aka Williamsburg), drink beer, and sprawl out on the grass between sweet beat dance-offs. Oh yes, that’s right. There were dance-offs... which felt more like train wrecks so bad that you couldn't not look, except in this case the trains were being driven by post-meth-head hipster-wannabes.

On this particular weekend, I ventured out to see Cut Copy. It was a beautiful Sunday, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than basking in the sunshine at a free concert in Brooklyn. By the time I arrived there, Memory Tapes was playing, who proved to be a nice backdrop to my hangover. Finally, Cut Copy took the stage and opened with a very delicious track, “Lights & Music." This was followed by old and new hits including “Hearts on Fire”, “Going Nowhere” and “Blink and You’ll Miss a Revolution”. There were points in the show where I wasn’t sure if the Melbourne-based band was actually even playing their instruments, mostly because it seemed the song kept going even while all the band members had their hands up in the air. Due to my profound respect and love for this particular band, I’m just going to chalk the phantom playing up to a mere hangover hallucination. Either way, the Jelly Pool Parties are great New York City summertime fun, and free music from synth-band heavy-hitters? Well, that’s just heaven, hipster heaven.

Post/Pictures by Lauren Lomma

Sunset Strip Music Festival Skeets Off at The Roxy

As you can see, DJ Skee, Skee TV and all their guests (Xzibit, Paul Wall, Strong Arm Steady) seriously threw it down to start off the amazing weekend that is the Sunset Strip Music Festival.

The Roxy played host to the star studded event that was the third installment of Skeetox and there were a handsome lot of notable characters in the audience. Surprisingly, the room was not at capacity despite the twitter publicized announcement that both Xzibit and Paul Wall would be there. But, hey, that made for a way more comfortable environment.

Enjoying the choice crowd, I mingled for a while before Skee and his band took to the stage. Once there, Skee's band brought a nice selection of recent and old hip-hop hits to the party and added their own live flavor to the DJ set. Although not The Roots, this live hip-hop medley band is fun to watch and very energized on stage. Playing a host of familiar music, it was really easy to enjoy their performance. They had me questioning why I don't go (or possibly form) a hip-hop cover band....

After DJ Skee and his band finished riffling through chart toppers of yesterday, Strong Arm Steady were the first guests to grab the mic and massage the crowd. Playing in familiar stomping grounds, SAS delivered a quick dosage of their L.A. flavor before handing the microphones over to more accomplished MCs.

After Strong Arm Steady, Paul Wall came to the stage with his quintessential iced grill and painted arms. Starting late, perhaps because he had drove slow, Wall reminded the crowd why his Southern drawl and swagger can still rock a room, leaving the crowd pining for more.

Wall, although a veteran, is not as senior as Xzibit. Long before Wall's "Ride Slow" or his own TV show Pimp My Ride, X was killing the West Coast with his poetic flow on tracks like "Foundation" and "Papparazzi." No longer really acclaimed for his MC abilities (he does more acting and voice overs; his last album release was in 2006), Xzibit exhibited why he still deserves credit amongst his rapper brethren. He was energetic, enthusiastic and passionate on the stage. You could feel the energy rise when the took the mic and you were itching for more when he finished his performance.

Thanks to The Roxy and DJ Skee for making it happen. It was dope. We can only hope that the rest of Sunset Strip Music Festival week and weekend is this good.