Gemma Hayes 5/22/05 - Tangier's, Los Angeles, CA.

(Photo: Debra Reschoff-Ahearn via Gemma Hayes official website)

From the archives.

Several years ago, Gemma Hayes performed a solo acoustic show at the now-departed Tangier's (lounge and restaurant) in the Los Feliz (Hollywood-adjunct) area of Los Angeles. I've a been a fan of Ms. Hayes for quite some time, but this is first instance of her being featured here. This show could be considered representative of her "Los Angeles-period" when she was recording and living here. I do understand that she recently released a new album ("Let It Break") - however, I have not heard anything off it, so I can't really comment on it.

I first heard of her back in 2003, when her first full-length album "Night On My Side" was released in the United States, through either a review in Bust Magazine or on KCRW, don't exactly remember. Soon-after, I happened to catch an headlining show of her's at the Troubadour, which ended up being a almost sold-out affair. She didn't really perform much in Los Angeles after that, until 2005 when she had an (rather under-publicized, which was speculated to have been on purpose) April residency at Tangier's, followed by this show the next month. After releasing her second album "The Roads Don't Love You" later that year, she occasionally did more shows in the L.A.-area, mostly at The Hotel Cafe, testing out material that would end up on her third album "The Hollow Of Morning." She eventually left Los Angeles to move back to her native Ireland, and hasn't really performed here since.

Again, this show was pretty representative of what she was performing at the time - starting off with a couple of songs from "Night On My Side." A cover of John Martyn's "Head and Heart" was featured, and half the setlist was material that ended up on "The Roads Don't Love You." An interesting peak into the past of Gemma Haye's musical career, and fans of her's should definitely check this show out.

1.) Intro FLAC MP3
2.) Evening Sun FLAC MP3
3.) Ran For Miles FLAC MP3
4.) Nothing Can FLAC MP3
5.) Head and Heart FLAC MP3
6.) Something In My Way FLAC MP3
7.) Happy Sad FLAC MP3
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Bedroom Walls 4/26/06 - Tangier, Los Angeles, CA. (Part One)

(Part one in a series of three)

Bedroom Walls today may or may not be playing as another band, who may or may not have recently released their first record. To celebrate this, I will be taking a look back at some older shows of theirs.*

I first heard of Bedroom Walls sometime in 2005, online. My first thought was that I liked the name, which could be construed as superficial, I suppose. But I did like the music, which has been described as part of the "romanticore" genre, though "indie-shoegaze-pop" could apply as well.

I didn't get to see Bedroom Walls until this show in 2006, at the now departed Tangier Restaurant and Lounge. This was announced as a kind of a "secret, last-minute" show - the crowd was small, but the sound is good. However, I apologize for not knowing the names of tracks 2 and 7 - if anyone knows them, drop me a line, thanks.

1.) Introduction MP3
2.) "unknown" MP3
3.) Winter, That's All MP3
4.) The Dog's Life MP3
5.) Do The Buildings and Cops Make You Smile? MP3
6.) Kathy In Her Bedroom MP3
7.) "unknown" MP3
8.) In Anticipation Of Your Suicide MP3
9.) The Idiot MP3
10.) I've Been Thinking A Lot About Dots On The Wall MP3
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FLAC files available upon request (by e-mail)

(Note: When "The Idiot" song was played live, it was called "Everybody Here Thinks It's Ridiculous"; later it was posted on myspace as "The Idiot." Unless notified otherwise, I'm going with the latter title at the present time.)

*Edited 2/15/09 at request of band.