One Trick Pony 6/16/12 - Make Music Pasadena (Majestical Roof Courtyard Stage), Pasadena, CA.

Part two in a series.

Continuing in our coverage of last weekend's annual installment of Make Music Pasadena, we move along to One Trick Pony, who performed in the middle of the afternoon. It's been quite awhile since we've caught One Trick Pony (outside of last year's tribute to "The Movies" and Undercovered III earlier this year), but this show did not disappoint. Since the former however, the band has released their first full-length album Try Not To Worry So Much, which has been described as "deliver[ing] sharp lyrics and soft melodic vocals paired with louder instrumentation."  So, enjoy this show, which may contain references to a dead cat and forgotten merch. Sorry, no setlist.

Download here (MP3) FLAC files available by request.

 One Trick Pony - Loose Talk (6/16/12) by recordingla

Undercovered III (One Trick Pony, Rob Danson, Dawn of Sequins, College Kids, The Californian) 4/07/12 - The Satellite, Los Angeles, CA.

(Image: Radio Free Silverlake)

About a week and a half ago, not only did Radio Free Silverlake celebrated it's sixth birthday, they also held their third installment of "Undercovered" at The Satellite. We have covered this semi-annual (was not held in 2011) both times in the past, so our expectations were pretty high and luckily we were not disappointed. The theme of Undercovered is L.A.-area bands (usually ones that have been featured on Radio Free Silverlake and thereabouts) covering other L.A.-area bands - which in the past has made for some pretty unique interpretations, and tonight was no exception.

With L.A.-bands covering each others work, there was some overlap with the performers themselves - both One Trick Pony and Rob Danson ( a last-minute addition) covered Rademacher (whose frontman Malcolm Sosa is one half of College Kids, who performed later in the evening). Manhattan Murder Mystery made three appearances (one in form of a frontman Matthew Teardrop solo song) although the band themselves was performing in Portland that night. Dawn of Sequins, a side project from The Monolators (who were originally going to perform as the latter, but their guitarist was injured from a bike accident and unable to participate) performed a "power-pop" version of "Behemoth" (from the recently-retired Ema and the Ghosts) and had a rare vocal performance from Mary with Season's "Monday Night." College Kids gave a quiet and somewhat haunting set (Light FM's "Thrift Store Clothes" a nod to the Kim Haden's former band). The Californian closed out the evening with a markedly different set, representing a couple of currently-inactive bands (The Broken West and Benji Hughes) Fun evening, and we can't wait for the next one.

Download full show here. (mp3)

FLAC files available by request.

Setlist:

One Trick Pony

Introduction

Minnesota (Rademacher)

Something Wrong With Me (Death to Anders)

H.N.C.P.A. (Manhattan Murder Mystery)

Rob Danson (Death to Anders)

Need Nobody (Rademacher)

Honda Prius (Manhattan Murder Mystery)

Dawn of Sequins (Mary and Eli of The Monolators)

Introduction

Followed By Bad Luck (Tenlons Fort)

Behemoth (Ema and the Ghosts)

Monday Night (Seasons)

Ride This Wave (Summer Darling)

College Kids

Bury Me at the Salton Sea (Matthew Teardrop)

Stay With Me (NO)

Thrift Store Clothes (Light FM)

Happy In Love (Earlimart)

Sex Offenders (Auditorium)

The Californian

Return To The Sea (The Ross Sea Party)

On The Bubble (The Broken West)

The Mummy (Benji Hughes)

I Don't Want To Know (The Breakups)

Dirty Apartment (The Mid Cities)

Maybe It's The Distance (Chasing Kings)

Dawn of Sequins - Behemoth (Ema and the Ghosts cover) by recordingla

The Californian - Return To The Sea (The Ross Sea Party cover) by recordingla

Tribute to The Movies (Various Artists) 6/25/11 - The Satellite, Los Angeles, CA.

(Flyer from KogaFoto)

A few weeks ago (yes, I know, it's been awhile since the last post here - blame it on a combination of being sick/procrastination) "Tribute to The Movies" took place at The Satellite in Los Angeles. Several bands and artists came together to pay tribute to the now-defunct Los Angeles-based band The Movies. While our experiences with The Movies have been limited (we saw frontman Timothy James do a solo set over two years ago) they have been described as "legendary in Los Angeles" and "entirely idealized—purported to be larger than life." Regardless, it was a very emotional evening.

Due to the, er, boisterous nature of this event, this was a challenging show to record. Each band/artist was recorded and mastered separately (with fade ins and outs applied between each "set") - thus, sound levels will vary. The beginning of "Truth Knocking" was cut due to one of the night's performers who shall remain nameless whispering in my left ear. Approximately 14 seconds of "Get Your Macho Out" was cut due an audience member telling me, and I quote "The majority of those musicians on stage are completely unprofessional - why aren't you up there with them?" (yes, this really happened)

Photo gallery from the show
"Remembering The Movies Part I" (reflections on The Movies from tribute show performers)
"Remembering The Movies Part II"

Full show download here.

Death To Anders
1.) Rock in the Slingshot MP3

Scott Watson (Hall Of Fame)
2.) Midnight Bloody Murder MP3

3.) Secretariat MP3

Seasons
4.) Intro to... MP3
5.) Tired Of Being Superstitious MP3
6.) When I Was In Nam MP3

Light FM
7.) Missed Oportunities MP3

Brian Thornell (Wrong Way Driver)
8.) A Better Life MP3

Cardoza (feat. members of One Trick Pony and George Glass)
9.) Timothy James MP3
10.) Ed (I Can't Find Those Lyrics) MP3
11.) Autograph MP3

Manhattan Murder Mystery
12.) The Right Equipment MP3
13.) American Oil MP3
14.) The Kid Who Liked Christmas MP3

Sarah Negadari & Charlie Mahoney (The Happy Hollows)
15.) Limousine MP3

Brian Canning & Claire McKeown (Shadow Shadow Shade)
16.) Truth Knocking MP3
17.) Pass The Music MP3
18.) Monumental Life MP3

Amusement Parks On Fire
19.) Scary Footsteps MP3
20.) Creation Lake MP3

Wet and Reckless
21.) Intro to... MP3
22.) Don't Steal My Licks MP3
23.) If I Had the Cash MP3

"Encore Jam" (w/various performers of the night, plus guest vocalist Seamus Simpson of Smokers In Love)
24.) Get Your Macho Out MP3
25.) Scary Footsteps MP3

Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available by request.

George Glass 5/30/10 - All-Star Lanes, Los Angeles, CA.

Awhile back, George Glass played as part of the line-up for "Undercovered II," (more info about the show here) which featured Seasons, Rademacher, The Hectors, and One Trick Pony at All-Star Lanes. George Glass is a relatively new band, which boasts former members of other local band Death To Anders (who were part of Undercovered's debut night last year). Currently a three piece featuring Nick Celigo on vocals/guitar, Peter DiBiasio on bass, and Nathan Kondor on drums, their live shows have been described as having "fabulous vocals and guitar, real, true bass work, and terrific drumming all tied together so well" and "erupting on into the night as they deliver the goods to us once again song after song."

This set of covers was a broad one, paying note to such local luminaries (and bill-mates that night) Rademacher ("Courtesy Call") and One Trick Pony ("Loose Talk" - which was also covered by Death To Anders last year) An interesting selection was a song by Arthur Lee's band "Love," along with a cover of local's The Primos "Cookbook." However, the most impressive feat of the evening was a melody of songs by local bands (the only one I recognized was a snippet of The Happy Hollows "DeLorean"), which was a Nick solo effort.

Update: Thanks to the band for filling in the blanks on the setlist!

1.) "East-Side Melody": Another Earthquake (The Transmissions) -> A Million Fingers (The Hectors) -> The Weight (Seasons) -> Well Rehearsed Last Words (Les Blanks) -> Killer Bees (The Henry Clay People) -> Delorean (The Happy Hollows) FLAC MP3
2.) Happiness Right Where You Are (Amnion) FLAC MP3
3.) Loose Talk (One Trick Pony) FLAC MP3
4.) Gazing (Love/Arthur Lee) FLAC MP3
5.) Courtesy Call (Rademacher) FLAC MP3
6.) Cult Of The Underground (Die Rockers Die) FLAC MP3
7.) Cookbook (The Primos) FLAC MP3
8.) Where the Wild Things Go (The Black Apples) FLAC MP3
Text File
Fingerprint
MD5

Seasons 5/30/10 - Undercovered II, All-Star Lanes, Los Angeles, CA.

( Photo: Eliot Glass via Season's Myspace )

(First and foremost, I want to apologize for my longer-than I thought hiatus/lack of posting on the blog. "Real life" got kind of busy for awhile, and show-going/posting fell by the wayside. I hope to get back on track and try to remedy that for the time being.)

Last month, Seasons were part of the line-up for Undercovered II (where Los Angeles-area bands cover other Los Angeles-area bands)at All-Star Lanes, which included Rademacher (Malcolm Sosa solo), George Glass, The Hectors, and One Trick Pony. As the reader might recall, we fully covered this event in it's inaugural outing last year, and were looking forward to this year's presentation. In addition to an expanded number of bands playing, this event also served as an benefit for Huntington's disease research.

First up to play this evening was Seasons. Much has been written about the Highland Park band, ranging from being "one of the more ubiquitous bands in the L.A. scene. Their sound is a pure product of their influences, a fusion of indie rock, 80's synth, folk rock, and garage blues -- so if you're thinking Beck, you're in the right neighborhood" to "[they are a glorious mess.The seven- or (sometimes) eight-piece makes lovingly off-kilter neo-psychedelia full of palpable energy and exposed nerves, startlingly pretty one moment and earplug-worthy cacophonous the next. When these guys nail it they are calamitously good." Their set covered a range of beloved L.A.-area bands, including previously-posted The Movies, Castledoor, and The Monolators.

For an more in-depth report, check out Lord Growing's post about the night at The 704.

1.) Introduction MP3
2.) Energy Trade ( The Health Club ) MP3
3.) Get Your Macho Out ( The Movies ) MP3
4.) Remember When ( Castledoor ) MP3
5.) Ambulance ( Manhattan Murder Mystery ) MP3
6.) Eagle Fighting Zebra ( The Monolators ) MP3
Text File

FLAC (lossless) files available upon request.

One Trick Pony 1/30/10 - The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood, CA.

Last Saturday, One Trick Pony played a show at The Hotel Cafe. (well, technically since it was after midnight it was on Sunday, but since they were on Saturday's bill, we'll just leave it at that) The first time I had heard of One Trick Pony was when one of their songs "Loose Talk" was covered by Death To Anders at Radio Free Silverlake's "Undercovered" show last year. The next month I only caught some of their set at the first of (with The Monolators) the Where Gallery "Exposure" shows, but was intrigued enough to want to catch them again, and the opportunity finally presented itself this past weekend.

However, I do have a bit to say on the venue that is The Hotel Cafe. I still like this place, I truly do, despite the way it's changed over the years. While it has still retained a few of it's laid-back qualities that defined it as more of a "coffeehouse"-type place in it's infancy, since becoming a more popular "scene" type of place, a lot has not changed for the better. (this was subtlety referenced by lead singer Randolph Pennyworth when he mentioned between songs "weathering that whole wave of douche outside") I suppose it can't helped, things change, especially when they become more popular. It still stings a little though.

Nevertheless,it was a fun show - lots new/newer songs (including some from the recently released album Full Of Life. Some crowd chatter present through to varying degrees (see text file for more info)

1.) Loose Talk MP3
2.) Phonebook MP3
3.) Masonry MP3
4.) Andrew Jackson MP3
5.) Get Over Yourself MP3
6.) Crepehangers MP3
7.) Children Pt. II MP3
8.) Diagonal Waves MP3
Text File

FLAC (loseless) files available upon request (by e-mail)