Those Darlins

October 26th, 2009

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Take three chicks from Tennessee. Mix in their foul mouth, booze happy antics with a punk rock we don’t give a f*%$ attitude. Stir it all together for a set of down to earth good ol’ fashioned, stomp your feet country punk twang. Make it loud, super loud, set it to sweet drumming and you realize the Hotel Cafe just was not ready for any of this! And yes were talking about the incomparable bad asses that are Those Darlins. Read the rest of this entry »

The Idyllists : Hotel Cafe Los Angeles County Firefighters Memorial Fund Show

September 28th, 2009

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This is for a great cause with a great band so we are happy to pass this along to everyone.

The Idyllists, a group of local indie rock musicians have announced that all proceeds from their Friday, October 2nd, 2009 show at Hotel Cafe will be donated to the Los Angeles County Firefighters Memorial Fund. Captain Tedmund “Ted” Hall, 47, of San Bernardino County, and Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo “Arnie” Quinones, 34, of Palmdale, died August 30th when their truck fell 800 feet into a ravine during their battle against the Station Fire in the Angeles National Forest. Both men were trying to find an escape route for fellow firefighters.

Download : Gavin Castleton

September 23rd, 2009

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A quick mention on Gavin Castleton. This guy has got some crazy range as an artist. From an electronic infused energy to a pure, make you weak to your knees acoustic vibe, he can do it all and do it all so well. Read the rest of this entry »

Kim Divine CD Release @ Hotel Cafe

July 6th, 2009

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A quick mention about one of our favorite performers. The one and only Kim Divine will be having a cd release party at The Hotel Cafe on July 6th. Kim will be performing with her full band and goes on at 8 PM. Read the rest of this entry »

Tristan Prettyman @ Hotel Cafe

April 10th, 2009

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I arrived at Hotel Café to find the venue well populated and Tristan Prettyman up on stage, “…waste all my time…” with an acoustic guitar in hand and a percussionist sitting on top of a box, tapping it while hitting the tambourine with the left foot (I could not see his right foot, so I’m not sure what he was doing with it). The atmosphere was warm and inviting as she finished the song and began another, adding in a funny comment in between to warm up the audience further.

Her set included both new and old songs, all done acoustically and accompanied by the percussion instruments, which added life and dimension to Tristan’s set. Her voice played over the instrumentation, at times rough and raspy, other times even and controlled, the notes sometimes breaking into airy wisps. Depending on the mood of the song, she would take the low road, rumbling over the lyrics with deep emotion, or take the high road, skipping through the words with high emotion. In all cases Ms. Prettyman displayed her talent and experience, aware of how to please an audience and how to hold its attention.

The highlight of the performance was probably when Tristan did “the Speckled Frog Song,” a children’s counting tune that delighted many of the spectators with its audience participation feature. “Yum, yum!” everyone cried out, immediately followed by giggling as they realized they had just been reconnected with their childhoods, which in a 21+ club very rarely happens. But that was Tristan’s gift; her semi-self-conscious personal anecdotes tied the songs together while at the same time connecting herself with the audience. Overall it was a great performance, and Tristan really seemed to enjoy herself, basking in the dim red hue of the Hotel Café.

If you want to check out Tristan Prettyman for yourself, she will be performing at Hotel Café every Wednesday night this month, April 2009, don’t forget to bring your long lost childhood.

Mirch
www.loudvine.com

Weekly Picks -4/6

April 6th, 2009

Another great week of live music in LA and Long Beach. Thanks for joining us! If you like what we’re trying to do, pass us along to your peeps

For every show in LA: Click Here

Monday: 4/6
Juliette Commagere, 9PM @ The Echo, Echo Park

Tuesday: 4/7
Electrocute, 9PM @ Spaceland, Silverlake
Decelis, 7PM, @ Hotel Cafe, Hollywood
Angela Wood, 10 PM @ Dakota Lounge, Hollywood

Wednesday: 4/8
The Bumpers, 9PM @ Mr. T’s, Highland Park
Tasso, 9PM @ Scene Bar, Glendale
Tall Tales, 9PM @ L’Keg, Echo Park

Thursday: 4/9
Bobb Bruno, 9PM @ The Smell, Echo Park
Del The Funky Homosapien, 9PM @ The Glass House, Pomona

Friday: 4/10
Dark Star Orchestra, 9PM @ El Rey, Los Angeles
The Amateurs, 9PM @ Pehrspace, Echo Park
Railcars, 10PM @ The Smell, Echo Park

Saturday: 4/11
B-Side Players, 9PM @ Saint Rocke, Hermosa Beach
Punk Rock Social, 9PM @ Alex’s, Long Beach
She Kills Robots, 9PM @ Room 5, Los Angeles

Sunday: 4/12
Headlights, 9PM @ Spaceland, Silverlake
The Cult of Horns Events, 9PM @ The Scene Bar, Glendale

Weekly Picks – 3/30

March 30th, 2009

Another totally filling, filled, and fulfilling week of music in LA is coming up. Here are this week’s picks. For every show, click here:

Monday: 3/30
Kissing Cousins, 9PM @ The Echo, Echo Park
Nico Stai, 9PM @ Spaceland, Silver Lake

Tuesday: 3/31
Horse Stories, 8PM, @ Hotel Cafe, Hollywood
Fitz & The Trantrums, 11 PM @ Hotel Café, Hollywood

Wednesday: 4/1
The Pastilles, 9PM @ Old Town Pub, Pasadena
Nacoteque, 8PM @ Conga Room, Los Angeles
Bloody Robots, 9PM @ The Smell, Echo Park

Thursday: 4/2
Robert Francis, 9PM @ Troubadour, West Hollywood
Warped Tour Kick Off with The Adolescents, TSOL, TV/TV, TAT, Sing it Loud, 9PM @ The Key Club, Hollywood
Voxhaul Broadcast, 9PM @ The Echo, Echo Park
The Doghouse Lords, 9PM @ The Redwood Bar, Glendale
Bobby Mathos, 8PM @ Catalina’s, Hollywood

Friday: 4/3
Japanese Motors, 9PM @ Saint Rocke, Hermosa Beach
The Get Up Kids, 9PM @ Troubadour, West Hollywood
Life on The Bang Bus, 9PM @ Motion LA, Los Angeles
The Phatal DJ, 8PM @ Natural Musuem, Los Angeles
The Break Ups, 9PM @ Pehrspace, Echo Park

Saturday: 4/4
One Trick Pony, 9PM @ Pehrspace, Echo Park
Leslie & The Lye’s, 8PM @ The El Rey, Los Angeles
Ratatat, 9PM @ Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood
Fiona Landers, 9PM @ Room 5, Los Angeles

Sunday: 4/5
Christopher Hawley, 7PM @ Hotel Cafe, Hollywood
Cut Chemist, 9PM @ The Echo, Echo Park

Dark Dark Dark @ Hotel Cafe

March 28th, 2009

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I can’t even begin to classify Dark Dark Dark. Are they Gothic Cabaret? European-folk-fusion? Classical banjo-jazz done indie style? No… None of those really capture what this band is. All I know is, last night at the Hotel Café, this band played some really, really pretty music. On top of that, I now have a newfound respect for the accordion.

Dark Dark Dark have the least traditional instrumentation the indie scene has had in a long time. No guitars, no drum kits, no sonic synths or fuzzy effect pedals. Just banjo, cello, piano, trumpet, upright bass, and (of course) the accordion. That’s right, the accordion is cool again. Forget about Urkel or Polka or any of those other cheesy stereotypes. Lead singer Nona Invie played her accordion with passion, making some super touching (and sexy) sounds.

They started the evening with the sizzling hot “Trouble No More”, a song about unrequited love that was overflowing with haunting imagery. Invie crooned with her rich, raspy vocals, “Find me the muddiest shore, that’s where I’ll go to get lost, I wont cause you no trouble no more.” Oh dear, this song hit really close to home. In another song, Marshall LaCount deftly plucked his banjo and offered, “I will make you a boat out of lightning and fill it with pearls.” A somber trumpet solo followed and I melted. The music was just so damn beautiful. But it was also extremely gothic too. In “Junk Bones” Invie seethes: “all the junk you fill your bones with, it fills us too… all the rope you hang your neck with, it left a mark.” Oooh, that one hurt too…

With a name like Dark Dark Dark, it’s no wonder they’re so good at revealing inner sadness about true love lost. My heart was often breaking right along to Jonathan Kaiser’s cellos (yes, I still adore cellos). These guys took the “I really wish you loved me as much as I loved you” sentiment and elevated it to poetry. Really lovely musical poetry. The reason it worked so well though, is the music itself was generally up-tempo and lively. It was the kind of music you want to play you’re walking through the rain in Paris (or even just when you want to pretend you’re in Paris).

I loved how well composed the music and the lyrics were. I loved hearing instruments I rarely hear live. And most of all, I loved being made to see the accordion in a brand new light. I was so impressed with Dark Dark Dark that I even bought one of their t-shirts after the show. And in case you’re wondering, yes, it has an accordion on it.

-Rachel K.
www.loudvine.com

Weekly Picks – 3/23

March 23rd, 2009

DAM! We have some amazing shows to pick from this week. Since we run a sick calendar these are only some of our picks. But for evertyhing else, click here.

Monday: 3/23
American Gil & The Major Dudes, 9PM @ Perhspace, Echo Park
Angela Correa, 9PM @ Room 5, Los Angeles
Steel Panther, 9PM @ Key Club, Hollywood

Tuesday: 3/24
Sugar & Gold, 9PM, @ Silverlake Lounge, Silverlake
Western States Motel, 9M, @Home, Silverlake

Wednesday: 3/25
Drinking Liberally, 9PM @ Trips, Santa Monica
23 Rainy Days, 9PM @ MotionLA, Los Angeles
The Fresh & The Onlys, 10 PM @ Silverlake Lounge, Silverlake
MotherMother, 9PM @ Troubadour, Hollywood

Thursday: 3/26
The Mae Shi, 10PM @ The Smell, Echo Park
Yellow Red Sparks, 10PM @ Hotel Café, Hollywood
Branford Marsalis, 8PM @ Catalina’s, Hollywood
Kenan Bell, 10PM @ The Echo, Echo Park
Carina Round, 9PM @ Largo, Los Angeles

Friday: 3/27
Zee Avi, 9PM @ Hotel Café, Hollywood
J.J. Cale, 9PM @ McCabes, Santa Monica
Gliss, 9PM @ Spaceland, Silverlake

Saturday: 3/28
Drop Dead Gorgeous, 9PM @ The El Rey, Los Angeles
Suicidal Tendencies, 9PM @ Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood
Cobalt Cranes, 10PM @ L’Keg Gallery, Echo Park

Sunday: 3/29
DJ Quik, 9PM @ The Key Club, Hollywood
East Conference Champs, 9PM @ The Scene Bar, Glendale

Joshua Radin @ The Music Box

February 23rd, 2009

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Having grown up singing along to old Grateful Dead and Dylan records, I’m no stranger to folk rock. The familiar sight of banjos and mandolins always makes me optimistic for a good show, so of course I was right at home at Joshua Radin’s show at the Music Box last night. However, due to my own unique height challenges, standing-room-only venues pose a unique obstacle. Finally, after finding a place where I could just barely see over everyone else’s head, I could enjoy the show. The whole show opened up with a bang before the curtain even rose. With almost no warning, Jesse Harris’, Joshua Radin’s lead guitarist and opening act, ripped right through the room with his guitar as soon as the lights came down.

After rocking through his first song, the crowd went wild when he invited Ingrid Michaelson to come up and sing with him on his second song. Other members of the Hotel Café crowd had cameos throughout the show, including Maria Taylor and Meiko, who also opened the show. Joshua Radin is clearly comfortable with being onstage, since he made easy conversation with the crowd, at some point introducing one of his songs as “not melancholic at all, about an equal minded girl with librarian glasses” amid cheers from all the college frat boys in the audience. By the end of the evening, he had the crowd completely captivated, whether he was playing by himself or with a full band, singing with a sincerity and sweetness that is a breath of fresh air in this age of vocadors and intonators. He finally ended his set with the “best soul song ever written”, a version of “Bring It On Home” To Me that gave me goose bumps. By the end of the song, Joshua Radin’s contagious energy had completely taken over the room, and the band was so into it that all I could think was I’ve never heard Sam Cooke rock so hard. At some point during his set, Joshua Radin took time to remark that there’s “nothing like a sold out show at the Henry Fonda to make me feel good” and I couldn’t agree more.

Elene P.
www.loudvine.com

 
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