Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants CD Release

When: Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Where: Fingerprints, Long Beach, CA
Accompanied by: Kathryn & David Knox
Genre: Honky Tonk, Country
Set List: 

• Guitar Pickin Man
• Good Time Charlie
• Wham Bam
• I'm Gonna Break
• Pop a Top
• Happy Part of Town
• Live Fast
• Bull by the Horns
• King of Fools
• The Bottle Let Me Down
• Playboy
• A Woman Like You
• Swinging Doors
• Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way

For my previous post about this round of Shifty and his Dead Peasants, check out this June 3rd entry.  

This event was special for two reasons: One, because it was the official CD release date for "All Hat and No Cattle" and two, because the band finally brought it back to the LBC!!  There is something absolutely awesome about seeing a great live band in your own neighborhood. And better still, at a small independent record store. So much fun!!

While I'm still not sold on the whole country thing, I have to say how enjoyable it is to watch Chris and the rest of the band have so much fun. In fact, the more I see & hear them perform live, the more inclined I am to actually put the CD in the car stereo and give it a listen to. Who knows, maybe I'll take line dancing lessons.  

QOTSA @ Jimmy Kimmel Live

When: Monday, July 29, 2013
Where: Jimmy Kimmel Live
Accompanied By: Kelly, Anthony, Lisa & Tiffany
Genre: Rock

Set List: If I Had a Tail, Little Sister, The Vampyre of Time and Memory, My God is the Sun, I Sat By the Ocean, Song for the Dead

Thanks to 1iota and Jimmy Kimmel, I was able to see QOTSA perform on a little outside stage in Hollywood for free. FREE!!! Seriously, you gotta love the perks of living in Los Angeles. The only thing I had to do was bail out of work a few hours early, make the trek to Hollywood, and wait in line for a few hours. A small price to pay to see one of my favorite bands as far as I'm concerned. Some people might think all that for just six songs?! Absofreakinlutely!!!  This is the same girl that waited hours upon hours to watch Foo perform just ONE song a few years back for the Grammy Awards...and while that was a long ass day, I'd do it all again. I guess we all have our obsessions and QOTSA (as well as Foo) are a part of mine.




If you haven't taken the time to listen to Like Clockwork, do yourself a favor and pick it up, download it, order it... do whatever you have to do to get that album in your ear!! I promise you won't regret it! 

Chevy Metal - Mauli Ola Foundation Benefit Show

When: Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Where: Seven Degrees, Laguna Beach
Accompanied by: Gabrielle, Nic & Kathryn
Genre: Rock n Roll

Set List (may not be 100% accurate, but close): Bitch, My Sharona, Beer Drinkers, Jet Airliner, Fairies Wear Boots, Panama, Stay with Me, Jailbreak, Miss V, Looks That Kill, Live Wire, Mean Streets, I'm the One, Wizard, Rocks Off, Everybody Wants Some, Ain't Talkin' Bout Love, Under Pressure

Happy early Birthday to me!! Thanks to Gabrielle for surprising me with getting tickets to this fundraiser event at a swanky little restaurant in Laguna Beach. Last years show at The White House had a much more casual feel to this years show at Seven Degrees which was a bit more artsy, but an absolutely perfect venue for this type of event.

The purpose behind this benefit was to help raise funds for the Mauli Ola Foundation. The Mauli Ola Foundation exists to introduce surfing as a natural treatment to people with genetic disorders. Mauli Ola means "Breath of Life" in Hawaiian...and after listening to a young man who found relief from the daily pain of his Cystic Fibrosis through surfing and the natural healing powers of the ocean, it was clear that this organization offers just that. 

The other purpose of this evening was a long overdue girls night out with Gabrielle, Kathryn and Nicole. We met up beforehand to grab a bite at a restaurant just next door to the event called Remarks. That alone was worth the drive out to south O.C. Remarks prices were extremely reasonable for the quality food being served. And the service was above and beyond excellent. After one amazing martini, some shared ahi and braised short ribs, our server surprised us with a complimentary apple tart that we barely had room for but somehow managed.  We eventually waddled over to Seven Degrees to scope out the scene for the evening and ran into our friends, Cosmo and Debbie. We were all ready for some damn good rock and roll and lucky for us, Chevy Metal does not disappoint!

I've had the chance to see Chevy Metal many times over the years with a handful of different guitarists. But I have to say that Mick Murphy is the absolute perfect fit for this cover band (pretty sure I've said that before in previous posts). The man oozes rock and roll out of every pore and his facial expressions when he shreds are freakin' priceless. Mick is amazing and with the intimacy of tonight's show, we were able to witness his talent up close and personal.

The highlight though, was towards the end of the evening, when Taylor asked Drew Hester (if you saw Foo perform during the ESP&G tour, you would remember Drew from his triangle solos) to come up and take the drums... this brought Taylor down to the front.... within inches of me and Gabrielle. Time pretty much stopped and the Van Halen song "Ain't Talkin Bout Love" will forever put a smile on my face.  

There's not much else to say beyond this...I could not have asked for a more perfect birthday gift. 

"Aint Talkin' Bout Love".... Three minutes and 18 seconds of absolute deliciousness...unfortunately the sound quality is miserable, so you may want to view this w/ the mute button on.


"Everybody Wants Some" - same issue, but fun to watch.

Chevy Metal Celebrates Costa Mesa's 60th Birthday

When: Saturday, June 29, 2013
Where: Costa Mesa, Street Fair/Fairgrounds
Accompanied by: Stephani (enjoyed rail with Tiffany, Jill & Paula)
Genre: Rawk

Surprise "Guest": Dave Grohl

Set List: Bitch, My Sharona, Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers, Fairies Wear Boots, Stay With Me, Miss You, Panama, Everybody Wants Some, Jail Break, Under Pressure, Turning Japanese

Chevy Metal - Under Pressure

Video by Tour Bus Live

Playboy Jazz Festival 2013 Day #1

When: Saturday, June 15, 2013

Where: Hollywood Bowl

Accompanied by: Birthday boy, KJ

Genre: Jazz

Hosted by: George Lopez

Line Up: The Los Angeles County HS for the Arts Jazz Ensemble, Pedrito Martinez Group featuring Ariacne Trujillo, Grace Kelly Quintet w/ special guest Phil Woods, Gregory Porter, Robert Glasper Experiment, Angelique Kidjo w/ special guest Hugh Masekela, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band w/ special guest Lee Ritenour, Naturally 7 w/ special guest Herbie Hancock, Ole Coltrane featuring Poncho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band w/ special guest James Carter, George Duke w/ special guest Jeffrey Osborne

It was KJ's Birthday weekend, and what better event to fall during this time than the Playboy Jazz Festival. Mid June in Southern California can be hit and miss weather wise, but this weekend turned out to be absolute perfection. And thanks to the awesome shuttle system the Hollywood Bowl provides, we caught one of the first buses out of Lakewood around 1:00 pm and were dropped off at the top of the hill by 2:30. The drive to and from the venue isn't so much an issue as is the parking, so the shuttle really is the way to go. And for $5 per person, it's an absolute bargain! Just be prepared to be packed in "like lemmings into shiny metal boxes".

The show promptly started at 3:00 pm. Gotta love that! And with the rotating stage, the next 8 hours went by seamlessly. 

The Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Jazz Ensemble started off the day. Their performance time is limited, but they packed a lot of sound into that time frame. I wish I had been this dedicated and talented when I was in high school - seriously, these kids were amazing!  These kids...damn, I'm old.

Pedrito Martinez Group featuring Ariacne Trujillo were 2nd on the bill and were absolutely amazing. This type of music can make even the most rhythmic challenged person shake their hips and ass. There was no mistaking the Cuban roots embedded in their sound and I could wouldn't mind going to see them in small club to really get the full effect of their flavor.

I'd have to say the least memorable portion of the evening, for me, was the Robert Glasper Experiment. I don't know enough about jazz to say why I didn't like them, but it was the one band where I found myself looking at the time and ready to move on to the next act. It was a lot of auto tune sound and that just didn't feel like it belonged. There was a moment when the band brought out surprise special guest, Dianne Reeves, and she sang Afro Blue, which is a song that is usually performed by Erykah Badu. Now, that, I liked a lot. 

The most memorable portion of the evening, for me, was watching Naturally 7 perform. Maybe because they were more R&B and most of their songs were recognizable to my non-jazz ears. Oh, and the fact that hearing the drum, the bass, the trumpet on top of feeling the drum, the bass, the trumpet but NOT seeing the drum, the bass the trumpet made this band amazing the watch as well as listen to.  See for yourselves and you be the judge.

Naturally 7 @ TED in 2009

Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants

When: Sunday, June 2, 2013
Where: Echoplex, Los Angeles
Accompanied by: The beautiful birthday girl, Ms. Knox
Genre: Country

Truth be told, I'm not a fan of country music. At all. Although, I do enjoy listening to Johnny Cash, but come on, who doesn't, right? And I suppose if you were to lump The Eagles into the country category, I'd be inclined to say that I like country. But that twangy, ho down, shit kickin' stuff, is really not my cup of tea. And for sure, that pop country crap that TaySwift pumps out cannot constitute as music. Never. Ever.

So, when Chris Shiflett decided to hit the country road back in 2010 with their debut self-titled album, I was skeptical. Being a huge Foo Fighters fan, I decided the least I could do was be supportive. And it ended up being surprisingly good, for country. 

Fast forward three years later, and Chris Shiflett & The Dead Peasants have a follow up album, All Hat and No Cattle. This is way more countrified than the first album but that is because it consists of honky tonk covers along with one original.  Once again, surprisingly not a bad thing. Chris gives away two free downloads from the Chris Shiflett Music site, but the full album release dates is set for July 30, 2013.

All Hat and No Cattle track listing:

• Guitar Pickin’ Man (Don Rich and the Buckaroos)
• Good Time Charlie’s (Del Reeves)
• Pop A Top (Jim Ed Brown)
• Happy Part Of Town (Wynn Stewart)
• Skid Row (Merle Haggard)
• Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young (Faron Young)
• Playboy (Wynn Stewart)
• King Of Fools (Buck Owens)
• A Woman Like You (ORIGINAL)
• Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? (Waylon Jennings)

In keeping up with being the supportive fan girl that I am, Kathryn and I ventured out to the Echopark area of Los Angeles last Sunday night to meet up with a few friends, say hello to Chris and attempt a bit of two-steppin' (more like do-see-do your partner).  There is always something about live music that makes it really come to life and this certainly goes for all genres.  It was an eclectic group of people in attendance...definite country folk, Foo fans (young and old), and a few moms/dads from his kid's school.  The kind of show where pretty much anyone and everyone fits in. And I imagine that makes Chris and his Dead Peasants happy country folk.

Chris Shiflett, June 2, 2013
Photo courtesy of Kathryn Knox

More photos here: L.A. Record photos

QOTSA Perform Like Clockwork & an Assortment of Deliciousness

When: May 23, 2013

Venue: The Wiltern, Los Angeles
Accompanied By: Nic
Genre: Sexy Ass Rock and Roll

Two hours of multiple orgasms is what this night was all about, mixed in with a bit of dark Tarantino/Rodriguez like madness thanks to the vivid videos created for the new album Like Clockwork. 

When we arrived, I was informed that no cameras would be allowed. I so wanted to be able to zoom in on every inch of Josh, but it wasn't to be. Once we were inside The Wiltern, we discovered that our tickets were loge seating, but oh my, what a magnificent view! The downside was there was no use for the cell phone camera from that distance. Fortunately, I had a friend who had managed to get himself a spot dead center rail and I knew he'd come through with some amazing photos to share (see below). 

No camera. No real use for my cell phone, other than the occasional text message to my friends down on the floor. It was just me and the music. And I was in heaven. I had a direct view of everything taking place on the stage, but my eyes were fixated on Josh. Everything about that man oozes deliciousness. Add to that 6'5" frame all the talent that goes along with it, and I really can't think of a more perfect package. 

Last night, just like really good sex, left me wanting more.

LA Weekly Blog Review

These are the only photos I allowed myself to take last night.

Photos from center rail courtesy Anthony Palacios