It's Southern California's SXSW leftovers week:

Saturday night was Graham Coxon, The 22-20's and The Vacation -- all fantastic. I wasn't quite certain what to expect from Graham and it first seemed that his opening bands were going to outshine him. But, I was hasty in my judgement cuz he definitely kicked ass! He introduced a couple of new singles which will go on the next album -- very punk and, of course, quite guitar-driven. He has an amazing bassist that just blew me away!

Btw, a plug for a fave local band of mine, The Vacation. If you like hard guitar, punk and inyourface music, check 'em out -- http://www.thevacationmusic.com/

And for the rest of the week:
Monday: Doves / The Magic Numbers
Tuesday: Bloc Party / Erase Errata
Wednesday: Kings of Convenience
Thursday: Parts & Labor (I'm crossing my fingers I can make this one)
Friday: Death From Above 1979 / ControllerController
Saturday: Ash / The Bravery / The Crimea

Wow...That's a lot of shows... You're a very brave woman...

Nothin' better than indie rock sloppy seconds.

Have fun T.

Euphoria? Ever experience it? Utter and complete euphoria. Like riding a wave all the way in or skiing that ultimate slope on fresh powder. Falling in love for the first time. Tonight was euphoria. The most brilliant show The Doves have ever performed in my life. Playing crowd favourites to a sold out show, smattered with a couple of songs from the new album, the audience extended their arms and held them in a deep embrace. It was love, baby.

Opening band, The Magic Numbers -- truly, four of the most unlikely looking people you'd think were musicians, but they provided very nice melodies and wonderful harmonies. Definitely the style that many of you would like, 60's pop, lush and sweet.

Almost forgot to add -- before heading over to the El Rey for the show, I stopped at Amoeba to catch the Kaiser Chiefs in-store. Only got to sing four songs and was immediately regretting not being able to see them actually do a whole show. So much fun and energy! But after seeing The Doves, it was clear that the choice I'd made was obviously the better one. Catch ya next time, Kaiser Chiefs!

Tania is my rock and roll goddess.

Did he play "Freakin' Out" ? I love that Gawddang song.

Yes, he did, DD. It was one of the last songs he played and had us all bouncing!

Btw, Bloc Party tonight! I'm sooo gonna need a nap before tonight.

I expect a full report tomorrow, young lady.

I bounce up and down and go omg omg stfu girlfriend that rawks every time Tania posts about concerts and vicariously feel so participatory.

Neato...everytime Jonesey plays that song I go "oooh oooh" & reach for the volume knob.

You should check out his album, DD. If you'd like, I can rip it and you can see for yourself before buying.

yes.

I did two shows already this week and I'm exhausted.

Tania, how do you get through it without the um, flower sniffing.

expensive flowers...full of remorse.

do you have a red bull I.V. I could borrow?

Ha! I think if 'flower sniffing' were involved, I'd have to deal with the comedown and wouldn't be able to continue after a couple of nights. I don't have a secret -- I don't drink at shows for the silly reason that I don't wanna lose my spot in front of the stage when I have to run to the bathroom. Trust me, I'm hurting today. I've only had 3.5 hours of sleep and am definitely taking a nap in my car before going to tonight's show.

Btw, I'm thinking of going to the Doves/Mercury Rev show in Vancouver the weekend after Coachella. The show was THAT good last night to make me wanna travel elsewhere to see 'em again.

Hah!! And you were making fun of me last night for my "naps."

So my week of shows started on Sunday, went to the Alterknit Lounge to check out my friend's band (Lights From Here), who were very good- very Explosions in the Sky type.

Last night, DOVES! FUCKIN AMAZING! With the exception of my drunk ass friend who I seriously wanted to punch during the show (he was being "that guy" that we all dislike at shows), it was absolutely stunning. I managed to take a few good pictures during the show as well, I'll post up later after I upload my pics. I missed the opening band unfortunately because I always show up late to shows.

Tonight, Bloc Party, I hope this migraine I have goes away before tonight, otherwise my head is going to explode.


P.S. T, I'm still not sure about the Troub on Thursday, I came to the realization that I've been going out every night for the past 7 days... I'm going to die and rather save my energy for Controller.Controller on Friday night. So, if you find someone else who wants the ticket, by all means, please go ahead.

Dude, all three of my fuckin' crews represented last night! I had to have known at least a dozen people there -- when did I get to know so many people? Great seeing you and JP who was beyond stupid drunk! (I love him.)

Bloc Party is gonna own tonight. Just caught a bit of their performance on KCRW and dancing is definitely in store!

No worries on the ticket, I'll get rid of it someway or another.

nice weekly lineup. wish colorado had some good festivals.

Oh I forgot to mention, celeb sighting for last night: James Duval from Donnie Darko (the dude who plays Frank). He is so cute in person.

Can't wait for BP tonite. Migraine is slowly going away....

Oh shit, no wonder you asked me about Donnie Darko last night. We got interrupted and lost our train of thought.

Thanks for the offer, but I don't have any downloading thingy enabled. Is the rest of the album along the lines of "Freakin' "?

Ok, how about I mail you a copy? You can PM me with an address, if you like.

After waiting in line in a torrential downpour (thank you goes to coworker Melody for loaning her huge ass brolly!), many kids drenched, many more slightly damp and frozen, we finally were allowed into the warmth and cover of The Troubadour. It was quite a sight if you were driving down Santa Monica Blvd to see a line of people huddled together, sharing umbrellas with those that didn't have any. My laryngitis could only become worse.

Got to experience Dance Disaster Movement -- experimental band, a couple of songs were marginally interesting, but nothing that impressed me. As for Erase Errata -- I didn't know it was a girl band -- definitely found them interesting and enjoyed listening to them. Can anyone recommend any of their albums?

Bloc Party had the place dancing! Well, from my perspective at the front of the stage, it felt as if everyone was dancing! Not a long set, but that was okay, I mean...they only have one album! Came across as very strong musically, lotsa fun and genuinely glad to be here. Audience sang along to most of the songs. Setlist included:

Like Eating Glass
Positive Tension
Banquet
This Modern Love
The Marshals Are Dead
She's Hearing Voices
Helicopter
Tulips
Little Thoughts
So Here We Are
Staying Fat
The Price of Gas
The Answer

Celeb spotted in the audience -- mutha fuckin' Seal. SEAL! While my friends and I waited after the show to meet the band, Seal ALSO proved his groupie allegiance by waiting -- I saw him chatting up the drummer (sorry, guys, Heidi Klum was nowhere to be seen). Btw, I didn't know Seal was so damn TALL. The band is SUPER nice, totally approachable -- very willing to chat you up, asking our names and sweet enough to properly introduce themselves.

Only the second night, and 7.5 hours of sleep combined. Tonight = Kings of Convenience. I'm already tired.

Got to see Dri for the second night in a row, but NO POSTMERSH SPOTTING!! Shame on you, Kyle, from not coming up to say "hi".

my fiasco coming home last night from bloc party:

driving down the 710 south, bumping some lonesome crowded west to keep me awake, still had that migraine that was killing me last night but in euphoria because it was a damn good show.... i hear weird noises coming from my car and it starts to shake a bit. so i think, "really, not fuckin now, you have to be kidding me." i turn down my music and realize somethin ain't right and next thing you know, my front left tire blows out. so, i'm in the fast lane, and had no choice but to pull over to the left.... chp came within minutes to block traffic so i could slowly drive over to the right and be in somewhat of a safer spot.

i call triple a then realize i don't have a fuckin spare in my car, so my car got towed home.

thank goodness:
1. i finally invested in triple a
2. i wasn't drunk
3. it wasn't raining
4. i was only 11 miles from home

it could've been so much worse since once it starts raining, la drivers automatically turn IDIOTIC. it took me 1 1/2hrs to get up to la for the show, when it should only take 30 minutes.

then this morning was another fiasco, had to call work to let them know i'd be late due to a flat that needed to be fixed. waited 1 hr. for the tow truck to come to my apt., tow my car to the nearest discount tire place, then another 2 hrs. there since it was busy... sigh...

i'm spent. rockstar status is done. (til controller x2 on friday)

maybe you'll get lucky and have to work late so you don't have to go to some of those shows.

Dri, I'm so sorry!! What a horrible night! And you're so right, thank god it wasn't raining and that nothing bad happened to you while on the freeway.

See ya on Friday -- should be fun! Do you realize this is the most we've seen each other in a long ass time?? Trust me, I'm not complaining.