monotonix at the culture collide block party in echo park 10.10.10

ps monotonix are a 3-piece israeli punk/garage rock band straight out of tel aviv, israel. the trio consists of ami shalev, guitarist yonatan gat, and drummer ran shimoni. this was the first band that i decided to check out at the culture collide block party in echo park, ca. not knowing what to expect i headed towards the noise. from ami doing handstands on the drummer, dumping a garbage can filled with garbage over the drummer, running around screaming, crowd surfing, and climbing trees.... it was pure chaos. never have i seen a show quite like this one. by the way ami grabbed me as i was taking clicks of the show. as you will notice a few of the clicks are of him running towards me and i clicked until he grabbed me. ahhh.... all i could picture in my mind was charles manson running at me and i had no idea what he would do with me after he lifted me in the air. he carried me and put me on the drummer's shoulders. i was in shock and scared out of my mind, but smiling at the same time, as was everyone else. i had a nice view from sitting on shimoni's sweaty, dirty shoulders as he killed it on his drums. now i know they are infamous for their crazy shows.

follow monotonix:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Monotonix/109757002383692
http://www.myspace.com/monotonix
http://twitter.com/monotonix
http://monotonix.com/

if you aren't familiar with the monotonix watch these clips from youtube:

iron & wine with the low anthem as opener @ the wiltern 1.26.11

ps nothing more than excitement built inside me weeks before seeing iron and wine. sam beam's fifth album release as iron & wine 'kiss each other clean' continues his tradition of great song writing and true musicianship. his poetic lyrics are intended for true music lovers. beam uses his new album to experiment with and expand upon his signature sound. live, i was not surprised at how amazing his acoustic numbers are. i was surprised at how funny and charming he is. the encore was the hauntingly beautiful 'trapeze swinger', lyrics beginning with "please remember me." after this show he doesn't have to ask.
thank you iron & wine for a fabulous show that i will remember for always...

follow iron and wine:
http://www.facebook.com/ironandwine
http://www.myspace.com/ironandwine
http://twitter.com/ironandwine
http://www.ironandwine.com/

hear me play iron & wine.... http://blip.fm/CreepingElm























ps ps opening band for iron & wine was the low anthem, a folk rock quartet made up of ben miller, jeff prystowsky, jocie adams and mat davidson. i saw them open for blind pilot in 2009 at the troubadour. it's cool to see a band graduate to a larger venue.

follow the low anthem:
http://www.facebook.com/TheLowAnthem?v=wall&filter=1
http://www.myspace.com/lowanthem
http://twitter.com/thelowanthem
http://www.lowanthem.com/

hear me play the low anthem.... http://blip.fm/CreepingElm

cory chisel @ the satellite 1.23.11

ps spaceland is now the satellite. this was my first time back since the name change. cory chisel and adriel harris are the names that brought me back in. i was introduced to their music from a past friend on blip.fm. then i saw them live at the troubadour open for joshua james and continued to follow their music. his debut EP was recorded with his band the wandering sons, cabin ghosts. some of the best shows seen are at this small music venue. with this said cory chisel has now been included in my best shows seen at the satellite. it was quite an amazing feeling standing in a room of approx. 60 people listening to cory and adriel sing. chisel's soulful voice combined with pleasant acoustic guitars and keyboard by adriel is nothing short of captivating as they deliver heartfelt folk tunes. some of my clicks captured him immersed in spiritedness.. almost ghost-like. i am quite surprised how few people know about cory chisel when i talk music with them. thank you for a great show!
ps ps cory had a friend from venice, ca join them on stage playing electric guitar.

learn more and follow cory chisel:
http://www.facebook.com/corychisel
http://www.corychisel.com/
http://www.myspace.com/thewanderingsons
http://twitter.com/#!/corychisel

hear me play their music on http://blip.fm/CreepingElm