Category Archives: Adventures in L.A.

Adventures in L.A., Live Music

Cadal at Slipper Clutch, November 7, 2024

Cadal, post-punk band from Santiago, Chile, playing live at Slipper Clutch in Los Angeles on Thursday, November 7, 2024 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
Cadal live at Slipper Clutch on November 7, 2024 (Pic: Liz O.)

There are two people in front of me in line at Slipper Clutch, but, from my vantage point at the top of the stairs, I can see inside the venue’s top level bar. The crowd is solid, especially for a Thursday night downtown. Out on the streets, there’s no foot traffic. I can only imagine that downtown Los Angeles’ residents are safely tucked into their luxury apartments, broadcasting night time rituals or sleep hacks or whatever inanity is trending on TikTok this week. Inside Slipper Clutch, though, there’s a lot of life. The bar is bustling, people are walking towards the dance floor. I can hear a band play live, but at this point, I’m not sure which band that is. 

I’m at Slipper Clutch to catch Cadal, a band from Santiago, Chile. For the past couple weeks, I’ve been listening to their album, Fiesta Nueva, which came out last year and is full of raw, dark punk energy. On this tour, Cadal is only playing two dates in the U.S., one of which is this show on a Thursday night in early November. It’s the sort of show you wouldn’t want to miss if you’re into borderline-goth, danceable indie bands. Plus, it’s just not that often that you can catch a stacked lineup with a headliner who has never played L.A. before for just $10 at the door. That’s the kind of show I’m compelled to support. 

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Adventures in L.A.

When the Sound of L.A. Is Dodgers Baseball

Dodgers fans gathered in Gloria Molina Grand Park across from City Hall in downtown Los Angeles for the 2024 World Series Victory Parade (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
The scene at Gloria Molina Grand Park for the Dodgers World Series victory parade on Friday, November 1, 2024 (Pic: Liz O.)

After Mayor Bass speaks and the Dodgers continue down the parade route, blue and white confetti rains across the mass of fans gathered in front of two giant TV screens at Gloria Molina Grand Park. The voice of the late, great Vin Scully rises over the cheers from the fans, sounding as if it was a broadcast from the beyond, before the DJ drops in “It Was a Good Day.” The crowd sings along with the Ice Cube jam, filling in when the DJ scratches out the less family-friendly lyrics, although I doubt anyone here would complain about the content of the song. Thirty some-odd years later, everyone in L.A. knows that Kim can do it all night.

An estimated 250,000 people  turned up in downtown Los Angeles for the Dodgers World Series victory parade on Friday morning. My husband and I were amongst them. The park was already pretty packed when we arrived at about 10 a.m. We were able to get close enough to see the buses moving beyond the trees at the edge of the park, but the people on those buses were hardly visible. Those jumbo screens came in handy. Still, I’m listening more than I’m watching. 

For the past week, I’ve been following the siren call of the World Series, a sound so captivating that sucks you deeper and deeper into the game until, suddenly, all of your timelines, both online and IRL, are Dodger blue. 

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Adventures in L.A.

Italo Horror Disco Brought Giallo and Jams to the Grayson

Thomas Mellan live at The Grayson in Los Angeles on October 19, 2024 for Italo Horror Disco (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
Thomas Mellan live at The Grayson DTLA for Italo Horror Disco on Saturday, October 19 (Pic: Liz O.)

The Grayson is slammed when I arrive Saturday night. It’s just a little after 10:30 p.m., but there are crowds of people hovering over the bar, more huddled in the  booths and gathered on the floor. Almost immediately, I spot someone on the dance floor, a friend who I haven’t seen in a while. We say hi and comment on the music and get back into the groove. It’s Italo Horror Night, L.A. Industrial/Dolce Vita’s Halloween party, and the vibe inside is giallo and jams. The Beyond, the 1981 Lucio Fulci film, is playing on a TV above the bar. David Christian just dropped “One Night in Bangkok,” but it’s not the Murray Head version that I know from countless spins on L.A. radio stations. I make a mental note to ask him about it. 

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Adventures in L.A., Live Music

Los Bitchos at Teragram Ballroom, October 3, 2024

Los Bitchos live at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 3, 2024 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
Los Bitchos live at Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 3, 2024 (Pic: Liz O.)

At 10 p.m. on Thursday night, Belinda Carlisle’s 1980s pop hit “Heaven Is a Place on Earth” played inside Teragram Ballroom, the volume increasing as the lights on the stage dimmed, then glowed purple. The members of Los Bitchos— four full-time members and one touring guitarist— take the stage and dance as they adjust their instruments, waiting for the song to nearly fade away before beginning a set that sounds nothing like Belinda Carlisle. 

On Talkie Talkie, the new album from Los Bitchos, you can hear a bit of an ‘80s pop sheen in the production. It’s a subtle nod, but it’s there in the “La Isla Bonita” vibe of “Talkie Talkie, Charlie Charlie” and the dreamy Balearic disco of “Don’t Change.” On stage, though, Los Bitchos’ sound is raw and urgent, like they’re leading a party that might teeter— to appropriate a B-52s song title— out of bounds at any second. 

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Adventures in L.A., Live Music

L.A. Industrial with Paul Barker, Jane Jensen and Vague Lanes @ The Slipper Clutch

Paul Barker live at Slipper Clutch, September 19, 2024
Paul Barker of Lead Into Gold at Slipper Clutch on Thursday, September 19, 2024

Paul Barker is playing upstairs at The Slipper Clutch, in a tiny, attic-like space covered with murals and old show flyers. It’s loud, and I forgot my earplugs, so I hang out towards the back of the room, which is what I did when I saw Ministry many years ago— back when Barker was in the band— at a show that ranks at number 2 on the list of loudest concerts I’ve ever attended. This show at Slipper Clutch, however, isn’t as much of a raucous. The raw and rhythmic music is comfortably booming where I stand. 

As for the vibe, it’s one that I’ve always known, the fringe of L.A. nightlife. It’s also one that I often fear is edging closer to extinction because there are fewer independent spaces in L.A. and fewer events that are more about the music than whatever shit went viral last week. And, in the most pessimistic moments, I think that there are simply fewer people who are interested in leaving the house and taking the chance on something that an algorithm didn’t send their way. 

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Adventures in L.A., Live Music

Future Islands at The Shrine, September 18, 2024

Future Islands live at The Shrine in Los Angeles on Wednesday, September 18, 2024 (photo: Liz Ohanesian)
Future Islands live at The Shrine on September 18, 2024 (pic: Liz O.)

I saw the first Future Islands fan rush the stage at the end of “Corner of My Eye,” which closed out the band’s main set at The Shrine on Wednesday night. The way I remember it, which may or may not be 100% accurate, Samuel T. Herring was singing “thank you, thank you.” Someone in a plaid shirt ran up from audience’s right hand side and embraced the singer. Security appeared. Herring said something along the lines of, it’s okay. Later on, when Future Islands and openers Oh, Rose were in the midst of a “Vireo’s Eye” dance party during the encore, I saw two more people hop on to the stage, where they were promptly chased off by security. It was a déjà vu-inducing scene for me, and maybe for anyone else in the crowd who has been to a Morrissey show. 

It was a fitting end to the night because, nearly two hours earlier, when Future Islands kicked off the show with “King of Sweden,” I thought, this vibe is so Morrissey. Herring has a different style of performance than Moz— there’s a good amount of HIIT-level cardio happening during a Future Islands show— but he also taps into a similar level of intensity that is infectious. The teenage girls in front of me bopped up and down excitedly. The totally ordinary looking dudes a few rows in front morphed into dancing machines. I wondered if anyone would rush the stage. It took a while, but they did. 

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Adventures in L.A., Live Music

Strangeways at The Smiths/Morrissey Convention

Strangeways at The Smiths Morrissey Convention at Avalon in Hollywood August 25, 2024 (photo: Liz Ohanesian)
View from the balcony while Strangeways played at The Smiths/Morrissey Convention on Sunday, August 25, 2024. (Pic: Liz O.)

It was still early in the evening when Strangeways dropped us back into 1992 with a little “Glamorous Glue.” Up on the balcony at Avalon, the crowd sang along, “everyone lies/nobody minds/everyone lies” and the energy grew more dynamic as the song progressed. If you knew the song— and, certainly, everyone in this room did— you could anticipate what would happen once The Smiths/Morrissey tribute band reached the final verse. 

“We look to Los Angeles—“

The crowd roared, nearly overpowering the second half of the sentence. 

“— for the language we use.” 

Down on the floor, right in front of the stage, people jump up and down, their arms waving in the air as they chant, “London is dead! London is dead!”

In this brief moment where L.A. pride and Morrissey-mania converge, I realize why I’ve always had a good time at The Smiths/Morrissey Convention. It’s a legit, local gathering made by and for fans that still happens in spite of all the forces that make it more difficult for subcultures to exist. 

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Adventures in L.A., Art, Live Music

Neyva Live at “Yours, Forever” Exhibition at Leiminspace

Neyva live at Leiminspace in Chinatown, Los Angeles on August 3, 2024 (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
Neyva live at Leiminspace on August 3, 2024 (Pic: Liz O.)

It was a quiet Saturday night in Chinatown. Out on Broadway, all the shops, as well as many of the restaurants, were closed by 8 p.m. The day-trippers had long gone and the club crowd was yet to arrive. In that strange in between time, though, the scene on Lei Min Way, a small, pedestrian-only street inside Central Plaza that tourists always miss, was a vibe. 

The crowd gathered in and around art gallery Leiminspace wasn’t large, but it was high-quality. That’s the thing people often don’t understand about events— maybe because real life doesn’t translate well on social media— the size of a crowd doesn’t determine whether or not something is worthwhile. What matters is how engaged people are with what’s happening in that IRL space.  And it was clear from the first note of Neyva’s set that people were rapt by both the music and the performance. 

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Adventures in L.A., Got It On Vinyl

In Sheep’s Clothing x Japonesia Is the One Record Fair I Try Not to Miss

In Sheep's Clothing x Japonesia Summer Market, July 28, 2024 at Homage Brewing in Chinatown, Los Angeles. (Photo: Liz Ohanesian)
In Sheep’s Clothing x Japonesia Summer Market at Homage in Chinatown on July 28. (Pic: Liz O.)

I almost regretted leaving my igloo on the last Sunday in July. It was hot af and I was still a little tired from the previous night’s DJ gig at Nocturno, but the In Sheep’s Clothing x Japonesia Summer Market was happening and that’s the one record swap that I try not to miss. So, I twisted my hair up and butterfly-clipped it, like at least 75% of longhaired L.A. this summer, and headed out to the brewery for a dig. 

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Adventures in L.A., Live Music

Listening By Moonrise at L.A. State Historic Park with Low Leaf and Salenta + Topu

Low Leaf live at L.A. State Historic Park for Listening by Moonrise from Clockshop and Living Earth on July 21, 2024 (Photo: LIZ OHANESIAN)
Low Leaf live at L.A. State Historic Park for Listening by Moonrise on July 21, 204 (Photo: Liz O.)

There’s a pocket in L.A. State Historic Park where city life almost fades away. It’s near the back of the 32-acre park, just beyond sculptor Anna Sew Hoy’s bronze arches, “Psychic Body Grotto,” between the track that runs around the periphery of the park and the small creek bed that fills during storms. Here, the trees are large, at least by the standards of downtown Los Angeles. Even though many of their leaves have already fallen and dried, there is still plenty of shade and a cool breeze rustles through them. The reminder that we’re still in L.A. comes every five to ten minutes, when A Line trains whizz past the park to and from the Chinatown Metro station. 

L.A. State Historic is my local park, so I’m here often, but on this particular Sunday, I stopped by for music. A few times a year, around the full moon, the local arts and culture non-profit Clockshop, the same group that puts on the annual Kite Festival, hosts a music and sound event called Listening By Moonrise. For the July session, they teamed up with Living Earth, a fairly new collective that produces events that bring together performance and local nature.  On this occasion, the performers are Salenta + Topu, a jazz duo that met in Brooklyn, but are now based in L.A., and Low Leaf, who makes impossible-to-categorize music with, primarily, a harp and synthesizer.

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