Dancing to Blue Monday at Club Underground’s Halloween party 10/27/23 (Pic: Liz O. )
Sometime before 11 p.m. I had to take off the blazer. I had tried to hang longer in the Battle Royale costume, but the dance floor upstairs at Grand Star Jazz Club was already full and it gets pretty warm behind the DJ gear. Advanced tickets for Club Underground’s Halloween party had sold out and, from what I could tell, people showed up early and ready to party. I don’t even know what to say about last night except that the energy was high and people were down to dance to anything, as you can probably see from the set list below. See you back at Underground on Friday, November 3. Happy Halloween!
It’s zombie boyfriend season! There are a lot of Halloween-friendly songs I love, but my absolute favorite (or, at least, my favorite that isn’t part of a horror more score) is “Mi Novio Es Un Zombi” from Alaska y Dinarama. It has one of the best music videos ever. You think it’s just a concert clip, with Alaska bouncing around stage in a very fierce outfit singing about her boyfriend’s bad teeth and yellow eyes and then— all of a sudden— Freddy freakin’ Krueger pops out of the crowd, mingles with the band and starts caressing Alaska with this slasher movie hands. Just watch the video. And check out my playlist from No Controles! at The Offbeat, the first of what will probably be a handful of times I’ll play “Mi Novio Es Un Zombi” in the next week or so.
This Thursday night, October 19, INXS tribute band INXS’D is playing live at Scarlett Casanova and Los Angeles Art Society’s monthly party No Controles! Plus, Audiobahn and I will be your DJs for the night. There’s an $8 cover and tickets are available no on Eventbrite.
Oasus live at Harvard and Stone, October 13, 2023 (Pic: Liz O.)
On Friday the 13th, I DJed at Harvard and Stone in East Hollywood for a night that included live sets from Asi Fui and Oasis tribute band Oasus, plus a couple burlesque performances. Long Beach-based Asi Fui is a terrific band with a ‘90s alternative vibe. I wish I knew the name of the dubby song with the melodica that they played early in the set. They closed with a cover of Blur’s hit “Song 2,” which was a perfect good-natured troll for anyone who remembers the Blur vs. Oasis battles of the 1990s.
On Thursday, I bought a pair of Sambas and then I broke them in that night on the dance floor at 96 Tears and, let me tell you, that was the best decision I’ve made in months. It meant that I could DJ from 9:30 until 1:30 upstairs at the Grand Star for Club Underground without my back killing me well before midnight. And I could actually dance while I was DJing too, which probably looks stupid, but it’s how I keep time, so whatever.
This weekend, you can find me at the Grand Star in Chinatown, where I’ll be playing on Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Aside from that, there are some very cool events happening around town, amongst them, you’ll find techno at the Lodge Room, Italo at Moroccan Lounge, Japanese pop at High Tide and more. Check out the list of L.A. music events below for information on my own gigs, plus my recommendations for this week.
This coming week, I’ll be joining Taleen Kali’s residency at Harvard & Stone for a special DJ set before, after and in between the bands. More info on that below the jump. Plus, I’ve included a handful of other L.A. music events, including clubs, concerts and record fairs that are on my radar for the week. Keep reading and mark your calendars.
I’ll be your Dolce Vita DJ at The Mermaid (where you can see this mermaid video projection) on Tuesday, September 12. Stop by and check out these other L.A. music events throughout the week too.
Having a hard time keeping up on L.A. music events? Yeah, same here. But, to try and make it a little easier for people to get out and see what this city has to offer, I wrote up a list of events that I’m interested in attending this week. (I’ll for sure be at two of them, since I’ll be DJing.) Check it out and if you make it to any of the shows or parties listed below, let me know on Instagram.
I’m back at Club Underground with Larry G. on Friday, September 8 for Siouxsie and the Banshees vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Both rooms of Grand Star Jazz Club will be open and advance tickets are available now for $8 on Eventbrite.
