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“Fans will also be able to view video clips of their idols’ departure and arrival at airports, as well as behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage.” South Korean pop music continues to grow in global popularity and exposure. The French in particular seem to love the stuff. In May, hundreds of fans rallied in front of the Louvre in Paris to demand an extra show for the upcoming K-pop SM Town Live World Tour presented by SM Entertainment of Seoul. This same tour has visited Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Shanghai. In fact, the tour returns to Tokyo this September. In the meantime, K-pop fans will be able to view concert highlights from the June 10th and 11th Paris shows on the SM Entertainment YouTube channel and Facebook page. Apparently, K-pop fans from the U.S., Mexico, Australia and Italy are using the Facebook page to lobby for SM Town Live shows in their countries. Hey, it’s only K-pop, but we like it! (Korea Herald – K-pop Paris Tour)
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Rick Nielsen, Eddie Van Halen, Prince–Michio Kurihara too has a custom guitar pick. You might recall seeing them packaged as a bonus with his excellent Sunset Notes CD when he toured with Boris and Damon & Naomi way back when. These days he’s selling them to benefit safe energy in Japan. Too bad the shredder’s paperwork got stolen in the U.K.and he was stopped at the border coming over to the U.S. with D&N, but he sent picks along with the acid folk duo with the hopes of raising some money nonetheless. Look for them at D&N’s merch table as well as at his future gigs with everyone’s favorite psychedelic ambient doom rockers. More on Damon & Naomi to come…
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I first met Raghunath Cappo in 2002. A couple of hours before he played Chain Reaction, we sat on parking blocks in the parking lot and talked about his evolution from fronting the hardcore band Youth of Today to becoming a monk at an ashram in India to forming Shelter, which combined youth crew energy with Krishna consciousness. His energetic, outspoken demeanor onstage is unchanged off it, and his unflinching honesty and true excitement make him a very likable guy. We not only kept in touch afterward, but I asked him to contribute articles about everything from attending Muay Thai camps in Thailand to sharing raw food recipes. Sometimes we’d meet at Govinda’s for lunch just to catch up, and often I just ran into him there. I haven’t seen Raghu since he moved to New York to become a full-time yogi, so I couldn’t miss yesterday’s Youth of Today show at the Glass House. It was the band’s first L.A. show since 1989. First up was Outspoken. The well-respected Orange County band from the early ’90s is bolstered with many new members, including a young singer who probably talked too much about listening to the band when he was in high school and it being his second show. Even so, everything was fine when the music started. I was super psyched to hear “Survival,” the first of a few anti-meat songs to be played in the evening… Mouthpiece was next and was way more aggressive. A super burly and fun set that got the pit going, culminating in “Can We Win.” They’re from New Jersey but paid tribute to the local straight edge scene by busting out Chain of Strength’s “True Til Death” with singer Curt Canales (not above) for a bonus song. Finally, Youth of Today. I love it when Raghu sings for Shelter but YOT is a totally different animal with less melody and way fewer hooks. It’s straight-up riffs, shouts, and singalongs, and Raghu’s fresh diet and regimen of yoga means that he can still jump around with the best of them–not to mention throw in a handstand. The set had everything fans wanted to hear (“Positive Outlook,” “Make a Change,” “No More,” “A Time We’ll Remember,” “Break Down The Walls”…) plus some well-chosen covers (“Minor Threat,” “Young Till I Die”) and all the reminiscing and explanation you could handle. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Raghu amongst the sold-out craziness but he threw me a shaka from the stage, which was good enough. It seemed like there were members of bands left and right (Chain of Strength, Strife…), not to mention two of his sons appropriately singing along to “Youth of Today.” It was like a straight edge family vacation, reunion, and raging pit all in one! The drizzle felt good as the sweaty masses exited into the streets of Pomona’s Arts District, where I heard that hardcore punks came from as far as Malaysia, Singapore, and Korea. One more show in Pomona...
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Old-schoolers tune out when he plays his new songs, funk freaks are clueless when he plays a Led Zeppelin cover, rockers sit down when he plays slow jams, and jazz heads scoff at his pop hits, but everyone with ears to listen–and an ass to shake–agrees that there is no one like Prince. Although music critics tried to set him up against Michael Jackson in the eighties, his truer peers are James Brown and David Bowie. Prince is a musical perfectionist and master performer who has reinvented himself over and over. And on top of that, he can play practically every instrument perfectly and has produced himself since the beginning. These days he even releases his own albums and books his own shows. Yes, there’s some punk rock in him, too. But you can’t really get Prince until you see him in concert. Actually, I’m no super fan and I didn’t see him until 2004 after the L.A. Kings flamed out (typically and appropriately) and missed the NHL’s post-season. Instead of getting my money back from Staples Center, I decided to purchase some nosebleed Prince tickets. While wandering the aisles before the show, we were offered to swap our tickets for unsold seats that were super close and… damn. I was surprised and blown away by what seemed like a nonstop guitar solo. So when it was announced that he would play 21 shows in Los Angeles with most tickets going for 25 bucks (including service charge) I had to go. And I wound up attending to three of the shows at The Forum… I apologize in advance if these brief descriptions are too geeky. It would get old if I kept saying how insanely perfect and timeless songs like “Controversy,” “Kiss,” and “D.M.S.R.” are, so I’ll just describe some of the major differences in the sets. My first night was actually the third of the series: Friday, April 22. Not long after the already legendary kick-off show that stretched well past 1:00 a.m. and included seven encores that continued until the Lakers’ old arena was half full with the house lights on, we had huge expectations. But instead of starting off as a crowd pleaser, the evening began with a more experimental slant showcasing Prince on bass (even if the lights were low): “Beginning Endlessly,” “Laydown,” “Endorphinmachine.” Surprise guest Alicia Keys came out to sing “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” while he played keyboard and Cuba Gooding Jr. came onstage to dance for a couple of songs. After two encores, we waited for more than an hour for more and were rewarded by seeing him ride out on a beach cruiser. A weird way to end an odd, somewhat somber (but unique and cool) 90-minute set, now viewable on YouTube. The next Saturday was another sold-out show. I got killer seats for 25 bucks, and this time he played a more crowd-friendly show with five encores. The guest was Gwen Stefani, who came out to sing “So...
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Giant Robot Rock Quietly Sessions Grand Hallway with Goh Nakamura – Free Fri June 17 7-10pm GR2 2062 Sawtelle Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90025 http://giantrobot.com (310) 445-9276 Giant Robot Rock Quietly Sessions featuring Seattle group Grand Hallway accompanied with Goh Nakamura will take the floor at Giant Robot 2. An intimate atmosphere, this six member band will play somewhat unplugged. Grand Hallway are touring as part of their third album release, “Winter Creatures”. Tomo Nakayama, lead vocalist and chief songwriter endured his grandparents death, the birth of a guitar player, Jeramy Koepping’s baby, and the closure of the Neptune Theater in Seattle, all contributed to the new songs. Giant Robot contributor, Goh Nakamura is a singer / songwriter and stars in “Surrogate Valentine”, a feature film current on the film festival circuit. Together, Giant Robot and Goh Nakamura have thus far curated two Giant Robot Rock Quietly Sessions with more on the way. Nakamura cites Grand Hallway as one of his favorite bands. Giant Robot was born as a Los Angeles-based magazine about Asian, Asian-American, and new hybrid culture in 1994, but has evolved into a full-service pop culture provider with a shop and gallery in Los Angeles, as well as an online equivalent.
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