Roadtrip: The Heavy Guilt at The Mint, LA, 5.27.2011

Have I mentioned how much I hate Facebook? I mean, really. On the one hand, I don't need 23 invites each day, on the other hand I would feel neglected if I didn't get invited to anything, so it's really is just a pain in the ass. I cannot wait until there's a better platform.

That said, a few weeks ago I got a notification that The Heavy Guilt were playing a Friday night show in Los Angeles and I instantly responded that I wanted to come with them. They obliged, and as the day approached, I nearly harassed them not to forget me.

So there I was on a Friday afternoon, waiting for Al to grab me in the van. We picked up most of the rest of the band in Mission Valley, swung by North County to grab Erik and we were on our way. I love being in the van with bands; there's no better way to get a better sense of who they are and how the band coexists than by the conversations and actions in the bus. Like here are 6 people in a band, and they gave me shotgun. This benefitted because I'm generally a pretty good navigator, too, but I was privy to all the conversations in the vehicle.






We got to The Mint and I really dug the vibe of the venue. It's old, wood, with some booths and tables for dinner as well as an open space in front of the stage. I suspect the capacity is somewhere around 160? I also appreciated that the venue offers 2 for 1 drinks on your first round for checking into Foursquare. That is a win in my book. There was a great crowd and the band played another fantastic set. After their set, I manned their merch and it was nice talking to new fans of the band who bought CDs, signed up for email, and asked about future LA dates (they're coming soon...)








I do have to say I personally wasn't much into the headliner act of the night, and to be honest, I don't remember their name, but there were jammy and bluegrassy and people loved them. I think it's a courtesy for bands to stay and watch the other bands they perform with, but I wasn't really feeling their vibe onstage or off, so I didn't really mind when we left in the middle of their set to get back to San Diego. I also didn't mind when we stopped at an In and Out on the way home, and we still made it home in time to drop everyone and their gear off and I caught last call at the Ken Club. It was a sweet little trip and I hope to hit the road again soon.

Here's "Through The Tangles" from their forthcoming record. You can catch them tonight at the Soda Bar for their last show until their CD release party on July 16th at Device Gallery in Barrio Logan.



More photos if you click 'keep on reading'.