Newsy Stuff: Hollywood Bowl, The Void Soft Opening

I don't really know why I'm up at the moment seeing as Tuesday is going to be a pretty busy day, but sometimes I just have really productive days and why stop if you're on a roll and not really tired? So I thought I'd share a couple things while I'm listening to music and sorting through the inbox.

Hollywood Bowl Releases 2013 Lineup I just happened to glance at Facebook for a second when I saw that the Hollywood Bowl has announced their 2013 lineup. It has been a few years since I've been to the legendary venue, but it is a pretty special place to see a show. I gotta say besides Rodrigo y Gabriela, nothing seems worth the trek at the moment, but they always seem to add some major spectacular shows with contemporary artists backed by the Philharmonic. Or maybe I'm living in 2006. Whatever the case, the schedule is out.

The Void Celebrates a Soft Opening: Tonight (Tuesday), Eleven becomes The Void and naturally you're invited to hang out and celebrate. The lineup: THE VOID SOFT OPENING - PRIMITIVE NOYES, PURPLE//IMAGE (SUN ARAW), MYSTERY CAVE, ASHA, BILL WESLEY, 100 LBS OF SMOKE - DJS DEADAIR AND MARIO ORDUNO. The show is free so check it out. Kelsey says they expect the new sign sometime today and since I'll be nearby, I'll try to shoot a photo or two when it happens. For those of you who don't know, The Void (Formerly Eleven, Radio Room, Zombie Lounge, et al) is located at 35th and El Cajon Boulevard.

And a couple links I came across...I skipped NAMM this year because I just couldn't rationalize going to Anaheim in the rain when I had other fun local stuff lined up, but it always takes place around the same time as MIDEM which always seems to be a learning experience, even if you're just chasing the hashtag #MIDEM on Twitter. This was an interesting speech about the current business of music by Martin Mills, founder of Beggars Banquet, as he won an Icon Award.

Finally, I meant to post this link about Annoying Concert Behaviors last week because I found it amusing but then it wasn't really that funny so I didn't. But here it is anyway. Obviously as a blogger, I'm pretty much guilty of anything regarding social media, smart phones, or photos, but I also thought the author dated himself with number 8. Way to stay current on the name drops.

NAMM 2011: Taj Mahal Live

I keep talking about NAMM and I still have a whole bunch to write about. I feel like whenever there's an event, there's a bit of a post-event depression that kicks in. I think bands experience it when they tour just as soldiers feel it after they get home from battle. It's the inexplicable feeling of camaraderie that you don't really experience in daily life and after NAMM, even squeezing into a room and sleeping on the floor and not having any privacy ever and living on too little sleep and completely aching after walking all day and night and drinking too much and not eating enough...after all of that, you can't wait till the next big thing, which is why I'm so looking forward to possibly heading out to Coachella and SXSW this year. This tribal bonding stuff is quite addictive.

After Jesse did a demo at Luna Guitars, we went downstairs to Schoen, but Keith Urban was playing, so we watched him for a few minutes until he took off, turned a corner, and there's multiple GRAMMY award winning blues legend Taj Mahal. At the moment I walked up, there were two people watching him, but as he really got going, a small crowd formed. NAMM is pretty funny, because there really aren't schedules generally posted anywhere, it's all about happening on things and being in the right place at the right time. People talk about the old days of NAMM when it was very closed to music industry buyers only but thankfully it has opened up and getting to see legends geeking out on gear or other musicians was really spectacular and inspiring. It's also funny because unless you happen upon something, you're completely oblivious, like the jerk in one of the videos sampling the Irish flute in the adjacent booth. You wanna smack them and make them get a clue.

Here are three songs that Taj Mahal performed in the booth.
To see more of my photos, you can check out my two different galleries on FaceBook and at SoundDiego.

NAMM 2011: Jesse LaMonaca at Luna Guitars

Sometimes life is about being in the right place at the right time. When I met some guys at a True Blood party at Comic-con 2009, a friendship was sprung that has lasted over time and some of my best times ever are from hanging with them at the Con. Last year they told me about a company they were developing and over time they wanted to pick my brain about some things. I had forgotten about the conversation until last week, when a group of us were at the Everest show at the Belly Up. We had a cocktail party before and had try to convince Jesse LaMonaca to come to the show; as it turned out his buddy had an extra ticket. We were all enjoying the show when I got a text from Jared asking if I wanted to come to NAMM and I was welcome to bring a guest. By the time the night was through, plans solidified, and by Friday morning, Jesse and I were driving up to Anaheim. After a few hours at the convention center, I stepped outside and got to chatting with a man who turned out to be an artist rep for Luna Guitars. I shared what I do with him and mentioned Jesse. Long story short, we were asked to come back by and take a look at some guitars, which turned into an impromptu performance at the Luna booth. Jesse and Brandon played two songs. Here is one of them.

NAMM 2011: Lisa Loeb Live

Today I got back from NAMM and have some things I wanted to share with you from the weekend and now that I'm back with reliable wi-fi, I can upload everything with ease. Lisa Loeb mentioned that she's been working on a new record with Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory. This is one of the new songs, though the title escapes me. I got there just as she started, so of her four songs, I filmed three, missing out on capturing "Wishing Heart".



If you know me at all or have ever been to my house at 3 in the morning, you know that Reality Bites is my all-time favorite movie. I have it on DVD and pretty much watch it all the time, and though I'm generally terrible with movie quotes, I can basically recite the entire script. On Thursday night I heard "Stay" at the West Coast Tavern party and it was thrown over a dance beat and I tweeted about it. The next day, I'm walking around NAMM and came across the schedule of performances at the Alfred/Daisy Rock stage and saw that Lisa was performing. Naturally, my next tweet was "OMG!:" The funny thing about that movie is that little references always appear...having a long talk with Jesse about our paths and "You and me and five bucks" comes to mind, or while having cocktails on Friday night, our friend tells us that we missed Peter Frampton or stopping off at a 7-eleven to pick up "the most profound, important invention of my lifetime...the Big Gulp." Anyway, of course Lisa indulged us.



Lisa closed her set with a song from Camp Lisa. Here's "Best Friend".


."

Naturally this was an incredible way to kick off my first NAMM experience. Little did I know what the weekend had in store for me.

Lisa Loeb is very active on Twitter. Check her out @LisaLoeb4Real, or visit her site here.