Swervedriver & Film School, Casbah 5.30.08

Friday night I had to make my way to The Casbah early since I was going to be selling the swag for Swervedriver and Film School. Film School was readying their sound check while Adam, Steve and I rolled shirts. Doors opened shortly after we finished counting out merch and I never stopped being busy. People bought a lot of stuff. We had shirts, posters, buttons, Adam's solo CD, and a tour only 7" vinyl that people bought in loads. It was a little chaotic, but it was cool to see how excited Swervedriver fans were to see them. A couple fans showed up in their 10 or 15 year old Swervedriver t-shirts. The fans were rabid.

Sometimes when I sell stuff I can break and get into the venue for some pictures, but since people were trickling to the stand all night, I didn't leave my post except for a quick bathroom break and a couple drink refills. From what I could hear on the patio, both bands were great, though unfortunately Swervedriver played relatively quiet. They sounded clean, not as fuzzy and distorted as back in the day, but I enjoyed it. Adam was a total pleasure to work for and before their set continued to check on me to see if things were ok.





Alex (from Swim Party) took a couple pics inside for me.


After the show it got really busy at the merch and for the first time I was hoping Ben would sweep everyone out of the Casbah. Eventually that time came till it was just the two bands, Heather and Eric from M-Theory and myself. Adam and I settled the merch, he hooked me up with a CD and a shirt, and he invited me on the bus "for a spot of tea." Outside Film School was hanging out deciding where and what they were gonna do so I said goodbye and joined The Swervies on their bus.



Adam pointed to the cold beer and we chatted and minutes later Film School came onboard. We had a couple beers before the driver got irritated and told us they were leaving in 5 minutes.



It would've been cool to keep hanging out but no such luck, so I was on my way back to Kensington. Then, the unexpected- Adam kissed me goodnight. Nothing pervy or weird, just a nice little peck on the lips. I blushed, said goodnight, then skipped off into the night.

Sights + Sounds feat Film School at SDMA

After a late night at the Melvins on Wednesday, then a long day at work on Thursday, I had to get in a power nap before heading out. The nap resulted in my missing the CityBeat Red Party at SideBar downtown. Instead, I went to Balboa Park and am glad that Aguirre stood up for the public when he took a stand against the valet from The Prado using public spots because for the first time in a long time, I had no problem finding parking. This was actually surprising because the event was sold out. Apparently Brooke and Owen and the other organizers from FM 94/9 expected about 500 people; instead, they had to cut off sales at 700. I was pleased that the event was successful because it only encourages similar events in the future. Unfortunately, when I arrived, security was clearing out the museum and filtering everyone into the outdoor sculpture garden area, but I wasn't really there for the art anyway.

After a few minutes of waiting, I was handed my will call tickets and we were in the event. There was food from Modus, but we were only able to snag a couple of the crab lettuce wraps, and we didn't bother with the bar because we heard they were on the verge of running out of booze. We made our way into the auditorium where the crowd left a nice 7 foot "too cool gap", so we found a spot against the stage.

Film School comes from the whole Silverlake scene, so it's no stretch to see how they fit in with bands like Silversun Pickups. In fact, Dave, the guitarist from Film School, toured with SSPU early on, and I recognized him from the first time I saw them out the HoB sidestage.















The auditorium was a really great space. The stage was huge and I guess it's used mostly for classical performances, but it would serve all of us well if they hosted more rock shows, because the sound was great, the lighting was spot on, and the crowd had room to move. It is my understanding that FM 94/9 is hoping to make this a monthly event and I really hope that is true. TNT has lost some momentum of late, it seems, and I actually think that Sights + Sounds might revive interest in the whole art + music concept.

From the Museum of Art, Andrea and I headed to The Melvins show, which I already wrote about, then afterward we went to Modus, where Film School was hanging and spinning records. That point of the night was just silliness and we had a good time, pretty much having the run of the bar.

My guess is that in a few months Film School will be where SSPU are now, so I'm glad I got to see them in a semi-intimate venue since I'd missed their Beauty Bar show a month before. I'm also glad that there seems to be a new LA scene going on, getting away from the dirty Sunset Blvd scene and moving into a broader indie scene that I can really get behind. It's about time.

Somebody Pinch Me

As a superfan of music, I will never take for granted getting to see a show. Whether it's an up and coming band or legendary icons, I feel like it's all part of my music education and I never want to stop learning. That said, when I get the opportunity to meet a band, it's something that I treasure even more. This is not to say that I'm so cool, but really that I feel so lucky. In the last two nights, not only did I meet The Melvins and Big Business, but I got to hang out with Buzz in the back office where we talked about music and band's merchandise and touring and the music business and all kinds of random shit. After that, I went to Modus where we hung out with the M-Theory kids, and met the peeps in Film School. If 31 year old me told 16 year old me that I would be doing such cool shit and meeting such cool people and legendary icons, 16 year old me would've said "yeah, right".

The Melvins


3/5 of Film School with Brooke (FM 94/9)