The weekend before last I attended FYF fest in downtown LA. This festival had three stages of great bands, many of which I had never seen or wishing to see again.
Since I went alone, I bike 6 miles into downtown chinatown. I really enjoyed the ride and blasted the Clash "live on broadway." On arrival the line to enter was considerably long with little movement. The festival started at 1pm and I arrived at 3 thinking I could just walk in. The line was huge.
About 4pm I worried I would be missing the band Wavves which I was one of my top three bands to see. All of a sudden the ticket people did there job and the line moved. I was able to walk up to watch right when they came on. heres a song from the set
Later on in the day I was watch the band Lightning bolt which was absolutely batshit crazy. The fire marshal kept coming on stage telling people to quit crowding the barrier or they would shut down the show. This band consists of a guitarist and a drummer that wears a mask with a microphone hooked up to it. The microphone has a voice changer along with there guitar being very fuzzy and raw. The crowd went nuts for them. watch it
Between shows I had down time to which I browsed at the origami records store tent and the converge tent. Converge is probably my favorite band of all time. I chatted with the singer about the new album coming out and they were really cool and nice to talk to. They played at the end of the night. I purchased a converge shirt they only sold at the show. The shirt had in bold letters "This is boston, Not LA" which is a play on a famous Boston punk hardcore compilation that came out in the 80s. The shirt has a picture of the crowd with the singer in their face.
Hydra head records home to Botch, Torche, Pelican, Coalesce,These arms are snakes, ISIS and flurry of other great bands had a tent. At their tent I chatted with the guy who own the label and he was a really cool dude. They had a box of free posters to which I went through and took a bunch. Great label.
Toward the end of the night I saw Cold Cave which is a dark synth pop band made of Wes Eisold (former singer of American nightmare & Some Girls) and memeber of Xiu Xiu and Prudent. Im a big fan of whatever Wes does and its cool to see his new direction in music, His lyrics are very unique and dark. They played really well and I thought the guitarist was pretty hot. one of their songs
I then watch the band Fucked up play. I was up in the front of the pit and the singer Pink Eye has great stage presence. The singer is a bear of a guy weighing upward of 300 pounds. Im not overly familiar with there songs but they played really well.
The last band I watched was the never disappointing Converge. I was really excited to catch their set because they were going to play a few songs off their new album "Axe to fall." It was weird seeing them play in a festival environment because Ive always seen them in clubs where you can stage dive and crowded with people. They played great but I wished i watched the show in club. Heres some of the set
At the end of the show I was Tired, sun burnt, smelly and dirty. During each bands set the crowd would go ina frenzy kicking up dust on the crowd. During the more aggressive bands playing, the found it hard to breath or I would spit dirt. I even wiped my tongue on my shirt at one point and left a mark....gross
But a great show.
Later in the week I met up with a friend to go record shopping. I forgot the name of the store but it was very pick and poke. I did however stummble across a copy of David Bowies "Low" and "Hereos" for very cheap. I was also excited to find copies two spoof metal bands. I found Spinal Taps "smell the glove" LP and Dethklok's "the Dethalbum." While the store was very pick and poke, these records were uber cheap and in great condition.
Afterward we got Japanese noodles in Melrose which was a very lovely part of town. Before hand we stumbled upon the "Giant Robot Store" which specialized in novelty vinyl figurines and robots. They also sell really good up and coming art prints of bands and underground artists....It was a cool place other than the cost of everything. I had stumbled upon their online store a few years ago but had no idea they had an actual store...very cool
Before eating I had to go to a ATM. While searching I stumbled upon the "tomato bank".......I couldnt stop laughing at the fact that a bank was called that.....hilarious
Last weekend I met up with Chris Powell and his girl friend Maria. WE had a blast hanging out and going to the Lazer dome. We saw a Pink Floyd's "Dark side of the Moon" done in a lazer show. This albums fun and the show was really cool to watch. This place also does lazer versions of Led Zeppelin and The Beatles....very excited t see those two.
On Sunday I decided to bike to Hollywood to check out Amoeba Records. For about a year or so I keep hearing things from friends coming back from the California telling me I had to check out this record store. An sure enough it was the biggest record store Ive ever seen. It rest on the sunset trip and Ive never see so many records in my life. I set a budget going in which forced me to leave the store in all of 40 minutes so I didnt buy more. While the store was pricey, the selection was amazing. While there I picked up a copy of Pissed Jeans "king of jeans" HEALTH's "In color" and Boris/ 9DW split. All of which Im really digging.
The last few weaks Ive been really wrecking myself in practice in the am. In the afternoon I do a full hour of cardio along with an Ab workout. Its a good thing I swim so no one has to see how much of a sweaty bitch I am. I think Id literally die of heat stroke if I did a sport outside the water. Through the course of being here, Ive lost 8 pound. Im currently 225 but trying to get down around 218. I just have to keep up the diet and training..... DO WORK!!!
Today was a good day of training. On top of this Converge launched pre-order for their up coming album "Axe to fall." While I am a avid music collector, I tend to try and collect all the album Im really into. Im not overly into collecting every release by each band. Converge however is the exception to the rule. MY long goal over time is to own every release and color variant they produce on vinyl.....I do not have the funds to do this aggressively but over the last 6 years its slowly come to fruition...hopefully buying these variants through preorder will lessen the wild goose chase of tracking each color down.
Till next time
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