Washed Out live at The Music Box in Hollywood, CA
Click the pic for more WASHED OUT concert shots!
Be sure to check out Washed Out!!
Photography By: Shane Suski |Ambassador of Photography | San Diego, CA| @shanewithmwl | Beat-Play and Music Without Labels, LLC
The MWL Live Tour 2012 has begun and our first stop is Los Angeles, California! We had the opportunity to meet up with The Lonely Forest and Portugal. The Man at the historical Fox Theater in Pomona on Friday and caught Washed Out at The Music Box last night. Watch the video interview with Eric and Braydn from TLF above and check back tomorrow for the video interview with Zach from Portugal. The Man!
By: Katie McVeay| Spokesperson |Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC | crookedsunshine
Yellow Dubmarine live at The Mint in Los Angeles!
Click the picture for more photos of the show!
Check out Yellow Dubmarine and there Facebook!
Photography By: Phil Greene | Ambassador of Photography | @philgreene | Beat-Play & Music Without Labels,LLC
Phone rings. Radiohead/ Rolling Stone pool party? Yes. What do you even say to a question like that as you wake up after 2 days of complete drunken haze and lack of sleep with your legs ready to kick your own ass for making yourself stand for hours on end. You go. You carry on, chug a warm beer by your bedside and go. A quick mid-day dip in the now 90 degree pool, cool by the 111 degree temp on the outside. I paid for a hotel room for the sheer fact that it had a shower and I don’t think it was until day 3 when I actually took advantage of this magical invention. Knowing the day ahead may or may not be epic we popped a bottle of very expensive beer imported from Boston. Threw on my jorts and flip flops and ran out the door. Off to downtown Palm Springs about 17 miles away from Coachella and the lovely town of Indio for the Rolling Stone/ Radiohead party.
What a friggin maze that hotel was and honestly I don’t even remember the name but the banner with the Rolling Stone logo led me to believe I was at least close. After 20 minutes of walking around this joint and asking about 11 people where the party was we finally wrapped around the back of the hotel to the secondary pool area. Who knew? Ping pong tables, free beer, a photo booth, a full band’s worth of instruments set up, free beer, a place to make your own sandals and t-shirts and coozies for your, you guessed it, free beer. I guess there is one good and bad thing about Coachella. The corporate nature and rampant corporate advertising in and around the festival is out there in the open slapping you in the face but if they hand me a free delicious New Belgium Fat Tire Beer (in stores now :)) after they slap me, my face is going to be very red. I sauntered here and perused there. I tried to look somewhat like I belonged. It was pretty quiet and had just begun. My bud and I started fooling around with the instruments and got our picture taken way to many times in the photo booth. There was a guy painting a new VW beetle, you know standard party activities.
Looking around I was clearly out of my element, but taking it all in and enjoying myself I sat back and relaxed. A familiar face walked by. Brian Bell from the band Weezer. Now I have a pretty good relation ship with Weezer, my band covers ‘the Blue Album in its entirety so in my mind we are basically best friends and I think it’s safe to say I’m a pretty big fan. Living in LA I have seen and met some celebs, but they can all take a hike compared to any member of Weezer. I think if Coachella stopped at this point and I was forced to go home I would have gladly done so. Meeting Brain Bell was definitely a highlight, icing on the cake. Maybe not quite as cool as when Radiohead showed up to the same party and band members started taking turns DJing. I did not have the balls to approach any of the Radiohead guys. Thom Yorke is notorious for acting weird around fans and fan appreciation. Why? I have no idea, but when Saylor approached him to let him know we enjoyed the show the night before he looked like he was scared out of his mind. He almost called the Karma Police on us. OHHHHHHH…. stupid.
We left. There was music to listen to and a 90′s West Coast rapper to resurrect.
If you’ve been following along with my Coachella blogs parking at Coachella sucks. They lock you in and it’s at least a 30 minute walk to any stage. We hustled and failed to get there before Fitz and The Tantrum’s played the final chords of their hit “Money-Grabber.” We walked back stage for a cold water. Hydration was not very high on the list for the first half of the day. Beer was cheaper. By this time it was almost 6 pm. Time flies when you have no sense of it what so ever and your phone is dead, go figure. We made our way to the Sahara tent to see Gotye. If you haven’t heard that damn song “Somebody That I Used To Know” you live under a rock. It’s catchy and unavoidable. We scouted spots up front in the guest/ VIP pit. Just a bad idea in general to go to a show in a tent that needed to be on a main stage just for the sheer fact that he easily out drew his tent by about double the capacity.
The normally half empty VIP pit was bursting. We had to get out there for sanity sake and health reason. We moved backstage. Terrible view, terrible sound, but at least we could breathe. He played through just about everything I wanted to hear. There are better songs on his new record “Making Mirrors” than that hit. He sounds unreal and exactly like the record and his band was really tight. I thoroughly enjoyed his show and I’m sad now that I hadn’t found about him sooner to avoid being labeled a band wagoner because of one song that is loved by the masses. I really want to see him again when he comes back to LA for a proper indoor show or even up at the Greek. That would be awesome.
There is one part of the Coachella experience that everyone needs at least 10 minutes of. I’m speaking of course about the DJ tent. Famous DJs gather and spin the best dance music fancy samplers and electronics can fart out. I for one don’t understand how watching someone stand behind a table and press buttons is entertaining (maybe it’s the drugs these young kids are on), but this tent is easily the most consistently crowded tent in all of Coachella. I had to see what it was all about. Calvin Harris was up so we headed next door after Gotye was finished. I dug my way through the crowd. In the 20 minutes we were in there these are my thoughts for this blog as noted in my iphone from almost two weeks ago:
Loud, Cool Lights, high? nope annoyed, Crowded, Same song played 4 times in a row?, smells like farts?, sweat, shoot me…
I don’t really know my thought process at that moment but from the looks of it it wasn’t pleasant. After the sheer relief to feel actual oxygen in my lungs again outside the tent we made our way across the festival stopping in and viewing some of the art exhibits missed over the course of the weekend.
We stopped by the rave/ burning man/how many drugs are these people on? mini stage and quickly exited almost faster than we did Calvin Harris. It was time for At The Drive In, a band I wasn’t familiar with. We sat back. They sounded great after all these years apart. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez was a treat to see since I am an avid Mars Volta fan and you can definitely hear those early influences he brought to At the Drive In Come Through in Mars Volta.
Your all going to hate me for what comes next. When the time came for Snoop and Dre. I couldn’t do it any more. I couldn’t take the crowds, the heat, the bros. I am somewhat responsible in my personal and work life and I had to work the next day. My friends and I opted out of the guest/ VIP pit for a more distant viewing of the last set of the weekend. I have no pictures, because that’s how far away we were. I have never seen more people gathered and focused on one event in my whole life. This is after attending headlining sets at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Coachella in years past, Phish festivals, and giant arena shows. Never have I seen a sea of people like the one massed for Dr. Dre and Snoop. Snoop and Dre took the stage to a “powered by Beats by Dr. Dre” advertisement. Really? You couldn’t spare us one night without having the damn $300 headphones that aren’t worth $300 shoved in our faces. They look cool yes, they sound like shit on a stick flying through the air. Go buy Sony MDR 7506′s if you want to hear the good stuff, trust me. Deep breaths and strike one against Mr. Dre. At 10:40 they took the stage to my surprise, right on time. They ripped into what was one of the best, hit filled sets of the entire weekend. So good in fact I immediately forgave the Dr. for opening his set with an advertisement. Here is the set list complete with special guests.
The Next Episode
Kush
Gin N Juice
Deep Cover
Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang
Ain’t No Fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None) (Nate Dogg Tribute)
I Wanna Rock
Jump Around (House of Pain cover)
Drop It Like It’s Hot
In The Air of The Night (Phil Collins cover)
Young Wild And Free (with Wiz Khalifa)
The Recipe (with Kendrick Lamar)
What Up Gangsta (with 50 Cent)
P.I.M.P (with 50 Cent)
In The Club (with 50 Cent)
Xxplosive (Snippet)
Lady Luck
California Love
Hail Mary/2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted (Tupac Hologram)
I Need a Doctor (with Eminem)
Forgot About Dre (with Eminem)
‘Till I Collapse (with Eminem)
Who Am I? (What’s My Name?)
Still D.R.E.
Before I touch on the hologram I have to say that 50 Cent was terrible. He didn’t belong within a mile of that stage. I get the relationship with Eminem and co. but for him to come out and do his three terrible hits during a set filled with some of hip hops greatest songs was just stupid and a waste of time. No one gave a shit. It was a waste of time and I would have rather just left the stage empty for ten minutes as they prepared the hologram. People have been asking what the hologram looked like. It was creepy. It was appropriate and awe inspiring as well. I really liked how they did it. It was essentially a projection on a thin clear sheet of glass when looked at from the front it looked 3-d and relatively real. I think it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen at a concert. The only thing that irked me was no one said RIP or acknowledged that Tupac was even dead. They just said “Give it up for Tupac!”. That was weird.
We split after the hologram. The last thing I wanted was to sit in an hour of parking lot traffic before making the two hour drive back to LA starting at 1am. We ran out during Eminem. Jetting out of the parking lot without another car in sight was a festival highlight for me. Everyone was still parked with all eyes focused to see what Dr. Dre and Snoop would do next to end the festival I was relieved and happy to avoid the masses I heard ‘Gin and Juice’, ‘The Next Episode’ and ‘California Love’ I was happy.
Driving through the night I kept asking myself the same questions over and over. What just happened? Would I do it again? The only two answers I could come up with were, I have no idea and in a heartbeat.
By: Steve Rippin | Beat-Play Ambassador Los Angeles | @stevewithMWL|Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC
Holy Vintage Trouble, the most energetic show I’ve been to… ever. These guys are not only incredible musicians but they are tons of fun to work with. It was truly a pleasure. Please watch the video above and read my previous interview with Ty to learn about the backstory of “Nancy Lee” and so much more!
Also, check out the photos from the show here at MWL!
By: Katie McVeay| Spokesperson |Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC | crookedsunshine
Shortly after New Year’s I found myself on the beach in San Diego, also the home of Music Without Labels & Beat-Play! I’d been working with MWL from NYC and had continued to do so when I decided to start traveling late last year. When I arrived in California a few months into 2o12 opportunities and ideas to start a video project for the site quickly presented themselves. MWL photographer Shane Suski and I went to film school together in NYC and with the help of all the guys that run the site we were able to team up and launch MWL Live. Everything began falling into place. I didn’t know then what amazing things MWL Live would be able to do!
MWL Live is a video program dedicated to providing fans with the support and coverage they need to stay on top of today’s independent music scene. MWL Live is where you can find exclusive video interviews and live video coverage of the best shows around. The program is new and we need to get the word out about what we’re doing! What better way to reach the fans and get coverage of bands than to tour like one! The MWL Live team is headed out on a cross-country tour and I am determined to make you a dedicated viewer!
The tour has been a ton of work! Directions, accommodations, calculations, scheduling interviews, shooting, budgeting, editing videos, press credentials, t-shirts, spreadsheets, equipment, consent forms, millions of emails! Thank god for Google Docs, seriously… I was gonna say thank the universe, because that’s more my style but I think Google might actually be the universe. Anyway, when we had the idea of touring like an independent band I had no idea how much work it really is running an entire tour by yourself! We were ready to abandon our possessions and take on the task but we needed funds! We ran a Kickstarter campaign and thanks to all of our backers, and social networking, we reached our goal and the MWL Live Tour was official!
A very special thanks to Kickstarter backers Kaitlyn Suski, Dana Pscolkoski, Kevin Grimes, Amanda White, Britt Freeman, Janna Kelley, Rebecca Illowiecki, Joseph Szala, Amanda Scott, Jamie Joong and Florence Valente!
We are traveling over 11,000 miles in approximately 112 days! We are headed to some of the summer’s hottest summer shows and festivals. We have packed the car, mapped out the route and are working around the clock to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible! We will be posting tons of videos this summer and you can be there with us everywhere we go! Join Shane and myself as we drive from state to state camping, interviewing bands, going to festivals, visiting friends, exploring and going to tons of shows and events!
May through September we’ll be everywhere from San Diego to Portland, Seattle to Denver, Houston to New Orleans, Charlotte to Philly, New York to Rapid City and we will be uploading videos almost everyday! Travel with us documentary style as we leave sunny California venture up the west coast, camp with us in the Redwoods, drive through the Rocky Mountains through Amarillo to fish in the Gulf of Mexico. You can ride bikes with us through New York City, see our countries founders at Mount Rushmore and get exclusive concert footage and video interviews every step of the way! Click the map for more details!
We’re still waiting on confirmations from some festivals and shows that are happening a little further into the future but the tour can’t wait! We’re starting the tour here in San Diego bringing you interviews with Vintage Trouble, Carina Round, Turbo Fruits, Waters and more! We arrive in LA just in time to see Washed Out then we continue up the coast and on the tour goes! More artists and locations will be announced soon! You can visit the MWL Live Blog for a sneak peak at interviews to come, previews, festival coverage and more! Add the MWL Live Facebook and stay posted! We’ve all got a lot to look forward to!
In the meantime check out some of the videos we’ve done so far and let us know if you’re on the route! Be a part of the tour! Know great bands along that deserve to be heard? We’d love to visit you while we’re on the road! There will be opportunities for you to interact, to get sweet gear [stickers, USB's full of behind the scenes footage and limited edition tour t-shirts], and to have your questions asked on MWL Live! Get involved now and guarantee yourself a summer full of entertainment!
By: Katie McVeay| Spokesperson |Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC | crookedsunshine
Monster and I mean MONSTER hangover. I suppose that’s what you get after a night of heavy drinking with some of the best music in my opinion on the planet. Ears ringing and throat dry as a bone I woke up to the burning sunlight of 1pm. I felt like I was back in college. My bud Saylor, an early riser, was out at the pool. Trunks on, I went for a dip. Who needs a shower when you have an over chlorinated pool anyway? Cooled off, we ventured into what was to be an epic day of music. Stopping by my buddies much more well equipped pool at a resort near the venue we decided to continue the ongoing attempts to cool off in the blaring midday heat avoiding the sun and crowds. Snobby move I know, but I don’t care. Entering the venue we walked past campers, some of which had been living in these sweltering conditions for more than 24 hours. I felt their pain… oh wait no I didn’t. We were on a mission toward the music and so we trekked through the throngs of tank topped bros and scantily clad women all of which could have easily jumped out of the pages of an Urban Outfitters catalog. First stop of the day was the Outdoor Stage for one of my favorite bands of last year, Tune-Yards.
With her crazy looping drums and vocals New England native (woot woot!) Merrill Garbus plowed through a 45 minute set using songs like “Gangsta” and “My Country” as books ends to a great show. Backed by a bassist and a horn section she filled the second biggest stage appropriately. It was an epic way to kick off day two. High energy is all we could have asked for.
With the water spray/ cooling guns manned by stage security out in full force the crowd seemed alive. Blue skies and music blaring from every direction we made our way to the main stage to catch a couple of tunes from Kaiser Chiefs. I think we used Kaiser Chiefs as an excuse to walk back over toward the VIP food area because we didn’t stay at the main stage for more than a tune or two. The music however was quite good and I know their following is die hard so they will be a band I will be looking into soon.
In an attempt to start some sort of sick, twisted and delicious tradition we hit the Kogi Truck again. Ryan, pictured above, prepped for his Spicy Pork and I licked my lips for what was the best short rib burrito on the planet. So delicious. As we sat on the grass looking over the schedule and literally housing burritos and beers (hair of the dog, what can I say) we realized our day was about to get even better.
Saylor and I play in the ONLY 90′s tribute band in LA. Click here for more info. Shameless plug, whatever. That being said we are also completely obsessed with all things Oasis and now that they are no longer we have resorted to an obsession with the “better” of the two Gallagher brothers, Noel. With his new album and his High Flying Birds he took the stage and ripped into two Oasis covers, “(It’s Good) To Be Free” and “Mucky Fingers”. I was standing way to close to front row for my own good. Taking full advantage of my photo pass I stepped in front of the rail to take it all in. He played a bunch of tunes off his new record. Most importantly “If I Had A Gun…” which he dedicated to his wife and also “AKA What A Life” which is probably my favorite new tune he has released.
Closing the show Noel played a pitch perfect rendition of the Oasis classic “Don’t Look Back In Anger”. Everyone and I mean everyone was singing the words. Even the assholes who were just talking through the whole show next to me stopped and sang along. With what looked like a smile the normally disgruntled/ coolest dude on the planet Oasis frontman left the stage leaving an ecstatic crowd in the dust.
On a complete and total high we looked to keep it going. A top priority of the day was to see the elusive Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel fame. He wrote the songs of Neutral Milk Hotel many years ago but has gained a massive cult following. Sitting in a chair at the center of the massive second stage he gave each song the treatment it deserved. Ryan was more familiar with the record/ band, but as Jeff moved through songs such as “King of Carrot Flowers Part 1″ and “Two-Headed Boy” I remembered the one time many years ago someone introduced me to Neutral Milk Hotel and I stupidly ignored them.
Never to late to get into a ‘new’ band right? He stopped his set mid way through to make sure someone who had passed out in the front row was ok. Very caring, conversational and appreciative of his audience he played until he ran out of songs. I must say I think this set was a surprise favorite of the weekend for me. I know the band hasn’t been around for many years, but if Jeff Mangum comes to a town near you you better get your buns out there and see him. I haven’t seen a show on that level for a long time. People care about his music and it was easy to see by the energy of the crowd that the tunes he has written are important and special. With a horn section and a drum backing his final chords Mangum serenaded us into the evening of day 2.
Here’s the part where I tell you my day load of free beer turned into night beers turned into I can’t write the rest of this blog because I have no idea what happened. NO. We were good and paced ourselves as to try and remember the night of music ahead. Schedule in one hand and frosty brew (not brews like last night) we marched into the guest viewing area for The Shins.
Opening with the energetic tune “Simple Song” my interest was immediately peaked. I knew The Shins as “the band from ‘Garden State’” which I now regret. James Mercer has assembled a sick line up including LA’s own Jessica Dobson on vocals and guitar who has played with Beck and her own band Deep Sea Diver. She shreds hard. To see her play up close was a treat. One thing that really took me by surprise was James mercer’s vocals. The soaring tenor commanded the stage and was appropriate for all of the songs especially the mellow cover of ‘Helpless’ written by Neil Young. A great treat. Before that they played the hit “New Slang” and finally ended with a new tune off their new record called “Port Of Morrow” to end yet another surprisingly awesome set of music.
At this point in the day we had a choice. We stay put and see Bon Iver who has been just massive on the indie circuit and had just come off a best new artist win at the Grammys despite putting out one of the sleepiest records (in my opinion) ever or we could go relax somewhere else and watch from a distance. Watching from a distance won out over potentially falling asleep on top of the diehard Bon Iver fans. I snuck up front to snap a couple of photos, but I’d be lying to you if I said I was into it and or stayed up front for more than 30 seconds. His stage set up however was really impressive and the live sound was really good, just not for me at that moment in time. I was way to geared up for Radiohead’s headlining show.
Lounging on the grass being lulled to sleep we took to the schedule to see what was what. Do we risk a good up front spot for Radiohead and see Miike Snow? Or do we just chalk it up to that old festival motto that ‘it’s impossible to see all the bands you want to see’. We opted for spots for Radiohead. To be honest I never really gave Radiohead the time of day until recently. OMG! What? Huh!? Yea I know right? I just never got into them. It took a lot of coaxing by my other musically obsessed friends to turn me. Needless to say I was very excited for my first Radiohead experience. We fought the crowds leaving the Bon Iver show to secure a good spot. Considering I was completely hammered and claustrophobic as was the night before, the 45 minutes we waited for the band to start seemed to go by in a flash. At 11:05 on the dot Thom York and Co. took the stage, ripped into ‘Bloom’ and ’15 Step’ and we were off.
I don’t know too much about Radiohead, but I know one thing. They are the tightest live band I have ever seen in my life. The ability to start and stop on a dime and with duel drumming and all kinds of poly rhythms my mind was blown. They played crowd favorites such as ‘Karma Police’, ‘Pyramid Song’, ‘You and Who’s Army?’, ‘Exit Music (For A Film)’ and ‘Paranoid Android’ and during the second encore they played one of my personal favorites from “In Rainbows” a tune called ‘House of Cards’.
Content and satisfied we walked with the masses through the parking lots and camp sites. You could still feel theheat coming off the cars as radio’s blasted the albums of the bands that had played earlier in the day. For some it seemed the party was only beginning as the Silent Disco tent was going off and people were ready to just drink their faces off. Tired and weary I however was not one of them. If there is one thing I have learned from years of music festivals I learned that Sunday is the hardest day to get through but is always the best as grande finales often are. Stay tuned…
By: Steve Rippin | Beat-Play Ambassador Los Angeles | @stevewithMWL|Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC
