Out There Having Fun, In the Warm California Sun

If you’re in LA Labor Day Weekend, I can’t imagine anything better or more fun to do than checking out the F Yeah Fest and LA Scavenger Hunt. Easy enough, just read everything below. Should be amazing. 

 

 

 

 

fyeahfest

 

 

 

 

THE LA SCAVENGER HUNT:

Here is a list of a few of the prizes for the winning team of the scavenger hunt. We are serious when we say that this will be the best day of the summer.

 

    * $500 cash

    * 1hr to play whatever you want on KXLU (88.9fm in Los Angeles) on Friday, September 5th from 4:00pm – 5:00pm. Thank you Matt from KXLU for making this happen. 

    * The opening slot on Mess With Texas 3 + $200 cash to get to Austin to perform. Mess With Texas is a free party that takes place during SXSW. This past year the Breeders, NOFX, Simian Mobile Disco, Lucero and Islands were amongst the bands that played to over 20,000 in attendance. I organize the event with two friends. Your band or a band of your choice (your best friends band) get to play. 

    * 10 new cds every month for an entire year from Finger Prints Music, which is the best record store in Southern California.

    * The largest whiskey bottle known to man. Actually, it’s not the largest but 5 gallons is big and if the winners are underage they will get a keg of crystal clear pepsi or fruit punch.

 

Here is some information about the scavenger hunt:

The hunt will take place on Sunday, August 31st. It will start at 2pm at the Echo Park Lake and will end at a location in downtown LA at 7:00pm. The hunt is all ages, open to the public and cost $8 per person to participate.

 

The list for the hunt is made up of 100 items. Each item is worth a certain amount of points. The team with the most points at 7:00pm wins the grand prize. Teams are made up of 2 to 5 people. Each team must have a name. Your team should be like one of the gangs in the movie, the Warriors. Wear matching uniforms (this is not necessary but HIGHLY recommended), face paint, and make sure to scream a lot.

 

Items & Points:

Here is an example of some of the items that were on the list to the last scavenger hunt.          

 

    * Everyone on the team gets cornrows and extended fingernails. Must be real cornrows.

    * One Person on the team getting a flat top with their name shaved into the back of their head.

    * Life size cut out of Eazy E.           

    * Gay Porno magazine pre 1987           

    * Photograph of team member kissing a stranger on the lips. 50 extra points if they are a senior citizen.

 

The Cause:

Forty items on the list are material goods that the Union Rescue Mission is in need of. The Union Rescue Mission houses hundreds of houseless families in downtown Los Angeles and is one of the few missions that works with homeless to get back on their feet. With the last scavenger hunt we were able to donate thousands of dollars of material goods and plan to do the same with this year’s event.

 

THE SCAVENGER HUNT IS MEANT IS FOR EVERYBODY. WE DON’T CARE IF YOUR 14 OR 40. COME OUT AND HAVE FUN. AND AFTERWARDS THERE ARE VARIOUS AFTER PARTIES TAKING PLACE WITH DAN DEACON, POLVO, TRANS AM, PAINT IT BLACK & MORE. CHECK THE SITE FOR MORE DETAILS. 

 

 

F YEAH FEST 5

DAY ONE: SAT., AUGUST 30th

 

BANDS

NO AGE

NEGATIVE APROACH

GLASS CANDY

MATT AND KIM

TWO GALLANTS

FUCKED UP

LADYHAWK

DAVID VANDERVELDE

JAPANTHER

PAINT IT BLACK

MIKA MIKO

PAST LIVES (EX BLOOD BROTHERS)

MONOTONIX

HIGH PLACES

DAVID DONDERO

ABE VIGODA

THE STRANGE BOYS

CRYSTAL ANTLERS

TRASH TALK

MANNEQUIN MEN

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TO CANDYLAND

BEST FWENDS

TRIUMPH OF LETHARGY SKINNED ALIVE TO DEATH (MEM. OF MURDER CITY DEVILS)

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS

RUMSPRINGA

ANAVAN

PREACHER AND THE KNIFE

BROTHER READE

MICHAEL RUNION

TOD ADRIAN WISENBAKER

SILVERGHOST

WAR TAPES

FRANK FAIRFIELD

GRAHAM FOREST

NODZZZ

60 WATT KID

HALLOWEEN SWIM TEAM

DIMITRI COATES FROM BURNING BRIDES

WITCH HATS

+ A FEW MORE

 

PLUS DJ’S

DUBLAB SOUNDSYSTEM

DENNIS OWENS FROM GOOD FOOT

RUSTY LAZER

 

COMEDIANS

BOB ODENKIRK

JEFF GARLIN

KYLE KINANE

JONAH RAY

MATT BRAUGNER

JOSH FADEM

MATT BESSER

+ MANY MORE TBA.

 

+ Taco Eating Contest.

+ Kissing booth featuring Damian “Sexual Chocolate” Edwards from Crystal Antlers

+ Dance Off.

+ Juggalo face paint

+ so much more

 

Wear a Halloween costumes. It’s summer. Life rules.

 

At the Echo, EchoPlex, Rec Center + 1 more location.

Doors will be 3:00pm & tickets are $18. The fest is all ages.

http://www.myspace.com/fyeahfest

http://www.fyeahfest.com

    

 

DAY 2: SUN. AUGUST 31ST

LA SCAVENGER HUNT

INFO ABOVE.

 

After the LA Scavenger Hunt

Sunday, August 31st

DAN DEACON

KYLE MABSON

@ LOCATION TBA & IT’S A SECRET

$6 with hunt. $9 without / 8:00pm sharp / All Ages

 

Dan is flying straight from Ireland to play this show. For real. His flight leaves at 10am on Sunday, August 31st from Dublin, lands in LA in the afternoon and then goes straight to the show. This will be more epic than Woodstock 99!

 

Sunday, August 31st

POLVO

TRANS AM

THE DRONES

@ the EchoPlex

$12 with hunt $15 without / 8:00pm / All Ages

 

Sunday, August 31st

Special Guest Headliner

PAINT IT BLACK

FINAL FIGHT

BROKEN NEEDLE

@ 6th St Warehouse

$8 / 7:00pm / All Ages

 

AND WE ARE HAVING A PRE PARTY AT THE GLASSHOUSE WITH ONE OF OUR FAVORITE BANDS, THE MELVINS!!!!

 

Friday, August 29th F YEAH FEST PRESENTS:

THE MELVINS

NEGATIVE APPROACH

BIG BUSINESS

@ the Glasshouse 200 W. Second St. Pomona, CA 91766

$16 / 7:00pm / All Ages

Note: This show is almost sold out. We highly recommend buying in advance.

 

INCASE & F YEAH FEST:

F Yeah Fest has teamed up with Incase for a project to raise money for 826LA. We will be screen printing shirts & tote bags onsite at the festival on Saturday August 30th and will be taking donations, all of which will be given to 826LA. There will be artwork by five well known artists to choose from.

 

Here’s how it will work:  

You choose the design.

You choose the color.

You help kids learn.

 

It’s that simple. Thank you to Article 1 clothing for donating the shirts for this project and Incase for making this happen. 

 

 

And we’d also like to give a shout out to the following for helping make this year’s fest happen.

 

Finger Prints Music – http://www.indierecordshop.com

Video Thing – http://www.videothing.com

Article 1 Clothing – http://www.article1.net

Microcosm Publishing – http://www.microcosmpublishing.com/

Family Bookstore – http://familylosangeles.com

Secret Headquarters – http://www.thesecretheadquarters.com

826LA – http://www.826la.com

JAX ART – http://www.jaxart.net

Cafe Bustelo – http://www.bustelocool.com/

Sean Agnew & the Philadelphia Eagles

7 -11 for making the Dr. Pepper Slurpee

 

 

 

WHERE TO BUY TICKETS:

Tickets for the LA Scavenger Hunt are on sale at – http://larecord.com/interviews/2008/08/13/on-sale-now-la-scavenger-hunt-tickets/ 

Tickets are on sale for the fest at http://www.ticketweb.com tickets for both events can be purchased at the locations below.

 

Secret Head Quarters

3817 W. Sunset Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA

90026

(323) 666-2228

Note: Only location on the east side to get tickets. In Silverlake near Hyperion in the junction.

   

Headline Records

7706 Melrose Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90046

(323) 655-2125

Note: Next to Fairfax High School on Melrose.

 

Family Bookstore

436 N. Fairfax Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90036

323.782.9221

Note: Between Beverly & Melrose. Next to the old Club Largo.

 

Vinyl Solution

18822 Beach Blvd

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

(714) 963-1819

Note: Only OC location to purchase tickets.

 

Soundsations

8701 La Tijera Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90045

(310) 641-8877

Note: Near LAX and just south of Santa Monica.

 

Finger Prints Music

4612 E 2nd St,

Long Beach, CA 90803

(562) 433. 4996

Note: In Belmont Shores. Where I work.

We’ve Still Got the Neutron Bomb

I like to consider myself somewhat of a Los Angeles ambassador here in New York. I’m always sticking up for my hometown, running around town in my Dodgers hat or Magic Johnson jersey, reminding people that Hollywood is just a small piece of what LA has to offer. I’m always always very proud of the fine musical tradition that LA has had to offer. From The Beach Boys to, Tom Waits, X, The Germs, or NWA, LA has contributed more than its fair share of amazing music to the rest of the world. 

Yet, for some reason LA bands always seem to get the shaft. So often The Velvet Underground is given credit for their proto-punk sound and attitude, but it was The Doors who inspired bands like The Stooges and the MC5 to form. Bands like Minor Threat and Bad Brains are often considered the fist hard-core bands, but everything they did they learned from Middle Class and Black Flag. You can also look at the other huge contribution to music from LA…hair metal…the most mocked and shit-on genre in the history of rock and roll (ok, sometimes for good reason). If you’re going to tell me that Van Halen, Guns N Roses, and Motley Crue weren’t great bands, then you weren’t paying attention. And let’s be honest, had those bands been from New York, they would still be praised daily. If you don’t think so, or you don’t think that LA has contributed vastly to modern music, then in the words of Axl Rose 

You’re crazy, hey, hey 
You know you’re crazy, oh my! 
You’re fuckin’ crazy, oh child 
You know you’re crazy, Ay, ay, ay, ay, 
You know you’re crazy, Hey, hey, 
You’re fuckin’ crazy, Oh child, 
You know you’re crazy, Ay, ay, ay, ay, 
You’re fuckin’ crazy, Yeah 
You know you are! 
Bring it down! 
You’re fuckin’ crazy! 

I’ve noticed a trend over the past six months, all of a sudden bloggers are beginning to give a shit about LA bands. Yes, bands like The Bronx, Autolux, Qui, and Devendra Barnhart have gotten their fair share of hype and praise, but that pales in comparison to what bands like The Strokes, Interpol, or Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have received.  But now, bands like No Age, Crystal Antlers, Abe Vigoda, Mika Miko, and The Mae Shi are getting a lot of attention. I have to admit, its exciting. Its exciting to show people that LA is made up of creative, artistic, and progressive people that are interested in doing something new and exciting, not just in scoring a major label deal. Its exciting that an interesting, dangerous, and fun band like No Age is getting the same type of attention that a mediocre band like Vampire Weekend is. Its exciting to hear music that isn’t made by the same people, from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn, wearing the same clothes, and re-hashing the same influences. 

So, one, I’d like to tell you to watch out..some of these bands will be huge in the next couple of years.

And, two, I’d like to propose a compilation. If anybody can make it happen, do it. I’ll do the press and marketing for it, we can do it for charity, we can do it for free. I’d like to see some of LA’s newest artists covering some of LA’s most historical artists. Buddyhead? Anybody?  Here’s my proposal.

Qui – “We Got the Nuetron Bomb” by The Weirdos

The Drips with Annie from Giant Drag – “Los Angeles” by X

400 Blows – “I Don’t Care’ by The Circle Jerks

No Age – “Myage” by the Descendents

The Briggs – “Hanging on the Telephone” by The Nerves

The Mae Shi – “Lexicon Devil” by The Germs

Mika Miko – “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways

The Bronx – “Wasted” by Black Flag

Rocket – “We Got the Beat” by The Go-Gos

Darker My Love – “Darker My Love” by TSOL

Abe Vigoda – “This Aint No Picnic” by The Minutemen

Crystal Antlers – “The Beat Goes On” by The Screamers

Burning Brides – “Let’s Have a War” by Fear

Big Business – “Kids of the Black Hole” by The Adolescents

****This is really just something I think would be cool, please note, there are no plans for this to happen._****

That being said, if you have any other ideas, let me know. If you don’t know any of these bands, go check them all out, I could link to each one of them but that would take forever. Also, if you haven’ read it yet, go check out “We Got the Neutron Bomb”.

New York’s Alright, If You Like Saxophones

It’s funny, for all the shows that come through New York, especially Williamsburg and Green Point, I feel like there’s never anything I really want to go to. Maybe its because some of the bands that I really like don’t play NYC because its too big of a market, and the bands that are big enough to play here play really big venues so that’s not fun either. Then, all of a sudden, there’s  a weekend like this that just can’t be denied. I’ve counted 9 shows this weekend that I’d like to be at. I’ll probably make 3, maybe 4, but 9 shows. 

This is the weekend I’ve been waiting for. Beautiful summer weather. Long days. Enough money in my bank account that I can afford to spend like $25 on drinking.   I’ve got one of my favorite bands playing a reunion show that I haven’t seen in almost 5 years (Hot Water Music). I’ve got a couple bands that I’m really stoked on right now (No Age, Crystal Antlers) coming through. I’ve got some old favorites (Dillinger Four, Alkaline Trio, Circle Jerks) coming through. I’ve got my buddies Phil and Sean in town for the F Yeah Fest. I’ve got two amazing free, outdoor shows (No Age at Southstreet Seaport and The Breeders at McCarren Pool). 

Needless to say, I’m amped. So amped that I made a spreadsheet schedule and a playlist to get everybody stoked on this weekend. 

If you’re wondering where I’ll be…

Friday night I’m going to try and make the No Age show, but we’ll see what happens. Saturday I’ll be at F Yeah Fest until 945 then I’m going over to Terminal 5 to catch Hot Water Music, then its down to Pianos for the F Yeah Fest after party. Sunday I’ll probably catch the F Yeah Fest in Brooklyn. Chances are I’ll be too hungover for anything else. 

Click on the image below to open a big fancy one…

You can check out the schedule I’ve put together below, and click here to listen to the playlist. 

Have a stellar weekend.

No Age @ the LA Public Library

Back in the early 1990s, when the LA Central Public Library in downtown LA re-opened after what I remember to be a pretty big fire (correct me if I’m wrong), my mom played a pretty big part on the event-planning committee . I don’t remember everything they did…mostly it was readings from authors, book signings, and children events, but I’m pretty sure she never had any punk bands play.
This past April, LA’s own No Age played a pretty raucous set to a number of lucky fans. Ground Control magazine was there to capture some of the set on video as well as provide a little interview with the guys.

Check it out below: