A Refugee

My best friend Jacob Fatoorechi is playing in Tommy King’s band currently. They have a residency at The Green Door in Hollywood. The place is on Ivar right behind Amoeba Music.

It’s a fun vibe and even if you aren’t completely into pop/jazz/rock it is still worth making the trek out to see Jacob wail on the guitar. The entire band is actually pretty talented and entertaining.

The crowd is kinda hit and miss. The first two times I saw them the crowd was more interesting than annoying. The last time it seemed overflowing with typical Hollywood douchebags and tramps fishing for sugar daddies.

The fact the show is free to get into upon mentioning “I’m on Tommy King’s guest list” it really makes it stupid to avoid.

They play every Wednesday. Hope to catch more cool people there this week. =)

I went down to the Avalon to catch the last night of Coheed and Cambria’s Neverender event. It was my first time to the Avalon since it was called The Palace and At The Drive-in was blowing my mind.

It was a fun return to a place of great memories. Coheed and Cambria really engaged the crowd the whole way through. Claudio came out before the band took the stage to give a little introduction about the visuals and point of the night. Their manager joined him on stage to give some thanks and touch on some points Claudio talked about.

Apparently, Coheed and Cambria has been a long arduous project. A lot of heads butting and close calls to the end of the band. The point of these Neverender events was to celebrate them more or less completing the Coheed and Cambria story line and give thanks to their fans and revolving cast of contributors.

The band’s lighting set up wasn’t as complex as the last time I saw them. I still felt like I was in a pinball machine. Instead of it seeming like I was where the balls are played it felt like being under the board where all the circuits are. haha.

The band rocked it. For those that don’t know, Claudio does sing that high live, he shreds the hell out of the guitar while doing so, and he has a gnarly growl adding some fun dynamics to his vocals.

For the encore they brought out MC5′s Wayne Kramer. Dude was bending the hell out of some notes. I don’t know how he compares now to his former self but, he still was a beacon of energy up there on stage.

The whole night had a wonderfully positive vibe to it. It definitely spread from the moment Claudio gave his little introduction speech. The crowd had a great energy. It was a fun night for sure.

Made it out to The Palladium in Hollywood, Ca with Jacob after rushing home from Las Vegas.

After a long delay waiting for them to figure out that I did indeed get clearance for a photo pass we made it in during the second song of Thrice’s set.

Overall, they were great. Unfortunately, the sound at the Palladium is not any better than it was before it was closed down. I was hoping the new management would have fixed that but, it would seem the Palladium is doomed to suck forever.

It was interesting seeing them play the newer “Alchemy Index” material. I was kinda worried the energy would be lost live but, when you’re performing music that is close to your heart there really is no reason for it to not translate to the audience. Especially when you are as seasoned as Thrice is.

My only complaint is that they were not headlining. Rise Against was. Aw well. They’re from Orange County and I would expect them to headline a show soon enough.

Hope you enjoy the photographs. =)

rock!

lolz, women.

lolz.

Some photos from the Thrice concert coming tonight after I get back from it or tomorrow afternoon. About to go pick up Jacob. Just gotta make sure the Kings game is being taped. =P