July-August 2022 Staff Picks in California

BASS DRUM OF DEATH - "GB CITY" 10th Anniversary
Plus special guest NORMANS
Bass Drum of Death are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of “GB City” (Fat Possum Records) by performing the album in its entirety.

This is an 21+ event

Zebulon

BASS DRUM OF DEATH - "GB CITY" 10th Anniversary

Bass Drum of Death - Crawling After You

Bass Drum Of Death

Gigs

Los Angeles

Bass Drum of Death are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of “GB City” (Fat Possum Records) by performing the album in its entirety.
Bass Drum of Death are from Mississippi. John wrote and recorded the whole record himself using just a drumset, a guitar, a usb microphone, a computer, and a shitload of talent.  The songs are about drugs, panic attacks, stealing stuff, mild to severe depression, Elvis appearing in your dreams and giving you advice, gravity bongs and the devil living inside your brain. This record is the soundtrack playing in your head when you're fucked up and walking home in the middle of the night, still after all of these years

This is an 21+ event

Alex's Bar

Bass Drum of Death + Death Lens + Reckling + Floats 

Long Beach

The Criticals are a Nashville based rock band formed by Parker Forbes and Cole Shugart. Parker and Cole played music in other bands around the Nashville scene in their teens before becoming The Criticals together. They set their sights on creating a band built on youth, energy, and lust for life.

Since the release of the band’s first single, “Homebody,” in 2019, The Criticals have attracted global attention. With online praise from Earmilk, Popdust, Brooklyn Vegan, and Come Here Floyd, the band has not only been able to captivate fans from their DIY roots but also music critics alike. Nashville has shown their support with such an insatiable demand to see the band that they performed their 3rd and 4th headlining shows as double nights at the legendary Exit/In following their incredible sold out show at The Basement East in June 2021.

https://thecriticalsofficial.com

This is a 21+ event

Soda Bar

The Criticals, Veers

San Diego

Bombino, Imaad Wasif

Omara “Bombino” Moctar, whose given name is Goumour Almoctar, was born on January 1, 1980, in Tidene, Niger, an encampment of nomadic Tuaregs located about 80 kilometers to the northeast of Agadez. He is a member of the Ifoghas tribe, which belongs to the Kel Adagh Tuareg federation. His father is a car mechanic and his mother takes care of the home, as is the Tuareg tradition. Bombino was raised as a Muslim and taught to consider honor, dignity and generosity as principal tenets of life.

The Tuareg, known amongst themselves as the Kel Tamasheq, have long been recognized as warriors, traders and travelers of the Sahara Desert - as a people of grace and nobility as well as fighters of fierce reputation. They are a nomadic people descended from the Berbers of North Africa and for centuries have fought against colonialism and the imposition of strict Islamic rule.

Bombino spent his early childhood between the encampment and the town of Agadez, the largest city in northern Niger (population about 90,000) and long a key part of the ancient Sahara trade routes connecting North Africa and the Mediterranean with West Africa. One of seventeen brothers and sisters (including half brothers and half sisters from both his mother and father), Bombino was enrolled in school in Agadez, but he demonstrated his rebellious spirit early on and refused to go. Bombino’s grandmother took him in to keep his father from forcing him to go to school, and, like most Tuareg children, he grew up living with his grandmother.

Eventually, Bombino gave in and began attending a French-Arabic school that taught both French and classic Arabic. After three years, he left the school and at the age of nine he returned to his grandmother to live the life of an independent Tuareg child. The Tuareg culture is matriarchic, and the elder women are considered the chiefs of the community, the wise sages that represent the power of life, generosity and knowledge. Bombino’s grandmother instilled in him the Tuareg moral code in order for him to grow up as a respected member of society. Young Tuareg boys are called “arawan n tchimgharen,” or “grandmother’s children,” a term that is considered a badge of honor.Born in 1980 in the nomadic Tuareg encampment Tidene, just outside Agadez, Niger, Bombino (born Goumour Almoctar, also known as Oumara Moctar) came of age during much political upheaval, fleeing with his family to Algeria by 1990, teaching himself guitar by watching videos of his heroes Jimi Hendrix, Dire Straits, Ali Farka Toure and Tinariwen, and returning to northern Niger's largest city, Agadez, seven years later, when he took on music professionally. After years of honing his skills back home and spending time as a shepherd in Libya, he first left Africa and traveled to California in 2006 as lead soloist on tour with Tidawt. There he recorded a desert blues take on the Rolling Stones classic "Hey Negrita'' alongside Keith Richards and Charlie Watts. The following year, filmmaker Hisham Mayet captured Bombino and his electric band for the recording Music from Niger: Guitars from Agadez, Vol. 2, released in 2009 on Sublime Frequencies, Bombino's first official album release.

As the political landscape heated up in Niger again in 2007 and two of his friends and bandmates were accused of being 'Tuareg rebels' and presumed killed by the government, Bombino fled to Burkina Faso, where in 2009 he was tracked down by another filmmaker, Ron Wyman. Ron wanted to help the artist make a proper record. Released in 2011, that record, Agadez, showcased Bombino's captivating vocals, his hypnotic, awe-inspiring guitar playing and evocative rhythms, cited as one of NPR's best discoveries of the year. For his second album, 2013's Nomad, Bombino travelled to Nashville to record with the Black Keys’s Dan Auerbach. The result was a marvelous set, full of grit and funky elegance that firmly established Bombino as a star on the world stage and one of the world's best guitarists. Bombino went to upstate New York to record his third album, Azel, with his band and producer David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors. It was on Azel that Bombino introduced a new genre he dubs 'Tuareggae' - a blend of Tuareg guitar with reggae rhythm - to the world.

His next studio album, Deran, was recorded in Casablanca, Morocco in fall 2017 with just his band and his long-time manager, Eric Herman (who produced the album). The album received rave reviews from across the globe including a full page feature in the New York Times which dubbed Bombino 'The Sultan of Shred'. On December 7, 2018, Deran was nominated for a Grammy award (Best World Music Album), the first-ever Grammy nomination for an artist from Niger. Thousands of proud Nigeriens attended a parade to welcome Bombino home from the Grammy Awards upon his return to Niamey.

His latest album, 'Live In Amsterdam' was recorded at a performance in November 2019 and released in November 2020 (Partisan Records). Bombino dedicated the album to his dear friend and bandmate Illias Mohamed who tragically passed away just a few weeks before the release of the album. The concert in Amsterdam from which the album was made was one of Illias' final performances. Regardless of the challenges life throws at him, Bombino marches ever forward on his mission to use music to spread love, understanding, and the beauty of Tuareg culture throughout the world.

This is an 21+ event

Bombino, Imaad Wasif

Elemental

Bombino

Imaad Wasif

The Criticals are a Nashville based rock band formed by Parker Forbes and Cole Shugart. Parker and Cole played music in other bands around the Nashville scene in their teens before becoming The Criticals together. They set their sights on creating a band built on youth, energy, and lust for life.


Veers’ explosive new single “Don’t Let It Be Me” is out now on Merrill Artists (ECR Music Group). The first track to be released from the band’s forthcoming debut album The Universe Reversal (September 16, 2022), “Don’t Let It Be Me” follows on a wave of buzz-worthy attention for the band in the Los Angeles rock and roll scene––buzz which has landed Veers their first record deal.


This is a 21+ event.

Gold Diggers

The Criticals & VEERS

The Criticals

VEERS

Gold-Diggers

Pretty But Wicked Presents...
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS,
GRAVE FLOWERS BONGO BAND, 
LAENA
July 14th at Permanent Records Roadhouse
$18/$20
8pm, 21+


This is a 21+ event

Death Valley Girls +Grave Flowers Bongo Band+LAENA

The Universe

Death Valley Girls

Grave Flowers Bongo Band

LAENA

Permanent Records Roadhouse

7pm Doors / 8pm Show

This is an all ages event. 18+ with valid photo ID. Under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The Guild Theatre 

Alex Siegel

Menlo Park

The Guild Theatre

Sid The Cat Presents
Glitter Wizard
w/ Juvenile Wrecks
7/15/2022 at The Sardine
21+

Glitter Wizard plays a unique brand of freak rock that Julian Cope once described as “unashamedly glamorous hard rock” and he’s not wrong. These San Francisco longhairs from another dimension were raised on punk and mix screaming riffs with a high octane stage show full of sequins, headbanging and a sonic attack that’ll leave you dazed and ready for the next hit. Imagine The Stooges stole the outifts from the Spiders from Mars, Dik Mik from Hawkwind and hit the stage on a speed bender.   

They have assembled a legion of glitterati touring the US and Europe, playing club shows and festivals like Roadburn, Muskelrock, Duna Jam, Desert Fest, Burger Boogaloo, SXSW, Desert Daze, Psycho de Mayo and Heavy Days in Doomtown along the way.Their music has been featured in film, podcasts, the X Games, and even a low budget porno. Glitter Wizard has released 4 full-length albums, 3 EPs and are constantly working to keep the real spirit of rock n’ roll undead and feasting on the brains of young and old alike. 

This is a 21+ event.

SID THE CAT

Glitter Wizard

Race with the Devil

San Pedro

The Sardine

Glitter Wizard plays a unique brand of freak rock and roll that Julian Cope once described as “unashamedly glamorous hard rock”and he’s not wrong. For the past decade ,these San Francisco heshers have been wowing rock fans with heavy riffs and a high octane stage show that combines psych,metal,punk,glam,and prog into a sound that is both hard to pin down and easily recognizable as their own  

This is a 21+ event

Jonah Deocampo, better known by his stage name Bambu, is a Filipino-American community activist and rapper from Los Angeles, California. He hits The Paramount stage while on a mini West Coast tour.
**DJ Phatrick** will throwing it down on the 1s & 2s.

**Special Guests:**
Faith Santilla
Rocky G
Marco Kane

This is an 18+ event.

BAMBU

Bambu - Guerra (with Quetzal)

DJ Phatrick

Faith Santilla

Marco Kane

Rocky G

The Paramount

Kamasi Washington

Freeze Tag (feat. Phoelix)

Kamasi Washington - Change of the Guard

An Evening with Mapache

Roscoe is a road dog. The 14-year-old Boston Terrier has been there for the whole ride of Mapache, Clay Finch and Sam Blasucci’s band, which has grown from being the casual project of two longtime buds to one of the most formidable cosmic-folk acts around. “Roscoe’s been through a lot of shit,” says Blasucci, the dog’s formal owner. “He’s been all around the country, come on tour a little bit.” With some bemused pride, Finch points out that, for a few years, he and Blasucci bunked together in a room in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles that was just big enough to fit two twin beds. “It was the two of us and the dog,” he laughs.

Naturally, Roscoe has found himself the subject of a good handful of Mapache songs in the past—and on Roscoe’s Dream, the band’s third LP of originals, he takes center stage. (That’s him in quilt form on the album cover.) “I Love My Dog” opens up the album with a blissed-out stack of acoustic guitars and a lyrical explanation of one of Roscoe’s many talents: “I love my dog / Keepin’ the policeman out.”

Just as much an easygoing trip with Gram Parsons into the desert as a mad dash with the Grateful Dead away from the law, Roscoe’s Dream is the purest distillation yet of the distinct Mapache sound, which has been brewing for many years now. Finch and Blasucci first met as students at La Cañada High School, just north of Los Angeles: “There wasn’t much supervision or anything,” remembers Blasucci. “It was really nice. And we got to just play guitars together.”

The two stayed friends through their college years—Finch went to Chico State and Blasucci spent two years as a missionary in Mexico—and eventually they ended up back in L.A., spending their days playing guitar together once again, just like old times. Working with producer/engineer Dan Horne (Cass McCombs, Allah-Lahs), they recorded two albums of originals (2017’s Mapache and 2020’s From Liberty Street) as well an album of covers, 2021’s 3. Often trading solos, and occasionally switching from English to Spanish, Finch and Blasucci are now a well-oiled machine.

So when it came time to record Roscoe’s Dream, they didn’t mess with the formula. The band booked some time at Horne’s Lone Palm Studio and called in a handful of friends to play additional parts, including Farmer Dave Scher of Beachwood Sparks on melodica and lap steel on a couple tracks. The family affair has always been how the band likes to work, but this time they approached it on a grander scale than before, recording live as a full group in some cases, as opposed to working over Finch and Blasucci’s initial guitar/vocal parts. “It was a bit more of a band experience,” explains Finch.

The finished product is an ode to the past as well as a bridge forward. Covers of songs like Bo Diddley’s “Diana” and Gabby Pahinui’s “Kaua‘i Beauty” act as nods to heroes of theirs while originals like “Man and Woman” and “Pearl to the Swine” take the template of golden-age rock and lovingly deconstruct it in a modernist lens. “(They Don’t Know) At the Beach” was inspired by the idea of what trailblazing oldies DJ Art Laboe might like—but the gentle ripper of a song would fit right in at a backyard party in 2022.

Hard to imagine after years of being roommates, Finch and Blasucci are also bridging forward in new ways themselves. After the album was in the can, Finch decided to get a little closer to the water by moving to Malibu, and Blasucci moved about an hour north to Ojai with his girlfriend (and Roscoe, of course). But they’re not worried about the new distance slowing them down: “I think if anything it will be bringing more things to the table,” Blasucci considers. “We’re just expanding out in different directions.”

This is an 21+ event

An Evening with Mapache

Mapache

Sid The Cat Presents
Man Man
with Adam Halferty
8/4/2022 at Pappy & Harriet's

For Sid The Cat shows, we will require that attendees be fully vaccinated for Covid-19, final dose being at least 2 weeks prior to date of show. In addition, masks will be required indoors unless actively eating or drinking. These are the guidelines we must follow to ensure that we do our part in keeping our community safe.
Upon arrival and prior to entering the building, all guests will be required to show one of the following proof of vaccination and a government issued ID:

• Your vaccine card
• A clear and legible photocopy of your vaccine card
• Photo of your vaccine card on your phone
• A digital vaccine passport or record (find your digital record here: https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov)

We will continue to monitor per local guidelines and statistics in an effort to keep our guests, the artists and our staff safe.
We’ve always considered concerts as sacred places where people come together to celebrate music and culture. We couldn’t imagine the current situation so thank you for understanding and for your patience. Stay safe, vaxx up and long live live music!

This is an All Ages event.

Man Man

Adam Halferty

Pioneertown

Pappy and Harriet's

OSEES profits will go to Elizabeth House & East LA Women's Center. 

This is an All Ages event.

1720

OSEES

Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster

Thee Oh Sees - Carrion Crawler

Killer Of Killers

Gregg Turkington - Don't Worry

Gregg Turkington

Osees

Zig Zags

Total Heat, Michelle Coltrane, Patrick Nolan + Banny Grove (DJ)

Total Heat is a chameleon music project led and bred by Ross Wallace Chait in Los Angeles. Taking leads from the musical legacy of Laurel Canyon, where he was raised, he’s always admired the traditional songwriting craft despite an insatiable tendency toward experimental music and improvisation. Love of music guided him through a slew of bands in the late aughts LA public high school scene, deep experience playing jazz as a pre-teen to the present, countless noise cassette releases, international tours playing drums with Girlpool among others, and, most significantly, a truly unique stylistic sensibility. Total Heat is a testament to how music can capture the life experience of an individual not only by what it says, but by how it sounds.

On this debut album, Totally Real, Chait sets out to loudly and proudly state that a life lived for music is the strangest and most beautiful life there is. Recorded (mostly) at home with a characteristic “mid-fi,” jazzy, noisy mood, this record comes from the mindset that humor and honesty, references and exploration, form and formlessness can all coexist in an album or even a song if the attitude’s right.

This is an 21+ event

Total Heat Record Release + Michelle Coltrane, Patrick Nolan, Banny Grove DJ

Total Heat

Upcoming events