The Black Ghosts in Russia

Wednesday night 12/12 at Club Moscow, The Black Ghosts shook the room. The Black Ghosts consist of 2 members of the band Simian whose other members became Simian Mobile Disco

But first up was the indie rock band from LA, The Squares. Who I had seen previously at Moscow. I chatted with the lead singer after the show and he gave me their CD. I've been listening to it since then and I have to say, I really enjoy this band. They put on a pretty good show too.






There were lots of party girls in the crowd this night, which makes for an awesome time. This girl was especially ready to party...with the girls.

Then, it was time for the Black Ghosts to take to the DJ Booth, laid down some killer Mash Ups and Remixes, along with their signature hook "We are your friends." And it looked like everyone in the crowd was diggin it as well. 



After BG killed it, I walked back outside to the smoke infested patio (the only thing I hate about Moscow is all the smokers...but I deal). I don't recall the name of the band that was playing but they were a pretty solid indie rock outfit from LA I'm guessing.

Once again, an awesome night out at Club Moscow. 

Til next time,

Marshall aka H-Man

Things Get Randomer.

H & D HQ 8/25/07

SPOON @ Cinespace 7/17/07

Tuesday nights at Cinespace are always a crazy time. DIM MAK Records, Filter Magazine and The Cobrasnake put on one hell of a party at this place in hollywood every week. I was fortunate enough to be there this night to witness The Watson Twins, SPOON, the indie rock outfit from Austin, TX and Ed Banger Records DJ SO-ME perform a set which was attended by a near sold out crowd. Hell this night was so rockin, even Kanye West stopped by for a bit.

I got there early, 10:30, which in this town is really early. But I was thankful I did because soon more and more hipsters and LA Indie chic types wrapped around the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Cahuenga. I chatted with some guys in line and met their cute girl friends, one of which was interning at every music label in LA, literally (told me Justice is gonna be in LA in late Sept/Oct!!). So finally after about a 30 min wait in line I get to the front, the door guy recognizes me from previous nights there and the fact that I'm sporting a DIM MAK shirt, lets me in free of charge.

The Watson Twins were half way through their set when I got to the back room. I would say they play a blend of folk rock, honky tonk and blues. Both of the twins had great voices and they did this killer cover of The Cure's "Just like Heaven"




SPOON took the stage after a brief changing of the stage, and proceeded to rock the shit out of every song they played. The place was beyond packed and being that it was such an intimate atmosphere I almost felt like it was a private show. I was lucky enough to get to the front so I was able to get some great shots of the band. They introduced their awesome horn section, which included a trombone, trumpet, sax, tenor sax and a soprano sax. There was a FULL sound coming from this band! They played for a good hour and then came back for a 3 song encore.
First time seeing this band live, and I must say it was AWESOME! Lots of energy, and knowing that they normally play huge venues and festivals in front of thousands of fans and that I got to see them in a sea of maybe 200 heads was pretty sweet.











So after SPOON, I walk back into the front room, which is fucking banging! EVERYONE dancing and the beats are pumping. SO-ME is killin, Kanye West is in the house, and the room is pretty electric. I run into a friend of mine Talin, and her friend, we're all pretty trashed. We dance together a bit and the night ends with a mass of soaked and sweaty people making their way down the stairs to the street, where the sidewalk is bustling with people pimping flyers and the all too tempting bacon wrapped hot dogs.




Talin gives me a ride home and I go to bed exhausted with ears still ringing from the Cinespace Tuesday night extravaganza that I just experienced.


The Night was a success.

Teddy's 6/28/07

This is a brief rundown of my evening last night. For those of you who don't know about Teddy's, it's this super exclusive bar in the Roosevelt in the heart of Hollywood. It's celeb central. Ted Demme's widow ran it for awhile and then she got thrown out for serving underage celebs and other unspecified problems. Now it's reopened and vapid as ever...

[Ed. note- This is actually an e-mail that I sent out to all my friends this morning. It gets the gist of the night, though, and is a pretty genuine reaction. A more detailed account coming soon.]

Yeah, so last night I was lucky enough to get on the guest list at Teddy's in the Roosevelt Hotel. And it delivered on the celeb factor. MK Olsen, Leslie Mann from Knocked Up, Reggie Miller, Tommy Lee, and E from Entourage were all there. I had runs ins with three of those people.

MK OLSEN: We were dancing in front of her table. This girl I was talking to pulled out a cigarette, and I bummed one as well 'cause apparently it's totally cool to smoke inside Teddy's, which has got to be some sort of city violation and I don't know how they get away with it. Anyway, after we finished our cigs, we didn't want to be hethens and just drop them on the nice
floor. The closest ashtray was on MK's table. The girl put her cigarette out first and got a dirty look from MK and then I followed suit and put my cigarette out. As I'm doing it, MK looks directly at me and says, "Is this your table?" It was some cold shit. I was shell shocked, totally caught off guard. I said, "Sorry. Sorry." And ran away like a bitch. I know what you're thinking. I should have said something cool and been like a dick, but I was honestly taken aback by the whole thing.

LESLIE MANN (PAUL RUDD'S WIFE IN KNOCKED UP): If you've seen Knocked Up, you'll know what i'm talking about, but if you haven't, Leslie Mann's character and Katherine Heigl's character go out to a LA club. And at Teddy's, she was there solo with a female friend. It was TOTALLY LIKE THAT MOVIE!!! I had this great joke in my mind that I thought was going to be hilarious about last night being like that movie. But when I said it, she couldn't really hear me, and I think I said something like, "Yeah, it's like that movie. There's a lot of young dudes here." The point is, it went over like a LEAD BALLOON!!! I managed to recover when I said I had seen the movie twice in theaters, which is true, and I told the story about the Olsen twin yelling at me. BUT THEN, I did not segue myself out of the situation appropriately. Honestly, I didn't know where to go. I didn't see anybody from my group, and I didn't have a home base really. I wasn't like right there in their face, but I was standing next to them still. Then her friend waves goodbye to me and is pretty much like get the fuck outta here. She didn't say that, but she was like, "we're just out trying to have a good time, we're celebrating the movie..." shit like that. I was like, "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be a creep." I reiterated that I wasn't trying to be a creep like five times, I think. Therefore, in fact, probably making me a creep.

REGGIE MILLER: Not as good as the other two encounters. I went up to him and asked how the Pacers did in the draft, and he said they had no picks. I was like "Fuck neither did Cleveland, the east is fucked." He was like "yeah." I told him he has a nice "post career" going on TNT and ESPN. He thanked me. I said I was a Pistons fan. Then he turned away from me, one of his buddies said something to him, and I just ran away. I wanted to ask him about this article in GQ this month that he's quoted in, but I said fuck it.


Overall, Teddy's is pretty sweet. Everyone there is lecherous and an asshole. but that could be said of many a places. I recommend going there at least once. OH, ALSO, Tommy Lee just gets pussy. Period. I was at the bar and I told this guy we gotta learn from the master and I pointed at Tommy who was tonguing down this hot fucking blonde. It was like a movie.

The Israelites Farewell Show....for now.

Last night in Hollywood 6/19/07 at the world famous Knitting Factory in the Alterknit Lounge, which is their smaller more intimate room, The Israelites said goodbye to their fans for the time being. Those who do not follow traditional Ska and Reggae in LA may not know that The Israelites band has been around for 20 years or that they were responsible for the revival of the traditional scene over the past few years, and that this band has had more members come and go than your local brothel. But the big difference is that The Israelites are made up entirely of Christian members and their positive lyrics reflect the faith and commitment that each of these bandmates have to their religion. Be that as it may, it doesn't mean that they don't put down some heavy beats that are guarenteed to make you move your feets!
Rich Carlson, the lead guitarist and vocalist is really the only remaining "original" member of the band. This means when Rich leaves for Oregon later this year, the band will cease to exist until Rich feels it is time to pick up the axe and feed our souls once more.

The Show:
SOLD OUT! Yes, it was a packed house and not a body in the room could resist the sweet sounds of Jamaican music. That, along with $3 Red Stripe made for a great night of dancing and socializing. They played their catalogue of songs from their first EP's to the new songs. Rich made an annoucement in the middle of their set that they would be putting out a new CD in the next few months, definitely will pick up a copy of that. He also remarked at how awesome it has been to be in a such an amazing band that has lasted literally for decades. I almost thought I saw a tear in his eye. But Rich did let everyone know that he is not going to quit making music and hopes to continue to his passion for Jamaican music with possibly another group. I'm looking forward to see what happens there.





The scope of their carrer is best noted on their myspace page.
Excerpt below:
"For over a decade now "The Israelites" have established themselves mainly playing in Los Angeles and Orange County venues such as; The Whiskey, The Roxy, Show Case Theater, Hong Kong Cafe', The Knitting Factory, Chain Reaction, The El Rey, The Glasshouse, The Loft and numerous other clubs. The Israelites have toured the country playing many venues such as The Wetlands in New York. The Israelites have also been support acts for performers such as: The Skatalites, Lord Tanamo, Derrrick Morgan, Justin Hinds, Jump With Joey, Hepcat, The Toasters, and many more."

They will be missed by Ska and Reggae affectionados and Christians alike. Their positive messages and heavy traditional ska and reggae beats will forever be remembered by all LA and OC ska scenesters for years to come.






WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY H-MAN

Lianna (1983) at H&D HQ 6/14/07

Last night, I had no desire to go out. Roger Waters killed me the previous night, and anything I would have done last night would pale in comparison to Wednesday's fun. While H-man decided to hit up that dance floor at Lindy Groove, I decided to catch up on my DVR. It was in desperate need of space clearing and running around 98% full for about a week. This is partially due to our recent movie binge. The other night after Spaceland, I caught an intense scene in a bedroom between a husband and wife arguing over the fact the wife was having an affair with another woman. That's right, another WOMAN!! A quick glance at the program info clued me to the fact that this was a John Sayles flick from 1983. I guessed it was one of his first movies, and according to IMDB.com, it's his second. For those not familiar with John Sayles, dude is a badass. He won't sacrifice final cut over funding for his movies, and he uses his script doctoring money to fund his own projects. No matter what you think of his films, you have to admit he knows what he's doing with the medium.

Set in a college town in the present day early '80s, Lianna is about the wife of a film professor who discovers her homosexuality. It's slow moving, character based, and has minimal cuts. The movie opens with (our main character, obviously) Lianna (Linda Griffiths), a thirty-three year old mother of two, discussing kids, husbands, and life with friend Sandy (Jo Henderson) as their children play on the playground next to them. From there, we are introduced to Lianna's husband Dick (Jon DeVries), a film professor at the local college who is bitter about being passed over for tenure, Lianna's coming of age teen son and mother worshiping daughter, Lianna's child pysch prof turned lover Ruth (Jane Hallaren), Sandy's football coach husband, and even John Sayles turns up as lecherous fellow film prof Jerry. The major players are Lianna, Dick, and Ruth. One night after getting out of Ruth's class early, Lianna catches Dick fooling around with one of his students in a sandbox at a faculty party. She confronts him at home. There's arguing. Their son gets a late night snack and hears them. They make no resolution about their relationship as Dick has to go to Toronto for a film fest, and, apparently, this isn't the first time he's been caught. While Dick's away watching shitty movies in Canada, Lianna sets herself up for self discovery by allowing Ruth, up until this point only her mild manner teacher, to seduce her into some hot lesbo action. And by hot, I mean, artistic and mildly creepy. Lianna and Ruth share more intimate times including some erotic verbal foreplay while swimming together at the school's facilities. They want to be intimate in public, but fear the social repercussions.

Upon Dick's return, Lianna decides to tell him about her affair with Ruth. Dick gets pissed and argues in a very academic way. This is the scene I stumbled upon the other night. It's fantastic. My favorite line is said by Lianna and seems to so perfectly epitomize their marriage, "Just because you can argue better doesn't mean that you're right." Consequences are suffered from Lianna's confession as Dick kicks her ass out of the house. The rest of the movie follows Lianna's quest to figure out her place in the world. She gets an apartment by herself. "No men," the old landlady warns. Yeah, no problem. Then, her relationship with Ruth gets thrown off track with Ruth's confession of having another woman. Lianna also deals with the fallout of everyone close to her finding out her no longer dirty little secret including her kids, Sandy, and even Sayles' Jerry who pays Lianna a visit to treat her to a late night romp only to be rebuffed by Lianna's now proud gay standing. Jerry's from California, so he's cool with it. Sandy is not. A lot is made about the gay lifestyle, but not in a preachy way. Apparently, there was some trepidation of having a man direct this movie. But to Sayles' credit, the social commentary comes through the characters themselves rather than through the filmmaking. It's a pretty understated film about the broad sweeping issue of homosexuality. In fact, I wouldn't even consider it a gay movie. I mean, it is, I guess. But it's more about these characters. One of which happens to find out she's gay.

If you liked Little Children last year, you'll dig this flick. Also, I recorded this movie from Flix on my Time Warner Cable here in L.A. While I'm not an avid viewer, Flix airs some pretty killer movies. Earlier this year, I watched Short Cuts (1993), Streamers (1983), and The Player (1992) during a Robert Altman retrospective, which was SICK!

The Night by The Numbers:

Lianna Running Time: 110 mins
% of space cleared on my DVR: 15

Roger Waters at the Hollywood Bowl 6/13/07

K2-Sometimes You Gotta Earn It:

I've got a confession to make. I'm not a huge Pink Floyd fan. I know. I'm a shithead. But don't get me wrong. I think they're great and have the utmost respect for them and their place in the history of rock. But I never sat around my dorm room, shitty van, or dealer's house vegging out and got some serious Floyd on. I've heard most of their discography, but by no means am I some sort of aficionado. Don't hold it against me, okay? I'm sorry. I know the hits. I swear!

BUT you don't have to be some superfan with the Floyd triangle tattooed on your shoulder just below your long, greasy hair to know Roger Waters at the Hollywood Bowl was going to be an experience. That's why when H-man hit me up on IM last week that he had a lead on some $40 tix, I didn't hesitate to say yes to whatever it took to get our grubby little hands on them. I wanted to live the cliché, get super baked and just CHECK OUT to some FLOYD, MAN!!!! A shit ton of baby boomers, slackers, and burnouts can't be wrong.

Another confession: I've never been to the Hollywood Bowl. I know. I'm a double shithead. Especially considering it's so close to H&D HQ that we can walk there, which, it turns out, is fucking awesome. But I've lived here for only two years. ONLY two years? All right, fine. I know I should have made it out before last night. But that's life, I guess. Sue me.

The walk to the Bowl from H&D HQ is straight up hill. Up the side of a mountain actually. There was potential for a treacherous trek. And upon receiving our tickets, our destination, the section our seats were in, loomed. For fate had delivered us into section K2. That's right K fucking 2!!!!! Do you know how many people we've lost attempting to climb K2? A bunch. Preparation was required. And while we should have posted an ad for a sherpa on Craigslist, we settled for our friend Arron hitting the store for some baked good nourishment. After we ingested half of said nourishment, a debate over whether or not to bring alcohol meandered on for what seemed like forever without resolution. Finally, we decided, fuck it, we'll just get a beer or two at the Bowl. Then, we were off to see what destiny had in store for us as we climbed to the top of our own personal Himalayan peak.

The Walk There:

Relatively brisk. There was a decent crowd of people all heading toward the Bowl from Hollywood on Highland, which I'm sure is the norm. But there was a point when I realized this huge crowd around me is heading to the same place I am. That point was when I realized every one around me was dressed like they were going to a Pink Floyd concert. Concert T's, polos, Hawaiian shirts, one dude had on gray tank top, T's with dragons/wizards/etc. on them, a lot of nerdy glasses, long hair on both the young and old, bad jeans, expensive jeans, the good looking, the ugly, and a shit load of ponytails were all on display as we made our way up Highland. It was eclectic to say the least. I heard a rash of hilarious half conversations from the people around us. I fail to remember these convos. (Due to a possible side effect of our nourishment, which we finished as we entered the bowl area.)

The Bowl:



Okay, as a Hollywood Bowl virgin, I was SHOCKED at the fucking cattle call that was simply entering the concert area. There was a huge crowd entering 5-8 lanes of ticket scanners to get into the joint. I'm not even in my car, and I'm in gridlock traffic. Bullshit. It was like some end times scenario. Like people trying to make it to the safety boats to get off the sinking ship. It was awkward. Luckily, it was only a ten minute torture session and not a total buzz kill. I wasn't going to let it bring me down. And I was able to forgive the Bowl a little thanks to how helpful the ushers were. And they were all over the place. Many were older teenage kids probably working their summer job. Some were like magicians with how fast they pulled out people's seat locations. Requests were coming rapid fire. "F3!" "D2!" "K2!" the crowd yelled. "Five aisles on right, four aisles on left, ten aisles on left!" this one, on the ball usher fired back. So, ours were the seats ten aisles on the left. Rows 22 and 23. At the top of the section. Oh well. I'm not here to complain about my seats. For $40, they were perfect. I got a nice view of the show, the fog, the crowd, the screen behind the band, the pig balloon, the whole thing. Pretty much all I wanted out of the experience. If I couldn't be in front row-ish.



The Show:









**For all you Pink Floyd purists, I've already conveyed I don't know the names of every Pink Floyd song. So you're not going to get a detailed track list here.***

After finding our seats, we were confident that we had enough time to get a beer before the start of the show. Then, while we were in the rather formidable line for the Heineken booth, the crowd started cheering. We were scared. Should we go back? Is the beer worth missing part of the show? Was that a bullshit cheer for the sake of a cheer because some guitar tech came out? We bet on the guitar tech. And we were right. Shortly after we returned with our frosty refreshment, an I'm-trying-to-make-decrepit-badass Roger Waters took the stage. Then, rocked our shit. He opened the show with songs from the Wall and worked in a few solo joints as well. Everyone was stoked. The visuals on the screen behind the band were everything you would want. Space, lasers, pills, war, fire, school stuff. Seriously, they were top notch. With the music, the visuals, the baked goods, my mind was all over the place. I had succeeded. I had checked out. And then Roger Waters finished a song and said something like, "Okay, we're gonna take a fifteen minute break. A full fifteen minutes. And then we're gonna come back out and do Dark Side of the Moon."

Oh. Shit.

After the intermission, dude came out and straight up played the shit out of Dark Side. It was incredible. I know it's only Roger Waters, but his band is SICK!! It was the type of show where, suddenly, there'd be a spotlight on the guitarist and he'd rip into a kick ass guitar solo. Plus, some sweet soul sister back up singers would wail on some songs. More great visuals as well. A comic book, rainbow ribbon, astronauts, huge brain asteroids. Then, at the top of the Bowl, a giant, graffiti covered pig balloon was dropped down over everyone's heads. The camera flashes this balloon caused were insane. Even the guy with the shittiest cell phone cam who knows his pics are going to suck was snapping away. Guys were standing in the aisles with their hands up and waving like some sort of religious stooges. People were super stoked again. There was a palpable feeling of satisfaction. It was nice.

They finished Dark Side and did the whole pretending we're finished, but really prepping the show stopping encore bit and then came back out and brought down the house with "Another Brick in the Wall" and "Comfortably Numb." Visuals were great again including a slow zoom out of a creepy loner dude during "Comfortably Numb." For any casual fan, like myself, Roger Waters delivered the goods. I don't know how you could be disappointed with this show even if it's not Pink Floyd. Unless you're a total music fag.





Last Thoughts:

Leaving the Bowl was not the chore it was to get in. Except that we almost walked down the tunnel to the train and had to cut across foot traffic to step over the railing to the street. We were also reminded of how lucky we were to be able to walk when we passed all the parking lots people were trying to get out of. Some people were buried deep. They were not going to get out for hours probably. And they probably paid $20 for those spots. Lame.

And when I put my head down last night, I was glad I was no longer a Hollywood Bowl virgin. In fact, I think I actually saw my cherry pop in front of me during the show. Trippy, man.



The Night by The Numbers:

Cost of brownies: 3 @ $27.50 a piece
Cost of tix: $40
Cost of Heineken: $8.50
Number of Heinekens H-Man, our friend Arron, and I drank: 3
Rating of Hottest Girl I saw: 9
Percentage of people stoned at the show: 100