LA Area Shows to Catch Week of December 15th - 21st

in

Hopefully your shopping is about done and you can begin to kick back and relax with your feet perched on the old Yulelog. This is a good week to do it, culminating in what is the longest night of the year.

December 21st is the Winter Solstice, so enjoy all that extra time of darkness out on the town beneath the lights. The 21st is also my birthday so if you see me out and about -- buy me a drink. Or three.

December 15th

Dizzy Wright and Rittz co-headline The Winner's Circle tour with special guests EKOH and Whitney Peyton. Tickets for this show at the 1720 are $20.95. Check out this video and review of EKOH we did here at LA on Lock back in 2017.

The Forum in LA hosts The Jonas Brothers along with Bebe Rexha and Jordan McGraw. Tickets start at $42.

December 16th

Sneak off to Santa Monica to hear Inbar Starr play at the Hotel Casa del Mar. Tickets appear to be free for the show but check out the review I did for Inbar’s single “Used To Know You Better” before you go.

The UK’s Lee Brown will be at The Peppermint Club in West Hollywood. Tickets start at $15 with various table service packages also available.  

December 17th

Check out Maria Escoda at the Songwriter Happy Hour at Harvelle’s Santa Monica. Free show running from 5:30 to 7:30 with a two drink minimum.

Waterparks will headline with De’Wayne Jackson, and Kitten as the opening acts at the House of Blues in Anaheim. Tickets start at $25.

December 18th

I have been waiting a while to catch Rainne’s live set, so this show at Limerick’s Tavern in DTLA along with Justin Klunk is one to see.

LA’s Shrine Expo Hall will play host to DaBaby and Stunna 4 Vegas with tickets ranging from $39.50 to $49.50.


December 19th

Hit The Cinema Bar in Culver City to catch Down The Hatch and The Nukeproofs rocking out with no cover charge.

Shoreline Mafia with OHGEE$y and Fenix Flexin at The Globe Theatre with tickets running from $20 to $25.


December 20th

Catch Portland rapper, Young Lit Hippy at Ashley’s on Fourth in Long Beach. I was unable to find information on ticket prices so check with the venue.


If you are skipping the holidays altogether and have money to burn, you can splurge on tickets to see My Chemical Romance at the Shrine Expo in LA. Good luck finding a ticket for this show for less than a grand. Yes, that is $1,000. Actually a little more as the cheapest ticket I found was $1,031 via Vivid Seats.

December 21st

Hey, hey it’s my Birthday and I could ring it in down at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach with some old fashioned rock and roll as laid down by The Blasters and Rockabilly Queen, Rosie Flores. Tickets for that show would set me back $18, but I’d spend at least double on that drinking Sailor Jerry and Coke unless a bunch of y’all show up to take care of me.


Or I can help take care of others by attending the show at The Observatory in Santa Ana where 100% of all proceeds will be donated to The Last Prisoner Project, a nonprofit granting clemency, expungement and reentry to nonviolent cannabis prisoners. Eric Rachmany headlines with The John Dank Show, and Ted Bowne also performing. Tickets range from $29 to $98.

Get out and enjoy yourself with some live music and if you have shows you’d like to recommend (or a birthday present) hit me on twitter @traviserwin and I will check them out.

LA Area Shows to Catch Week of December 8th -14th

in

Jingle Bells and shopping mall hells.

It’s that time of year, but don’t let the Holiday rat race grind you down. Get out and enjoy some music.

Once again, here is my weekly list of recommended shows for the LA area. As usual, I offer both big and small so as not to blow that Christmas budget.

December 8th

Back in October we reviewed Trinity’ Rose’s single “Coughing Up Flowers,” and now you can catch her perform it as part of her show at The Hotel café in Hollywood that also includes Kayla Rae from The Voice, Ada Pasternak, and Raspberry Blonde. Tickets start at $12.50 for advance purchase.

The Honda Center in Anaheim hosts KROQ’s Absolut Almost Acoustic Christmas show featuring a powerful lineup of Mumford & Sons, Twenty One Pilots, The 1975, The Raconteurs, Of Monsters and Men, The Interrupters, lovelytheband, Matt Maeson, and DJ Jeremiah and the Afrobeat. Tickets start at $150.

December 9th

Catch courtship. , Palm Springsteen, and Lean at The Echoplex for an All ages show. Tickets will be $13-$15. We recently reviewed the courtship. single, “Number 1.”

Brooklyn rapper Casanova headlines a show at The Roxy which also features Ambajaay & Kalan. Ticket prices range from $18-$20.

December 10th

Ohio Hip-Hop star, Stalley will be at The Resident DTLA and a promised special guest so get in early for this $18 show.

South Korean Rock band Say Sue Me will headline a show at The Echo with The Pantones opening up. Tickets range from $15-$17.

December 11th

Sultry Pop sensation, Mothica promises to deliver her alluring brand of vocals at The Hi Hat along with Cannons, Hux, and Velvet Starlings. Tickets are free via Eventbrite.  

Conan Gray brings his The Comfort Crowd Tour to the Fonda Theatre for the first of a three night stand. Benee is also on the bill and tickets starts at $29.50 for these shows.

Check out our review of Conan Gray’s single, “Checkmate,” before you go!

December 12th

Jared Gottberg headlines a show at The Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa, but the list of performers also includes Elodie Rêverie. Tickets for this show are $7.

Compton rapper AD will be in Santa Ana at The Constellation Room. Check with venue for ticket prices.

December 13th

Catch Chazzy L at The Hotel Café for a mere $10.

Or you can claw and scratch for a ticket help Harry Styles celebrate the release of his new album at the LA Forum. But it will cost you to attend the sold out show, because $160 was the cheapest ticket I could find at the time of writing this after checking a variety of resellers.

December 14th

Andre Cymon spent time in the late great Prince’s touring band and that sound is one he still cultivates. Catch him at The Mint with Kellindo Parker, and Stefany Bryan. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 day of show.

The first of the two day Rolling Loud Los Angeles festival  at Banc of California Stadium with Saturday headliners, Chance The Rapper, Lil Uzi Vert, JUICE WRLD, Young Thug, and Lil Baby topping a stacked bill. Tickets start at $249.  

Get out and enjoy yourself with some live music and if you have shows you’d like to recommend going forward, hit me on twitter @traviserwin and I will check them out to see if they fit on a future list.

Breaking Down LA on Lock Reviews (AKA ... Where are the 1 Star Reviews)

Post written by LA on Lock Blogger Travis Erwin

Over on the Official LA on Lock Facebook page, a reader recently dropped this comment in response to one of our posted reviews …

“Which albums have a 1 out of 5 rating?”

That comment made us collectively smile, but it left me thinking about the perception of what we do, and how we do it. There are three of us that review songs and each of our tastes are a little bit different, as are our individual process, but good music is good music and our mission is to help artists find more listeners for their deserving work.

So speaking only for myself in this piece, I am going to break down my review process.

I give virtually every submission at least 90 seconds to grab me before I issue a mental rating (I only give actual scores for those that will be featured on the blog) of the song on a scale of 1 to 5. The exception to that 90 second rule would be when there is a glaring issue with the production, or something painful.

Yes, I said painful which brings us to our lowest possible score.

1.0 AKA … Somebody PLEASE HELP!

Thank the Lord, I don’t see a lot of tracks that fall here, but the ones that do are complete misses. The production quality sounds like it was recorded on a vintage Boombox in the bathroom of a Super 8 Motel, the vocals are pitchy, flat, or monotone, and the lyrics a jumbled set of MadLibs gone bad.

For my (private commentary) I would suggest they find a professional to help them with production and work on writing songs that mean something to them so they can impart more into the delivery.

boombox.jpeg

1.5 AKA … Two out of Three is still pretty bad.

Maybe the track does have a quality sound to it, but the vocal, musical, or songwriting talent is still not there. Maybe they have talent, but bad writing and production. You get the idea.

(Still privately) I would praise that area of strength and then pick one or two areas that did not work for me. Maybe ask for more emotion or cite the place lyrically where it fell apart for me.

2.0 AKA … Something is still glaringly wrong.

cassette.jpeg

Art is objective, but you can still not like something and yet understand it has merit for others. However this rating means we still are not there. Above here, subjectivity comes into play but sometimes I hear tracks that have talent, great writing, and still sound like they were recorded in that Super 8. Or I hear the voice of an angel, finely recorded, and singing what amounts to the Barney theme song.

As a novelists, and fiction writer, I’ve had those sobering critiques and rejections where an editor points out a glaring misstep for me. These are the reviews that make you grow and I’m proud to say I don’t get them now that I have gained experience enough to look out for such pitfalls. I hope to do the same for the artists I review and when most of it is good, but there is one bad egg in the bunch I try to put it fairly bluntly (still privately) while still citing the things I did appreciate.

2.5 AKA … Maybe it’s just me, but probably not.

We’ve hit the halfway mark in the LA on Lock grading system and honestly the majority of things I hear falls in this category or the next. These are the songs that show promise and talent, but don’t quite reach their potential. For the ones that land here it is probably a bit more than personal taste, but that is certainly a factor.

My still private commentary would mention that they are close, but there was still that last little bit of something lacking for me. A spark, a resonance, a few missed notes or a jarring line in the lyrics that shook me out of my attachment.

3.0 AKA … There are plenty of fish in the sea.

fish.jpeg

This is my cutoff. Everything above this mark earns a feature on the blog so these are still viable songs, but not necessarily my songs.

I often remark that if this track came on while I was listening to a playlist I would not skip it, but neither would I add it to my own list. The very best songs break through personal preference, pet peeves, and temperamental moods, but these are the near misses that can’t quite overcome such things for me.

3.5 AKA … It’s complicated.

Pinpointing why a track lands here is tough because the reasons ares varied, but converting our 5 point scale to a traditional grading system and this category earns a 70% which means there is definitely more good than bad and that is why every song from this point forward makes it to the blog.

Probably, I loved one single element and was okay with the rest of things. That said, bad production never works for me. I’ve heard flat vocals that the lyrics and melody carried. Or a beat and rhythm that cannot be denied even though the song said very little and virtually every other combination of that factor. This is often the score I give such tracks.

I scale back my criticism just a bit because for the first time the comments will be seen publicly and I feel it is our job to cite the best elements in a track to help artists find their audience rather than to dissuade a would-be listener by my judgment. These are good songs, worth a listen and while I might have longed for a bit more in one element, the next listener might find beauty in that flaw. Like that cute little freckle on your girlfriend’s earlobe.   

freckle.jpeg

4.0 AKA … Everything but the chips.

I’ve never liked the saying … She’s all that and a bag of chips, because frankly chips are salty and not good for your health. Wait a minute, that also describes a few of my exes. Finally I get it. But I digress.

These tracks are rock solid. Nice production, talented vocals, no glaringly bad lyrics. They have it all except that extra little finisher. That is not to say everyone will love these songs because art is still subjective and things hit different for every set of ears, but no matter how you stack your chips these tracks have value, and for some these tracks may have the personal resonance to lift it into the next category.

Again my public commentary will be positive with no mention of any shortcomings. I try to give the listener a sense of what to except regarding genre and style with a taste of the song’s intent.

chips.jpeg

4.5 AKA … Lay it on me.

Sticking with the chip theme, I can’t stop at one … listen that is.

These songs are not only quality, but have that bit extra resonance for not only myself, but a larger slice of society. Songs that truly say something, and do so beautifully. The emotion is tangible and real.

My commentary here is glowing and appreciative. These tracks venture from the predictable and make me think or explore ideas and emotions and I try to touch on that in the reviews if I can do so without tipping off the hook or emotional payoff. In those cases I try to get out of the way and let the listener discover for themselves. 

magic music.jpeg

5.0 AKA … Straight outta Hogwarts.

Don’t tell me magic isn’t real, because the right piece of music has the ability to take you back in time … make you feel that heart racing taste of first love … conjure smells of grandma’s kitchen.

The right piece of music speaks to your heart, soul, and brain all at once. The right piece of music is pure magic.

I rarely use this score and truth be told when I do it is because a track that might otherwise be a 4.5 has a strong personal reference for me. Or because it shocks me with its beauty in songwriting and in performance. In other words, I feel every word.

When I write this review there will be no doubt that I have stars in my eyes and a flutter in my heart.

Can't Miss Live Shows for LA December 1st - 7th

in

There is no music quite like live music. I especially love small venue music where you can make eye contact with the performer and truly feel the passion being laid down. That said there is something to be said for the energy of a big crowd singing along to their favorites.

Hello, my name is Travis Erwin and I am but one of the bloggers here at LA on Lock. Collectively, we search for good music to share with you and as we grow and expand we hope to bring you even more great music, as well as events and information related to the music we all love.

Along with the reviews I routinely write and other articles, I plan to scour the LA area for shows and events that I feel are worthy of your time and dollars. I’ll make at least two recommendations for every single day of the week.

This will include at least one show that won’t blow the budget, so don’t worry if you do not already know every name on this list. The discovery of a new voice is every bit as fun as singing to your favorite hits from well established artists, so get out, have some fun with friends or the one that you love, and support live music.  

December 1st

The Love Song Bar is a tiny little place tucked in DTLA. Next door is a pizza joint, so given that Izaak Opatz is playing this show for free you can make a night of it without digging deep. Izaak’s sound can best be described as introspective folk.

The Motown sound is unparalleled in influencing modern music and over at the Microsoft Theatre you can catch Jeffrey Osborne, The O’Jays, and The Four Tops together. Tickets for this classic show start at $59.

December 2nd

Part of the new wave of Paris producers, Zimmer writes dreamy, modern and colorful electronic music. A $15 ticket will get you in to see this show at The Echo. or if you want to splurge a bit go catch The Pixies with guest, Kristen Hearth when they rock The Troubadour that night. Tickets for that show are priced at $60.

December 3rd

Catch pop vocalist, Deb Never at The Moroccan for $10 advance /$12 at the door, or spend a little more and take in R&B hit-maker, K Michelle for $40 at The Mayan. K Michelle is of course an icon, but both artists have perfect voices for their style and either show is worth your cash.

December 4th

Mr Carmack will spin it up the electronic sounds at The El Rey Theatre where tickets start at $19, or you can go old school West Coast at The Observatory in Santa Ana. Snoop Dogg headlines with Warren G and RJMrLA also on the bill. Tickets start at $98.50.

December 5th

A mere $5 will get you in to The Wayfarer in Costa Mesa to see family act, Weapons Of Mass Creation, who are described by fans as a mix of The Roots and Ozomatli. Made By Crooks, and Memory Den are on the same bill.

Another great show that night will be SAINt JHN with Kodie Shane over at Echoplex. Tickets for that even range from $23 - $89.

December 6th

iHeart Radio is hosting their big Pop Christmas Palooza this day, but I vote you skip that expensive affair and enjoy either of these two excellent shows for a fraction of the cost.

We recently featured a track from Ryan Caraveo who will be with Khary at The Roxy. Tickets start at $15.

Or you can catch pop vocalist, Billie Bodega at Madam Siam for $15 advance or $20 at the door.

December 7th

The Mike Krol Holiday Show at The Bootleg Theatre will feature Night Shop and Jess Cornelius and will be hosted by Nate Fernald. $12 adv / $14 day of show.

The Long Beach convention Center will host the #TBTOUR, featuring Immature, Ray J, J Holiday, B5, and Day 26. Tickets start at $75.

Get out and enjoy yourself with some live music and if you have shows you’d like to recommend going forward, hit me on twitter @traviserwin and I will check them out to see if they belong on a future list.

PUMPA Show Us The Path To Happiness On ‘The River’

pumpa.PNG

Audiences have been anticipating PUMPA’s next move. The Australia based band just released their latest project entitled The River, a beautiful song paired with fun visuals, the perfect combination for a resounding success. The song is the result of a unique feeling of bliss, sonically blending modern soundscapes with authentic rock.

PUMPA juggle effortlessly between pop and rock to present a music video filled with everything we love about music. They succeed at translating almost every emotions into sound, and listeners will hear them sing lyrics we can all relate to. The addictive melodies, vocals, and relaxing rhythms make the perfect recipe for a potential hit track.

PUMPA have always been extremely popular among audiences, receiving mass traction and plays every time they released a single or an album, and they continue their successful musical journey today with The River, getting ready once again to conquer the heart of music lovers.