I lay down to rest but my eyes are open wide

The first show we went to for the Culture Collide Festival was the Black Lips at Echoplex. If you know me by now, you must know I'm a huge fan, longtime fan of the Black Lips. Actually, you probably don't understand how much I like them. I've endured getting kicked by crowd surfers and stage divers for them. Anyways, I was so excited to see one of my favorite bands of all time at such a small venue. Since the venue was smaller, the force of the insane crowd was totally bearable. I actually felt bad for anyone standing behind me. I danced so much that the days following this night I had an awful pain in my neck. Going home after the show, I had lost my voice. Honestly, during their set, I was able to forget everything and feel totally happy and excited hearing them play. Love their songs so much. Before them, we also checked out Kamp! and City Riots. They were both pretty good. You should check them all out. What an awesome show! Black Lips!!!

Black Lips
















Kamp!



City Riots

You gotta play cool

Filter Magazine's Culture Collide Festival! We went to the official kick-off party at the Standard in Downtown. It was supposed to be on the roof top but they changed it to the lobby since it rained a lot that day. They had free Mike's Hard Punch and lots of yummy food. Kamp!, The Witness Protection Programme, and Cole from the Black Lips all took turns at the DJ booth. A lot of excitement building for the awesome weekend full of shows to come. And awesome they were. Lots more coverage from the festival coming soon!

Notice that he is holding the "Ventures in Space" record! Cole, you totally get ten points for that. When I was a little kid, my dad would always play records on Saturday mornings, and The Ventures were definitely on heavy rotation. I really loved their sound.

Love's no longer here

Since the Hounds Below were on tour, we decided to check out their next show in Southern California. It was a Saturday night, so we drove down to San Diego to see them play at the Bar Pink. Long drives are fine as long as there is no traffic. I'm sure you all know about my motion sickness by now. It was a nice drive and I got to actually see so many stars in the sky. Few years ago, we had been to the Casbah in San Diego, and I just remember this rude bartender and hipster girls. But this time around, I was really shocked to see how friendly the people were in San Diego. So different from LA. I love nice people. The Hounds Below sounded great once again. They even did a cover of the Pixies at this show. I'm loving their sound (described as "Roy Orbison meets BRMC") and can't wait to hear more from this band. They have a few more shows this month in Canada and New York, so be sure to check them out. It was worth driving 4 hours (roundtrip). And it was the b e s t n i g h t e v e r.

Don't you break my heart

The Hounds Below played a show at the Bootleg Theater last week. I went to see my friend Eric (guitarist for the Lashes), as he was touring with them playing organ. I hadn't seen him for several years. It was great to see him. Also, I honestly really enjoyed The Hounds Below. I love their music and their stage presence. It's been a while since I've felt so excited about a band, having seen so many. You definitely need to check them out. On a side note, this day, I almost went to go see the Drums since they were playing that same night, but I chose to go see the Hounds Below, and I am so glad I did. Not to mention, earlier that day driving home from work, I saw a rainbow. Good signs. Lovely night.

Sorry the picture qualities are not that great. It was really dark, I didn't want to use flash, I don't know how to control the ISO, my camera is not fancy.