Results tagged “performance”

       

New York-based As Tall as Lions opened for Mutemath last night at Club Nokia at LA Live. After chatting with lead singer and guitarist Dan Nigro last week, it was a treat to see the band dive headlong with gusto into their 45-minute set which showcased the best of their latest full-length release, You Can't Take it With You, and one indulgence into the back catalog (the wonderfully haunting "Ghost of York" from their 2006 self-titled release).

REDCAT is bringing an ex-pat home! New Orleans-born, New York-educated and living in Brussels since 1991, Meg Stuart will be staying in LA this Wednesday through Saturday as she and acclaimed Vienna, Austria-based choreographer Philipp Gehmacher present Maybe Forever in our city's home for the new and different. In front of a large-scale visual installation by artist Janina Audick, the two dance artists are joined on stage by Belgian guitarist/composer Niko Hafkenscheid in this dramatic Los Angeles dance theater premiere.

For the third and final weekend of the 6th Annual New Original Works Festival at REDCAT, programmers have arranged for humor, incisive comment and other verbal and visual delights to share the stage.

The 6th Annual New Original Works Festival opens this week and runs for three weekends at REDCAT, the theater at the basement of Disney Hall downtown. Programming an assortment of dance, theater, and music events to share a single performance, the festival’s history has been adventurous and the LA Weekly calls it "one of the city's more eclectic and vital performance festivals." The mission of the festival isn’t to get traditional and conventional work onto the LA stage, but to offer an opportunity for local artists to experiment and take some risks, using all the finery of this state of the art facility.

On Monday, following the taping of their rousing performance on the Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, cast members from the Broadway revival of Hair stopped by Here Lounge in West Hollywood for a "Be In" aimed at promoting marriage equality.

From the minute one steps foot inside the Los Angeles State Historic Park, the site of Cirque Berzerk, no minute is left unstimulated. A small crew outfitted in pirate-like burlesque circus costumes greets entering cars. As you walk toward the entrance, distracted by the LA skyline that unfolds ahead, a burst of intense heat startles you and you instantly jump back 5-feet. It's easy to miss the enormous torch towering above; that is until it lets out this fire-breathing roar. Just when it seems like a good time to ask yourself "What the hell is going on?" a giant pale faced 'clown' on stilts drunkenly stumbles your way, looks down at you for a second and keeps going. And at intermission, the 1930's brass band, Vaud and the Villains, put on a show with so much energy, it's not only worth the price of admission, but they leave you tempted to hop on the next flight to New Orleans. One might imagine this is how David Berrent, Cirque Berzerk's executive producer and managing partner, felt when he attended the wedding of Cirque Berzerk's founder's Suzanne Bernel and Kevin Bourque prompting him to "quit his day job" as a TV-producer, and put everything into developing the current show, Beneath.

I think we all learned that the United States is a melting pot of people and cultures and that it began that way and continues in that direction, in spite of recent immigration hassles. Award winning choreographer/director Keith Glassman has taken off from that fact and created Far From Home, a multimedia, interdisciplinary evening length piece he will premiere this weekend at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica (June 26-27).

                     

Cirque Berzerk's extended run at the Big Top in the park opened last night to ooh's and ahh's from the 1,750 circus-goers in attendance.

            

Albuquerque-bred and Portland-based rockers The Shins played to an enthralled crowd Sunday night at the historic Hollywood Palladium. Although their last album is nearly two-years behind them, the boys in the band proved that they are intent on building on their quirky alternative rock legacy and moving their sound ever-forward, as the evening's nearly 2-hour set included some new songs likely to appear on a future release.

The contrasting title sounds ominous. Artist-run production company Show Box is presenting the premiere of Tender, a new dance by local choreographer Meg Wolfe in collaboration with dancer Gregory Barnett with visiting artist Karen Sherman's Demolition Boy (from Minneapolis). All this is happening at Highways Performance Space this Friday through Sunday nights.

There’s a staged reading of the new comedy High Ceilings at 8 pm tonight at The Hayworth Theatre. The play stars Wendie Malick (Just Shoot Me); Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years); Karen Black (Academy Award nominee for Five Easy Pieces) and features Lisa Arturo, Patrick Breen, Jillian Crane, Kevin Kilner, Hamish Linklater, Frank Magna and Charles Shaughnessy. On the eve of her wedding, Lily returns to her home to her childhood home and her dysfunctional family. She’s also falling for the cute wedding florist…There’s a wine and cheese reception with the cast after the show. Tickets are $15.

Next Saturday in nearby Sin City the legendary pairing of Siegfried and Roy will take to the stage in an event billed as both "a comeback and a farewell," explained LA Unleashed on Friday. The duo have not performed since Roy was mauled by one of the tigers in their show in 2003. Although there will be magic inside the Bellagio, there will be protesting outside, thanks to PETA, who have plans to "gather outside the Bellagio holding signs that read 'Retire the Tigers' and 'Make Animal Acts Disappear,'" in the hopes of urging the retirees to send their animals to a sanctuary. PETA elaborates: "Siegfried and Roy have made a fortune, and they owe it all to their exploitation of these tigers. The least that they can do is retire the animals to a sanctuary where they can live out their lives in peace and never be beaten, mistreated or caged again."

       

On Thursday night at the Henry Fonda Musicbox Theater, Animal Collective played to a sold out audience in support of their recent release, Merriweather Post Pavilion. The concert was a rescheduled performance for a previous postponed date in the month.

She hit the stage at the Grammys a couple of weeks ago 9 months pregnant, gave birth to her son with boyfriend Benjamin Bronfman a couple of days later, and now is working with organizers of Sunday's Oscars telecast to arrange how she might perform live on the awards show. The Guardian UK explains:

According to reports today the rapper is keen to fulfil her commitment to perform her Oscar-nominated song from Slumdog Millionaire, "O Saya," at the awards ceremony. She is said to be trying to find a way to overcome the physical issues of performing so soon after giving birth, including, it's alleged, an appearance by hologram or, failing that, one delivered from a bed live on stage.

How did this messy mashup happen? Who paired the Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder at tonight's Grammy Awards? We've never seen the Jonas Brothers perform before, but boy did they blow. Nevermind that one of them flubbed his line, but didn't it seem a little smug of them to yell, "C'mon, Stevie!" Like he needs any encouragement to perform? Next time, brothers, it's Mr. Wonder to you.

If it was your New Year's Resolution to see more art and do more cultural activities, then this is just good timing. January is now LA Arts Month, celebrating that--yes, yes we do have art, even sometimes internationally recognized more than it is locally.

Photo by Omar Omar via Flickr

This Sunday, October 26th, from 3:30pm until evening, the Los Angeles chapter of INCITE!, hosts SISTERFIRE LA, a Women of Color and Trans People of Color multimedia art performance showcase against violence, featuring local artists, musicians, and other creative souls.

       

The first sign should have been the earplugs being handed out at the door...

             

"The Hives have rocked stadiums of 40,000 or more! You 1200 people should present no problem...," bombastically declared Hives' frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist to the Mayan Theatre crowd last Thursday night (9/25/08).

         

Some bands are simply meant to be seen live.

        

Silver Lake's favorite son, Beck Hansen, returned to Los Angeles on Saturday night for a one night engagement at the Hollywood Bowl (9/20/08). In his largest, hometown-headlining gig, Beck took a decidedly different approach to his performance -- rather than relying on the gimmicks and theatrics of previous tours, he put the music on display.

           

The cradle of love was definitely rocking as I took a trip back to Sunset Blvd. circa 1984 in my DeLorean as Billy Idol opened the House Of Billy, the first of a three night stand at the House Of Blues Sunset. The 80's icon (now in his early 50's) came full force with the snarl and full fist pumping punk rock attitude that made him one of the most recognizable artists of the time.

         

There is so much hyperbole and exaggeration that can be attached to the live performance of Radiohead. In their 15 or so years on the music scene their rise has been one of steady incline and pure consistency. A first time attendance of a Radiohead show generally yields responses like “Worth every bit of hype” “Awe- inspiring” and “Life changing.” As a first time attendee Monday night at the Bowl, let me tell you the Radiohead live experience is most certainly worth the hype, most certainly awe inspiring and nothing short of life changing.

              

If you put together a dream lineup for a hip hop show, chances are it would look something like this year’s Rock the Bells festival. This year’s incarnation featured the reunion (finally!) of one of the most acclaimed hip hop outfits in history, A Tribe Called Quest as well as the first performance in years from California’s own Pharcyde. But was from top to bottom a who’s who of Hip Hop both past and present. (Story continued below photo gallery)

      

Since they burst on the scene a few years ago, there is one thing that has remained constant in the many live performances from UK imports Bloc Party and that is their ability to constantly deliver a stand-out performance. While their catalog consists of only two LPs and a few singles here and there, their sound still feels fresh and live their tracks are almost all crowd pleasers.

            

Cirque Berzerk, the LA-based, all-volunteer, DIY fire-dancing, contortionist, aerial daredevil, burlesque cabaret, clown troupe debuted its new show "Beneath" at Los Angeles State Historic Park last weekend.

       

Nearly 100 taiko drummers from across California congregated on the stage at the Ford Amphitheatre this weekend. LA-based Kitsune Taiko, Yukai Taiko, Isshin Taiko, and Bombu Taiko took turns performing the 4,000-year-old Buddhist drumming style and later, Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka -- credited with bringing taiko to the U.S. 40 years ago -- and San Francisco Taiko Dojo took over the night.

By Roger Park

By Roger Park