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I have been out of LA for about 5 weeks now for work in a sleepy Nor Cal town. So needless to say I have been a bit out of the loop. A few things I do know: first and foremost, the new Spoon album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is pretty fuckin brilliant; I also know that Spoon played a "secret" show at Little Radio the previous night and it was quite the scene.
As I rolled back into the 323 yesterday afternoon I heard Spoon on with Indie 103.1's Jonesy and heard about another little "secret" show (LA may very well be the WORST place to have these quote/unquote secret shows) at Cinespace with the Watson twins.
The scene was, well, just that: a scene. The line for this "secret" show sprawled from the Cinespace entrance, down Hollywood and down Ivar nearly all the way back to Selma; needless to say, there were a lot of disappointed people.
The Watson Twins opened things up with their sublime, soothing brand of country/folk. The crowd was mostly apathetic to the Twins, talking and drinking while they played, which was a shame as the back room of Cinespace is quite small and it seemed at times the quiet tunes of the Twins was drowned out by the constant buzz of talking. The band was solid, however, delivering a versatile set which included a fantastic cover of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" and the poppy "Fade Out."
Lots more great Spoon and Watson Twins photos below the jump...
The room filled up just before Spoon came on and the crowd was ready. Playing a set expected heavy with tracks from their new release GaGaGaGaGa Britt Daniels and Co. proved why they are one of the strongest, yet painfully under-listened rock outfits out today. Touting a full horn section for the new tracks, "I Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" and one of the standouts "Underdog," the band was tight and completely on point throughout the 90 minute set. Daniels has amazing control of his songs and is the true energy of the band, laying down each riff and lyric with perfect technical execution.
This was my first time seeing Spoon but I was amazed at how well their noise translated in such a small venue. I can imagine it sounding even better at say the Wiltern or any of other other mid-sized venues throughout town but minus one mic glitch at the opening of the first song everything was very solid. The set flowed nicely with no really slow-ups or dull moments, Ga(to the power of five)...err something, is decidedly more poppy and produced than their previous albums and these tracks seemed to get the crowd a bit more loose and fired up.
I am curious to see them when they return to LA at the Fonda in Sept., but this was a great show by a band that knows exactly what they are doing and doing it well.
More Watson Twins photos and More Spoon Photos
