#30 Gallo's Pizza on 7-11-09

Happy Birthday to Francis Ramsden! The lad was going to Vegas anyway, so I said, "Why don't I book a show?"

Well, Gallo's Pizza does have a stage, and lights, and a sound system. But it is a pizza restaurant. 

It was uncomfortably warm, even at night, and the lift gate hydraulics on the van crapped out. Playing with us were Light The Black Skye, a mostly Latino 'screamo' band and Screamin' Steel, some older 80s metal guys who played covers of, yes, 80s metal bands. However, they didn't play the hits as much as other album tracks. Songs that made you think, "Wait, isn't that...?" They were a lot of fun though, and the screamo kids knelt down, bowing and saying "We're not worthy!"

The set was, um, not the tightest we'd ever played, and we had dragged everyone to a pizza restaurant instead of more exciting Vegas venues, so there was an air of comedy about the show. We were very well received by the owners and sound guy and welcomed back any time. And, to top it all off, they gave us pizzas to take with us.

#29 California Music Fest @ San Souci on 7-3-09

We were accepted to this festival via Sonicbids, an online submission service for bands. Here is the description for the event:

California Music Fest is the celebration of the California Culture: Music, Surf, and Art. It takes place Independence weekend in the beautiful city of Ventura, CA in conjunction with the already established and very popular Ventura Street Fair. Last years street fair featured a massive turn out of over 45,000 people. This year with the City of Ventura’s inclusion of the California Music Fest, over 150 bands will be featured as well as a surf contest and visual artists from all over the country. The city is expecting an even larger attendance for 2009.

What the event was in reality was a cramming of too many bands in too many venues with the ensuing chaos. There is an outdoor stage with 'bigger bands', but the rest of it is silly. San Souci is a tiny dive bar in Ventura, and the corner we played in restricts the view of most of the crowd from seeing anyone but the person in front, namely me. We were one of 7-9 bands (!) playing, and the set was short and sweet. We played with too many bands to recall most of the names, but one was 80lb Gorilla(?). I sold an EP to a drunk couple at the bar, who insisted paying $20 for it. I was also instructed to come to San Diego.

This is yet another SonicBids disappointment, and has assured our disinterest in continuing using it. 

#28 Silverlake Lounge on 5-12-09

The press for this show read:

"Our celebration of 'Doce de Mayo,' the lesser known May holiday which is customarily celebrated by listening to bands in bars, or groups in pubs."

(psssssst. Hey guys, anyone want to chime in on what happened at this show? I know Vulgar Latin played, as well as the Eye the Ear and the Arm and Modern Time Machines, but that's about all I can remember.)

#27 Earth Day Celebration @ Toluca Lake Farmers Market on 4-19-09

This was actually a half-band acoustic set, but since it was all Active Set songs and a Radiohead cover it still counts. Wayne was incredible, I was okay. The horse nearby seemed to like it.

#26 USC Springfest on 4-4-09

What a show! Great experience. 

This was a big 2-stage outdoor festival at USC (Francis' Alma mater), with music throughout the day. We had incredible sound and the biggest stage we've played to date. It felt good to stretch out. We even had a friend of Francis play keys on Sea Legs. We mucked around most of the day, taking advantage of the hospitality bestowed upon us, such as drinks, food and a green room. Well, it was Iglu & Hartly's green room, but we were allowed in anyway, as they remembered us from SXSW.

Sadly, we had no merchandise to sell at the row of merch tables other than the EP, so new fans were not acquired as they could have been. But we did make some good contacts with bloggers, event planners, etc. and got to watch Pinback and Brand New, as well as shoot some footage for an upcoming self-produced documentary. Or not.

#25 Pehrspace on 4-3-09

photo by Ethan Saks

This was the EP-release show for The Hard To Get. We were happy to be invited, and Pehrspace is a small artspace (room) which is very close to other Silverlake venues. The parking lot was essentially an open bar and we also played with the Christopher Walk-ins and the Breakups. It was a nice relaxed unpretentious group of bands, and a fun evening. Our new friend Ethan Saks took some great live-action pics as well.

New Video: Let The Games Begin

This is our first official music video, directed by Israeli director Lior Molcho. He has long been a fan of Los Angeles, and is pleased to be directed his first American video with us, having directed over 200 videos in Israel.

It is fitting that so much of downtown Los Angeles is featured here, as we have enjoyed having Downtown Rehearsals as our practice space. Welcome home.