Wolf Alice officially arrives with debut full-length 'My Love is Cool'
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 22, 2015
London rockers Wolf Alice have been on our radar since making their L.A. debut at Bardot in January, and excitement for their debut album My Love is Cool has been buoyed by subsequent standout performances. The album dropped June 23 off Dirty Hit/RCA Records and it was well worth the wait.
With a sound often times reminiscent of the best of the ’90s alt-grunge movement, Wolf Alice takes things a step further on their debut full-length.
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Monday, June 22, 2015
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Watch Ryn Weaver's new video for 'Traveling Song' (will probably make you cry)
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 18, 2015
The new music video from Ryn Weaver for her song “Traveling Song” should come with a NSFW disclaimer — because nobody wants to cry when sitting at their desk at work.
Having seen Weaver perform live a number of times (from SXSW to Coachella to Bonnaroo), an emotional moment always comes in the form of her performing “Traveling Song.” Weaver details the loss of her grandfather Max, who died on Jan. 1 this year. Weaver nearly breaks down in tears every time I’ve seen her perform it, and when looking around at the crowd, almost everyone’s eyes are welled up.
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Billy Joel caps Bonnaroo with throwback Sunday set; Florence + The Machine wins fans over
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 18, 2015
To be honest, Billy Joel was one of the main drawing points to attending my first ever Bonnaroo. In a time where there are seemingly endless music festivals, it gets harder and harder to land a legitimate festival headliner. Billy Joel fit the mold quite well, a legacy act and Rock n Roll Hall of Famer with a ridiculously deep catalog of tunes that appeal to all demographics.
With pretty much the entire 80,000 Bonnaroovians taking in his set as there was nothing going against it, Billy Joel ripped through a memorable set that put the energy back in people who had spent the previous four days in the humidity with precious few showers.
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Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Mumford & Sons' Bonnaroo redemption highlights Saturday
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 16, 2015
Two years ago, Mumford & Sons were set to headline Bonnaroo at the peak of their success. When bassist Ted Dwane had to undergo emergency brain surgery, the band had to cancel their appearance just two days before the festival.
If redemption was what the London-based folk rockers were after, they got that in spades after a lengthy main stage performance to one of the biggest crowds of the weekend.
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Monday, June 15, 2015
Kendrick Lamar tops Bonnaroo highlights, freestyles with Chance the Rapper during Earth, Wind & Fire
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 15, 2015
Of all the festivals I’ve traveled to the past few months, I felt least prepared for Bonnaroo. Flying in from LA I could only bring a small one-person tent and carry-on bag but I lucked into camping with people a bit more prepared.
We got into the line of cars to pull into the campgrounds at 4 am Thursday morning and didn’t park until close to 10:30 am. Despite that and no sleep, I rallied to see some awesome stuff the first night as well as a jam-packed Friday.
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Friday, June 12, 2015
Recommended: Listen to Blood Candy's debut EP 'Dead Moon'
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 12, 2015
One of our 13 L.A. Bands to Watch in 2015, shoegazers Blood Candy released their debut EP Dead Moon earlier this month — and damn, was it worth the wait. A bit of My Bloody Valentine meets the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, this four-piece has been playing shows together since March of last year. Their reverb-heavy guitars meshes perfectly with the Karen O-like vocals of lead singer Tara.
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Monday, June 8, 2015
Of Monsters and Men thrill fans at intimate iHeartRadio Theater LA performance
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 8, 2015
It’s been more than three years since Of Monsters and Men exploded on the scene behind the strength of their radio smash-hit “Little Talks.” The time has finally come for their much-desired follow-up to 2012’s My Head is an Animal, and on Friday on the Honda Stage at iHeartRadio Theater LA, the five-piece band played old favorites as well as songs from the upcoming Beneath the Skin, which is released June 9.
Having seen them at festivals (Outside Lands in 2012, Sasquatch! a few weeks ago), the intimate 500-capacity iHeartRadio Theater was a better home for the Icelandic band’s jams. Within the first few songs, they delivered “King and Lionheart” and the aforementioned “Little Talks,” two songs with immeasurable sing-along value.
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Sweetgreen makes boom at LA launch with performances by BANKS and Alvvays
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 8, 2015
Sweetgreen is a smartly sourced seasonal food chain that began in DC and now operates all along the East Coast, founded by three Georgetown University graduates. With two of those founders being LA-based, it was only a matter of time until they tried their hand on the West Coast. Though the W. 3rd St. location officially launched on May 21 (and with one coming to Santa Monica soon), a block-party style launch took place Thursday with performances from LA’s own BANKS and rising lo-fi rockers Alvvays, in partner with FADER.
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Thursday, June 4, 2015
BottleRock Napa begins with literal black eye, ends on high note
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
June 4, 2015
Of all the festivals I’ve covered in May (Shaky Knees in Atlanta, HangoutFest in Gulf Shores, Sasquatch at The Gorge), BottleRock Napa Valley’s was the one I was most intrigued to discover what the demographic would be. Napa is bougie wine country, and BottleRock was being pitched as a family festival, so I didn’t know what to expect.
It was also the least-likely place I expected to get sucker-punched in the eye, which made it all the more surprising when that happened following Cage the Elephant’s awesome performance mid-day on the main stage. But we’ll get to that in a bit.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Summer Music Guide
Mark E. Ortega
Los Angeles Times
June 2, 2015
There might not be a better city for live music in the country than Los Angeles. The City of Angels is home to some of the most renowned venues in the world. You can see a concert of any genre, of any level, on any given night.
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