When the Lights Go Down In The City
Watch for "KCRW.com presents" banners at Hotel Utah's Thursday night show with Son, Ambulance and Gram Rabbit and Tuesday's show with Blonde Redhead and The Helio Sequence at Bimbo's. Well, at least they have good taste. If we already had that sponsor banner we're saving up for, we'd take it to Hotel Utah on Friday night to support local band The Herms and Endochine from Austin, Texas. Until then, we'll see what we can whip up with posterboard, masking tape and magic markers.
We're launching a pre-emptive strike to stay out of Vice Magazine's vicious DON'Ts section. Go see the Vice Recordings show on Saturday night at The Independent featuring Vietnam, Death From Above 1979, and Panthers. There, that should keep us safe for the next 10 days or so. If you're more of a lover than a hater, take your positive vibes and hand drums down to the Henry J Kaiser Center in Oakland for the We The Planet Festival presented by Circle of Life. The "consciousness and activism extravaganza" features organic food, free workshops, and appearances by Woody Harrelson, Julia Butterfly Hill, Flea, Third Eye Blind, The Roots, Michelle Shocked, Mickey Hart, Joan Baez and The Coup featuring one of SFist's favorite DJs, Pam the Funkstress. This is a zero-waste show, so bring your own cups and hemp napkins.
Nellie McKay has gotten a lot of heat from the press about possibly lying about her age. Journalists want to know the truth: is she a mere 19 years old like she claims, or is she actually 22? SFist knows the answer, lean close and we'll tell you...SUCKERS! Didn't you learn anything from the White Stripes? Take your fake ID down to The Independent on Monday night and give Nellie a high five for tricking the press into writing about her.
Tuesday's the night for hype investigation. We keep hearing about West Indian Girl, with fans and writers throwing around phrases like "blissful melodies" and "early U2". See if they can deliver the goods at their Hotel Utah show. The hype-heavy Dresden Dolls have quite a compelling video for their clever song "Coin-Operated Boy," although it's hard not to be compelling when you have tattoos for eyebrows. Check them out at their free Amoeba in-store performance at 6 p.m., or later that night at Great American. We mean the band, not just the eyebrows.
SFist Krissy, contributing.