The Melvins absolutely destroyed the Troubadour on Friday night. After nearly 30 years, their passion, relevance, skill and inventiveness are somehow still on the rise. It is really an incredible thing to witness. Bonus points to drummers Coady and Dale for playing a full set with tourmates Unsane (capped by a cover of Flipper’s “Ha [...]

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Mason Jennings played the hallowed Masonic Temple at Hollywood Forever Cemetary last Thursday night.  It is a gorgeous room, both in looks and sound.  Mason filled up the capacity crowd with a loose and lovely set. Photos by Ward Robinson.  

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Roky Erickson played to a packed house of rabid fans at the El Rey Theatre.  A sweet mixture of dirty old rock fans and pretty echo park coolies took in a blistering, career-spanning set. No encore nonsense, either.  Photos by Ward Robinson.

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It was the MBV night at Part TIme Punks, and as Weekend breezed through a set of mostly new tunes they slipped in a pretty good version of Only Shallow for the faithful. Photos by Ward Robinson

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Twin Shadow came to the Troubadour in his first appearance in L.A. in about a year. He is slimmer, more handsome, more confident. he is stepping into his destined role as the future Prince. The band is absolutely on fire. He has managed to achieve what was only an attempt before: to raise the songs [...]

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The Detroit Bar has a capacity of 250, but the main room is at most half of that. That’s a tiny sardine can for a band with as much depth, power, fame and great material as the Horrors. They blew the roof off the place. Photos by Ward Robinson

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Cults’ full length came out this year, filling out the stage set by the brilliant 3 song EP they released in 2010. Their set at the cavernous Eagle Rock Performing Arts Center was gorgeous and energetic. The new material features a lot more Ronettes-styled grooves, and some doo-wop call and response. Gorgeous vocals and a [...]

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Autolux played in the courtyard of the Skirball Center as a part of the Night of Magic for the Houdini exhibit. Photos by Ward Robinson

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Austin band …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have lost some members, 3 of 5 to be exact, and are down to one (new) drummer. The replacement players are slicker and more facile than the departed members, and everyone certainly played with plenty of passion, but the change left the band [...]

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Giant Drag played to adoring fans at the Echoplex Tuesday 5.31. Annie was absolutely on fire. —Ward Robinson

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