Darker My Love “Summer Is Here”

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L.A. RECORD used to see Matt Cronk about twice a day—once at an old job sitting behind a desk where we’d deliver personal copies of the paper and once as doorman at Cha Cha, which was a much better venue for his well-known sense of humor. We even screwed him over by ruining his band name—Qui, which you’d think is hard to ruin but we did it—on an L.A. RECORD cover. (Sorry again, Matt.) So now that he needs help paying some monster medical bills, we feel a moral debt to help tonight’s benefit: a viciously heavy line-up of Qui sympathizers Darker My Love and Crystal Antlers (who just left scorch marks on the rug at our anniversary Sunday) plus Melvinists Tweak Bird, rock survivors Icarus Line and South Central hardcore punk band Hit Me Back, favorites on the local warehouse circuit. Though originally a split-benefit for Cronk bills and Manny Nieto’s shuttered Wetanddry studio, Nieto decided to dedicate all proceeds to Matt—local music taking care of its own with a show that would demand mandatory attendance even if it wasn’t to help a guy out.

— Rob Battin

DARKER MY LOVE, THE ICARUS LINE, CRYSTAL ANTLERS, HIT ME BACK AND TWEAK BIRD PLUS DJs KEITH MORRIS AND SAM VELDE PLAY A BENEFIT FOR MATT CRONK TONIGHT—THURS., FEB. 21—AT THE ECHO, 1822 SUNSET BLVD., ECHO PARK. 7:30 PM / $10 / ALL AGES. WWW.ATTHEECHO.COM.