August Highlights

August is going to be a spectacular month. Let me count the ways . . .

#1) Sunset Junction: August 22 and 23. Seeing Arrested Development will be worth the price of admission ($15/day in advance), but then there's also Local Natives, Nico Vega, The Submarines, Conor Oberst, Nico Stai, and Fool's Gold, among others.



#2) Local Natives Residency (especially the August 10 date). It's Local Natives' month; we're just living in it. They've got six LA shows this month: 5 Mondays at Spaceland and the first day of Sunset Junction.



#3) Rock 'N Roll Summer Circus at the Echoplex. This is going to be great. To start, it's Henry Clay's first "small" LA show since their April residency, but there's so much more. From THCP's myspace description:

w/ FOL CHEN, FLYING TOURBILLON ORCHESTRA, MARVELOUS TOY --- "Side Show Acoustic Performers": Damselles/TC4, Balloon Bass, Roadside Graves, Les Blanks, Downtown/Union, Oof Tarted, Banjo-vi, and Eli Monolator. Cotton Candy, Games (Skeeball!), Balloon Animals, Face Painting, Moustaches, Mimes, and MORE

July in Advance

What you should know in advance about July:

Residencies

• Andy Clockwise at Spaceland
• No other residencies, apparently. Sad.
  

Other Shows

• Fol Chen plays at Pershing Square on July 15. It's going to be annoying to travel downtown on a Wednesday evening, but I don't know if I can keep missing Fol Chen shows.
• So Many Dynamos are at Spaceland on July 18
• Cut Chemist and We Are the World (who need to be seen to be believed) play at the Getty's Saturdays Off the 405 on July 25
• Future of the Left, who impressed me at SXSW, are at Spaceland on July 31.

(Oh, and Local Natives have the August Spaceland residency)

June in Advance

What you need to know about in advance this month:

• Datarock is at the Key Club on Saturday, June 13. And who might be opening? None other than Casxio.

• Art Brut plays four shows in LA the third week of June. June 16-18 at Spaceland and June 19 at the Echoplex. "I know I shouldn't, is it so wrong, to break from your kiss, to turn up a pop song?"

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• Residencies: Castledoor has the Monday residency at Spaceland, while over at the Echo Oliver Future has their Monday residency. Both are worth checking out.
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• This isn't a residency per se, and it's not free, but Halloween Jack, a glam rock group comprised of Gilby Clarke (former member of Guns 'n Roses), Muck (Buckcherry), Eric Dover (Slash's Snakepit, Jellyfish), and Daniel Shulman (Garbage) play at Spaceland every Saturday night in June. If anything, it should be entertaining. I plan to be at their June 20th show.

May in Advance

The Harlem Shakes at Maggie Mae's (SXSW)

What you need to know about in advance this month:

• Passion Pit and The Harlem Shakes are touring together, a/k/a the next step of The Shakes' impending takeover. Submit now. They play the Troubadour on the 28th and the Echoplex on the 29th. I insist that you go to at least one. I'm going to try to make it to both.

• Residencies: Avi Buffalo has the Tuesday night residency at the Echo, Gangi has the Monday night residency at Spaceland, Restavrant plays every Thursday at Silverlake Lounge, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros play the Regent Theatre the first two Thursdays of the month.

April in Advance

Two things you need to know about in advance about April:

• The Henry Clay People residency at Spaceland. Every Monday in April. Free each time. Go often.
  

• Castledoor's Record Release Show on April 28 at Echoplex. Princeton and The Parson Red Heads (who are releasing a 7" of their own) open. Undoubtedly the show of the month. I have yet to see a full Castledoor set. That will end on this day.