Monday, February 23, 2009

Riverside and the City of Angels, CA

We drove from San Francisco straight down to Riverside, CA for a show at the Pharaohs Den cultural art space. This place is rad.
Run by a bunch of positive hip hop heads, they have a fully functioning recording studio with a wide range of instruments, a huge performance space with a stage and a decent sound system, as well as visual art from a number of artists hanging on the walls. This show was a little sparse in terms of attendance, but that didnt stop any of the acts from giving their all. We saw great sets from Okerason, Dropjaw, MC Homeless, and Cadillac Ron. Everyone had really distinct styles, and we got a wide sense of all the different work being created under the banner of indie hip hop. After the show we stuck around for a bit to talk and chill, but ultimately left to find some rest with our friend Jordan in Murrietta, before heading into LA the next day.

While in LA we went out for an overpriced meal on Venice Beach, then made our way to a house show at our friend Melissa's house on Longwood (is that west hollywood?) where we got to see Abe Vigoda and a bunch of dope punk bands tear it up all night. The next day we toured Hollywood Boulevard while they were setting up for the Academy Awards and Caustic left a present for the local stripper boutiques. At night we went out to the VoicesVoices tour kickoff show at The Smell, an all ages, community run venue that is getting big props for being the developing ground for the indie noise pop that is taking over youth culture right now. VoicesVoices was joined by some 12 other improv musicians (including Bobb Bruno, minus the rabbit suit) for a collective jam that was pretty damn transcendent.

We left the show and got on the 5 for a straight shot toward San Diego. Adventure!

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