Archive for October 7, 2007

THE 2ND ANNUAL NEIGHBORHOOD MUSIC FESTIVAL, DOWNTOWN LA – THE REVIEW

October 7, 2007 by PT Rothschild.

WILL THE REAL STRETCH ARMSTRONG PLEASE STAND UP, PLEASE STAND UP, PLEASE STAND UP?

Sometimes the adventure you seek, isn’t the adventure you meet. This is the story of one of those times. The back story begins several months ago at an after-party when I watched an amazing video by a punk band named Stretch Armstrong. I could see those guys playing a show around my neck of the woods. I put ‘top men’ on finding out more about this band. Fast forward to the next-to-last Warped Tour show date (in Chula Vista) and amidst all the dust, crowd, and booths, I spy a flyer announcing the Neighborhood Music Festival and who do I see is playing there but none other than Stretch Armstrong. I say to myself, I am so there. I make three calls. The first is to my ‘partner-in-crime’ for adventures like this, Jack-of-all-trades and camera person extraordinary, Keirah Ann Robbins, so she can clear her schedule. The next call is placed to the New York firm AMP3 Public Relations (www.AMP3pr.com ) and Alyson Campbell for press credentials though it is her go-to girl Jackie who I talked to. The last call was to my publisher Bill Gould, who hadn’t heard about the fest even with his music ear low to the ground. I brought him up to speed and everything was set, except for one final thing. I had no clue of anyone on the playlist so I stopped by Javas (Cuppy’s) to check in with some of the scenesters there who are always up on the latest. Sure enough, the names of The Faint and Mickey Avalon brought squeals of delight and jumping from Abby, one of the baristas there, and the drummer from Nice Day, Jeremiah, remarked, “You’re going to see The Faint? Wow, I wish I was going. I’d love to see them.” With that seal of approval from the scene I was ready to take on LA.

For all those who don’t live in New York City or LA, well, these places are big, really big, but more than wandering through the concrete canyons called ‘freeways’ out here that thread past the mega city surroundings is the ‘big city’ sophistication you find here. Case in point. The quality card stock of the flyer had the extra element. When you take the flyer done by Grnappletree (‘green apple tree’) and reflect the light across the flyer surface, you can see the ‘Neighborhood’ logo etched transparently across the flyer. Talking to Bryan, a main graphics guy for 3 ½ years at the full fashion firm in LA, in the backstage couch area about this brought up a sense of pride and a ‘tip o’ the hat’ for having noticed this detail that many people missed. Another big city or maybe just an LA thing was the style of port-a-potties for the V.I.P.s. A bright light signaled occupancy, an interior light came on when you stepped into the white interior and each was equipped with a lit mirror, wash-up sink with faucets, and paper towels. They looked more a detached airplane restroom than a port-a-potty. These were just two of the points that made this ‘fest’ feel unlike any other I’ve been to. After riding past hundreds of city structures and skyscrapers, we were ready to enter Exposition Park, which also holds a museum within its confines.

Picking up our wristbands from Alyson and signing in, we walked out onto the main stage field area. Though it was early in the line-up (Har Mar Superstar was on), crowds of LA scenesters were already filling up the park, the VIP tent area, the DJ tent area, and the alcohol booth area. Keirah was busy taking pictures as I walked around talking to the various booth sponsor attendees, which probably equaled about ten booths total, quite a difference from the number in Warped Tour’s booth alley. At the Active booth I saw a giant wheel of fortune. Coaxed in, I spun the wheel and got a Simon La Gree mustache added onto my face. Meanwhile as the main stage rocked to Aaron La Crate and Flosstradamus, Chad Muska (yeah, that Pro) rocked the beats in the VIP tent where there was also an open cash bar, and over in the DJ Tent Grant Shapiro had the crowd hopping. As evening fell, the crowds in all four areas (main stage, DJ Tent, VIP Tent, and the cocktail area) grew as did the small backstage tent area. After watching Crystal Castles, a group from Canada who are going to start their fourth European Tour this year, I asked about the scene up in the ‘Great White North’. The singer said “Canada has good metal and a lot of jocks.” Sounds like the reason this indie DJ/band is off to tour the Continent. By nightfall, we had made some friends, like the Jury Duty Girls, the booth selling the event T-shirts with Felix & Alexa, and an independent “I’m living in LA as an indie artist”, Alan, pictured here with Keirah. We walked around to capture this ‘neighborhood’ where ‘rave meets rock’ in pictures, letting them record the animated scene. Accordingly the attendance this year doubled the debut year head count as word got around about last year’s success. More than a festival, this 2^nd Annual Neighborhood Festival felt more like a huge outdoor party celebrating the four winds of urban awareness; music, tech, nightlife, and style. The summation of this urbanization was expressed onstage perhaps best at the shank of the evening by the headliners, Mickey Avalon, who had two sexy dancers , R-rated lyrics, and the help of two earlier DJs, Dirt Nasty, and Andre Legacy, on his song Friday Night. I was beginning to see why Abby had elicited the reaction she did at the mention of Mickey Avalon. The Faint were anything but. The five piece techno rock band played with a video screen backdrop to a loyal fan base that sang along with several songs and filled in when the keyboard got toasted on one tune. The opening notes of some songs brought cheers from the fans; there was much dancing and even the proverbial beach ball got batted around. The front row was a ‘Betty’ line and the cool-ish temps gave way to hot steaming body heat as the night burned on. For me though, it was time to wrap this puppy up and find the elusive Stretch Armstrong, who my program said was playing the VIP tent right then. Walking past the ice cream truck, I sauntered over to a middle aged DJ spinning the beats and found out that this was the Stretch Armstrong listed on the flyer. “I was Stretch Armstrong long before the band,” quipped the DJ. As we drove to the latest ‘hip underground’ LA club called the Echo Plex before we made the drive back to the Inland Empire and the ‘best room in Auschwitz’, I smiled to myself at the serendipitous nature the whole evening had produced, including the chance encounter with some local friends from the now defunct Fish Room.