Anna Webber - Los Angeles Photographer » Last Night

LAST NIGHT: CSN, Jackson Browne, Keb’ Mo’

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 18:44:06 +0000

Second Annual “Dream, Believe, Achieve” Gala Last Night Featured Performances By Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Ben Harper, Keb’ Mo’ last night at the Skirball Center.

Click to hear CSN Live Audio (from inside my pocket)

David Crosby performs for the ICEF Foundation at the Skirball Ctr., Los Angeles, CA

What do you think of when you hear the names Jackson Browne, CSN, Keb’ Mo’ and Ben Harper? And then throw them in an intimate room with inner city school kids, foi gras, and fancy guests?

Last night these legendary musicians raised just over $472,000 for one of the largest private entrepreneurial foundations that brings success in the arts to schools in areas with some of the highest dropout rates. Teenagers who would otherwise never make it to the end of their high school term, let alone move onto college, are now mentored and encouraged by this organization, and are accepted into top schools like Dartmouth, Berkeley, even IVY leagues like Yale and Harvard.

Jackson Browne © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Success Through the Arts Foundation, co-founded by Jackson Browne, focuses its efforts on using the arts to help young people realize their full potential by creating an environment where students of all ages who have been traditionally underserved by the public schools, can learn to appreciate and produce music and art.

Last night these kids brought out their musical talents and covered songs by Jackson Browne, a formal tribute to a longtime mentor. They played on the same stage as CSN, Ben Harper, Jackson Browne, and Keb’ Mo’ – a bone chilling room to be in. Usually to see that kind of talent as a westsider, that means a drive to the Hollywood Bowl or Staples Center. Last night, we got them intimately in our own backyard.

Stephen Stills © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Graham Nash © ANNA WEBBER 2010

David Crosby © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Keb' Mo' © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Ben Harper © ANNA WEBBER 2010

David Crosby and Monty Python's Eric Idle © ANNA WEBBER 2010

Fernando Pullum, Keb' Mo', David Crosby, and guest © ANNA WEBBER 2010

X and Calexico Share a Consonant – and Fans – at the Wiltern Saturday

admin — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 06:37:00 +0000

By Anna Webber in Last Night

See this post on LAweekly.com

Still a few years off from Social Security benefits and Denny’s Grand Slam Senior discounts, L.A. punk band X headlined the Wiltern Saturday, pushing the oldsters and youngsters back into a shared protopunk nostalgia.

Despite their age, punk is X (and the Blasters, the Ramones, and the Clash), and still eclipses the overproduced punk scene of today.

But time goes on; what started in Los Angeles as an aggressively modern shit-talking syncopation movement is now overshadowed by the crap-punk that a lot of us who aren’t 12 year-old skater punks hate. X still blows that slop out of the water – even if they’ve joined forces with the North Pole the past few Christmas seasons to play suburban family faves like “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”

Exene Cervenka showed up to a punk-rock show in a post-colonial, floor-length, black neck-high frock; lace ruffles fell out of her long black sleeves.

Calexico was one of the two opening bands for X, but the only thing the two performers shared is a common consonant. Calexico is a Tuscon, Arizona descended Tejano-flavored band; their name is derived from the California Mexico-border town (which, randomly, I passed through earlier in the day en route from a desert hike near Mexicali).

Calexico transcends roots rock, Americana, Indie, whatever. The 12-piece band Saturday drew the attention of two semi-different crowds, and reveled in a world occupied by things like the Day of the Dead, cacti, and steak tacos. They didn’t play any Christmas covers or two-minute hard-edged rock songs; rather, they charmed with atmospheric mariachi (ever think that was possible?) and delicately spurred us, broke us, and dusted us off.

Calexico

With great lyrics and a striking sound, the band deserves much more attention than they’ve gotten, considering they’ve been a band since ’96. Thematically, they pulse and kick and wistfully conjure the dreamy, wide-open southwest, and charmed us into a world that, like New Mexico’s catch phrase, is a wide sage desert, a “land of enchantment.”

Zero-7 Phone Home: Last Night at the Orpheum Theater

admin — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:06:58 +0000

Zero 7 is a UK bred downtempo touring band comprised of founding members Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker. Contributing artists come and go, however last night at L.A.’s Orpheum theater, their 7 piece band included soul blues singer Abimaro and multi-talented folk singer, Olivia Chaney.

The full band played the sold-out multi-leveled Orpheum Theater, performing a two hour set complete with a four-song acid jazz encore sure to make the seated crowd cross eyes, if not lose sensitivity in their backsides, during the louder-than-loud what-should-have-been techno trip-hop dance party earlier in the night.

Never before have I seen a seated techno dance hall not dancing, but better they start sitting than pass out shoegazing or free-form seizing to the bursts of downtempo remixes. While harmoniums are not particularly catchy (about as much as a theremin or Eigenharp) last night Chaney’s instrument was completely dizzying, a sound that didn’t seem to be of this earth.

Speaking of which, last night Zero 7 completely got pulled over by a UFO. The five male musicians — all clothed in white — began glowing hot pink, radioactive green and fiber-optic blue, raking in the industrial neon spotlights from above. They simulated what appeared to be a close-encounter 2010, and the piercing supernatural siren sounds pretty much sealed the deal: Those dudes are aliens.

Then, suddenly, a lone mustached dancer popped up from the crowd rising – to bust out some hexed YMCA-like dance moves. Once the spazzing man with the short butt shorts in winter broke the ice, about ten more mind-warped antsy seaters joined in.

The whole thing was quite video-gamey. We weren’t sure how you even make some of those sounds, but a lot of the instruments probably don’t really even exist. Go to a Zero 7 show, and your ears will definitely hear some brand new racket they’ve never heard before. Sound refreshing? Don’t fall asleep slouching in your chair.

Band of Horses, Tom Morello, and BRMC strip down for Pablove

admin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:27:56 +0000

View more photos in the Pablove Benefit slideshow.

The Pablove Foundation has found a pretty hip way to raise money for kids with cancer by throwing benefit concerts with talent like Silversun Pickups, Neon Indian, Peter, Bjorn and John, and Avi Buffalo. Most of the performers have had to deal with cancer in their own way within their families or close by, a thing which is probably not to difficult to find anymore.

While Saturday’s concert featured bands like Band of Horses, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Tom Morello and Sea Wolf, the night was overshadowed by the tone, and the reason we were all there, overshadowed the music. If you were expecting to see a high energy rock and roll show, the majority of what you got couldn’t have been farther off. This was a place where all acts stripped down – Not to their skimmies, but to the bare bones, unplugged, overly aware, and a little self-conscious.

The humbled rock stars performed from two to four songs each in a room so quiet that even whispers were audible. When Tom Morello comes out saying “This is a song about sticking together, come what may” and plays “Guerrilla Radio” with a harmonica and colonial drum, Rage fans were stunned: Yes, you just heard Rage Against the Machine unplugged and completely recontextualized… in gypsy form.

Music has always been a way to speak messages to the masses. This particular night, Jeff Castelaz, father of Pablo Castelaz (whose life and heartbreaking demise at the claws of cancer prompted the birth of Pablove) brought his lessons and stories from his Pablove across America initiative. During his trek across the country, he visited pediatric cancer patients in hospitals all over the place. Earlier in the day he biked from Long Beach to Hollywood, the last leg of his national bike trek. “There was nothing I needed more than to get on this bike,” he explained.

Hosting a rock show may seem like a slightly abrasive way to tribute a recent departure to a six year old child, however, Pablo was a kid who adored music. Josh Riffkind, an extremely likable guy with a huge mop of curly blonde hair on his head – like whoa – travels from his home in Atlanta once a month to visit the L.A. Children’s hospital to play music for kids like Pablo.

Jeff Castelaz introduced the talented Mr. Riffkind: “He’s gonna come out here, and bring us all back to our childhood years for one song, and you guys have to participate, and scream, and sing as loud as you can for all the kids down the block who are lying in beds right now hooked up to IV’s getting chemotherapy. Can we do that!?” Riffkin then came out and explained to the crowd, “Okay guys, we’re gonna ditch the hipster irony for FIVE seconds everybody!” and proceeded to lead the crowd in an amazing Jack Black-style rendition of “Wheels on The Bus.” He not only urged, but bullied everyone to participate — even did the swish-swish-swish hand motions. About his program Songs for Kids, Riffkind said, “Does Oprah not know about this? Oprah needs to know!”

The Pablove Foundation has been hosting a concert nearly every month, so stay tuned. Get your community service by participating in this fine assemblage of talented speakers, comedians, jokers, musicians, minstrels, survivors, people, friends.

The drums, the drums, the drums

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:26:32 +0000

View more photos in the “White Rabbits, Local Natives @ El Rey” slideshow.

Rock and roll sextet White Rabbits are on their Fall tour with eccentric duo Glass Ghost. Last night both Brooklyn groups were joined by LA’s own Local Natives at the El Rey. The result: one of the best performances we’ve seen lately at that venue or elsewhere.

White Rabbits back stage at the El Rey

There were 8 drummers across three bands in total, with keys, vox pedals, and approximately 100 million decibels (give or take a few) across dexterous polyphonic sound waves. From the sound and pressure of the thing, we were in Heaven.

Stephen Patterson’s vocal performance was the baritone version of Thom Yorke’s frivolous tonal gradients, and quite a bit better, based on the force, stamina, control and turbulent meters. (Yorke still takes the cake on the eerie nonconformist skelter meter, though. Don’t hit.)

Later, backstage, we got a few photos of the White Rabbits and chit-chatted about their incredible new music video for “Percussion Gun”:

They have no idea how great they really are, and appear to have no trace of an ego, whatever. What they do have is the power to create an unrestrained riot house, and to make doey-eyed boys and girls go gaga at the foot of the stage.