Sep 23, 2014 Save Music in Chinatown 4: The Bicycle Thief, Evil Hearted You, My Revenge
The upcoming Save Music in Chinatown show on Sunday, October 19 will be the fourth DIY benefit concert that my wife and I have organized to raise funds for the defunded music program at our daughter’s elementary school, so I’ll try not to repeat everything for a fourth time. Like how L.A.’s Chinatown has had an active art gallery scene and unique music history for as long as I can remember, that of course those scenes would help out the mostly blue-collar, immigrant population if they could, and that we just provide an avenue, blah blah blah.
But the project never gets old because we not only get to regroup with old friends and new supporters each time but also have a different lineup–mostly.
Headliner The Bicycle Thief features Bob Forrest, who played an acoustic set at the inaugural Save Music in Chinatown show. Bob is best known for singing in Thelonious Monster, a much respected and loved post punk band that derailed due to his drug addiction. Somehow he survived to become a counselor, which provided the basis for the documentary, Bob and the Monster.
But back to the Bicycle Thief, they recorded an album in 1999 after Thelonious imploded and before Josh was snatched up by a bigger group. So there wasn’t that big of a window to see them back in the day, and this will be the first public show by the Bicycle Thief in 13 years. I never got to catch them and am excited that they’re playing our show. I’m still shocked and very grateful that they’ll get together for a small gig like ours. I’m also stoked that Nate, who produced Bob’s radio show and has supported us from the beginning, has become a good friend.
Evil Hearted You is a new band that just played its first show at X’s Make the Music Go Bang! festival in Santa Ana. I love their raw roots sound which reminds me of Gun Club or Los Lobos but also has the atmospheric vibe of Mazzy Star or Opal. Really smart, gorgeous, and dark music. Can’t wait to hear them live and you can stream their album on Soundcloud. It’s especially cool how this happened: one of the band’s members, Ben, is a friend of friends and a conversation at an art opening became a connection which became something really cool that everyone’s really excited about. Really glad to get to know these guys, whose links to L.A.’s punk and indie culture go very deep.
Also returning is Hector Penalosa, who played our second show with Baja Bugs. This time around Hector, who is also in the legendary O.G. punk band from Chula Vista, The Zeros, will be with his band called My Revenge. They just opened for The Avengers last weekend, and I can’t wait to see them play a full set this time around (there was a mini set when Baja Bugs played). I’ve always been a rabid fan of his music, and was super surprised when he began supporting our shows on social media, attended our first show as a fan, and eventually became a pal. How lucky am I.
We’ve also had great luck recruiting DJs from KCHUNG and KXLU, and this time we’ve got a couple from the latter. The Molotov Cocktail Hour‘s Cyrano and Secret Agent Lotus promise a mix of old school punk and LA stuff mixed with Asian garage sounds from Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, and Thailand. Steve and Max (sometimes people call them that) are friends from years ago, and it’s rad that we’ve gotten back in touch through this project. Such a perfect fit.
There will also be cookies, coffee, and a raffle with some very cool stuff. These are key because they allow us to raise some more money but still have an affordable price of admission.. They also allow others to contribute to the cause, from local business owners to friends and supporters in not only art and music but also food, skateboarding, publishing, media and other backgrounds. It builds community, which is part of the struggle.
It may not seem like a lot–the venue is small, the bands aren’t that famous, and we can only make so much dough–but a bunch of us regular folks getting together to help save Castelar Elementary’s music program can make a huge difference for the kids, the community, and their future. Hope to see you at the show, and please share with anyone who has overlapping taste in music or would simply be down for the cause…
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