There is something appealing about all ages shows. Now, before you call me a pervert or a weirdo, hear me out (note: I am a pervert and a weirdo, but that is beside the point). Seeing young people having the transcendent, magical experience that concerts can be is like being a teenager again yourself. Sure, it makes picking up girls frightening (look for wristbands!) and there may be more beach balls than one would prefer (maybe just in So Cal), but the energy and enthusiasm are incomparable. Especially in L.A. where The Rapture’s lyric about people no longer dancing, just folding their arms and complaining, rings true all too often.
This was the scene at The Music Box in Hollywood on Thursday night. The bar area offered instant drink service, while the merchandise line stretched 40 people long for multiple hours. This was an event. Hometown heroes Best Coast and Wavves, fronted by Twitter’s favorite couple, had sold out the medium sized room that is very much a part of every local concert-goer’s past. Best Coast frontwoman Bethany Cosentino, in fact, noted that she had seen Bright Eyes at the same venue when she was young and had gone on a date with bassist Bobb Bruno to see Sparklehorse there. Personally, I have seen great bands such as Spoon, The New Pornographers, TV on the Radio, Broken Social Scene, and countless others on that stage. A converted movie theater, formerly known as the Henry Fonda Theater for the actor’s walk-of-fame star outside the front door, is about as nice a venue as L.A. has to offer. And the show lived up to the setting, earning a place in the kids’ hearts as a story they might be telling in 10 years.
Am I exaggerating? Maybe. But don’t underestimate the power that poppy rock songs can have on a young mind. Hunx & His Punx, the opening band, is based on this principle. But there might not be a more exciting, or at least interesting, pop groups emerging than this four-piece (1 Hunx, 3 Punx), with a unique blend of homoerotic 70’s excess and 60’s girl-group soul. Live, it completely works. Seth Bogart, formerly of Gravy Train, is a captivating frontman who loves cameras, attention and performing. It oozes out of every song, from the tragic opener “Lover’s Lane” to the title track “Too Young To Be In Love.” With the way people are throwing around “swag” these days, it’s hard not to want to give Bogart his rightful claim to the term.
And besides the quality tunes, he was pretty hilarious. He repeatedly asked for the lights to be turned down and the fog to be turned up. When it didn’t meet his liking, he made it simple: “Let’s pretend we are at a Cypress Hill concert.” Also of note: bassist Shannon Shaw has a stunning voice on which the whole project hinges. She almost deserves as much credit as Bogart. Almost. He is still the blood of the band. Luckily, it is vibrant and provocative blood and not, like, sickly, dying blood… This blood comparison is going nowhere…
Next up was Wavves, who opened their show with a couple local friends mobbing the stage as hype men, throwing inflatable aliens and spiders into the crowd. They. Ate. It. Up. “Take On The World” and “King Of The Beach” both burned tightly, with bassist Stephen Pope and Williams headbanging like Beavis and Butthead. In fact, so much of this band screams early-nineties, right down to Williams’ Bartman t-shirt.
Wavves is so far removed from the infamous Spanish meltdown that it is hard to remember that this is the same band. Oldies like “So Bored” and “No Hope Kids” sound so much better live than the debut album’s versions, it further separates the group from the earlier incarnation. And good. Because Wavves is about fun, not bullshit baggage. Few bands have ever turned a page so completely as Nathan Williams has. As he says on closer “Post Acid,” “I’m just having fun with you.” Finally, we can believe him.
There was a time when Best Coast weren’t the most professional band in the world. It was, like, last year. The first time I saw them Bethany was so drunk she could barely get through the songs. To see them pull off a headlining set with grace, poise, professionalism, and personability was both impressive and enjoyable. But I can’t say I’m totally surprised. Their set over the summer at FYF Fest pointed to the tightening-up, but I had worried that some of the quirkiness had left in exchange. Not the case.
Opening with the “This Is Real” and “Bratty B” combination, it became instantly clear that something different was happening with this band. They had become experienced. Sure, all the members have years in the industry under their belts (Cosentino in Pocahaunted, Ali Koehler in Vivian Girls), but the band has always had the reputation as Bruno’s baby. It seems like the band is now all on the same page, and Cosentino has stepped to the ranks of elite frontwoman.
The crowd was more sedate for the headlining set (I mean, Wavves rocks really hard, so pretty much anything would allow the crowd to cool off after that), but not without appreciation. Bethany played the “we’re from here” card a few times to get the crowd a little livelier, and, of course, it worked like a charm. But despite the tinyness of the audience (I’m 5’8″ and felt like a giant), Best Coast also gave the long-term fans something to cheer for. “Sun Was High (And So Was I)” came into the set early, reminding some of us about when we first heard of Best Coast. The group also busted out their cover of “That’s The Way Boys Are,” still one of my favorite things the group has committed to record. Even the few parents in the audience had something to get excited for, as the group busted out their rock-solid cover of Loretta Lynn’s “Fist City.”
And then there were the special moments. Well, for some of us just seeing Bethany in knee-highs was special enough. But the band treated the Hollywood kids to a new tune in “When You Wake Up,” as well as a couple collaborations. Producer and piano-man Jon Brion came out to play keys on “Our Deal” and to close the show, Bethany’s father took over on drums and really went over the top. It was rad.
The setlist was anything a Best Coast fan could want. “Boyfriend,” “Make You Mine,” “Crazy For You,” “When I’m With You;” it was non-stop crowd pleasers. And though the lack of an encore was a little strange, you had to remember that the band with only one LP just played for an hour, a remarkable feat considering their songs rarely exceed three minutes in length. But the ending feeling was that the band had arrived, that they deserved the attention and success they were receiving, and that there is some intangible element that appeals to the young Southern Californians. Korn and Limp Bizkit were big when I was in high school. So, yay internet for vastly improving the quality of music that young ears get to hear.
Now, let’s see if they bite on James Blake.
