Category Archives: Night Life

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Switchfoot at 918 F Street

Photo by Nicholas Donner Photography

If I had the ability to create an award for the “Best Hidden Treasure Venue in D.C. to See Live Music” then it’d have to go to Living Social‘s 918 F Street. It combines the intimacy of a speakeasy with crystal clear acoustics to make way for one of the most creative spaces for live music in town. An intimate crowd of 200 fans opted-in to a Living Social deal featuring an exclusive Switchfoot acoustic performance from the Grammy Award winning band on Friday June 1 complete with a post-concert meet and greet option for a higher ticket price to a limited amount of fans.

Frontman Jon Foreman and his fellow bandmates made it a point throughout the night to emphasize the fact that the evening’s performance special. It was apparently a throwback to their earlier days back when Foreman, his brother/bassist Tim, and drummer Chad Butler were a three-piece band playing fraternity parties. While the show wasn’t quite a frat party, it did have a laid back feel. It might’ve been the fact that Switchfoot calls San Diego, Ca. home. It also could’ve been a direct result of the room’s floor plan. I’ll venture to guess it’s somewhere in between the two. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Coup Sauvage & the Snips

photo by Erin Smith

Coup Sauvage & the Snips is a soulful, sassy new DC band. The band may be new, but the members have been on the scene for a while. Members’ past and current endeavors include She.Rex, First Ladies DJ Collective , Troll Tax, Hott Beat, Mess up the Mess, Capital City Symphony, and Downbeat:Beatdown. We Love DC Music Editor Alexia got a chance to chat with the group this week, and here’s what they had to say.   

Alexia: How did the idea for the group come about?

Coup Sauvage & the Snips: The idea for the band came from a Capricorn who wanted to keep the spirit of Boney M, Pepper LaBeija and Mahogany-era Diana Ross alive. Two Pisces and three Aries later, the Haus of Sauvage is here and ready to let DC have it. Most of us have known each other for years and been part of the same DIY and creative circles in DC. But it wasn’t until we discovered our mutual love of 70’s variety shows, ball culture and Rosie Perez-inspired dance routines that we decided to join forces last spring. We’ve been together ever since, and we’ll stay together. For the children.

Alexia: How did you all come up with the band name?

CS&tS: Elizabeth had a friend who visited Glastonbury, England. While she was there she met a man known as “The Wizard of Glastonbury.”  He was a blissed-out guru who was a hairdresser in London during the height of glam rock. One night, when everyone was well gone on whisky and dolls, the Wizard offered Elizabeth’s friend a haircut. The result was a massive mushroomy mullet that resulted in uncontrollable sobbing. The story goes that the Wizard was super insulted and said “You don’t like this cut?! I gave this cut to everyone in the 70’s! I gave it to Bowie! It’s the Coupe Sauvage!”  We dropped the “e,” but kept the rest. Without the “e” it means “savage blow” in French. But in honor of our wizard friend we like to use his meaning, “savage cut.” And since Gladys had her Pips, we’ve got our Snips.
Alexia: What are some of your musical influences?

CS&tS: We’re inspired by everything from the soundtrack to “The Wiz” and “Wattstax” to 60s girl groups like The Exciters. We take a lot of our cues from disco, electroboogie and 70’s/80’s dance artists like ESG, Giorgio Moroder, Sylvester, Grace Jones, Labelle, Klymaxx and Kid Creole & The Coconuts. We’re also influenced by 90’s dance music like CeCe Peniston and Inner City. We like to think of them all as our “spirit guides.” The past few months have actually been pretty hard since we’ve lost a lot of our spirit guides – Whitney, Don Cornelius, Donna Summer, Robin Gibb, Chuck Brown. We like to pay tribute to them during our show with the song “Maegan’s Jam.” It’s a dance tribute that involves lots of audience participation. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Black Hills @ Black Cat, 5/23/2012

Black Hills: Air apparent? photo by author

Earlier this week I chatted with DC-based Aaron Estes about his latest musical project Black Hills. Last night I got the chance to see the group play at Black Cat, along with openers Reindeer and The Fire Tapes.

I go to a lot of shows. I consider myself a music-lover. In my experience it doesn’t happen often that I am blown away by a band, especially one that is new to me. Last night Black Hills blew me away with their eight-song-set on the backstage of the Black Cat. Now, I wasn’t completely surprised that this happened- I was kind of hoping for it.

I first saw Estes and some of his musical cohorts perform at Run for Cover, a benefit show that has happened for many years at the Black Cat. The show featured all one-off cover bands, made up of DC musicians, to varying degrees of musical success, silliness, and spectacle. The acts Estes was a part of were far-and-away the most spectacular and musically spot-on, two years in a row: a C+C Music Factory cover band in 2010 and a Daft Punk group in 2011. After seeing him at Run for Cover I knew he was one to watch. Fast forward to last week, when I stumbled across the ad for Black Hills on the Black Cat website. After listening to the four songs he has up on Bandcamp, I was giddy.

For a frame of reference, there are a lot of musical comparisons that can be drawn to Black Hills. The influence of Air is apparent, with the lush synths/synth strings and the groovy bass, but at times I was also reminded a little of Genesis, and to make a more current comparison- Gotye.

Though Black Hills’ recorded music is produced by Estes as a solo effort, the live show includes four other very talented musicians. Estes plays synths and sings, and is backed by guitar, more synth, bass and drums.

The lush sounds heard on the recordings were brought to life onstage well, with added sparks from electric guitar, and extra bounce from groovy bass and drums. Highlights of the set included the beautiful “The Good News”, the infectious “In my Dreams”, and the celestial “Glass.” I must also admit that my heart skipped a beat (or three) when they played spot-on, gorgeous covers of Air’s “Run” and Goldfrapp’s “Clowns.”

The only disappointment was that they didn’t have any more songs to play at the end of their set. At least it gives me something to look forward to…

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Penguin Prison @ Rock & Roll Hotel, 5/19/2012

photo by Jason Coile

Last week We Love DC guest writer Jonathan Druy interviewed Chris Glover of Penguin Prison, and Saturday night he attended the Penguin Prison show at Rock & Roll Hotel. Check out his review of the show below!

By the time the unabashedly glamorous electro-pop opener Class Actress had finished, the packed, rowdy house at Rock & Roll Hotel late Saturday night was ready for Penguin Prison to come out and give them more. When Chris Glover and his three bandmates took the stage, they looked more like an indie-rock band – besides the two rows of keys, Glover sports a guitar and a leather jacket. Their brand of infectious, melodic electro-dance-pop can’t be as easy to swing as they made it look, but having been on tour as long as they have, it’s no wonder they delivered a slick, flawless, crowd-pleasing show. Once they opened with “Golden Train”, one of his best songs, Glover’s skilled voice didn’t falter throughout the set, and most of the show was a faithful live version of songs from their self-titled album. In addition, he sang the breezy new “Hollywood”, a collaboration with the remix artist RAC, and peaked with a cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Blue Jeans”, in which Glover, who’d been using his guitar mostly as a rhythm backup the entire night, busted out with a confident guitar solo. Since the dancing had been pretty much non-stop for the last hour, the crowd had probably earned the encore, as Penguin Prison closed the night with “Multi-Millionaire”.

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: R. Ring @ DC9, 5/15/2012

R. Ring, photo by Jason Coile

We Love DC guest writer Jonathan Druy attended the R. Ring show at DC9 Tuesday night. Read his thoughts on it below! 

Tuesday night started with a fairly sparse DC9 room, but the evening opened with a sharp acoustic/punk set by Marc Ganancias, and then a soulfully beautiful set by Mean Season, who know how to intertwine chick vocals and guitar into a lean indie-rock gift. When Kelley Deal’s new project R.Ring took the stage, the room began to swell with fans of the Breeders guitarist, who got to see a warm set, highlighted by Deal’s sweet vocals and Mike Montgomery’s amplified acoustic interactions, as well as some really funny between-song convos.

 Kelley Deal uses that voice, imprinted on those of us who came of age when the Breeders reigned the alternawaves, as one of the band’s electric instruments, cranking up the reverb, or singing through an effects pedal. It provides a nice touch, so songs like “Fall Out and Fire” and “Hundred Dollar Heat”, which Deal sings from the floor, draw in the audience, resulting in an echo-embellished electric/acoustic lullaby. Deal accompanied Montgomery on guitar for a few numbers, and the electrics came out for their closer, a cover of Shellac’s “Ghost”, on which Montgomery also shared vocals.

 The DC9 crowd grew over the course of the set, so by the end there was no shortage of fans chatting with Deal after the show. Here’s hoping the rest of her tour generates as much goodwill as Tuesday night.

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Spiritualized, Nikki Lane @ 930 Club, 5/10/2012

Spiritualized, all photos by Matthew Carroll

 British space-rockers Spiritualized delivered a soulful 2-hour long set to a packed house at DC’s 930 Club Thursday night. Nashville-based country songstress Nikki Lane opened. Spiritualized is on tour of the US now in support of their seventh studio album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light, released in April on Double Six Records.

Nikki Lane

Southern country singer Nikki Lane made toes tap and heads bounce with her smart, sassy tunes, bringing to mind at times a young Loretta Lynn. Originally from South Carolina, Lane ended up in Nashville by way of Los Angeles and New York. Though her album Walk of Shame features a full band, including twangy steel guitar, Lane’s songs still stood up when played solo on acoustic guitar. Highlights of her set included the runaway tale “Gone, Gone, Gone“, super-twangy “Western Bound”, and the bouncy “Walk of Shame.”
Continue reading →
Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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The Winning Ticket: James Morrison @ 930 Club, 5/16/2012

Today we are giving away a pair of tickets to the sold-out James Morrison show at 930 Club on Wednesday, May 16th! The UK artist is on tour of the US in support of his third album, The Awakening, released in 2011 on Island Records. You can check out the video for his single “One Life” here, and follow James Morrison on twitter here.

For your chance to win these tickets simply leave a comment on this post using a valid email address between 9am and 4pm today. One entry per email address, please. This show is SOLD OUT!

For the rules of this giveaway…

Comments will be closed at 4pm and a winner will be randomly selected. The winner will be notified by email. The winner must respond to our email in 24 hours or they will forfeit their tickets and we will pick another winner.

Tickets will be available to the winner at the 9:30 Club Guest List window one hour before doors open on the night of the concert. The tickets must be claimed with a valid ID. The winner must be old enough to attend the specific concert or must have a parent’s permission to enter if he/she is under 18 years old.

Downtown, Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Patrick Watson @ 930 Club, 5/8/2012

Patrick Watson, all photos by Matthew Carroll

Patrick Watson set an intimate mood in the 930 club Tuesday night, starting their set in the dark. Five players all together were onstage- Patrick Watson singing and on piano, Robbie Kuster on drums, Mishka Stein on bass, Simon Angell on guitar and Melanie Belair on violin.The Montreal-based band is on tour now opening for Andrew Bird, in support of their latest release Adventures in Your Own Backyard, which came out in Canada April 17th, on Secret City Records/Domino.

Patrick Watson
 Eventually the stage was lit, but softly, making it feel like you could be in the band’s living room, or back yard. Watson’s vocal delivery is delicate for the most part, lilting and floating amidst tinkling piano or softly strummed guitar, violin tremelos. In livelier moments the band had an almost circusy feel, like a gypsy carnival, though still subdued.  To take things to an even more intimate place, the band gathered around one mic in the middle of the stage and played a couple of songs in an old-timey radio way, including the sweet, tender “Words In A Fire.”
Highlights of the set included the spooky, ethereal “Quiet Crowd,” the bouncy “Into Giants,” with its lovely layered vocals, and the Spaghetti-Western feel of “Adventures in Your Own Backyard.”   The band closed their set with a dedication to the recently deceased Maurice Sendak, playing their song “Where The Wild Things Are,” ending with a jammed-out, dark-circus frenzy.
 
Patrick Watson

 

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Marilyn Manson @ The Fillmore, 5/1/2012

all photos by Aminta S. Nieves-Candamo

Goth-rock superstars Marilyn Manson played a sold-out show at The Fillmore in Silver Spring on Tuesday night, in the middle of their “Hey, Cruel World” tour. When I got a ticket to this show I did so without many expectations, except maybe to have a trip back in time to my high school/early college days when I was a big fan and saw them several times. I got what I wanted, basically.

Their set was musically strong- Manson himself still has energy, stage presence and rockstar mojo to spare, and thankfully Twiggy (sometimes bassist, now guitarist, and major songwriter for the band) has rejoined the group after a hiatus in the early 2000s (which involved stints with A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, and The Dessert Sessions). However, having seen them in the height of their fame, while they were riding high on the shock-rock infamy which used to surround them, Tuesday night’s show seemed like mainly old tricks. It was also shorter than one would expect (15 songs, just over an hour-long set) from a band who has been around and active for as long as they have, with as large a catalog as they have. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Night Life, We Love Drinks
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Event (P)Review: On the Town with Dale DeGroff

Dale DeGroff 1
All photos by the author

Dale DeGroff returns Thursday night for what I’ve been told is a bigger and better On the Town show, this time featuring pianist Dan Ruskin. This article, originally published last year, is a good preview for this year’s show.

The fact that you probably already know what a Cosmopolitan cocktail is, and most likely even have a mental picture of the sort of person you imagine would drink it, owes its existence to King Cocktail. Widely credited as the bartender who made it popular (if not ubiquitous) from behind the bar at the Rainbow Room in the 1980s, DeGroff has a long history both with his leg up in front of the bar and as the all-seeing, all-hearing master of ceremonies behind it. The “On the Town” seminar is a chance for him to tell a sample of the stories he has collected – or been a part of – since he moved to New York four decades ago.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, People, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Plants and Animals

 

photo credit: Laura Totten

Plants and Animals are a post-rock trio from Canada, currently based in Montreal. Their energetic, guitar-driven indie sound has garnered them acclaim and recognition from the likes of Paste, Filter, and Nylon, among others. They are currently on tour of the US and Canada, and are making a stop at DC’s Red Palace this Friday, April 6th. WeLoveDC’s Alexia Kauffman got a chance to chat with guitarist Nic Basque, and here’s what he had to say.

Alexia Kauffman: How’s your tour going?

Nic Basque: Oh, it’s going well! We’ve done a few shows where we’re from, in Montreal, Quebec, and we went to South by Southwest, and now we’re on the West Coast, driving to Portland.

Alexia: How did South by Southwest go for you?

Nic: It was great! A bit insane, but we got lucky. Our label and management company organized a showcase in a church, so it was pretty calm, and we had good sound. That was great. And we did a couple of bar shows, and those were fun too. I think it was the first time we traveled there with a sound engineer, and that made a huge difference. We were a bit more in control, so that was great. But it was insane!

Alexia: I’ve heard it’s like totally nuts! Did you have any favorite moments while you were there?

Nic: Well the show was fun, and we went to a Mexican place we go every time where they have avocado margaritas- that was fun. We saw some friends too…In terms of shows we didn’t see much except for the showcase. It’s so weird the conditions that bands are playing, that it’s tough to really enjoy bands there. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Daily Feed
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Hot Ticket: Bowerbirds @ Black Cat

photo courtesy of Bowerbirds

Welcome spring in tonight with the sweet sounds of Bowerbirds at Black Cat. The indie-folk duo, from Raleigh, North Carolina, are on tour now in support of their new album The Clearing, out now on Dead Oceans Records. Listen to their song “Tuck The Darkness In” from their latest album here.

Bowerbirds
Dry The River
$15 Mainstage/Doors at 8pm
Black Cat

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Daily Feed
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9 Reasons to See “The 9” at Iota Tonight – March 2012 Edition

Photo courtesy of tedeytan
Number 9 Sign
courtesy of tedeytan

About a month ago, I got a first-hand look at Justin Trawick’s local songwriter series “The 9” when I performed at Iota Club and Café with eight other DC-area artists. It was a unique experience both on stage and off.

Being a part of “The 9” is a collaborative effort. That’s what makes it interesting.

Tonight, “The 9” will be back at Iota. Though it’s common for “The 9” to perform at Iota (it’s a monthly affair at the Arlington rock club and café), there is no such thing as a standard set. Each show is different because the bill changes from venue to venue, month to month.

Here are a few reasons from tonight’s “9” as to why this particular show might be worth your Tuesday night:

Zia Hassan: It’s the first day of spring.  There’s no better way to come out of hibernation than to hear 9 different musical perspectives in one performance.  A new beginning for the trees, and a new beginning for your ears.

Maureen Andary: …because I’m gonna write a song about pie just for the show! Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Hank 3 @ 930 Club, 3/15/2012

all photos by Matthew Carroll unless otherwise noted

Hank 3  is a musical maniac. Last Thursday night at the 930 club he played over three and a half hours of music spanning four genres, with only one five-minute break. Hank 3 and his band tore the roof off of the club with their breakneck paced country and Hellbilly sets, and then he and his drummer charged on with the progressively darker and weirder sludge/doom/metal and Cattlecore sets, ending the show after midnight.

http://matthewthomascarroll.com/

With no opening act, Hank 3 and his crew of outlaws started off the night right on time, playing their rowdy, rough-and-tumble style of country music to a pretty full club. The audience was ready to get down, and band led the way on stage, beginning with the super-charged “Straight To Hell.” The song, a boot-stompin’, barroom sing-along stirred the crowd up and showcased the virtuosic playing of fiddle player Adam McOwen. The pace never really slowed down for the next hour and a half (or more), as they charged through twenty-six songs in the country set.

  Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Korallreven @ Black Cat 3/5/2012

all photos by Nathan Jurgenson

Stockholm-based electronic duo Korallreven played their first DC show Monday night, headlining the Black Cat backstage. They were joined by openers Young Magic and Stout Cortez. Korallreven are currently on their first US tour, in support of An Album by Korallreven, out on Acephale Records.

Young Magic played an enthusiastic and energizing set. The trio, currently based in New York City is comprised of Australian ex-pats Isaac Emmanuel, Michael Italia, and Indonesian-born Melati Malay. They mixed dreamy vocals and ambient guitar with tribal-sounding rhythyms and hypnotic, thumping beats. Their performance and sound was fresh, intense, and engaging.

Continue reading →

Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Marcus Joons of Korallreven

photo courtesy of Korallreven

Swedish dreamy-electronic-pop duo Korallreven, aka Marcus Joons and Daniel Tjäder (of The Radio Dept) have announced their first US shows ever, with select East and West coast dates supporting their debut album, An Album By Korallreven, available now on Acéphale.

We Love DC’s Alexia Kauffman got the chance to ask singer Marcus Joons a few questions.

Alexia Kauffman: What music inspired you when you were growing up?

Marcus Joons: I remember getting touched real early by Velvet Underground, I must have been like eleven or twelve when I first came across their heroin romantic pop songs. Maybe too early. Apart from that I think that I, free from my mind, got the biggest kicks from Screamadelica, Spiritualized, everything by The Beach Boys and Daft Punk’s Homework. All of this has inspired me more to live and breathe than to make music though. Continue reading →

Food and Drink, Foodie Roundup, Night Life, The Features
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Food Roundup: Best Bar Food

Photo courtesy of LaTur
They may be America’s last pioneers………..
courtesy of LaTur

When I think bars, I naturally think booze. Cocktails, beers, wine, maybe even the occasional shot. But many of the watering holes I frequent either don’t serve food or serve variations of fried things that I wind up eating out of sheer desperate hunger (read: no one wants to drink on an empty stomach). So in this feature, a few of the We Love DC writers and I bring you our picks for some of the bars with the best food. Go out there and a grab a drink, and for heaven’s sake, put down the greasy mozzarella sticks at that dive bar and head somewhere with something good to eat.
Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Features, We Love Music
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We Love Music: Zola Jesus @ U Street Music Hall, 2/16/12

Synth-chamber-electronic songstress Zola Jesus and her band performed to an enthusiastic crowd at U Street Music Hall Thursday night. They were supported by openers Talk Normal, a female experimental rock duo from Brooklyn who are accompanying them on much of their tour. They are in the midst of a US tour before heading over to Europe at the end of March.

This was the third time singer Nika Roza Danilova, who performs as Zola Jesus, had played in DC. Previously she has toured as on opener for acts including The XX and in Europe toured with Fever Ray. Her music is dark, moody, heavily electronic, with some piano and strings mixed in, with dramatic vocals. At times it brings to mind Massive Attack, other times Fever Ray, even hints of Kate Bush, but Danilova’s vocals are the unique element of her music. Continue reading →

Entertainment, Music, Night Life, The Daily Feed, We Love Music
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Hot Ticket: Zola Jesus @ U Street Music Hall, 2/16/2012

photo courtesy of Zola Jesus

Goth/synthpop princess Zola Jesus will be performing her enchanting, dark tunes Thursday night at U Street Music Hall. She has toured with Fever Ray and The XX, and collaborated with M83, LA Vampires and Burial Hex, among others.  Check out her video for “Vessel,” off of her 2011 album Conatus, out on Sacred Bones Records.

Zola Jesus

U Street Music Hall

7pm/$15/All Ages

Arlington, Entertainment, Interviews, Music, Night Life, People, The Features, We Love Music
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Q&A with Justin Trawick

Justin Trawick is a local singer-songwriter, band frontman, and musical entrepreneur.  In addition to his exhaustive solo performance schedule he has created a series called The 9, that packages nine singer-songwriters into one show, joining their forces to create a theatrical and diverse night of entertainment. We Love DC’s Alexia Kauffman sat down with Justin to talk about his endeavors.

Alexia Kauffman: So first can you tell us a little bit about who you are, what you do, and what is on your plate right now?

Justin Trawick: I’m a musician in the area. I’ve been doing music full-time for about four years. I live in Arlington, and I play most of my shows in the Washington, DC area, and then I go out of town, a lot of east coast shows up and down from Boston down to Georgia. And I play in a lot of cities around the country via airplane- I go to Austin and L.A. a lot. Continue reading →