This week I spent a few days down in Los Angeles where it is about twenty degrees warmer than it is in Seattle right now. There is also much less water in the air. I used to despise California and L.A. in particular, but now that I’ve got good friends there, I’ve been able to see some good points. One of those good points would have to be the proliferation of live music.

We had three live music experiences during my stay. The first was Davíd Garza at Largo. Mr. Garza is one of several dark-haired male singer-songwriters for which I am gaga. I haven’t seen him perform for several years and was very much looking forward to Wednesday night’s performance. In fact, I timed my arrival in Los Angeles specifically so that I could attend. I could be tainted by memory, but I was expecting something different, better. However, I blame it on the venue. When I last saw Garza at the Green Room in Seattle, it was a small, intimate affair. Garza told stories, took a lot of requests, and played what seemed like a very long time. I sat quietly in the back, but I really felt energized and uplifted by the performance. At Largo, though, I didn’t. The club has so many rules for the patrons to follow, I just didn’t feel all that relaxed. On top of that, the show itself didn’t seem to last very long and had a very measured feel about it. Largo seemed to be too much of a controlled environment for a nonconformist musician like Davíd Garza. I enjoyed seeing him perform again, but I would have liked to enjoy it more.

Our second live music event was Friday night at the Troubadour and was a performance by Imperial Teen. I’ll admit that when I first learned of the plan, I wasn’t all that excited. I imagined that the show would be noisy indie musicians playing to a crowd of annoying scenesters. I knew I had heard Imperial Teen songs, but couldn’t readily bring any to mind. Anyway, I told myself it was work stress that was putting such a negative spin on the event, and that I would probably enjoy it if I kept an open mind. The Troubadour is a very nice space, as it turns out (aside from the smell of many alcohol-infused, late-night rock shows). The balcony where we sat afforded us a very nice, pretty close view of the stage. And once the show got underway, I was reminded how much I like them. I recognized all but one or two songs, and they were all performed very well. And the nice thing about Imperial Teen is that all the band members look like real people.

After leaving the Troubadour, we found ourselves at Canter’s Delicatessen, where we had our third live music experience. This one was provided by the attached Kibitz Room. While we had our late night nosh at Canter’s, we were serenaded by Pigeon Brigade and their truly awesome guitar. This guy is the next Steve Vai, I swear! Kaz had to get a photo:

We actually had a fourth live music experience. This one was a continuous and intermittant (is that contradictory?) one. Our host, Mike, being a music professional, has a tendency to pick up a guitar from time to time (or a ukelele or whatever’s handy) and start playing. We heard all sorts of things from Rush to Journey to Nilsson to Mike’s own songs. For me, this fourth experience is a very good reason to like L.A.