trust @ the henry fonda (9/27/14)

Robert Alfons is my lifelong love of all things gay, goth, and synth-pop incarnate. His music is filthy, his voice inhuman, and last night in Hollywood he played a set better than anything I could've presumed to pick for him.

Setlist:
Slightly Floating
Sulk
Icabod
Rescue, Mister
[new song]
Bulbform
Capitol
Gloryhole
Joyland
Candy Walls
Heaven
Dressed for Space
F.T.F.
Chrissy E
Barely

Encore:
Are We Arc?
Peer Pressure

mewithoutYou @ the troubadour (6/22/14)

We saw this band again. They were awesome again. I didn't go to the hospital the night before, either, which I think makes it the better show by default.

Setlist:
Catch for Us the Foxes:
Torches Together
January 1979
Tie Me Up! Untie Me!
Leaf
Disaster Tourism
Seven Sisters
The Soviet
Paper Hanger
My Exit, Unfair
Four Word Letter (Pt. Two)
Carousels
Son of a Widow

Encore:
Sisters of Mercy (Leonard Cohen cover)
Fox's Dream of the Log Flume
Silencer
Aubergine
O, Porcupine
Allah, Allah, Allah

From that spot just outside the mosh pit, goodnight.

cut copy @ the hollywood palladium (4/1/14)

It's impossible for me to be objective about my favorite synth-pop band -- In Ghost Colours (and, to a lesser degree, Zonoscope) is so close to me that its best moments will unerringly make me experience the deepest emotions that music can -- but suffice it to say that they really know how to please a crowd. There was such joy in the room tonight. And the light show ... damn.

Setlist:
We Are Explorers
Take Me Over
Free Your Mind
Where I'm Going
In Memory Capsule
So Haunted
Hearts on Fire
Saturdays
Feel the Love
Out There on the Ice
Let Me Show You Love
Meet Me in a House of Love
Lights and Music

Encore:
Walking in the Sky
Need You Now

Sublime. Just amazing. And then it rained as I sailed home past glittering skyscrapers on the empty freeway. A good night.

strange talk @ the satellite (11/7/13)

I'm not sure if it was superior sound, or whether these guys have really been rehearsing since August, but they totally killed it tonight.

My only gripe is that their set -- which is a similar, possibly identical, 45 minutes to what they played a couple months back -- is too short for a headliner, and could be augmented by one or two more songs (specifically, "Picking Up All the Pieces" and "So So La La," but that's my bias talking).

It's tricky setlisting with your phone in one hand and a can of PBR in the other while the body convulses in dancelike spasms, but these are the special skills my generation comes equipped with.

Setlist:
Cast Away
Take Me As I Am
Is It Real?
Wanted (Dead or Alive)
Eskimo Boy
Cosmic Synchronicity
We Can Pretend
Sexual Lifestyle
Climbing Walls
Falling in Love

No encore this time. I seem to recall the crowd coaxing "Another Day" out of them last time, but so it goes.

holy ghost! @ the henry fonda (10/20/13)

Decent DJ + way above-average opening band (if an opener is supposed to be a similar artist that gets you in the mood, Midnight Magic killed it) + high-energy, six-piece headliner playing an exemplary selection = an evening well spent. It was, coincidentally, also lead singer Alex Frankel's birthday.

Setlist:
Cheap Shots
It's Not Over
Hold My Breath
Say My Name
Okay
Slow Motion
Do It Again
It Gets Dark
Bridge and Tunnel
It Must Be the Weather
Hold On
I Will Come Back
Wait and See

Encore:
[crowd sang Happy Birthday to Alex]
Dumb Disco Ideas
Don't Look Down
Jam for Jerry

Yep. That's pretty much everything I could have asked for this band to play. Not one dud in the bunch. An uplifting, much-needed hour and a half of live music.

yeasayer @ el rey (8/11/13)

or, My, Mr. Keating, What Nice Legs You Have

We were really close to Chris Keating's legs. Closer than you are to your computer screen. We were also, occasionally, equally close to Anand Wilder as he busted out some sweet guitar solos. Fire alarms went off, calves were massaged. Great night.

Setlist:
2080
Henrietta
Longevity
Blue Paper
O.N.E.
Don't Come Close
Madder Red
Demon Road
Folk Hero Shtick
Reagan's Skeleton
Ambling Alp

Encore:
Devil and the Deed
Fingers Never Bleed
Tightrope
Wait for the Summer

El Rey, you're two for two.

the national @ the greek (8/10/13)

SO MUCH PRETTY.

Setlist:
I Should Live in Salt
Don't Swallow the Cap
Bloodbuzz Ohio
Sorrow
Sea of Love
Demons
Afraid of Everyone
Conversation 16
Squalor Victoria
I Need My Girl
This Is the Last Time
Slipped
Baby, We'll Be Fine
Abel
Slow Show
Pink Rabbits
Graceless
England
About Today
Fake Empire

Encore:
Humiliation
Mr. November
Terrible Love
Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks