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8 NIGHTS THAT SHOOK L.A.'s ROCK WORLD!

June 8, 2015, 6:10 pm
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By extraordinary coincidence, Los Angeles' four best local live (and recording) acts kicked summer tours off playing within 8 nights of one another for one helluva thrill-packed week+1, May 30, 31, June 1 and 6, 2015.  Photofeatures on each to follow momentarily. For now, a preview of sorts with a hands on theme-- from upper left clockwise: Little Caesar, Dr. Boogie, Ruby Friedman Orchestra and The Dogs.




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LITTLE CAESAR LIVE at PALADINO's 5.29.15 before EUROPEAN TOUR

June 14, 2015, 4:40 pm
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LITTLE CAESAR revved up for their forthcoming summer European tour with a gig/pre-tour party at Paladino's, Reseda CA  May 29, 2015. Seen here, singer Ron Young reaching out to a fan responding to Ron's characteristic emotion-packed soul/rock vocals.



  
Little Caesar's Ron Young, Tom Morris and Loren Molinare 2015 welcomed Cary Beare on guitar and Pharoah Bennett on bass, (the latter eventually celebrating when American Pharoah, his throroughbred namesake spelling his name similarly, won the Triple Crown of U.S. horse racing.)  All rocked hard, soulful as before, characteristic onstage camaraderie intact. No wonder all Europe loves them... Little Caesar's two and half decade history here: LINK and LINK.


PHOTO OPS:
 Above, Tracy Marshall Isaacs, Danny Isaacs, Tony Matteucci. Years ago Danny was in Loren's other band, Detroit/Hollywood's legendary THE DOGS when Danny was seventeen: Tony has been THE DOGS' drummer since the mid-1980s.  Below, Donna Balancia, editor of California Rocker (LINK) and new friend.

Here's the Europe Tour 2015 dates:
19/06/2015 Puerto de Sta Maria - Spain @ Puerto Sherry - Harley Davidson HOG Weekend
20/06/2015 Weert - Holland @ Bosuil w/ Jared James Nichols
21/06/2015 Selestat - France @ Fête de la Musique (open air) w/ Jared James Nichols
22/06/2015 Krefeld - Germany @ Kulturrampe
23/06/2015 Verviers - Belgium @ Spirit of 66
24/06/2015 Frankfurt - Germany @ Nachtleben
26/06/2015 Zaragoza - Spain @ Sala Lopez
27/06/2015 Aviles - Spain @ Centro Niemeyer
28/06/2015 Cangas - Spain @ Salason
30/06/2015 Madrid - Spain @ La Boîte Live
01/07/2015 Estepona - Spain @ Louie Louie
02/07/2015 Cartagena - Spain @ Sala Budokan
03/07/2015 Spain tba
04/07/2015 Barcelona - Spain @ Razz3

Lucky Spaniards get more Little Caesar↓
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DR. BOOGIE LIVE AT EL CID 5.30.15, INCIPIENT GREATNESS...

June 16, 2015, 10:17 pm
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Do I weary of photographing the same bands? Never when they're this great and also the best new band I've witnessed in years. The more one sees Dr. Boogie, the better they seem, hallmark of incipent greatness in all A list bands of The Bigs. To wit: for a band together less than a year, they retain every possible factor going for them-- highly listenable, memorable songs that are referential to the most interesting rock from the past but identifiable only as their own spin on same, amazingly performed with tight prowess by attractive young guys with their own look, singly and collectively.
 

  Twisted lyrics extoll the admirable qualities of slutty girls somehow without dipping into the misogyny of the early Rolling "Stupid Girl" Stones.Their arrangements remain uniformly excellent, and onstage this lively band sounds just like its demos and EP releases despite the lack of the recordings' keyboards, horn sections, extra percussion and backup singers. Patrick "Frenchy" French did join in on harp for a song at this El Cid gig.
 

Their international potential remains huge. They get the hard rock right with the roll and swagger hammering any groove, unlike most of their young British or European counterparts who just think they do because they sport guitars. This El Cid gig spotlighted excellent new material just to keep things fresh, Chris P testifying in his voice of liquid gravel, with all members firing on all cylinders, despite the over-heated atmosphere within that (invisibly) almost felled a bandmember. Indeed, they are unstoppable: another bandmember arrived on genuine crutches! The show must go on, because audiences always love Dr. Boogie. Improbably for someone who's documented the best of the hard rock genres for the last five decades, so do I.











The occasion also showcased Shipwrecked, a new release by their chums The Blessings who preceded their set. Singer Jeremy White and friends' rootsy rock always prove a great complement. Pictured below right, Lavone Seetal, Jeremy White and Mike Gavigan. By the by, Facebook friends of the lead singer can check out his own excellent photography therein...
 
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RUBY FRIEDMAN ORCHESTRA LIVE 6.1.15 at The Mint

June 21, 2015, 11:18 am
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Our rare local concerts by The Ruby Friendman Orchestra inspire great cause for celebration. Images thereof always lean to the dramatic because the onstage emotions penetrate deeply, genuinely, and real. And yes, the high quality of the music/delivery indeed justifies a certain theatricality. 

RFO's gig at The Mint for Hunnypot's (LINK) evening of musical thrills proved amazing as usual, a wonderous set of bone-chilling ballads whose lyrics probably were written in runes (see "Hunt You Down," below*,) plus assorted torch stompers showcasing Ms. Friedman's astonishing songwriting and vocal prowess. RFO also performed a memorable cover of Darrell Scott's "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive."

Right, Adam Zimmon from TheHitHouse; not seen in the night's pix, fellow RFO songwriter, arranger and drummer Alex Elena. The Orchestra featured a fulltime cellist as well as the traditional rock staples.


 

 
 Whereas to me Ruby's fetching stage attire harkened to (left) Whistler's Symphony in White #1, 1862 (an affectionate portrait of his girlfriend, Jo Hiffernan,)Ms. Friedman herself clarified, "I was thinking Saloon Girl meets Maxfield Parrish."
 Close enough...
 Sharing the bill:
Felice Lazae, Anahita Skye and the sweet singing sounds of The Silver Lake Chorus
  
PHOTO OPS:
Donna Balancia, Editor of California Rocker (LINK), author/singer Orit Arfa, and the inimitable Ms. Ruby Friedman her own bemused self.

*"Hunt You Down"video clip** performed by Ruby Friedman Orchestra at The Mint 6.1.15. This is an original song by The Hit House for the Playstation game Bloodborne, just released in spring, 2015.
**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhzwBO7haqk
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THE DOGS DEBUT NEWEST RELEASE with INSTORE GIG 6.6.15!

July 1, 2015, 11:34 pm
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THE DOGS debuted new songs from their forthcoming Smelvis Records' release Ain't Going Nowhere while shooting a video for same at Blue Bag Records in Echo Park CA. A select crowd of friends and other invitees were then treated to a full set from this always unbelievably dynamic hardest rock trio. For more information on this legendary Detroit/L.A. band who have rocked from the battle lines of 1960s to right now, peruse my musings at LINKor skip to band history codification at LINK.
 



THE DOGS are: 
Loren Molinare, guitar,
lead vocals;
Mary Kay, bass, vocals;
Tony Matteucci, drums, vocals 

With a fabulous cineaste pun for his own production company-- True/Faux Films-- director Drew Echo had spent the week filming with the band at various locations, including the domicile of Mr. Twister and yours truly where my real life mother had a cameo role as a harridan tormenting a hapless Mary Kay.

PHOTO OPS: 
  
Above 2x, model/fashion icon Brenda Starr Light, Mary Kay and Leslie Knauer of the band Naked Hand Dance she fronts with her husband Al Teman. Mary and Tony Matteucci performed with Leslie (still beloved from her Precious Metal days) for a decade in the popular band Kanary which released a half dozen cds and EPs.

 Above, rock couturier Evita Corby is seen with Loren's wife, landscape designer Julie Scher Molinare, then with longtime Dogs' fan Stan Gullo and Loren Molinare. Product placement is a prior Dogs' LP Fed Up on Bacchus/Dionysus which features welcome re-releases of powerful Dogs recordings from the 1970s.





Left, BFFs Mary and Leslie; right, writer Paula Tiberius and Brenda Starr Light

   


Below (photographer unknown) your humble photojournalist, Mary Kay and Leslie Knauer


Below, Mike Hudson, Tony Mattuecci, Leslie Knauer, Mary Kay, Loren Molinare

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R.I.P. DICK VAN PATTEN, DOGS' BEST FRIEND

July 2, 2015, 8:20 am
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R.I.P. actor Dick Van Patten because...
he helped start a dog food company that makes fabulously healthful dog food 
with no suspect ingredients whatsoever, "Natural Balance." And yes, I buy it.
For further info, go to LINK.

(photographer unknown)
 


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THE ONE GREAT SCENE IN AN OTHERWISE DIFFICULT FILM TO LIKE

July 2, 2015, 8:21 am
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Just for you, I've excerpted the one great scene* (less than 2 min.) in an otherwise difficult film to like, the biopic Stoned from ten years ago. In it, Brian Jones has just experienced the very worst moment of his life, being fired from the Rolling Stones who he had co-founded. Unexpectedly, with that devilish smirk, he daydream-drifts into his own parallel Stones' universe this time as its the main star. The scene works, and how.Great editing, as well as emphasizing the actor as an actual groovin' musician: note the dancing on the precipice as both a literal and figurative observation on the character's plight.



The director was a respected producer (Interview with the Vampire for one) with this film as his first directing task, and probably wasn't ready to go more experimental. I would have loved to have seen the entire film shot the way this one sequence was, since it imparts so much interior meaning, moves like a freight train afire and is so incontestably well done.

Those interested in more facts/less projection would do well to purchase Paul Trynka's book on the subject, Sympathy for the Devil: the Birth of the Rolling Stones and the Death of Brian JonesLINK.
*video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5d1trphdBE
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A DOG CAN HELP THIS BLIND MAN SEE...

July 2, 2015, 8:22 am
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One of the most effective, poignant ads ever, with such strong visual and emotional pull. 

Smart dogs love doing suitable jobs, so don't think this isn't a 2-way-street partnership.  As it's such good p.r. for dogs and so invaluable to the visually impaired, here are the two organizations to which I contribute: 
Guide Dogs for the Blind http://welcome.guidedogs.com/ 
and Guiding Eyes for the Blind https://www.guidingeyes.org/
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WOMAN IN GOLD, KLIMT'S MASTERPIECES IN DISPUTE/PERIL/ABSENTIA

July 9, 2015, 10:49 am
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Klimt, "Adele Bloch-Bauer"
1907, oil and gold leaf on canvas





 
 
My eyes hurt today from weeping at the last fourth of the filmWoman in Gold last night. Maybe because its scale was more intimate, like Polanski's The Pianist which underscored the total life disruption of a single person in the Holocaust, it remained easier to identify with the devastating losses of one woman, Maria Bloch-Bauer Altmann in World War II than with the masses in, say, Schindler's List. There was also that tear-provoking scene in which the young American attorney embraces the magnitude of his grandfather Arnold Schoenberg's legacy to the world for the first time when listening to a concert performing the latter's work. It was just a name before.

This true story of the destruction WWII wrought on her family's lives and of their world class art collection looted by the Nazis brought tragedy home very subjectively for me (to watch at least) since the characters considered their lives and their art to be interchangeable, as do I. It is also a Law & Order type procedural, action/escape adventure, road movie and tale of redemption. Bigtime recommend.

In the interest of balance I offer one of the few accounts in English of the international legal issues addressed in the film:LINK.* Vienna was and is a city dedicated to the arts and music, and I believe its art-appreciative citizenry were let down badly by their leaders' refusal to negotiate with Ms. Altmann in order to have these Austrian masterpieces remain in Vienna. As David Gionfriddo wrote me, "Austria outsmarted itself by trying to steamroll her with legalities." 

Another friend Mark Leviton wrote me, "Historically Vienna has some of the greatest artists and worst politicians."And why? From my reading and brief visit to Vienna, i believe Vienna has just as huge a disconnect between its populace and its leadership as we do at present. My only first hand knowledge observation came from my late grandfather who briefly lived in neighboring Heidelburg, Germany before WW1, (joining dueling and drinking clubs with the actual Student Princes.) He said "it broke my heart to see what Germany did to its own people. I believe the German people, unlike their tyrant leaders, were good people."

It's almost a prosaic cliche that university students take to Klimt as their first art history discovery (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 4 first episode wherein vampires have a wagering tally of Klimt's "The Kiss" versus Monet's "Waterlilies" posters kept as trophies from the freshmen they kill) but Klimt has been a personal favorite since a UCLA art teacher of mine pointed out to our class that the very realistic depictions of human physiognomy anchored all the wild stuff. 

 a detail from Klimt's "Beethoven Frieze," 1902, wall mural for Secessionist Exhibit

The Belvedere museum was being remodeled with one time I was in Vienna and its collection truncated drastically for public viewing. Yes, they exhibited this painting and about 7 others, but I had wanted to see Klimt's landscapes, which reproduce as poorly in print as the magnificent gold portraits. Klimt landscapes were the other types of paintings referred to in the lawsuit. 

Klimt, Birnbaum (pear tree) 1903, oil on canvas
 

So much of Klimt's legacy was bombed into oblivion during WWII. The following works,
"Shubert at the piano," 1899, oil on canvas, and "Two Girlfriends," 1916, oil on canvas exist only in photographs. (Thank goodness for Kodachrome's early invention.)

Addenda vis a vis the film's lawsuit premise: although the paintings' eventual sales proceeds were divided among several heirs, Ms. Altmann's portions mainly went to charities such as The Holocaust Museum and her own Foundation.
*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Austria_v._Altmann
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DOG CARTAGE

July 14, 2015, 9:49 am
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Yes, once there was an automobile made for dogs... but Honda [I think wrongly] discontinued manufacturing the Element in 2011 claiming that its only market was people with bicycles, large dogs and drum kits. No wonder we still see so many in SoCal.
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SOME METAL FESTIVALS CIRCA 1991

July 14, 2015, 9:55 am
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Some metal festivals I photographed circa August and September 1991. Music Connection cropped off Rob Halford's nice jacket details so they are hereby restored.
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DR. BOOGIE DOUBLE DOWN AND RIP IT UP LIVE!

July 15, 2015, 8:57 pm
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  In my car I played "Personal Matter," one of the new Dr. Boogie songs from their soon to be released album to Los Angeles scene chronicler/author of 8 music books Harvey Kubernik and he yelled "This is the best song you've played for me in 22 years! And with horns! Keyboards!"  Well, yeah, they do sound like The Bigs, something of a mashup between The Faces (without the sloppy) and The Rolling Stones,  groovesome, tight, with  swagger. They fit right in with all the prior favorites on my iPod.

To hear this particular all-pistons-firing foursome is to transmogrify into an instantaneous admirer, to see them is to become a lifelong fan. They've been together less than a year but have had their songs played on mainstream radio in Japan (76.1 InterFM) and repeatedly on Hollywood's KROQ via Rodney Bingenheimer's Rodney On The ROQ show. 

With reputation and cred growing exponentially, Dr. Boogie recently played two cool gigs: with pal Patrick French on harp in tow, 7.11.15 at Echo Park's Cafe Nela, a club which boasts a helluva inspired lighting technician (this vintage 1960s light show veteran loves shooting there consequently) and 6.27.15 at The Cochran Club, located at The American Legion Hall in Bell Gardens CA. The latter is so named because actual Eddie Cochran ("Summertime Blues,""C'mon Everybody") played there in the 1950s!  Enjoy these visuals until you can see/hear/experience the real thing live...




PHOTO OPS, Cafe Nela:

Rock couturier Evita Corby, vintage/original clothier Nena Garcia and Dustin James with a background glimpse of Irene LoConto and Jeff Turpin; California Rocker editor Donna Balancia and Dustin.


THE COCHRAN CLUB at THE AMERICAN LEGION HALL
 

 


 Charismatic frontman Chris P
testifies of Dr. Boogie's
rock and roll mission
to the enraptured
 crowd


Dr. Boogie are
Chris P, lead
vocals, guitar,
Dustin James,
guitar, vocals,
Jeff Turpin,
bass, vocals,
Luis Herrera,
drums.


PHOTO OPS, The Cochran Club:
Irene LoConto and California Rocker Editor Donna Balancia
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LAWN GATOR

July 19, 2015, 9:28 am
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All the creatures came out for our extremely rare summer rainstorm. Some folks have flamingos, we have lawn gators. Actually, it hasn't rained for four and a half years (the Great Western US Drought starting 2011, ongoing) so the unexpected precipitation was particularly enjoyable. I hadn't realized how much I missed rain...
 


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CALIFORNIA ROCKER INTERVIEWS MY BETTER HALF MR. TWISTER!

July 21, 2015, 2:41 pm
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Left, Mr. Twister onstage in 1970; right, at the range in 2015. Still bad ass!

Wowza! Great interview by Donna Balancia with my better half Mr. Twister in today's edition of California Rocker. Click : LINK
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SUMMER MOONFLOWERS: SUNFLOWERS AT NIGHT 7.21.15

July 22, 2015, 9:04 am
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                                                                                                                               Gia and Sarahbelle enjoy the summer night air in their back yard (daytime too hot.)
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SUNFLOWERS 2015 BY DAY

July 23, 2015, 10:17 am
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Guest photographer: © 2015 Kurt Ingham. True height of sunflowers: gi-normous. I wear celebratory Klimt leggings* obtained after seeing Woman in Gold and reading its source Lady in Gold by Anne Marie O'Connor.

*design based upon Hope II by Gustav Klimt
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GIA GOES TO LOMPOC

July 25, 2015, 1:55 pm
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Gia goes to Lompoc CA, beloved of W.C. Fields in The Bank Dick to show in the Western Sighthound Specialty 7.24.15. No joy except seeing friends both human and canine. 
 
Above, what the modern dog showperson does in downtime, (in my case besides  encroaching on the bivouac of Borzoi owners Ian and Sherry O'Connor. Lebensraum!) Gia relaxes, Sarahbelle basks. Guest photographer © 2015 Kurt Ingham.
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SWISS FAIR 2015 with MR. TWISTER

July 30, 2015, 2:08 pm
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Mr. Twister looking very Robert Redford at the 2015 Swiss Fair in City of Industry (Los Angeles outskirts.) 

His marksman team had just returned triumphant from the once every
5 years competition in
 Switzerland (see LINK),
Mr. Twister at right
in center.

 A Bernese Mountain Dog and me (guest photographer © 2015 Kurt Ingham.)
 

Swiss Fairground attraction: William Tell game wherein you shoot the apple off the head of the faux son with a crossbow.




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AFTER KLIMT

July 30, 2015, 2:37 pm
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Look, you just can't read three books in one week about Gustav Klimt and not want to experience the exuberance first hand if you can at all paint or draw. I painted the above oil and mixed media on cardboard* from a photo of Klimt's teenage girlfriend Mizzi Zimmermann and made it late period unfinished Klimt, remembering the key to decorative elements is knowing when to stop. He worked from live models not photos, 
so this is not a copy of anything whatsoever by Klimt.

Mizzi was pregnant with his child when she posed for Klimt's Schubert at the Piano, oil on canvas, 1899, seen far left. This gorgeous work was destroyed in WWII (fortunately Kodachrome had been invented prior to same and we have its image in color.) Below, Klimt's The Bride, unfinished oil on canvas, 1917-18.
*the cardboard in question is a photographic mailing envelope proclaiming "DO NOT BEND" which I left in the composition as a random Marcel Duchamps factor a la the glass broken in transit of his The Bride Stripped Bare of Her Bachelors, Even.

Trivia: my better half Mr. Twister's favorite "Klimt" is a cartoon (left, fair use © Lessing Images) by the latter's pal, Austrian illustrator Remegius Geyling, of Klimt pausing from painting on his scaffold to be be served lunch by his nude models, also spoofing the artist's penchent for floating nudes with limbs akimbo (right, study for the now destroyed Medicine mural, oil on gesso on canvas, 1899.)

The Klimt is appealingly wry in the same fashion as the photo, fair use © Julian Wasser, above of author Eve Babitz with Dada artist Duchamps, referenced above.
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CHURCH STREET STUDIO

July 31, 2015, 3:30 pm
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Once upon a time my brother owned and operated a recording studio in Nashville TN. I did the logo/graphics for him, as pictured here. Alert: all the contact info is many, many decades out of date...
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