so, another weekend in the big city has passed by – and we’re into a very warm november. not that i mind, i just find it a bit strange and disconcerting, especially being used to those colder northwest winters. anyhows, this ain’t no weather report, so here goes the weekend…
First up, Friday the 9th. After work, Shelley and I decided to dine at the Valley Inn. A Sherman Oaks old school restaurant that has been around since 1947, and was also referenced in the movie Valley Girl. Can’t beat those Valley Girl reference points for a good time. The food was fantastic, and the martinis were great. We also had a celebrity sighting – seated a couple of tables away and being really loud and obnoxious was a sort of demented Robert Goulet looking older man holding court with stories about celebrities that we really didn’t care about. Turns out it was the “Gossip King” of LA – Mike Walker, national enquirer writer and howard stern guest. figures.
But yeah, the food was great, and the waiter said he hoped we would come back, as we were “a breath of fresh air”.
Saturday – November 10th. We relax most of the day, getting ready for a busy evening. First up, we head off to the Corey Helford Gallery for the opening of Natalia Fabia’s art show, “Hooker Safari: A Glamorous Jungle Pageant”. She’s friends with Amy, who is also the subject of a couple of the paintings, so it was pretty interesting seeing one of your friends on display on the walls of a hip gallery. We hung out with Amy for a bit, chatted with the artist and other friends and art-fans, had a couple of drinks, and then left for a late dinner at the Edendale Grill. The art show was really nicely put together. Good attention to detail, good framing, and even though the artist has been described (by Supertouch.blog) as “the lowbrow Paris Hilton”, her paintings were really good. solid and shifting, good use of color, and interesting themes coming through. Sorta “Glam Fashion goes to Africa”.
The Edendale. Silverlake bound. Great food. really. The building has been around since 1924, when it was a fire station, and the surrounding area was known as Edendale, and before Hollywood became the big movie making name, it was Edendale that housed all the original studios, filming the early Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd films, Laurel & Hardy, movies from D. W. Griffith, Theda Bara’s Cleopatra, and Frank Capra. As well, around the corner from the restaurant was the location of the first Walt Disney Studios, where Mickey Mouse was created. That explains why the interior of the restaurant is decorated with great old photos of Walt Disney, Charlie Chaplin, and other old-time greats. An enjoyable meal, and friendly service, and a place that is definitely worth a few return visits. especially for the Cioppino. Shelley will definitely confirm that…
Interestingly enough, it turns out that we had just missed Jon Spencer and his entourage dining there by a couple of hours – but we didn’t really mind, ’cause as soon as we were done, we headed off to the Echo to catch Jon Spencer live, in his Heavy Trash incarnation. We got to the Echo just in time to catch the last couple of songs from Jail Weddings. A nine (or maybe 10) person band from L.A. that comes across like a soul groove New York flapper gangster lounge troupe from the 1940’s. or somewhere thereabouts. Slightly confusing, but interesting to note that frontman Gabe Hart was the head of the now gone garage band The Starvations. Garage going to the way-back machine. Then comes band # 2. Powersolo. A trio from Denmark that come out swingin’ and singin’ and bowl us over, crack us up, get us bouncing and grinning and having fun. Shelley compares them to a Hillbilly Eagles of Death Metal, and that about sums it up, although there are a couple of other great moments, like the Hillbilly Beastie Boys song, and the throw down side-splittin garage rock countryscat. Perfect. The crowd was pretty wound up rockabilly and hipster pompadour, and fairly crowded.
Jon Spencer wandered out a few times, stood right beside us, behind us – probably checking out the sound of the room – and then again after a costume change. I was just excited to see him on stage again, even though it wasn’t gonna be no Blues Explosion. I was also excited to see his partner – Matt Verta Ray. The man from Madder Rose, Parker & Lily, and of course, the awesome Speedball Baby. They hit the stage, with the Powersolo doing double time as the back up band, crazy singer man swithching to stand up bass – and throwing in some nice punk rock-a-billy twists and turns as he pounded away. The band was good, Jon Spencer hammed it up, and threw it down, though not quite as convincing as i’ve seen in the past. While it was nice to see him on such a small stage, it seemed to me that it was too small. He wanted to explode, but couldn’t quite find the room. Matt took a quieter role and just rocked out to the side, leaving Mr. Spencer with more room to bounce up and down. The in-between stories ended up being a little too long, which was a bit annoying, like buzzkill, and having been at an art opening and a big dinner beforehand, Shelley and I kinda lost momentum and slid out before the end of the show. And then Saturday is over.
That’s pretty much it this time around… Sunday was quiet – with a haircut from Amy, a little band practice, and catching up on episodes of Bones, Monday was supposed to be work, but the power was out – so – we ran errands, and watched more TV, and relaxed. which is very nice to do when you would normally be at work, which is where I am now – so…. back to it i go.
mochaLouder 