Trotsky Icepick in 2011, photo from the artist’s MySpace page.

Your humble music editor celebrates a birthday this weekend, and for this one, I’m honored to have some really special participants playing with me at this month’s free, all-ages Sunday afternoon show at the Redwood Bar.

The Last (6pm) have been among LA’s most powerful power-pop bands, and one of its most enduring. Existing since 1976 with a fluid lineup rotating around founder Joe Nolte, the current incarnation – including legendary Pedro guitarist Phi Lo, bassist Lisa Torres, drummer Greg Tarpley and keyboardist Mike Nolte – is a monster on stage, playing with a level of piss and vinegar that’s going to seem familiar to a lot of people who went to gigs a long, long time ago.

Trotsky Icepick (5pm) continues a two-year streak that has seen a lot of people who overlooked them in the early 90s slowing down for a second look. Urinals founders John Talley-Jones and Kjehl Johansen, former Leaving Train Tom Hofer, Vitus Matare of the 1979-era Last (I hope their parting of ways was at least friendly, or backstage is going to be awkward!) and drummer John Frank made up one of SST’s most danceable signings ever, a funky good time that downplayed its members’ punk roots and took a shot at pure pop with the edges sanded to the texture of glass. As their very name confirmed, there was something subversive to be found under those gleaming surfaces, and their recent live shows have been immensely satisfying. They’re heavier live, not as in distorted/ grungy/ chaotic, but somehow weightier, more solid than their records. This second wind has already lasted a surprisingly long time but with Talley-Jones talking about a new Urinals album about to come out, a Radwaste reunion, and even a 100 Flowers reunion all on the horizon, it seems highly possible The Pick will be cooling their jets for a while after this show, so don’t miss out.

Jon Wahl and the Amadans – with me on drums – opens the proceedings at 4pm. We’ll be playing songs we’re getting ready to record, which should find us in focus.

As always, our shows are free to attend, and all ages are welcome so bring the kids. Thanks to Bob Cantu and the Redwood staff for letting us do our thing, and thanks to all of the artists willing to come and do a free show for the people. I hope you’re enjoying these as much as we’re enjoying putting them on.

The Los Angeles Beat Presents takes place every fourth Sunday at the Redwood Bar and Grill, 316 W. 2nd St, Downtown LA on Sunday May 26 from 4pm – 7pm. Free admission, all ages welcome.

Inglewood Park Cemetery (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

Take me to the cemetery and “We’ll hear the dead people talk. They do talk there. They chatter like birds… but all they say is one word and that one word is ‘live.’  They say ‘live, live, live, live, live.’  It’s all they’ve learned, it’s the only advice they can give.  Just live.  Simple! A very simple instruction.” – Tennessee Williams (from his play Orpheus Descending)

With sprawling, well manicured lawns, nicely tended gardens, shade trees and more statuary then you shake a stick at, cemeteries can be magical places and do not have to be considered morbid.  They are places of history, places of remembrance, places where you can “meet” your idols, even if they passed away a century before you were born. They are sacred places that will put you in touch with your mortality and may even give you a life affirming jolt. Time is priceless and we never know how much of it we have left. Visiting the graves of the multitude of celebrities we have buried in Los Angeles is a unique and somewhat surreal way to pay homage to our heroes. Below is a partial list of area cemeteries where some of the celebrated are buried. Finding the actual graves can be like detective work, but there are a few internet sites that are very helpful. The two websites that I have found best for celebrity grave hunting are www.findagrave.com and www.seeing-stars.com.

Etta James crypt at Inglewood Park Cemetery (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

Inglewood Park Cemetery 720 E. Florence Avenue, Inglewood, CA.
(310) 412-6500

Ray Charles, Etta James. Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Sugar Ray Robinson, Gypsy Rose Lee, T-Bone Walker, Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton, Richard Berry, Betty Grable, Cesar Romero, Billy Preston.

The crypt of Marilyn Monroe. The man in the crypt above her requested that he be buried face down. (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

Pierce Bros Westwood Memorial Park 218 Glendon Avenue, Westwood, CA. (310) 474-1579

Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Mel Torme, Farrah Fawcett, Natalie Wood, Roy Orbison (unmarked), Frank Zappa (unmarked), Carl Wilson, Dorothy Stratten, Truman Capote, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Burt Lancaster, Carroll O’Connor, Donna Reed, Eddie Albert, George C. Scott, Eva Gabor, Bob Crane, Richard Dawson, Jim Backus, Minnie Riperton, Buddy Rich, Billy Wilder.

Bela Lugosi’s Dead (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

Holy Cross Cemetery 5835 W. Slauson Avenue, Culver City, CA.  (310) 670-7697

Bela Lugosi, Lawrence Welk, Sharon Tate, Bing Crosby, John Ford, Rita Hayworth, Louella Parsons, Darby Crash, John Candy, Rosalind Russell, Loretta Young, Chick Hearn, Ray Bolger, Fred MacMurray, Jimmy Durante, Mario Lanza, Ricardo Montalban.

The grave of Ritchie Valens (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

San Fernando Mission Cemetery 11160 Stranwood Avenue, 
Mission Hills, CA.  (818) 361-7387

Ritchie Valens, Chuck Connors, Tommy Noonan, William Frawley. (Bob Hope used to be here, but was moved next door to the San Fernando Mission itself).

Errol Flynn’s grave at Forset Lawn in Glendale (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

Forest Lawn Glendale 1712 S. Glendale Avenue, Glendale, CA.
 (323) 254-3131

Walt Disney, Michael Jackson*, Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor, Humphrey Bogart*, Errol Flynn, Clara Bow, Carole Lombard, Jimmy Stewart, Jean Harlow, Mary Pickford*, Spencer Tracy, George Burns, Lon Chaney, Ethel Waters, Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, Red Skelton, Ted Knight, Louis L’Amour, Frank L. Baum, Alan Ladd, Billy Barty, The Andrews Sisters, Theda Bara. (* These are behind locked gates.)

Andy Gibb’s grave at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA.
 (323) 254-7251 or (818) 984-171

Liberace, Ricky Nelson, Bette Davis, Freddie Prinze, Ronnie James Dio, Telly Savalas, Andy Gibb, Gene Autry, Julie London, Lou Rawls, David Carradine, Scatman Crothers, Michael Hutchence, Isabel Sanford, Sandra Dee, John Ritter, Buster Keaton, Jack Webb, Brittany Murphy, Tom Bosley, Dorothy L’Amour, Steve Allen.

A close-up of Johnny Ramone’s grave at Hollywood Forever Cemetery (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

Hollywood Forever 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, CA.
 (323) 469-1181

Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Vampira, Rudolph Valentino, Mel Blanc, Bugsy Siegel, Douglas Fairbanks, Woody Herman, Peter Lorre, Estelle Getty, Fay Wray, Janet Gaynor, David White, Iron Eyes Cody. 

The late, great Milton Berle can be found at Hillside Cemetery in Culver City. (Photo by Nikki Kreuzer)

Hillside Memorial Park 6001 W. Centinela Avenue, Culver City, CA.  (310) 641-0707

Milton Berle, Shelley Winters, Michael Landon, Jack Benny, Al Jolsen, Lorne Greene, Max Factor, Dinah Shore, Aaron Spelling, Nell Carter, Fritz Freleng, Moe Howard, Suzanne Pleshette, Mickey Cohen, Vic Morrow.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye
PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of the BHBA

Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, California’s first Filipina chief justice, is scheduled to attend and provide remarks on the current state of the Judiciary. The Chief Justice’s recent press release concerning her disappointment that the governor’s budget revised budget proposals which provided “no more fiscal relief to the courts” and her resulting concern that “the poor and middle class residents who rely on the courts to resolve issues that affect their lives and livelihoods will be adversely affected, as well those businesses still digging out from the effects of the great recession” indicate that the state of the judiciary might just be dismal. However, this is an unusual opportunity to see the Chief Justice in Beverly Hills, since the California Supreme Court stopped having oral arguments in Los Angeles several years ago.

Guest Speaker at the luncheon will be Adam Winkler, professor of Constitutional Law at UCLA and author of “Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America.” Professor Winkler is a specialist in constitutional law whose work “Other People’s Money”: Corporations, Agency Costs, and Campaign Finance Law” (92 Geo. L.J. 871) was cited in Justice Stevens dissent from the principal ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Com’n. Los Angeles County Proposition C – which sought to lessen the impact in the County of Citizen’s United – passed just yesterday with a significant majority. Winkler is also not so well known to be the child actor who played the son of the Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli characters in Martin Scorsese’s “New York, New York”.

Clearly, the topics of this luncheon should be lively. But more importantly, the proceeds will benefit the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation scholarship program, which provides scholarships to economically disadvantaged, academically qualified law students. This year, scholarships are being presented to seven local law school students: Andrea Yamsuan of Loyola Law School; Sarah Yance of Pepperdine University School of Law; DeAndre Aubry from Southwestern University School of Law; Amalia Beckner, Scott Sia and Theresa Zhen of UCLA School of Law; and Jennifer Cohen from USC Gould School of Law. In addition, Jason Pang from the UCLA School of Law, who won the BHBA’s 4th Annual “Rule of Law Essay Writing Competition” for his paper titled “Presidential Non Enforcement and the Rule of Law”, will be recognized.

Additional scholarship funding is being provided by numerous local law firms: Girardi | Keese; Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP; Law Offices of Lisa L. Maki; Shernoff Bidart Echeverria Bentley LLP; and the USC Gould School of Law-Beverly Hills Bar Association Institute on Entertainment Law and Business; Marella, Boxer, Wolpert, Nessim, Drooks & Lincenberg, APC; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; Greenberg Glusker; Oldman, Cooley, Sallus, Gold, Birnberg & Coleman LLP; Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.; Torrey Pines Bank; and Valensi Rose, PLC. Supreme Court Luncheon Affinity Partner/Member Benefit Provider/Sponsors are Elkins Jones Insurance Agency, Inc.; LexisNexis; Matloff Life and Health Insurance; and West Coast Archives.

Tickets to the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Supreme Court Luncheon are $145 per person ($170 after May 24). Again, the proceeds will benefit the scholarship program. The Beverly Hills Hotel is located at 9641 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. For tickets and information, please call (310) 601-2422 or visit www.bhba.org.

Singers Alessandra Davis (left) and Kevin Bachelder were captivating. What is not to like about Alessandra? She is eighteen years old, beautiful, and has a great rock and roll voice. Her interests are fashion and music. She looked stunning in her sexy, virgin white dress and delivered a rocking version of Dancing in the Streets. She obviously has a career in music if that is her choice. I say go for both fashion and music! I am one fan who will buy a ticket every chance I get.

Kevin Bachelder, song writer, recording artist, and vocalist is simply a great singer. He rocked the house and commanded the attention of the audience throughout the set that I thoroughly enjoyed.

AD Soul Company regular Gary Swan contributed great vocals and set the tone with his flawless electric piano. He has toured with big names (Pointer Sisters, Bobby Krieger), played for television shows (Will and Grace, others), and arranged music for a long list of artists. I would go to see the Gary Swan if it was only him singing and playing piano. He has an engaging and relaxed style that makes everyone feel they are going to be entertained.

Bassist Carl Sealove has recorded and/or performed with diverse artists, from Bob Dylan to Barbra Streisand. Tenor sax player Steve Mann and trumpet player Bill Lamb are veteran players from Tower of Power and many other groups. They contributed incredible energy and some of the tastiest horn solos you will ever hear.  Original AD and The Soul Company player, Frank Browne, took time from his very busy music schedule to rejoin the band and offer some inspired and essential guitar to the mix.

I have spent my whole life trying to be excellent at one thing (don’t ask what it is). Alfred Davis (AD) has achieved excellence in two professions. He is a great architect and a great drummer. I will never know how he is able to find time to bring together so many talented musicians, produce a show, and run his full-time architecture business. If AD can do it, so can his daughter, Allesandra.

To pay a small cover and have an up-close seat to watch these consummate professionals is something special.

Courtesy of Pat Loud.

The PBS documentary series “An American Family,” broadcast in 1973, was groundbreaking as well as controversial. Widely considered the first reality show, it documented the Louds, an upper middle-class family living in Santa Barbara, California; their daily activities, from mundane household routines to dramatic marital upheaval, were captured on film for the world to see. Eldest son Lance (considered the first openly gay person on television) made no attempt to hide his flamboyant lifestyle. Amongst today’s reality show-saturated audiences (and with homosexuality far more accepted among mainstream viewers), this would probably elicit no more than a yawn; however, in the early 70’s, it created quite a media sensation.

Darlene: I work at home and am always busy with projects, so I keep things simple when it comes to health and beauty. I rely more on things I can do to stay healthy and happy than on things I can buy. Here are three lifestyle principles that I follow:

Eat real food.

Considering that I’ve collected candy wrappers all my life, you can guess that I’m not a stickler about everything I eat. However, I do keep my candy munching down and make my meals as healthy and tasty as possible. I mostly buy produce from the Cal Poly Farm Store and farmers’ markets. As much organic and USA grown as possible. For canned, boxed, bottled, and prepared foods, I check the ingredients to make sure that only food is included… no additives or “mystery ingredients.”

Make home a great place to be.

My husband Joe and I put a lot of work into making our house comfortable and beautiful and our yard an oasis, and what we put it into it makes life that much sweeter when we’re not working. A place of our own design is a great stress reducer. Why wait to take a vacation to be somewhere you enjoy? I need this every day. My nutty little dachshund King also provides laughs throughout the day. Never underestimate the benefits of pet power!

Enjoy life as a continuum.

I love to play lounge music and bubblegum from my youth and watch wacky old TV shows. I still have my favorite childhood books and toys. I still wear long hair, T-shirts, and jeans. This makes me happy and keeps me in touch with how I’ve arrived at any given point in my life. Life as a continuum inspires me creatively. When I was young, I wanted to be an author. Now I’ve finally achieved that goal fifty years later. It doesn’t really seem like a long time!

When it comes to beauty products, I don’t experiment as much as many women because I have eczema and hay fever. Most scented products are out, and the products I use are pretty basic. For my face, I cleanse with Cetaphil and moisturize with Aveeno Eczema Therapy. For the rest of my skin, I moisturize with Aveeno Skin Relief. For my hair, I alternate between Nioxin (primarily for its soothing nature on my scalp, but also to help keep my hair thick) and prescription Nizoral (much better than the OTC version).

I don’t wear much makeup most days because I’m lazy and prefer getting extra sleep rather than spending time on primping. Despite my lackadaisical attitude, my sister-in-law got me hooked on Jane Iredale’s mineral makeup. It’s expensive, but worth it. Their Liquid Minerals foundation is smooth and light and doesn’t irritate my skin. I’ve tried substituting less expensive makeup and have found it wanting. My hairdresser once told me that it’s pointless to spend a lot of money on mascara because it’s all about the same, but I haven’t found this to be true. In general, I think you get what you pay for with makeup.

Thanks to my eczema, allergies, and long hours at the computer, I developed “allergic shiners” under my eyes. In other words, raccoon eyes. I’ve done my best to cover the dark circles with concealer when I go out, but I recently decided to try Radiesse filler instead. It took four quick treatments over the course of two months and is still healing up, but I’m thrilled with it so far! I went to a great Beverly Hills dermatologist and plastic surgeon who has helped my troubled skin in the past. Even though filler isn’t permanent, I recommend that you find someone with good credentials and reputation when it comes to this kind of work on one’s face.

Last tips: Stay in touch with your friends, ditch the people who make problems in your life, wear comfortable shoes, and have as much fun as possible.

In addition to these spectacular wines, attendees will had the opportunity to taste a variety of Italian products ranging from wine and prosecco sorbet to fresh pastas courtesy of event sponsors Italian Magic Olives, PreGel, Bindi, Ferrarelle, Pasta Mia, Academia Barilla and Il Fornaio.

 (From our friends at Pivotal)

All Photos by Billy Bennight for The Los Angeles Beat

As soft, warm and cuddly as a baby kitten was my first impression of Lydia as I listened to them on Soundcloud. Their lush and satiny layers of sound fronted by Leighton Antelman’s velvety vocals are the underpinning of the new album called “Devil”. Listening to Lydia’s music is as pleasurable as wearing a mink lined thong and as deliciously languid sounding as a Balthus painting looks and feels. Lydia is panty dropping music with an edge.

Keeping all this in mind as I headed to the Roxy from The Beverly Wilshire Hotel on a Friday evening to experience live what I’d heard from Lydia’s new release “Devil” had my interest in them peaked. One of the pleasures of heading to the strip is seeing my old friend Stephanie Mata who man’s the door in a lady like fashion at On The Rox. We were able to Kibitz a bit before Lydia went on creating a good vibe before the show. Yes, there was some necessary drama regarding photo opts before the show. But those problems were quickly resolved and merrily I proceeded to soak up Lydia’s performance. The Roxy for me is an old and familiar setting. I know the space from years of attending various showcasing of inspiring new bands and following cult favorites in this intimate setting.

Leighton Antelman stood barefooted and center stage as the curtain was drawn back to reveal him and the band. The set was kicked off with “This Is Twice Now” from Illuminate. The “Exit” was next and the set slipped forward to new and old material. The fans were most tightly packed with greater density near the center of the front of the stage. From the beginning all eyes gazed intently on the band, while they sang along with with every note and every phrase uttered from Antelman’s lips. Lydia’s musicianship held up to the level of performance set by recording from this 5 piece ensemble. Altelman’s velvety vocals caressed the air around me and his fans in an adoring manner. It was dream like state that held all suspended in the lush environment of the music eased around us with its creamy ecstatic background and Leighton’s velvety foreground.  It was an audio canvas with seamlessly applied brush strokes of the softest nature that embodied this performance of Lydia.

Photo Gallery aftter the Jump

Leighton took time to build repore with his fans. He shared antidotal stories and insights to the songs he was performing with everyone, while they focusing on his every word. Lydia continued the dreamy soundscapes with “Hailey” and then dug into the the title song to the new album, “Devil”. Even though I’m about to use these musical references as examples of Lydia’s sound. It’s my hope that it helps you wrap your head around Lydia’s audio gestalt. Although, I find Lydia is a very different band than the band references I’m about to enumerate, I find that their is some essential elements of Lydia’s sound that I find reminiscent of  The Verve, early Chateau Twins or the mellower aspect of The Breeders’ Last Splash album. Lydia is a like a floaty opium high, not that I would know anything about that! You find yourself languidly drifting and weaving through the melodies and dream dreamscapes in the most effortless manner.

To the end the fans remained obsessed and transfixed as the band played on. Lydia finished their set with “A Fine Evening For A Rogue”. All responded with hardy round of cat calls and applause. Everyone held their place till the band returned to finish off the night in the intimate setting of The Roxy. For all in attendance it even got dreamer and creamier as Lydia left everyone in a soft warm glow of with their encore number, “Hospital”. The night ended complete and whole as the soft velvet glove of Lydia’s reveries defused into the Sunset Strip’s night.

Address: 734 E 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Phone:(213) 680-3003