Music MonDaze

Monday sun-day! And just like that, the rain left us as quickly as it came. Not exactly the storm we thought it’d be, but it did give a few of your unfunny friends the opportunity to re-use that “We will rebuild” meme. And I guess in the long run, that’s better than having to incessantly hear about routine gusts of wind and falling water.

 

I decided to deal with the weather by taking my own advice and heading down to the Angel Olsen show at Soda Bar on Saturday night. The sold-out crowd was a dramatic difference compared to the shamefully sparse group that showed up for Olsen’s San Diego stop last April (read my SoundDiego interview with her here). The dynamic singer-songwriter even mentioned the discrepancy, and rewarded the packed room with a fantastic performance. The majority of the night was dominated by selections from Olsen’s outstanding new LP, Burn Your Fire For No Witness (read our review), which was nicely arranged by the bandleader and her quartet.

 

While there was continuous chatter for the first three quarters of the set, I was surprised by the amount of quiet respect that the band was given by most of the crowd – anyone within 10 feet of the stage was pretty much attentive and hushed for the entire hour-long show. But when Olsen’s band left the stage and the Chicago-based singer closed out the show alone, it became dead silent in the room. It was an impressive feat (something I’ve never witnessed before at that venue), and served as concrete evidence of Olsen’s massive charisma. She hilariously closed the show by apologizing/joking about her own beer-inspired bodily functions, making her already magnetic performance even more down-to-earth and ego-less. Make sure you catch her the next time she’s in town. She’s only getting better.

 

• Record releases this week: Drive-By Truckers, Eagulls, Pharell Williams, Pink Martini, Real Estate, and Rick Ross. I’m not a huge fan of the ex-N.E.R.D. super-producer, but Williams’ "Happy" losing the Oscar to that song from Frozen was a travesty.    

 

• Do you like Grammy-nominated rockers P.O.D.? Do you like motorcycles? If you answered “yes” to both of those questions, then you were most likely disappointed that rain cancelled P.O.D.’s performance at San Diego Harley-Davidson on Saturday. But don’t fret. You still have an opportunity to head down to Morena Blvd. and mosh near two-wheeled vehicles. The grand opening bash has been rescheduled for March 22.

 

• Local troubadour extraordinaire Gregory Page was spotted at Rancho Bernardo’s Studio West on Thursday. According to the little birdy who told me, he was in Studio A working on a new project with Jason Mraz. Anything but strangers, the two have collaborated on a project as recently as last year, and have also toured internationally together.  

 

Pick of the week: Dum Dum Girls at the Casbah on Friday. Yes, it’s sold out - but you do have 5 days to lobby that friend of yours that has the extra ticket. And stay tuned for SoundDiego’s extensive interview with Dum Dum bandleader, Dee Dee Penny, later this week.