So, the past couple of weeks have been bloody epic! Aliro and I have been going to many concerts and enjoying our time out in Hollywood. These weeks have been the Roadtrip Warriors unofficial Hollywood Summer Concert Tour. We started with Julien-K at the Glasshouse, saw Finch tear it up at the Troubadour, witnessed the epic coming home of After Midnight Project at the Key Club, and finished off with CKY at the world famous Roxy Theatre.

Well, techinically, our summer concert series started with the Combichrist/Julien-K concert at the Glasshouse in Pomona, CA [Map Link] on June 16, 2009. This was freakin' awesome! We started by lining up at the venue, and hanging out with Julien-K's Street Team Leader Lane. Not only was Lane really awesome, she even joined us in bagging on the people who were there to see the band Combichrist. We even made it a point to hit her up when we reached Austin, TX. So, prepare for that!

The meet and greet with Julien-K was awesome! While we missed the first band (and I can't remember who they were), the guys who are Julien-K were incredibly nice and very cool. They accepted me as a fan, even though I didn't look or act like their normal idolators, espcially in my gray, "Stop looking at my tail" Family Guy shirt. I swear, all the industrial kiddies don't like any other colors than black (though, there was a cutie in a white, tank top lined up before me). But, I am digressing here. The guys were very amicable, and even listened to us pitch our lovely project to them. Aliro seemed to be having a blast, which was a real relief, so, I was just enjoying the crazyness happening around me.

After the meet and greet, we decided to grab some waters and got ready for Aesthetic Perfection to take the stage. This guy's set was fucking insane! The beats were fast and the crowd was loving it. I was enjoying the music, but the music had to grow on me before I was totally rocking out to it. Aesthetic Perfection even set the stage on fire with the dark red lights and booming dark industrial-techno hitting my ears, their set was bloody epic! With all dramatics aside, I think they were a great start to what was already turning out to becoming one of the best concert going experiences.

While all this was going on, I found that my photos looked awesome when using the ShakeItPhoto app (Buy it on ), and I was grooving to the music and taking awesome pics! (Just had to throw that one out there ).

After Aesthetic Perfection, the brilliant techno-alternative Julien-K hit the stage. Their gear was unique, in that all the microphone and keyboard stands were designed by lead singer Ryan Shuck, and had a machinesque style to it. I know Aliro and I were having tons of fun singing along to Julien-K, the rest of the crowd didn't seem to enjoy themselves. I think many things could have been improved from the sound board. For example, during most of the set, we could barely hear them playing. It is as if someone decided to just have Julien-K's amps produce the sole music for the entire venue. All this after the sound crew played blaring music over the main speakers before their set, which made it hard to adjust. But, aside from the tech issues, Julien-K still performed hard and played a fantastic set! They are great musicians and they know what makes great music.

After the brilliant set of Julien-K, Aliro headed over to the Glasshouse's adjacent bar, in which she goes and consumes drinks and has her own adventure. I stayed to see the beginning of Combichrist's set, only because I was curious as to why they have a huge following and I had never heard of them. And after that performance, I don't think I will ever hear from them again. I think the issue I mainly had about them was that it consisted of a dude screaming the same lyric over and over again to the sound of about 15 beating drums and a techno beat tracked over it. Literally, the music was just about creating as many beats as possible. So, since I started to have a headache brewing in my head, I decided to head out to see where Aliro went, and I discover that she was coming back from her little adventure, and we grab some more waters and relaxed outside a small bistro next to the venue. This is where we met our new Twitter-buddies Melissa and Mandy, and we chatted about the concert.

It was at about that time that the drummer for Julien-K, Elias, decided to come around and invite us to hang with him at the Glasshouse's bar. So, the four of us (Aliro, Melissa, Mandy and myself) followed and ended up in a bar that looked more like a modern/contemporary art piece than a bar. But, this bar did not disappoint! They had all sorts of great liquor and pretty decent prices.

We ended the fantastic night with In-and-Out, which was right down the street from the venue.

See the complete photoset of this concert:
Favorite Aesthetic Perfection Track: Spit it Out
Favorite Julien-K Track: Technical Difficulties

The day after Julien-K/Combichrist, Aliro and I tripped to Hollywood to see Finch at The Troubadour [Map Link]. This was by far one of the more interesting shows I have been to. First off, the Troubadour is a real hole-in-the-wall type place. You can see the bands playing clearly from the back of the bar. The sound system is way to powerful for the amount of space the venue has, and the acoustics made it hard to catch the subtle sounds. It was quite literally the most annoying thing about the show.

But, I will just leave it at that. As a bar, the Troubadour was relatively inexpensive and had a nice selection of liquor. There was some issues with the bartenders and them keeping their own tabs, which causes wait time in paying your tab. But, again, I am digressing.

The first band was American Fangs. These guys had a fantastic set! They were full of energy and played their hearts out. They even brought me out from the back of the bar to start rocking out to them. These guys should have been the true openers to Finch, as that would have set a more electric mood that the other bands just could not bring.

These guys bring the energy and have plenty to share. Their music spews of delightful riffs and intriguing lyrics. They got the whole place jumping at the end of their set.

Aliro decided to explore around the venue, and she ended up meeting After Midnight Project's manager outside. Needless to say, because we went outside of the venue to talk, I kinda glazed over the next two bands. The Halos and Halifax were ok, and I got some ok shots, but nothing to write home about. I was more excited about Finch and then seeing After Midnight Project a short week away.

Finch got on stage and tore the house down. They had a weird video/light show going on behind them during their set and encore, but I seemed to enhance the performance by adding an eerie color to the stage. The music seemed to sync with the visuals, as when during some of the choruses the colors would be more vibrant and playful, and during most of the stanzas the colors would be dark and omnipresent. It was very mood altering. Nate, the lead singer, ripped the stage up, and brought the energy that made the crowd go crazy. I even loved the fact that they took their current selection of songs, hit shuffle and created the set list that fully shows what type of sound Finch is. Their set was pure electric.

We ended the evening with a search for Del Taco to conjour us some food. That was pretty interesting, in that it took an iPhone and a GPS unit to find the bloody place. But, once it was all said and done, we drove home with full stomachs and ringing ears.

The next night was the house party at Bryan, Chris and Ashley's place.

See the photos from this event: 
Favorite Finch Song: Three Simple Words

The next night was a break in the tour in which we decide to get gnarly wasted and tried to have an enjoyable night at my buddy Bry's place. Things were very mellow for the most part. It was a great break in the tour to let our hair down and hang out with some fantastic people!

I will post my second part of the tour later, including the tour finale at the Roxy! Keep a look out for it!