The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend
Friday, August 31
Blossom Berkofsky Rebecca Pidgeon
Mark de Clive-Lowe
BLUE WHALE
As one might expect from a hapa Japanese-New Zealander who arrived in L.A. via Boston, New York and London, this keyboardist/DJ/music producer is a complex synthesis of musical styles and cultures. Mark de Clive-Lowe honed his craft in the United Kingdom with the likes of all-star broken beat crew Bugz in the Attic and produced for both British soul sensation Omar and Grammy Award winner Jody Watley. What sets de Clive-Lowe apart from his contemporaries are his formidable keyboard chops and deep roots in jazz and classical music. His latest album, Renegades, is a tour de force, but he is best experienced live, where he effortlessly spins samples, drum beats, piano and keys and a live band into a tight aural choreography. With the right DJ, dancing and art music really do mix. --Gary Fukushima
Niki and the Dove
THE ECHO
Among the many improvements that might have been made to Randall Poster's dodgy new Fleetwood Mac tribute album, none seems simpler than the addition of Niki and the Dove, a Swedish electro-pop outfit whose singer, Malin Dahlström, channels primo-era Stevie Nicks in all the right ways. Throughout the band's just-released debut, Instinct, Dahlström softens a mystic imperiousness with disarming traces of theater-kid sensitivity; she also pulls off the sequins-and-feathers look more believably than anyone actually on Just Tell Me That You Want Me. Do Niki and the Dove's own tunes stand up to the Mac's best? Nah. But "In Our Eyes" and "The Drummer" -- both of which you can expect to hear at the Echo, where the group will launch a North American tour -- make a valiant effort. --Mikael Wood
Saturday, September 1
FYF Fest
L.A. STATE HISTORIC PARK
There are so many bands and so many storylines running like mini soap operas through this two-day festival of punk, indie and alt-rock musicians. Day one, Saturday, features such headliners as Swedish hardcore brigade Refused and French electronic saboteurs M83, but the show could just as easily be stolen by the thrilling Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells, whose intense sonic upheavals are sweetened by charismatic frontwoman Alexis Krauss' serene vocals. Look for more sparks from Kurt Cobain's favorite Scottish group, The Vaselines, and a set from newly revitalized locals Redd Kross. Sunday is headlined by the world-beat dabbling of Beirut, as well as Omaha indie-rockers The Faint (whose pal Conor Oberst appears with Desaparecidos), but more intriguing plots involve punks Against Me!, whose lead singer, Laura Jane Grace, changed her gender from male to female earlier this year -- a brave and truly punk-rock act that has only added more depth to the Florida group's music. And how will the newly revamped Norse death-punk jokesters Turbonegro fare without their seemingly irreplaceable singer Hank von Helvete? Inquiring minds need to know. --Falling James
See also: Redd Kross Have a New Record After 15 Years
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Blue Whale
123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St., Los Angeles, CA
Category: Music
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