We had our first show of our Spaceland Residency on Saturday night. It was a wild time for sure, as everything that could go wrong, technically, did. But the crowd was great, and we had a fantastic time. There’s some You Tube stuff up here. As I looked around at the people I was playing with on stage, I felt really fortunate to be there and it was really obvious that everyone was totally in their element and feeling comfortable. It’s gonna be a great summer, me thinks.
A friend of mine came down from Fresno to see the show. While she doesn’t exactly speak negatively of Los Angeles, I’ve definitely gotten the feeling that she’s not the city’s biggest fan. So after signing stuff and meeting with everyone after the show, we skipped out on the after party so I could show her around LA, and try to give her a real sense of what the cooler parts of the city has to offer. Now you might wonder what I could show to an out-of-towner at 3 in the morning. Sure, everything is closed (sadly even the bars), but in some ways I love exploring the city after everyone’s passed out or just gone home for the evening. The night is quiet, the sky is somehow more pink than black, and the coolness of the air brings a certain magical stillness and timelessness to the whole experience. I’m a big fan of what is left of the 1920s Los Angeles: from Angel’s Flight downtown and the Old Theater district on Broadway, to the cute Shakespeare Bridge in my neighborhood, it’s great to show people that there really is physical history left in Los Angeles, if you know where to look. So after hitting all the cool spots, and unsuccessfully gaining access to the garden on top of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, we had our fill of walking around downtown. My friend wanted to stick her toe in the actual ocean (a luxury, I guess, for inland places like Fresno), so we high tailed it to the Santa Monica pier (which surprisingly was completely accessible at 3 am).
As we jumped in her little mazda pick up truck, she handed me a stack of CDs to pick from for our drive. To my surprise and amazement, I found That Dog’s “Retreat From The Sun.” Turns out she’s a big fan of That Dog and the Haden sisters. After loving this record so much when it came out, I spent most of the late 90s trying to convert everyone into fans of this record. The last I had seen of my copy was a show in Santa Barbara that I was playing and I had the soundguy play it in between sets. By the end of the night I had forgotten to get my copy back and lost it forever. For some reason my own laziness kept me from getting another copy. So when I saw it there in her stack, I confessed my undying love for the album and said “I hope it’s not too nerdy for me to want to play this album” (this being because I now play in a band with one of the Hadens). She was overjoyed that I loved the album too, and gave her full thumbs up. As we made our way to Santa Monica on the 10 freeway with the windows down, we cranked the volume and both sang along to every word.
Do you know this album? You should! It’s really a perfect pop record about the transitory nature of the younger side of adulthood, using metaphors of living and driving around in LA, traveling, being totally crushed out, and listening to records. It’s really like a modern Pet Sounds (well mid 90s modern, anyway). The melodies are so good, the band rocks, and the Haden’s harmonies are really second to none. I’ve always thought that Petra and Rachel’s harmonic sense was really unique and it’s really a standout quality on this record, and I think it’s some of their best work. They were a really amazing complement to Anna’s writing and conversely Anna’s songs really benefited from their involvement. It was really a great band, and “Retreat” was a fantastic swan song.
On the way back, I decided we should take Wilshire back, because there’s not much that’s more magical than a drive down Wilshire in the middle of the night, with the endless palm trees and green lights as you hit the Miracle Mile. A perfect cruise: it was just us, the pavement, and That Dog. By the time we got up the 110 Freeway towards Pasadena (the oldest freeway in the country, I was sure to mention!), the album ended and we just decided to let it run again, without any thought of changing it out. And yes, we just kept singing along.
A perfect album for a perfect drive. Go find this record.
My Trusted MOGs
Great timing on the That Dog post! I was just perusing Youtube yesterday for video of Petra's amazing live performances of The Who Sell Out. I was really surprised that she didn't get more attention for that album, or that the Haden sisters don't get more attention, period.
My Trusted MOGs
Well Pete Townsend himself professed his undying love for her treatment of the Who album not so long ago, so i would say she's got something going on. She may be underappreciated in the music critic world, but any musician who knows what's going on knows and loves her. She's toured with the Decemberists and the Foo Fighters and still does tons of stuff with everyone. Right now she's working on recreating famous movie soundtracks in the same way she did the Who Sells Out. and i know from a little birdie that the whole Haden family is trying to work out the logistics of recording a "family" album this summer.