{"id":598,"date":"2013-05-18T17:35:39","date_gmt":"2013-05-19T01:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/?p=598"},"modified":"2015-02-22T17:54:12","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T01:54:12","slug":"dead-sara-kills-it-at-the-el-rey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/dead-sara-kills-it-at-the-el-rey\/","title":{"rendered":"Dead Sara Kills It at The El Rey"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com\/originals\/71\/1b\/c3\/711bc31c549da1b032b071be400d3119.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"630\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">photo by Chelsea Lauren<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<header class=\"entry-header\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\">DEAD SARA | EL REY THEATER | MAY 9, 2013<\/h1>\n<div class=\"entry-meta\"><span class=\"entry-date\"><time class=\"entry-date\" datetime=\"2013-05-18T03:19:11+00:00\">MAY 18, 2013<\/time><\/span> <span class=\"byline\"><span class=\"author vcard\">DKLEE13<\/span><\/span>\u00a0 [<a href=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.com\/2013\/05\/18\/dead-sara-el-rey-theater-may-9-2013\/\" target=\"_blank\">Go Here for Original Post<\/a>]<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1155.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1104\" src=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1155.jpg?w=474\" alt=\"IMG_1155\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I can\u2019t remember the last time I was in a mosh pit. In fact\u2026 if I\u2019m remembering correctly \u2026 the last true mosh pit I was in was for a\u00a0Let\u2019s Go Bowling\u00a0show back, back, back in the day. Like\u2026 back in my ska days when I used to wear khakis with suspenders, a wife beater and my Doc Martins. On May 9, 2013, I went to see Dead Sara, and for the first time in forever, I found myself reliving my youthful abandon, smack dab in what was perhaps one of the most intense concert experiences I\u2019ve had in a while.<\/p>\n<p>Sometime last year, driving in my car, I heard a hard, rocking song with some bad-ass female vocals on the radio called \u201cWeatherman\u201d.\u00a0 After the song ended, the disc jockey said that the name of the band was Dead Sara.\u00a0 I hardly listen to terrestrial radio these days, but god bless the ways of old, otherwise I probably wouldn\u2019t have heard about the band.<\/p>\n<p>Later that week, before a blind date, I went to Amoeba Records\u00a0to pick up a copy of their self-titled, debut, full-length album. The chick I was with was a musician who was into hard, classic rock, so I decided to play the album for her on our way to dinner to she what she thought.<\/p>\n<p>The album was very, very good.\u00a0 It was so much more intense than other female fronted rock bands that have been releasing albums recently.\u00a0 It\u2019s a no holds barred album. Intense power rock but at the same time extremely vulnerable. The lead singer\u2019s (Emily Armstrong) voice is filled with such strength and passion (plus it sounds pretty!) which contrasts the steady lead guitar riffs of Siouxsie Medley, and made me recall another female rock duo \u2026 Heart, anyone?\u00a0 But Dead Sara\u2019s rock is much more blistering than Heart\u2019s.\u00a0 It\u2019s the kind of music that boils the adrenaline in the veins \u2026 even with the vulnerable sensitive songs.<\/p>\n<p>About half way through the album, my date suggested that she wasn\u2019t feeling the music as much as I was, and that kind of put a damper on the date, because \u2026. Well \u2026 I\u2019m a music snob, and I didn\u2019t understand why she didn\u2019t like the album as much as I did.\u00a0 I told her that I\u2019d call her sometime \u2026 I didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>When I got home from the date, I went online to see when they\u2019d be performing.\u00a0 I assumed, since they are Los Angeles based, they would be playing some gigs locally.\u00a0 But when I logged on to their website, there were a bunch of dates having them open up for Muse at large venues (in Los Angeles, The Staples Center).\u00a0 Muse? Seriously?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not a Muse fan.\u00a0 They were hyped as a headliner for Coachella one year, but when I saw them perform then, it was soooo not my thing, that I left to catch another act.\u00a0 Muse\u2019s single, at the time, was \u201cMadness\u201d and that song reminded me of Savage Garden. Nope. As much as I wanted to see Dead Sara perform, I wasn\u2019t going to buy a ticket for Muse to see them do a short opening set from the rafters of the Staples Center. \u201cC\u2019est la vie,\u201d I thought. Maybe some other time.\u00a0 I followed their Facebook page, and life went on.<\/p>\n<p>Months later, I get a Facebook \u201cnotification\u201d that Dead Sara was playing the El Rey theater.\u00a0 Now, THAT was more my speed.\u00a0 Immediately, I got online and purchased tickets. Glad I did it that day, as tickets for the show sold out. From then, I waited.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1105\" src=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1051.jpg?w=300&amp;h=225\" alt=\"IMG_1051\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>It was my buddy\u2019s Steve\u2019s birthday, so I invited him to join me for the show.\u00a0 He was coming from rehearsing for a gig (opening for Motorhead at Nokia Live!!), so I told him that I would either be outside hanging out or waiting in line for merchandise.\u00a0 While I was outside in the patio area, I noticed someone who looked vaguely familiar. Holy shit.\u00a0 It was Siouxsie and \u2026 what\u2019s his name \u2026 uhh \u2026 the drummer \u2026 lol.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I didn\u2019t know the drummers name (it\u2019s Sean Friday), but they didn\u2019t seemed bothered by it.\u00a0 I told them how long I had waited to see them perform, and they were cool enough to let me snap a group shot to post on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>I left them alone to handle their business, and I went over to the merch line to pick up a limited edition 7\u2019\u2019 release of their\u00a0 newest single \u201cLemon Scent\u201d.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad I got in line early for merchandise, as the line for merch was LONG.\u00a0 So long, that I was afraid that I wouldn\u2019t be able to get the vinyl treasure I wanted.\u00a0 My buddy met me in line, and after purchasing the merch and as soon as the prior act had finished their set, we decided to try to get as close up front as we could.\u00a0 We got about 5-7 rows from the front, and we waited.\u00a0 Every minute we waited, we could feel the crowd slowly pushing up against our backs.\u00a0 That was sign.\u00a0 A sign that it was about to get pretty nuts.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1108\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1108   \" src=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1142.jpg?w=247&amp;h=270\" alt=\"Found this pic online. So Badass.\" width=\"247\" height=\"270\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Found this pic online. So Badass. (c) Brian Bowen Smith (@brianbowensmith)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When the band took the stage, they started the set with a mellow song called \u201cSorry For It All\u201d.\u00a0 After that, fireworks.\u00a0 Dead Sara lit the fuse with \u201cTest My Patience\u201d and that fire burned scalding through \u201cI Said You Were Lucky\u201d. I know how that fire burned.\u00a0 I was in the middle of the mosh pit as soon as it erupted.\u00a0 For 15-20 minutes straight, I was lost in aggressive moshing. My \u201ctechnique\u201d for fending off people that were going really crazy came back to me, and I was able to float around an area with a radius of about 3 feet.<\/p>\n<p>Thank god, Dead Sara broke up the intensity with \u201cFace to Face\u201d.\u00a0 After that three song stint of mosh songs, my shirt was drenched with sweat and I\u2019m sure I got a few bruises along the way. \u00a0I assessed what other really hard songs would lead to moshing, and I could only think of \u201cWeatherman\u201d so I stayed where I was, figuring that I would make my way towards the edges later in their set.\u00a0 By the way, I had no idea where my buddy was.\u00a0 I guess he couldn\u2019t hang. Lol.<\/p>\n<p>Dead Sara\u2019s album is good.\u00a0 Watching them perform is better. I spent my time in awe of Emily\u2019s live vocals and the connection the whole band had with the audience.\u00a0 The performance reached a high point when Emily absolutely DESTROYED her guitar on stage.\u00a0 It totally felt right.\u00a0 From there, the band went on to perform Rage Against The Machine\u2019s \u201cKilling In The Name Of\u201d.\u00a0 If Zac and Emily squared off, I\u2019d put my money on Emily.<\/p>\n<p>After the set, my buddy and kicked it a while afterwards.\u00a0 He actually knew some people there and was shooting the shit. Me, I was waiting to see if a bid I placed on a one-of-kind autographed, painted, concert poster won out.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1118.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-1106\" src=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1118.jpg?w=270&amp;h=270\" alt=\"IMG_1118\" width=\"270\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a>When we were kicked out of the El Rey, we hung out in front just to decompress.\u00a0 Sean and Chris Null (the bassist) were moving equipment, and- being always prepared- I asked them to sign the LP and the poster I had picked up.\u00a0 Since I had two signatures, I had to wait for Emily and Siouxsie, right?\u00a0 Patience pays off, as they soon followed, and I was able to snag signatures from the entire band.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.wordpress.com\/my-music-collection\/\" target=\"_blank\">If you want to check out some other music treasure of mine, click through on this link.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>If anything, watching Dead Sara at the El Rey proved three things in my eyes: (i) I fall in infatuation to easily with chicks who can shred an axe, (ii) Dead Sara is a female-fronted rock band that can melt your face off, and kick you in the ass, and is here to stay, and (iii) yes, you need to see them live \u2026 just make sure you invite me to come with.<\/p>\n<p>Set list is below. \u00a0My video clips from the show are below as well.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1122\" src=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1165.jpg?w=474&amp;h=473\" alt=\"IMG_1165\" \/><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Sorry for It All<\/li>\n<li>Test on My Patience<\/li>\n<li>Monumental Holiday<\/li>\n<li>I Said You Were Lucky<\/li>\n<li>Face to Face<\/li>\n<li>Dear Love<\/li>\n<li>Feeling Empty<\/li>\n<li>Whispers &amp; Ashes<\/li>\n<li>Lemon Scent<\/li>\n<li>Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine cover) (Freedom Outro)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Encore<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Blue Was the Feeling For You<\/li>\n<li>Weatherman<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M73Dp4UKqww?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" width=\"474\" height=\"297\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/span><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YE32HM-vb0I?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" width=\"474\" height=\"297\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/span><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SGldHbyIzbU?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" width=\"474\" height=\"297\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1107\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1120.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-1107\" src=\"http:\/\/musicofmymind14.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/05\/img_1120.jpg?w=474&amp;h=631\" alt=\"IMG_1120\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This is the first version of their concert tour poster opening for Muse. Four additional dates were added to this version. The poster is on thick paper stock, perhaps archival paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; DEAD SARA | EL REY THEATER | MAY 9, 2013 MAY 18, 2013 DKLEE13\u00a0 [Go Here for Original Post] I can\u2019t remember the last time I was in a mosh pit. In fact\u2026 if I\u2019m remembering correctly \u2026 the last true mosh pit I was in was for a\u00a0Let\u2019s Go Bowling\u00a0show back, back, back <a href='https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/dead-sara-kills-it-at-the-el-rey\/' class='excerpt-more'>[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dead-sara","category-reviews","category-3-id","category-6-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":601,"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598\/revisions\/601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pocketkidrecords.com\/info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}