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Music Here Comes Young The Giant

February 17, 2012 - 5:18 am

It’s safe to say that things are going well for Young The Giant. The Irvine-based quartet is in the midst of their first massive headlining tour and is selling out dates left and right. You can’t turn the radio on without hearing their hit singles “My Body” or “Cough Syrup” and the recent leak of the 2012 Bonnaroo line up shows them signed on to perform on one of the festival’s main stages.

Young The Giant recently played The Wiltern on consecutive nights last week in Los Angeles where venue’s two thousand and three hundred people chimed in and enthusiastically belted out lyrics to the alt rocker’s catchy rendition of “Cough Syrup:” It’s been a week since the show and we still can’t get: “Life’s too short to even care at all, oh. I’m losing my mind, losing my mind, losing control” out of our heads!

Prior to the set, we nabbed bassist Payam Doostzadeh for a quick Q&A. Check out our interview after the jump:

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Gallery Music From Prank War to Singapore: Anberlin

by Nicole Pajer and Dustin Downing

November 21, 2011 - 10:55 am

We’ve seen some dedicated fans arrive to venues early for concerts, but nothing like the scene outside The Wiltern for last week’s Anberlin show. It was two and a half hours prior to show time and the line wrapped around the venue twice! Sifting to the front of that to located the band’s tour manager was an adventure in itself and we were glad to be safely inside the venue and away from the masses come interview time.

When we finally caught up with Anberlin frontman Stephen Christian, he had just cooled off from being the brunt of a budding prank war between his touring mates in Atomic Tom. He had apparently done something to get on Atomic Tom’s bad side as the need for them to dump water all over his leather jacket and stage ready hair was a necessary measure. “I’m not sure how I’m planning to retaliate but rest assured, it’s going to happen,” says Christian.

During our sit down chat with Christian, he explains why you shouldn’t listen to Anberlin while lying on the beach with a bottle of wine, that he always loses when gambling, and that a tour in Singapore comes with a necessity for bodyguards.

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Gallery Music Yorn & Kweller Melt Hearts & Faces

by Mike Bucher

April 11, 2011 - 11:30 am

I arrived at the Wiltern Theater in Hollywood last Wednesday night ready to hear songs. Not the pieced together menageries so prevalent in pop music today, but Songs with a capital “S”. The kind that are so solid you could chop down a tree with them. The kind that both Pete Yorn and Ben Kweller have been critically lauded for writing. I am not always completely stoked about the shows I am asked to cover- this night, however, I was primed and ready for a great musical experience.

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Featured Gallery Music Iron and Wine Album Release At The Wiltern

by Nicole Pajer and Dustin Downing

January 28, 2011 - 3:17 pm

This week’s most coveted show, at least from the perspective of those in attendance, was Iron and Wine at The Wiltern. With back-to-back sold out dates on January 25th and 26th, scoring a ticket to this event anywhere near last minute was just not happening. Los Angeles was lucky enough to be the chosen destination for Samuel Beam and his menagerie of all-star musicians to celebrate the January 25th release date of the band’s major label debut, “Kiss Each Other Clean.” It was a busy week for the guys; first a stop on Conan and then an in store performance at Hollywood’s Amoeba Records where they were greeted by giddy fans who had pre-ordered the album in the hopes of scoring an autographed limited edition poster.

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Gallery Music NOFX: Success Is A Drag

by Lisa Johnson

January 14, 2011 - 7:51 am

Legendary punks NOFX are known for pushing boundaries.

Their cutting edge documentary NOFX: Backstage Passport shocked TV viewers with their global escapades in debauchery on tour when it aired on Fuse in 2008. Earlier this year, singer Fat Mike’s alter ego Cokie The Clown got banned from Emo’s in Austin, Texas when he served what appeared to be urine-infused tequila to an audience of unsuspecting fans (it later proved to be an elaborate hoax). Now for the band’s latest exploit: NOFX dressed in full drag for their New Year’s Heave party at the Wiltern.

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Featured Gallery Music Florence & The Machine Take Over The Wiltern

by Nicole Pajer and Sidney Bensimon

November 9, 2010 - 10:57 am

As I walked up to L.A.’s Wiltern Theater on Saturday, I glanced at the sign that read “Florence & The Machine Nov 6, 7, 8 Sold Out,” a symbol that a city so saturated with musicians can still make time to celebrate worthy talent. 89.9 (KCRW) was a weekend hero as they hosted the beloved Florence Welch and her almighty backing band she’s affectionately labeled “The Machine.” Fans gathered outside the Wiltern begging anyone within the venue’s vicinity for extra tickets. One gentleman was so persistent that he asked me multiple times if I could provide him with tickets, in the hopes that I had magically unearthed a pair in the five minutes that passed before I saw him again.

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