A Friday night in Long Beach (9/25/2009)

Started out the night by catching an acoustic set by my new favorite band, Shotgun Showdown. They were missing their bass player, but the songs translate very nicely in an acoustic setting. A sign of great songwriting! They are playing next tuesday at Detroit Bar in Costa Mesa. Don't miss 'em!

Next, I headed over to the Puka Bar to catch a few songs by Paper City. This show was a CD release party for their self-titled release. ( Nice Post in LBPost.com about the band and show). Very nice pop craftsmanship by Marisa Predisik in a great setting. Bonus points for keeping the volume at a sane level. This was the first time I had been to Puka Bar and along with the tiki theme, the room is a good space. Look forward to seeing a show there again.

Scuttled myself downtown to Taco Beach to catch a cover band, Mobile Homeboys. The bands play waaaay high up on the balcony, an interesting setting. Advantage of bands playing here is that since Taco Beach is in downtown Long Beach, there is a built-in party crowd. Bands, I recommend checking out this place to play, come prepared to rock out and stoke out the people.

Walked around downtown a bit after that to see what was up. Considered seeing what was up at The Cellar, but the cover charge was $10, and el cheapo here was trying to see if I could go a whole night without paying a cover.

Hopped back in the car and made my way over to Fern's where I caught the last three songs by Million Kids. Damn, I wish I had gotten there earlier to see their whole set, because these guys rooooooocked! Sparse crowd, but these guys played from the gut. Punk, alterna-metal, aggressive, and the choice cover's of X's, "Los Angeles, and the QOTSA song added a nice balance. I love powerful trios. I'll have to catch these guys again soon.

Quite a night. Finally got myself to some venues I hadn't been to before and enough free shows to keep the night fun and cheap!