Rock Picks: Broken Nobles, Anny Celsi, Seu Jorge, the Killers

Glay at House of Blues
Glay who? You mean you don’t know J-pop rockers Glay? They’re like the Rolling Stones of Japan! Or maybe more like the U2 of Japan. Okay, how about the Bon Jovi of Japan? Regardless, it’s a big deal they’re here. Glay — an arguably intentional misspelling of “gray,” as in the gray area between pop and rock — is a band that back (Far) East sells out arenas. They first hit it big on the Japanese pop charts in the 1990s, and they’ve been cranking out the pretty-boy pop-rock ever since. As it’s their 15th-anniversary tour, the boys are sure to spike their set with more than a few greatest hits, so look out for the likes of “Yuuwaku,” “However,” “Be With You,” “Soul Love” and “Kuchibiru,” and their latest single, “I Am XXX.” Fanboy fact of the day: Lead singer Teru’s better half is none other than Ami of power-pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. (Derek Thomas)

Joseph Cultice

He is going through changes: Ozzy Osbourne.

Related Content

• Animal Collective, Flying Lotus - Hollywood Bowl - 9/23/12
  September 24, 2012
• Think You Like the Hollywood Bowl? These People Really Like the Hollywood Bowl
  May 6, 2013
• Music Picks: Aesop Rock, Azealia Banks, Toots & the Maytals
  July 12, 2012
• Music Picks: Kaskade, Dirty Projectors, Ondatrópica
  July 26, 2012
• Music Picks: As Blood Runs Black, Kelly Hogan, Regina Spektor
  August 9, 2012

More About

• Hollywood Bowl
• Henry Fonda
• Ace Frehley
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop
• Concerts and Tour Dates

Kingsizemaybe, the Dime Box Band at Farmers Market
Led by former Continental Drifter Gary Eaton, Kingsizemaybe are one of this city’s best-kept secrets, and they usually play free shows, such as tonight’s gig, as well as their monthly appearances at Taix. Legendary music impresario Lou Adler used to champion Eaton’s talents, as long ago as the late 1980s, when the singer-guitarist was in the obscure X-style band the Devil Squares and, later, a background figure in the Ringling Sisters. When the Continental Drifters drifted east to New Orleans in the ’90s, Eaton stayed behind, seemingly content to play out-of-the -spotlight shows around Los Angeles with his own band, Kingsizemaybe. They’ve been relatively prolific after a decade of false starts, releasing two excellent country-rock CDs in the past two years. “Look at All the Things That I’ve Got,” from 2009’s Second Album, doesn’t just sound like Neil Young; its artfully snarled guitars evoke Crazy Horse’s peak with Danny Whitten. “Dallas,” from their self-titled 2008 debut, is a grand, celestial ballad whose imagery draws upon the palpable earthiness of east Texas and a child’s surreal memories of the first Kennedy assassination. Former Wednesday Week power-pop thrush Kristi Callan kicks up her heels with Dime Box Band, where her honeyed vocals are adorned with folksy, rootsy instrumentation. (Falling James)

Also playing Saturday:

KOMMUNITY FK at Boardner’s; FLOGGING MOLLY, HEPCAT, FITZ & THE TANTRUMS at the Greek Theatre; WILLIE NILE at McCabe’s; THE DAN BAND at Club Nokia; ESPERANZA SPALDING, JOHN WEST at El Rey Theatre; BRENDAN BENSON at the Troubadour; GOOD CHARLOTTE at the L.A. County Fair; SUPER MASH BROS., THE KNUX, IGLU & HARTLY, IRATION at the Roxy; TRIBUTE TO GEORGE HARRISON, FEAT. DIOS, RYAN ROSS, MATT POPIELUCH at Spaceland; ACE FREHLEY at the Viper Room; B-REAL at the Whisky a Go-Go.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

Anny Celsi at Spaceland
To celebrate the release of her idealistically titled new CD, Tangle-Free World, the Highland Park singer Anny Celsi is putting on a series of what she describes as Rolling Thunder Revue–style shows. She just got back from a European tour where she interacted with various British luminaries, and tonight she’s on a bill with simpatico pop auteurs Jeff Merchant and Adam Marsland’s Chaos Band. One of Marsland’s collaborators, the sublime singer-guitarist and soul-pop legend Evie Sands, adds smoldering vocals and guitar to Celsi’s remake of “Sally Go ’Round the Roses,” which is given a curiously sunny and pleasant arrangement compared to the Jaynetts’ eerie original. Celsi is backed by drummer-producer Nelson Bragg (Brian Wilson, the Negro Problem), guitarist Jonny DuFresne and bassist Jeff Legore, and she’s joined on the CD by such guests from the local pop underground as fiddler Amy Farris, former child actor/power-pop whiz Robbie Rist and members of the Wondermints. The title track lightly evokes Revolver-era Beatles psychedelia. Sugary pop idylls like “Own Sweet Time” are contrasted by the bittersweet ballads “Thanksgiving in Hollywood” and the neo-soul slice “Now You Can Hurt Me.” With laid-back folk-country tunes like “The Night She Learned to Drive,” and another free set coming up at the country-music event Grande Ole Echo (at the Echo, September 20), Celsi jokingly calls herself “the one-woman suspension bridge between pop geek and Americana purist.” (Falling James)

Also playing Sunday:

LISA LISA, READY FOR THE WORLD, KLYMAXX, SOULSONIC FORCE, PEANUT BUTTER WOLF, EGYPTIAN LOVER at the Greek Theatre; BLUE JUNGLE, THE WIDOW BABIES at the Echo; LYNYRD SKYNYRD at the L.A. County Fair; THE KILLERS at the Santa Barbara Bowl; DAVE MATTHEWS BAND, SWITCHFOOT at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Playing Monday:

THE ICARUS LINE, OGOD, RADIO FREQ at the Silverlake Lounge; ACE FREHLEY at the Grammy Museum; THE BLIND BOY PAXTON & FRANK FAIRFIELD SHOW at the Redwood Bar; SAINT MOTEL, THE BLACK & WHITE YEARS, ASTRA HEIGHTS, DIVISIBLE at Spaceland.