LA WeeklyLos Angeles is a hotbed of live music, and L.A. Weekly is here to help navigate this embarrassment of riches. From UK drum 'n' bass producer Dillinja to former Iron Maiden frontman and general metal icon Blaze Bayley at the Whiskey, here are the 12 best music shows in L.A. this week!
fri 4/26
Dillinja; Credit: Courtesy of the artist
Xcellerated Presents Dillinja, Bass Brothers//Mad Ting!! Presents Hatcha, Youngsta
CATCH ONE
Dillinja is a mythical figure in North America. The prolific UK drum ‘n’ bass producer/DJ, spearhead of the bone-shattering Valve Sound System and label of the same name is a true icon of the genre, going back decades. Making only three stops this side of the pond, a Dillinja sighting Stateside is a rare occurrence. Xcellerated, with its ongoing run of legendary talent, is the perfect place to experience Dillinja’s guaranteed mindblowing set with Bass Brothers as a worthy lead-in. Behind Dillinja’s cherubic exterior is a technical master and the original gangster of drum ‘n’ bass. His tracks run the gamut of drum ‘n’ bass styles, hitting the mark every time, and lasting the test of time. It’s a twofer this particular evening as dubstep dons Hatcha and Youngsta take over the second room for the heavy bass party, Mad Ting!! —Lily Moayeri
Claude Fontaine; Credit: B+
Claude Fontaine
ZEBULON
“Dream lover, come closer/Your lips are sweet as cherry wine,” Claude Fontaine coos breathily and invitingly over a lilting rocksteady groove on “Cry for Another,” from her self-titled new album on Innovative Leisure. The chanteuse is based in Los Angeles, but her music has a cosmopolitan sound that draws simultaneously from several regions around the world. About half of her new record is rooted in reggae rhythms laid down by legendary Jamaican guitarist Tony Chin (Soul Syndicate, Dennis Brown, Althea & Donna). But much of the album is pumped up by Brazilian-style Tropicália, bossa nova and brasileira, which is then overlaid with a 1960s yé-yé veneer. “Hot Tears” is another timelessly evocative reggae idyll, while “Pretending He Was You” is a slice of breezy Brazilian pop. —Falling James
sat 4/27
Yialmelic Frequencies; Credit: Braulio Lam
Yialmelic Frequencies
JUNIOR HIGH
Yialmelic Frequencies isn’t music as much as it is an outlook. Starseed Diva Dompé delivers unto you from on-high the view into a greater and higher good. Specifically, she presents a cosmos through which you are whisked gently along, encountering evolved truths and a deeper breadth of feeling with sounds that can elevate consciousness, transforming what would ordinarily be a lethally boring night into something bordering on the f-ing ineffable. Where she ultimately guides you on this meditative evening with her enthralling contemplative mood ambiance is unclear. It’s not like you can turn on a radio and tune in to those frequencies. She merely gives you the key to open the door to a different reality, offering you the freedom to be wholly you, within yourself and in the moment as she launches herself into another dimension, wide-eyed and unafraid. —David Cotner
Nikki Lane; Credit: Jessica Lehrman
Nikki Lane
PAPPY & HARRIET’S PIONEERTOWN PALACE
This rustic High Desert bar is the perfect setting to catch Nikki Lane and her band. The fiery South Carolina native kicks up her heels in a variety of country, rock, pop and Americana styles on her recent album, Highway Queen. Lane archly portrays a “Big Mouth” in a small town, contrasting the rollicking track with such languidly determined ballads as “Foolish Heart.” “They took away the river, turned it into a stream,” she laments on the reflective “Muddy Waters” before advising, “Sometimes it’s best to give her what she wants.” Lane generally gets what she wants on such assured, driving songs as “700,000 Rednecks,” “Jackpot” and the album’s title track. She also performs on Friday, April 26. —Falling James
sun 4/28
Jesika Von Rabbit; Credit: Rachelle Skidmore
Jesika Von Rabbit
THE FEDERAL BAR
Former Gram Rabbit frontwoman Jesika Von Rabbit is one of this region’s great musical one-offs. She’s simultaneously pop and art, accessible and avant-garde. She’s a mass of contradictions in the most glorious way and her influences, which touch on everything from ’80s MTV pop to ’70s tie-dye psychedelia, betray that very thing. In the live environment, she excels. She’s part Berlin chanteuse, with dabs of Nico, and part performance artist. She’s also a force of nature, and a local gem. She has been since the formation of her Joshua Tree outfit Gram Rabbit. Her live shows are always worth catching, and this one in North Hollywood will be no different. —Brett Callwood
Emily Wells; Credit: Res
Emily Wells
THE BOOTLEG THEATER
Emily Wells is a singer whose music ranges freely across a variety of genres. On the Texas native’s new album, This World Is Too ____ for You, she smears dramatic washes of violin over such evocative chamber-music passages as “Hymn for the New World.” Wells intones airily over an electro-pop backing on enigmatic tracks “Remind Me to Remember” and “Stay Up.” She weaves other string instruments against her clear-eyed vocals, as on “Come on Doom, Let’s Party,” a stark and icy soundscape that was inspired by ACT UP, the organization that was founded in the late 1980s to help those suffering from AIDS. “Eulogy for the Lucky” and other similarly moving songs provide a beautifully fragile backdrop as Wells’ worries about climate change are arranged with “a scoring of the dystopia from a queer perspective.” —Falling James
mon 4/29
Tech N9ne; Credit: Liquid 9
Tech N9ne
NOVO
Kansas City's Tech N9ne is a producer, songwriter, and co-founder of the Strange Music record label. He's best known for the “chopper” style of rap he popularized, hence his name which refers to the TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun. He's now three decades and 21 studio albums into a career that has sold more than two million records while influencing a multitude of contemporary rappers who attack music with certain aggressive edges. His most recent effort, N9na, literally just dropped this month and it’s a typically intense affair. The video for the title track sees an animated Tech N9ne playing superhero, and that feels appropriate too. Even better, tickets for this Novo gig are going for just $10. —Brett Callwood
tue 4/30
Zara Larsson; Credit: Sasha Samsonova
Zara Larsson
THE FONDA
She’s still only 21, but it feels like Swedish dance-pop singer/songwriter Zara Larsson has been around forever due to the fact that she first found fame at the age of 10 thanks to Swedish TV singing competition Talang (kinda like the Swedish version of America’s Got Talent). So she’s been fortunate/unfortunate enough to grow up in the public eye. Her first two albums — 2014’s 1 and 2017’s So Good — were both released while she was still in her teens but the “Ruin My Life” single (released last year) and the “Don’t Worry Bout Me” follow up (released last month) display a more mature, exciting sound. The reality TV show stuff has been left far behind. Astrid S also plays. —Brett Callwood
wed 5/1
The 69 Eyes; Credit: Markus Felix/Wikicommons
The 69 Eyes
THE REGENT THEATER
As far as Finnish goth & roll band The 69 Eyes are concerned, they’re filling the gap left by the loss of Type O Negative and the Ramones, though fellow Finns the Hanoi Rocks are an equally valid reference point. The band blends all of the good stuff — punk, goth and sleazy rock & roll — into a sound that is both morbid and glamorous. Active since 1989, the band is signed to EMI in Finland and has put out 11 studio albums with a twelfth on the way this year. It’s also interesting to note that frontman Jyrki 69 has a master’s degree in analytical chemistry, and is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Finland. Check out the brains on that goth dude. —Brett Callwood
Lissie; Credit: Bill Reynolds
Lissie
LARGO AT THE CORONET
The ongoing environmental destruction of the planet and the lack of concerted action by the federal government of this country are so serious that it’s left to pop singers to try to raise awareness. At this intimate appearance at Largo, Lissie is donating part of every ticket sale to environmental-advocacy group the Natural Resources Defense Council. On the Illinois native’s new album, When I’m Alone: The Piano Retrospective, she recasts a set of her past songs as stripped-down piano ballads. “I woke up at the foot of my bed with my blue jeans on and you stuck in my head,” Lissie confides on a new version of “Sleepwalking,” her solemn voice framed only by somber piano chords. “I’ve been sleepwalking, dreams talking, telling myself that soon I will be feeling alright.” Also Fri., May 3. —Falling James
thu 5/2
Blaze Bayley; Credit: Thargol/Wikicommons
Blaze Bayley
THE WHISKY A GO-GO
Back in England in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, there was a formidable hard rock band from a town called Tamworth, close to Birmingham, called Wolfsbane. Always on the verge but never quite breaking big, they left behind a catalog of material, such as the Live Fast, Die Fast album and All Hell’s Breaking Loose Down At Little Kathy Wilson’s Place EP, that other bands would kill for. Still, it was all over when Bayley was asked to join metal titans Iron Maiden in ’94. He stayed there until ’99, when Bruce Dickinson rejoined Maiden. Aside from the occasional Wolfsbane reunion tour, Bayley has been solo ever since, putting out a string of great albums. Those that only know him as a brief member of Maiden barely know the story, and this Whisky show will be a real treat. —Brett Callwood
Haunted Summer, Breatherrr
ALEX’S BAR
For much of the past decade, Haunted Summer have stirred up entrancing songs that are more like meditative incantations than simple pop tunes. Bridgette Moody possesses a lulling voice that’s draped across variously dreamy settings crafted by musical partner John Seasons on such recordings as the Something in the Water EP and the full-length album, Spirit Guides. Even tracks with such relatively dark titles as “Sour Grapes” and “Killing Me” are illuminated by Moody’s confessional vocal delivery and suffused with the warm glow of Seasons’ instrumentation. The Highland Park duo crank up the volume on “Every Step,” a surging rock anthem that’s veiled in a shoegazer fuzziness. Such driving songs alternate with the more majestically reflective “Golden” and the string-laden “Pool of Tears.” The bill also includes the atmospheric electronica of Long Beach’s Breatherrr. —Falling James
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