Keith PlocekSee also: East L.A. Backyard Punk Scene Rages On
Henry Wolfe, Leftover Cuties, Adam Arcuragi, Jail Weddings
A Highland Park living room
4/28/12
Better than… spending Saturday night in your own living room, unless you're naked and with someone special, in which case, yeah.
Irony is not dead, but it took a short nap on Saturday night in a living on North Fig, where Henry Wolfe, Leftover Cuties, Adam Arcuragi and Jail Weddings each played four, primarily acoustic songs for a small, quiet crowd.
The pop-up gig was organized by Sofar Sounds, whose mission statement reads: “We have created a movement which brings music lovers together in secret living room locations to hear some of the world's most cutting edge artists.” On any other night this kind of gathering would be called “a house party with a few bands,” but Saturday was all about meticulous genuineness.
Adam Arcuragi
“This is a very good idea, and it's well executed,” said Adam Arcuragi, whose guitar-strumming and boot-stomping, accompanied by drum and banjo, might've been the highlight of the evening.
Sofar (Songs From A Room) hosts similar gigs in 15 cities around the world, and each is carefully filmed, taped, photographed and tweeted. If you think smartphones are the death of the live concert experience, this is probably not the show for you.
If no one records a show, did it really happen?
The apex of post-irony came about halfway through the evening, when the Leftover Cuties' Shirli McAllen, straight-banged and strumming a ukelele, began singing the first lines of Coldplay's “Trouble.” There were no eyerolls in the crowd, no judgmental harumphs of Coldplay!?! Just quiet, peaceful attention.
Personal bias: My first Sofar experience was a couple months ago, when The Tontons and other bands played an Echo Park living room, so I was chasing the dragon a little on Saturday.
The crowd: Clean people with smartphones.
Notebook dump: Good thing there wasn't a raucous birthday party next door that particular night.
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