We overheard plenty o’ cellphoney hipster hissy fits outside Spaceland last
week, as The Raveonettes’ three-night stand meant serious wait
time for those without tix. Many stood in line beneath the June gloom during
opening bands Gram Rabbit on Tuesday, and Nashville wunderkinds
Be Your Own Pet and local vamps She Wants
Revenge on Thursday — all just to sample the Raves’ Pretty in Black
bites. (Wednesday night’s slated opener, Amusement Parks on
Fire, canceled at the last minute due to one member’s “extreme illness.”
[Possible germ warfare by The Arcade Fire?
—ed.] He’s better now, and we hear APOF may even pop up with an unannounced
gig soon.) Slipping through a cluster of smokers and door-hangers — including
S’Lake rock gods Keith Morris and Steven McDonald —
Nightranger caught Thursday’s set, which was captivating as always, especially
during Elke Sommer–esque singer Sharin Foo’s version of “My Boyfriend’s
Back.” (Though she shoulda sung the “hey-la, hey-la” parts instead of using
a recorded track!) We hear partner Sune? Rose Wagner had
his time to shine with a DJ set at the Beauty Bar’s Fucking Awesome later that
eve — which, by the way, is ending its long Thursday run in a couple of weeks,
with promises of more rock stars behind the decks as a goodbye gift. Fucking
A. Due to extreme illness, we missed two major Eastside happenings over the
weekend (Hang the DJs at the Echo, where we heard everybody moved their feet
and felt united by a surprise Junior Senior set, and the “Paygoism”
[say what?] party featuring Phantom Planet and their poised-for-O.C.-stardom
school chums The Like downtown). [Are The Like the
new Phantom Planet? Just wondering. Also,
does anyone remember Like Cola? —ed.]
But we did party hearty at the latter’s rehearsal space, Swinghouse (also
practice home of The Donnas and Jerry Cantrell), where
our pal Leslie Gardner of punk couture T-shirt company Smashing
Grandpa celebrated her B-day with well-wishers, including Henry Rollins’
Harmony in My Head radio-show sidekick Heidi
May, artist Louis Cannizzaro, Run Run Run’s
Xander Smith and crooner Coyote Shivers. Coyote
tells us he’ll soon be heard along with Gilby Clarke, Steve
Jones and David Johansen on an upcoming New York
Dolls tribute album and seen in a couple of indie flicks, including
Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down,
about Hollywood/Silver Lake’s social swirl. Wonder if there’ll be any scenes
outside Spaceland?

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