Be my guide: Final landing at Spaceland in Los Angeles

After two weeks, more than 4,000 miles and countless live songs, I finally made it to Los Angeles Monday night — the final destination on my reader-driven road trip. Having collected more than 100 restaurant and venue picks covering the country’s largest cities, it was time to see what the entertainment capital of the world had to offer in terms of reader tips.

Surprisingly, not much.

Readers had pointed me to few places in L.A. Perhaps being a Monday night was an obstacle, or maybe travel folks are more interested in dreaming about other places rather than concerts in their own city. Luckily, good music isn’t hard to find in L.A.

Club Spaceland, an intimate venue near the Silver Lake Reservoir, had a packed lineup last night. I missed Miniature Tigers, a bouncy pop-rock group led by a Ben Folds sound-alike with more unusual lyrical content.

The band that was playing when I entered the fray was the VLA. At the front of the three-piece band was Jason Rabe, a guitarist and vocalist who looks an awful lot like comedian Demetri Martin. It had a pleasant sound, even if most songs sounded the same.

That “same” is a lot like early U2, as my brother and Glendale resident, TJ Milian, accurately noted shortly into the set. Apparently, he wasn’t alone in the sentiment. Between songs, one guy shouted ironically, “With or Without You,” a request for a young Bono love ballad. Rabe did not oblige.

To round out the night, indie pop group Andy Clockwise took the reins. Frontman Andy Kelly, an L.A. transplant from Australia, has a huge stage presence. During songs, he ventured into the crowd, grabbing young women and screaming lyrics to his songs with a rock-star cool. At one point, he took a gargoyle’s stance on a section of tables as he belted out some tunes.

The group played a varied set that ranged from straight-ahead rock to a not-so-good reach at Jimi Hendrix in “Cocaine and Champagne” to a head-scratching interlude called “Open Relationship,” in which the drummer, Stella Mozgawa, left her drum set and grabbed the mike for a spoken-word duet.

If not for the wildly entertaining stage antics of Kelly, coupled with the bassist’s Dave Navarro shtick and the drummer’s intensely excellent performance, which drew many “woo’s” from the crowd, Andy Clockwise might be quickly forgotten. But their fun dancing and clapping interludes really earned them their spot as this month’s Monday residency at Spaceland.

Last night at Spaceland completed my musical journey across the country. So many of you contributed an astonishing number of recommendations that kept me busy throughout my trip. I’ll put together a wrap-up on Wednesday, highlighting the best shows and condemning the worst tips.

— Mark Milian, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photos: Andy Clockwise performs at Spaceland in Los Angeles. Credit: Sarah Ardalani / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 at 11:12 am by Mark Milian and is filed under Arts & Culture, Be My Guide, California, Celebrity, Los Angeles, News, Tips & Advice, Summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.