Like clockwork, it seems that as the calendar starts ticking down on the summer days everyone tries to cram in as many events as they can.
This last Saturday was no exception in the greater LA area, for, in addition to the dozens of regular old Saturday-nightlife shows and soirees on, above, and underground, there were also at least two gloriously free music festivals highlighting local talent. While a few trips to a few bars in a few hours of the evening rendered Long Beach BuskerFest off the itinerary for the night, my latest ManBoy and I managed to soak in some tunes at Echo Park Rising that afternoon.
For those of you who don’t know, Echo Park Rising sprung up last year when city officials put the kibosh on the three-decade-old Sunset Junction street fair. Having now experienced both jubilees, I would say that this latest expression of art, music, and day drinking best mirrored the community.
After successfully scoring some free neighborhood parking (I take pride in my ability to find free parking any- and everywhere) we wandered by the Traix main stage and heard the sounds of some fairly traditional latin music coming from the musicians on stage, highlighting the diversity of this festival. The main action was on the 1800 block of Sunset Boulevard, with the sidewalk between the Echo and Origami Vinyl crammed with festival-goers at pretty much all times.
After anxiously waiting for drink wristbands that we should have opted out of all together (like I said, the evening was scheduled to include multiple bars… to pace ourselves would have been wise) we made our way into the Echo, first checking out the more electronic/DJ-oriented downstairs stage at the Echoplex. Wandering up the stairs and back to the street, the cramped-yet-inviting atmosphere of Origami Vinyl found us looking up, quite literally, to Echo-Park-via-Ohio jangly rock band Line and Circle. The boys kicked out some vaguely Britpop-oriented jams, filling Origami from floor to ceiling with trebly guitars and psych-informed melodies.
Another highlight of the afternoon was Manhattan Murder Mystery’s sweatily energetic set at the Echo. The rag-tag foursome worked the crowd over and got the room moving, concluding with singer Matt Teardrop moving the mic to the floor and finishing out the last few minutes of the set in the pit with the loyal crowd. Highlighting the community-promoting aspect of Echo Park Rising, Mr. Teardrop playfully said before concluding their set that “Silverlake had to step it up.”
Before the food trucks and the evening’s activities lured us away, we managed to catch Dante Vs. Zombies at the Traix main stage, a stupidly happy performance that could make, yes, even the dead smile. Colorful both visually and musically, Dante Vs. Zombies peppered some choice cover tunes from the likes of the Kinks and Mungo Jerry between their own excellent glammy jams.
At this mildly insane performance outside in the sun, music coming from every direction and forming into a genre-defying mass, greasy food wafting in the air, and plenty of people just happy to be out and about and taking in what their neighbors had created, Echo Park Rising had definitely fulfilled all of the goals that any end-of-summer gathering should aim for.
Top photo: Debi Del Grande/L.A. Record
