LA Times’ Pop & Hiss blog has announced that the Knitting Factory’s Hollywood location is closing:
All-ages music venue the Knitting Factory is opting not to renew its lease at its current location and looks to shut its doors this fall, confirms the company’s CEO Morgan Margolis.
Adam Levi, the Knitting Factory’s marketing and promotions guy, says that he’ll let us know when exactly they are closing, what the last show will be, and most importantly, when and if they’re reopening in another location.
So far the final shows are:
Friday, July 31st
Sirah (Album Release), The Burning Of Rome, Change, Intuition and Verbs, Krista Nicolas
Sunday, August 2nd
House of Heroes, Ruth, Sleep for Sleepers
Wednesday, August 5th
Scion and Church of the 8th Day present Torche, Big Business
Free with RSVP (www.scion.com/metalshow)
Friday, August 7th
Roxy Epoxy and the Rebound, the Action Design
Saturday, August 8th
KROQ 106.7 presents the Briggs, American Steel, Angel City Outcasts, the New Trust
Wednesday, August 12th
Solillaquists of Sound, Prayers for Atheists
Wednesday, August 12th
Roadside Graves, Avi Buffalo, Parson Redheads, M. Bison
Thursday, August 13th; Friday, August 14th; Saturday, August 15th
Onelinedrawing plus special guests—Alterknit Lounge
Friday, August 14th
“Freedom for All” starring Immortal Technique, ChinoXL, Diabolic, Mystic; hosted by Poison Pen and Fidel Rodriguez. With DJ Static and more
Saturday, August 15th
Abney Park
Thursday, August 20th
Sylvain Sylvain, Angus Khan, United Snakes, Adam Bones
Sunday, August 23rd
Plushgun
Thursday, August 27th
Walter Lure, the Stitches, Kevin K, the Hitz
At a Glance
Friday, July 31st
Sirah (Album Release), The Burning Of Rome, Change, Intuition and Verbs, Krista Nicolas
At the age of twelve Sirah started battle rapping; however slowly changed courses and grew into poetry. Spoken word was a lovely change of pace, since her voice was hard-hitting and her conviction apparent; however she couldn’t stop there. At the ripe age of eighteen Sirah went full force into the colorful and controversial world of MCing. Sharing stages and working with some of your favorite rappers, she has toured through countries such as Germany and Romania, also trekking through Canada and most of the U.S. As of November 6th, 2007 Sirah & DJ Hoppa of Broken Complex Records released, ‘Clean Window’s Dirty Floor’s. Sirah spent this Summer on Warped Tour, and is now working on her first album which is as eclectic as she is. The nature of Sirah, which is the instrument that transcribes her music, could best be described as a young woman coming up in New York, with devastation biting at her heels, and the world in cupped palms. Those of you in Los Angeles can find her at local dive bars rapping/belting karaoke, at underground hip hop shows drinking water, in a bookstore riddled with hippies, on the bus (even though she’s got a car), at your local coffee shop pretending to write a script, or eating sushi with the natives.
Sunday, August 2nd
House of Heroes, Ruth, Sleep for Sleepers
House of Heroes creates a unique and new breed of music: verging on the safe line of pop-punk rock and blending the danger of indie-style rock. House of Heroes doesn’t just sing songs, they tell stories. Releases include: What You Want Is Now, with tracks like “Julia”, “The Lead Role in the Cage”, and “Uncomfortable” (complete with string section), make the album House of Heroes’s most rock album. The band has also released Meets the Beatles EP which includes three Beatles cover: “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “It Won’t Be Long”, and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”
Wednesday, August 5th
Scion and Church of the 8th Day present Torche, Big Business
Free with RSVP (www.scion.com/metalshow)
Says Dusted of their sophomore release, Meanderthal, “On this splendidly titled full-length, it all seems to come together. With more complicated and ambitious tunes, and considerably tighter playing, the chugging down-tuned riffs and sunny melodies blend together, here mixed with more detail and variety than ever before. The vast majority of these tunes (on a tight 36-minute record) demonstrate either greater proficiency or more confidence. The result is a wider harmonic palette and a deeper variety in tempos (on top of more syncopation), delivering the goods after a promising but inconsistent first record.”
Friday, August 7th
Roxy Epoxy and the Rebound, the Action Design
Often associated with such fierce and striking artists as Karen O, Siouxsie Sioux, and Chrissie Hynde, Roxy Epoxy made a lasting impact on the punk and indie community in her former band, the Epoxies. Now, freshly rejuvenated and ready to tackle the music industry with both fists and a great set of pipes, Roxy embarks on the next chapter of her musical career with her newly-minted band Roxy Epoxy and the Rebound. Their new album Band-Aids on Bullet Holes gets released on March 10, 2009 via Metropolis Records. This result is a dynamic album of punkified New Wave and synth-infused rock that stomps when it should skip and gallops when it should sway. The herky-jerky pop Banshee-esque goodness of “New Way” hearkens the early anarchic days of the London Underground, while the thrusting and velvet-texture of “I Know I Know” adds atmosphere and drenches it with drama.
Saturday, August 8th
KROQ 106.7 presents the Briggs, American Steel, Angel City Outcasts, the New Trust
Formed by brothers Jason (guitar, vocals) and Joey LaRocca (guitar, vocals), the Briggs made their debut in 2001 with Is This What You Believe and have been on a roll ever since. Joined by Chris Arredondo (Drums) and Ryan Roberts (Bass), the band quickly caught fire in 2004 when they signed with LA’s notorious punk label SideOneDummy Records. Later that year the band released the critically acclaimed EP, Leaving the Ways, which Alternative Press called “snotty, fist-pumping street punk with a message,” and 2006’s tour-de-force Back to Higher Ground. Their most recent work, Come All You Madmen, erupts with explosive, sing-along working-class street punk.
Wednesday, August 12th
Solillaquists of Sound, Prayers for Atheists
It would be an understatement to call the Solillaquists of Sound a mere Hip-Hop Band. Their message and ambitious fusion of varied stylistic genres continue to reinvent the perceptions and experience of music as a whole. The group consists of four dynamic individuals: Swamburger, Alexandrah, Tonya Combs, and DiViNCi. As they are each talented, focused and motivated enough to hold their own, they prove to be an undeniably ruthless force when working together. Backed by a powerful message of self-awareness, the Solillaquists combine rapid-fire lyricism, jazz-tinged vocals, insightful poetry, and innovative live electronic performance. It’s not a rare occurrence for members of the audience as well as the band to be brought to tears by the level of truth and energy put forth in any one Solillaquists performance.
Wednesday, August 12th
Roadside Graves, Avi Buffalo, Parson Redheads, M. Bison
Says Pitchfork, “The Roadside Graves’ affection for the American landscape– both physical and musical– hearkens back to the days when long-distance drivers were at the mercy of whichever classic rock or country station carried the strongest signal, and those lonely instances when a well-timed selection from Creedence, George Jones, or the Band might make your whole evening…Performed with an uncommonly deft touch and subtle grace.”
Long Beach indie rock guitar god Avi Buffalo will also be on hand for this. They are a collective who have an alarming number of things in common with Barbra Streisand.
Thursday, August 13th; Friday, August 14th; Saturday, August 15th
Onelinedrawing plus special guests—Alterknit Lounge
From Allmusicguide.com: “While on hiatus from his duties fronting the Sacramento, CA-based emo band Far, singer/guitarist Jonah Sonz Matranga made his solo debut in mid-1997 with a limited-edition cassette collection of home recordings titled Onelinedrawing. Following 1998’s Water & Solutions, Far went on indefinite hiatus, leaving Matranga to return to solo work with Sketchy e.p. #1, credited to Jonah’s Onelinedrawing and released on Crank! in the fall of 1999. Three years later, the band emerged with their debut full-length Visitor.”
Friday, August 14th
“Freedom for All” starring Immortal Technique, ChinoXL, Diabolic, Mystic; hosted by Poison Pen and Fidel Rodriguez. With DJ Static and more
Established in the underground circuit, Immortal Technique began another round of dealing with record labels unwilling to see the direction of his brutally honest and cultured rhymes. He decided to continue with what had been so successful, his hand-to-hand, out-the-trunk hustle. On Viper Records, where he is the Executive VP, he sold 29,000 copies of Revolutionary Vol.2 to date and has appeared on soundtracks for movies including the new Mario Van Peebles film BAADASSSSS. Immortal Technique has also worked with Mumia Abu Jamal and AWOL magazine. His single “Industrial Revolution,” released in conjunction with Uncle Howie Records, hit #1 on CMJ and #50 on the Billboard charts. His latest, The 3rd World, was produced by the Green Lantern.
Saturday, August 15th
Abney Park
Just when you thought we were all out of genres, along comes steampunk. Abney Park comes from an era that never was, but one that we wish had been. An era where airships waged war in the skies, and corsets and cummerbunds were proper adventuring attire. They’ve picked up their bad musical habits, scoundrel musicians, and anachronistically hybridized instruments from dozens of locations and eras that they have visited in their travels and thrown them into one riotous dervish of a performance. Expect clockwork guitars, belly dancers, flintlock bassists, middle-eastern percussion, violent violin, and Tesla coil-powered keyboards blazing in a post-apocalyptic, swashbuckling world self-created by the band. Steampunk musical mayhem has come ashore.
Thursday, August 20th
Sylvain Sylvain, Angus Khan, United Snakes, Adam Bones
Few have drawn a line in the rock ‘n’ roll sand as deeply as the New York Dolls; steeped in glam, buried in trash, and pointing toward punk rock and the future, they were the inspiration for so many bands we just don’t have the space to list ‘em. Sylvain was one of the chief songwriters and a key field marshal in the attack, as well as half of the band’s considerable guitar firepower along with Johnny Thunders (see Walter Lure, below). Sylvain’s solo shows feature selections from every phase of his career, and are rock ‘n’ roll journeys unto themselves.
Sunday, August 23rd
Plushgun
According to PopMatters, “WIthout a hint of hipster posturing, (Plushgun leader Daniel) Ingala’s appropriation of the new wave sound feels completely natural, to the point that it would be impossible to imagine these songs fitting in among any other sonic context. The suburban teenage angst of ‘How We Roll’ and ‘Union Pool’ needs these razor sharp synth hooks to locate Ingala’s collision of adolescent petulance and carefree exuberance, just as the urgent drum-machine throb that runs through ‘Just Impolite’ is essential to the song’s mixture of gentle encouragement and anthemic reach.”
Thursday, August 27th
Walter Lure, the Stitches, Kevin K, the Hitz
From Allmusic.com: “One of the original members of Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers, Walter Lure maintained a fairly consistent career in the face of working with some rather tumultuous characters. After the “official” breakup of the Heartbreakers in 1977 — the band would continue to play the occasional gig right up until Johnny Thunders’ death in 1991 — Lure worked with the Ramones on their LPs Subterranean Jungle and Too Tough to Die, released a single with the Blessed, and started a number of bands, including the Hurricanes, the Heroes, and the Waldos, who released their debut, Rent Party, in 1995. Lure continues to play New York City venues with the Waldos well into the 21st century.”
