Welp, I def won’t be meeting the love of my life at a concert this year (or anywhere really if LA remains on this covid watch list), but I love this story ❤️
Outside Lands 2011 with Pammie, Chris and Jessie was def my most favorite festival ever. So much has changed since then, and at the same time, not much has changed at all…
Since my birthday trip to see Tame Impala in Portland was canceled due to covid, Pammie bought me tickets for Outside Lands 2021, and the girls are planning on coming with to celebrate 10 years since our first music festival together (pandemic pending).
I was supposed to be in Nashville this weekend, and I’ve died a little bit inside every time a show has been canceled this year. Is it 2021 yet???
Sameer of Young the Giant played a solo acoustic show for Twitch Stream Aid and performed my most favorite song from when they were still called The Jakes. Also, I have that same case study planter, so it’s basically like he was singing to me in my apartment.
Kevin Garrett – Love You Less
There’s a place where we’re together
That’s what I’ll keep on telling myself
I love that artists are live streaming from their living rooms during this lockdown, partly because I’ve missed going out to shows, but mostly because I get to cry sing as loud as I want in the privacy of my own home.
Watch the full live stream here.
Title Track (@ The Hotel Cafe)
I try to catch Kevin Garrett whenever he’s in LA, and this was by far my favorite show of his. Love this intimate venue.
Ohana Fest (@ Doheny State Beach)
This is the third time I’ve seen The Strokes and probably my last. Julian’s a mess! During one of the songs, he forgot the lyrics, walked off the stage and sang, “I don’t want to play in this place anymore.” The show wasn’t done yet, but he sure was.
They just finished a new album and are probably gearing up to tour next year. As much as I love their music, I don’t know that I would see them live again. If you can, catch them twenty years ago in NYC!
John Mayer – Edge of Desire (@ The Forum)
Don’t say a word, just come over and lie here with me
‘Cause I’m just about to set fire to everything I see
I want you so bad I’ll go back on the things I believe
There I just said it, I’m scared you’ll forget about me
The last time I saw John Mayer was at the Hollywood Bowl in 2007 before I moved to LA. Twelve years later, he still makes that same guitar face me feel all the feels.
Andy Grammer – I Am Yours (@ The Wiltern)
I’ve been lost, I’ve been found
But I know who I am now
I am yours
Rooney – Stay Away
Make a move on me, baby
I cant be the one who’s always taking chances
Another day, another 20th anniversary tour (@ Lodge Room)
The first time I saw Rooney was nearly two decades ago with an ex-boyfriend at a venue that doesn’t exist anymore. So much has changed since then, but I still go to shows as much as I can, and I still love the bands I loved twenty years ago (still waiting for that Hoobastank comeback tour!).
BRB crying at the cemetery (@ Hollywood Forever)
Hozier – Shrike
I couldn’t utter my love when it counted
Ah, but I’m singing like a bird ’bout it now
Kevin Garrett – Control
Father, son, and holy ghost
I would never let you go
h o a x 💔 (@ Troubadour)
Lucius – Feels like a Curse
You talk about today, like the girl who got away
The only one you ever wanted
Day trippin’ (@ Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace)
Love this intimate desert gem! Anthony Bourdain featured it in an episode of No Reservations, and Paul McCartney has played here. It’s def worth the visit, especially if you’re nearby in Palm Springs or in Joshua Tree where I had the best nap sound bath of my life.
Muse – Stockholm Syndrome (@ The Forum)
This is the last time I’ll forget you
I wish I could
I’ve seen Muse a few times in my life, but I haven’t been to a show of theirs in a decade! It was like seeing them for the first time all over again. Loved, loved, loved. Thanks Nori and Desi for the invite!
Share the Love Benefit Show (@ The Wiltern)
NOTE TO SELF: 16-year-old artists have 16-year-old fans.
I’ll spare you the video and instead post this studio recording of my favorite Billie Eilish song (devoid of screaming teens in the background). You’re welcome.
When you call my name, do you think I’ll come running?
You never did the same, so good at giving me nothing
And it’s worth it, it’s divine
I have this some of the time
Hozier took us to church last night (@ The Wiltern)
Switchfoot – Dare You to Move
Young the Giant – Silvertongue
Beck – Where It’s At
Mumford and Sons – I Will Wait
Sunday funday with Sabrina and Cass (@ Ohana Fest, Doheny State Beach)
I wanna get lost with you, and see what it’s like
To spend the whole night with you, just you
Mr. A-Z (@ FivePoint Amphitheatre)
See I know what we’ve got to do
You let go, and I’ll let go, too
L-Boogie up in here (@ Open Air Theatre)
I can’t believe I’m old enough for 20th anniversary tours, but the rough morning I had after getting home at 2am was solid proof!
This album soundtracked my junior year of high school, and hearing it in its entirety made me feel 16 again ♥
More videos here.
Tame Impala, Lord Huron and SF ♥
Tame Impala – The Less I Know the Better
Lord Huron – When the Night is Over
Mumford + YTG!!!
Hold me still
Bury my heart next to yours
You’ll drive in my car
Just tell me we are going somewhere
Lord Huron – The Night We Met
Sylvan Esso – Coffee
Young the Giant – Cough Syrup
Local Natives – Coins
Head and the Heart – All We Ever Knew
(@ Culinary Dropout)
(@ Cornish Pasty Co)
(@ Pizzeria Bianco)
(@ Tempe Beach Park)
We escaped the LA rain and road-tripped it to Arizona! The first of hopefully many Innings Fests did not disappoint. Good weather, great bands, amazing food…
Tempe, I am in you. And I’m about to get all up in your Innings Fest (@ Tempe Beach Park)
24K Magic (@ The Forum)
My mom has visited me twice in LA since I moved here 5 years ago—once to see Adele at Staples, and this past weekend to see Bruno Mars at the Forum!
Now who has to tour LA for her to come visit me next year???
Linkin Park & Friends (@ Hollywood Bowl)
Even though it had been years since I last saw Linkin Park in concert, I was heartbroken when I found out about Chester Bennington’s suicide.
I can remember exactly what I was doing when I first heard Hybrid Theory. Pammie and I have this game we play called Guess What Year? (it’s a working title), and I can always pinpoint the year a song came out because I’m able to tie it to life events. Like I know that Boyz II Men’s One Sweet Day came out when I was 13, because I remember crying to that song at Sharon Bernardo’s birthday party when I found out that Raymond Alcarion liked my best friend and not me. I’m totally over him now, partly because that was 22 years ago, but mostly because my name would have been “Marion Alcarion” had our love stood the test of time! Yikes.
When I was 18, my friend Nick Costa told me, “Linkin Park… Remember that name… They’re gonna be HUGE someday.” I downloaded some songs off of their EP on Napster (yes, I was 18 that long ago) and became a solid LP fan after that. I remember going to the library to chat in their forum in between classes in college. I remember listening to their CD in Sheena’s car while I practiced driving stick around Jamul. I remember how sad I was when their intimate show at Canes sold out before I could get tickets to their first tour. Linkin Park soundtracked a time in my life that I reminisce about often, and it makes me sad to think that Chester is gone now, too.
I was lucky enough to see Chester in concert a couple times in my life, and being able to go his memorial show and hearing all those songs made me feel like I was 18 again (my sore stems the next day from standing during their 3-hour set reminded me that I’m nearly twice that age). All these years later, I still remember their lyrics. Also, can we just talk about how good Mike Shinoda still looks??? Some things never change…
Watch a full stream of the show here.
One more week!
Tuxedo (@ Observatory)
When your friends give you free tickets to see Mayer Hawthorne, you repay them with booty shorts from the merch table, obvs. Thanks, Jessie and Abe! 😘
I worked 16 hours straight yesterday and haven’t slept much these past few weeks 😩
I always need something good to look forward to during conference season, so I bought tickets to two LA shows (Sylvan Esso and Blind Pilot), an OC show (Young the Giant), and music festivals in LA (Arroyo Seco) and NYC (Panorama).
I may or may not have been delirious at one in the morning.
Bastille – Good Grief (@ The Novo DTLA)
Every minute of every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more
Never Knock / You Send Me (@ Troubadour)
My favorite Kevin Garrett show yet. Alessia Cara came out to sing the song he wrote for Beyonce, and all was right with the world.
Bon Iver (@ Hollywood Bowl)
The rain may or may not have hid my tears! So apropos…
Tame Impala was lit af (and so were we) 🔥🔥🔥 (@ FYF Fest 2016)
BRB crying (@ Staples Center)
I’ve wanted to see Radiohead live since I first heard Exit Music (For A Film) in the 9th grade. You guys, that was 20 years ago! Yikes.
I kind of expected them to stick it to LA and not sing Creep, but no Paranoid Android or Karma Police, either??? You’re killing me, Thom! OK Computer is my favorite album of theirs, so No Surprises was my favorite song of the night:
The Psychedelic Furs (@ Santa Monica Pier)
Sabrina and I got separated on the way back from seeing her favorite 80s band at the pier. They cut off the line for the metro after she got on, and she turned around just in time to see me mouth, “I have your keysssssss!” from outside the train as it pulled away from the platform. I waited 15 minutes for the next train with these kids who were discussing the ending of Lost (that I had somehow avoided finding out for the past six years in futile hopes that I would start watching the show someday). They got on the train with me, and I missed my stop because I was too preoccupied listening to them ruin the endings of shows I’ve never seen. I got off at the next stop and tried to text Sabrina that I had to wait another 15 minutes for a westbound train, but her phone was in my bag, too! I thought she would for sure push me onto the tracks once I finally arrived at the station half an hour after she did, but she was just happy that I was okay. She even brought me pastries from Uplifters Kitchen today as a thank you for the pizza I brought for us to share at the beach!
Twilight Concert Series (@ Santa Monica Pier)
Watching Mayer Hawthorne for free while eating a churro??? I could think of worse ways to spend my Thursday night.
I was standing next to the guy from Stepbrothers (the one who’s not Will Ferrell) while waiting to get in. I can count on one hand how many celebrities I’ve spotted since I moved to LA nearly 4 years ago. Most of the ones who live near me in Manhattan Beach are pro-athletes, so I probably just don’t recognize them (like that one time we ate at a communal table with Marshall Faulk). I’m pretty sure the tall drink of water who asked me where I got my torta bread from at Costco last week was an athlete. After directing him to the bread aisle, I asked him where the toilet paper was because I like to embarrass myself in front of hot guys, obvi. I crossed paths with him again while making my food sample rounds and died a little when he smiled at me and my bulk 30-pack of Charmin Ultra Soft Jumbo Rolls.

Kevin Garrett (@ The Echo)
Remember that name. He’s gonna be big! Also, he liked my video, so I can die now, obvs. Please invite him to my funeral. And request that he sing this Sam Cooke cover ♥
Live from the Artists Den: Young the Giant (@ El Rey Theatre)
When your sister, your cousin and Baberaham one of your best friend’s husbands enter a contest for you to win tickets to see your favorite band’s secret show, you know you’re loved… especially when one of them wins and they take you as their guest! Young the Giant was just as good as the first time I dragged everyone to go see them five years ago! They’re coming back to LA in October, but I’m considering missing their show to go on a trip with Shi to NYC instead. I don’t even know who I am anymore.
I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly (@ Birch Aquarium at Scripps)
Claws + crop tops (@ Green Flash Concerts at Birch Aquarium at Scripps)
I saw BØRNS for the third time, and unlike the weather, he did not disappoint! It was my first Green Flash concert overlooking the pacific, and the only green flash I saw on this gloomy day was the overpriced beer all the UCSD kids were drinking. I love this venue, though. You get to explore the aquarium before the show, and on a clear day, you can watch the sunset while your favorite band plays.
Leon Bridges took me and Anthony to church last night (@ The Observatory North Park)
Tame Impala sounds like a psychedelic Beatles ♥
I half expect my dad to show up during their set at ACL and have seats behind me like he did at Sir Paul Mccarts! Can’t wait for this festival.
#TBT to Kim Kardashian’s ugly cry face (@ FYF Fest 2014)
This is also the face I’ll be making when Morrissey headlines this year’s festival.
Not pictured: Anthony on the air drums and me on vocals (@ Petco Park)
Paul McCartney – Hey Jude (Live)
The Strokes – You Only Live Once
Epic weekend. I saw The Strokes perform, and I forget the rest. x__x (@ FYF Festival)
You ready, B? (@ Rose Bowl Stadium)
The last time Paul McCartney played a show in San Diego, I wasn’t even born yet. But I grew up listening to the Beatles because my dad would blast their records and play along with his guitar when I was a kid. I always thought he was their biggest fan, but Anthony might be giving him a run for his money.
Since none of our friends are going to the show with us, I’ll probably have to be Anthony’s emergency contact for when he faints like a fangirl at a Michael Jackson concert! Ha. When I asked my dad if he wanted tickets for his birthday, he said that he already bought tickets for himself, my mom and their friends before I even got mine. My bad, presale! Maybe someone else can be Anthony’s emergency contact after all.
That one time Kimbra showed up at the Electric Wire Hustle show (@ Bootleg HiFi)

Banks – Waiting Game
What if the way we started
Made it something cursed from the start
No vodka? And where do I exit??? (@ Bootleg HiFi)

Young the Giant – Paralysis
And lately I’ve been thinking
I’m not feeling anything at all
Will I survive in the dead of night?
And now the lights are fading faster
Save me from my disaster
I kicked off my Thanksgiving vacay last week with the girls and JT in the OC!
It wouldn’t be a Justin Timberlake show without Christine almost getting into a fight! Ha. The image of Christine with half of her body hanging out the car window as we drove off will stay with me forever.
Thanks to Pammie for risking her life to take these awesome vids!
Queen Bey at Staples Center last night! She dedicated her final song to Paul Walker ♥
I may or may not be sobbing uncontrollably in the background. More videos here.
Give me a reason to stay alive
Oh, my love, you don’t know what you do to me
Dallas Green’s voice still fixes things in the universe, FYI.
More videos from last night’s show here!
I just happened to be the 98th texter. No bigs!
Two Door Cinema Club – What You Know