Pre-game your Halloween festivities with live music, handpicked by The Deli LA for all your spooktacular needs. Note: Some of these acts are good. …Scary good. Muahahahaha…
Eliza Rickman | Pehrspace | 9PM | $5 | All Ages
Eliza Rickman is a piano-based singer/songwriter backed by a group of string musicians with an aim to create smart, chamber pop. With vocals to the influence of PJ Harvey and Feist, it often teeters on operatic, but without it ever feeling exclusionary. Tres French and, as Rickman writes about her music on her MySpace page, "…borderline creepy."
The Fuxedos | Spaceland | 8:30PM | $8 | 21+
The Fuxedos epitomize the Halloween spirit: With a strange line-up of seasoned session musicians, the ultra-alt-crazy-as-fuck comedy group have proven themselves as the ultimate WTF outfit of our times. From the brainchild of frontman Danny Shorago (proclaimed "The best frontman I’ve ever seen" by Burt Bacharach’s musical director), their music is all sorts of demented in progressive nerdery, and word on the street says their live set isn’t to be missed.
Dead Man’s Bones | The Echo | 6PM | $20
Like, OMG, Ryan Gossling’s dark and broody indie project Dead Man’s Bones play The Echo for what will undoubtedly be a truly unHollywood-ish set. The group’s lyrical imagery is painted with only one color: pre-Industrial Revolution somber. Halloween or not, the music of Dead Man’s Bones evokes places in our minds we’d rather not tap into.
Published on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:03:17
Wax Attacks Once More!
Introducing: Audra Mae
"Captivating" is a word used too often and loosely by critics trying to provoke simply a remnant of talent. But it shouldn’t be: It should be reserved for the kind of talent that rarely comes across our town, our ears, and our collective curiosity to stick to something truly fresh.
Audra Mae is just that. Captivating. The kind of captivating that says, "Fuck it, I’m going to turn off my phone, close all these Firefox internet tabs, put my earbuds on and let this artist’s tunes dig at my soul for however long I can hold on."
The LA-via-Oklahoma folk singer/songwriter tends to American roots form, but it’s not so much the venue her songs are in or her beautiful prose that raises eyebrows. It’s her voice — sometimes painful, often deep but always rich in an honesty that could make one say, "Folk music is absolutely not dead." -HG
Audra Mae plays the El Rey on November 7.
They lit a man on fire and sent him running around Los Angeles 14 yea rs ago, for their iconic Spike Jonze-directed video, "California." Today, the long disbanded punk pop outfit Wax has been reignited. Front man Joe Sib, now known for helming SideOneDummy Records, tells the Deli about the foursome’s recent reformation. By Melissa Bobbitt (Photography by Renee Barrera)
"Every once in a while, I’d get an e-mail … ‘I was a huge fan of Wax; I can’t get your music on iTunes!’ Or, ‘I always wanted to see the "California" video.’ Something like that … That was the real catalyst."
And it didn’t hurt that Rivers Cuomo of Weezer was championing their return. At the Weez’s Palladium gig Saturday night, Cuomo bounded onstage to reintroduce opening act Wax to the audience of Gen Xers and scrappy youngsters alike. “I’ve been waiting 14 years to say this,” he exclaimed, reminiscing about how his and Sib’s bands evolved together in the ’90s L.A. scene. “Wax!”
The group put on a blistering set of high kicks, shout outs to drummer Loomis Fall’s “Jackass” brethren Johnny Knoxville, and some killer call-and-response. An elated Sib chucked, “We thought about playing a new song, but then we realized all these songs are new to you!”
Wax is now offering its back catalog for sale on the ‘net, as well as a new 7-inch, "Hanging On," which features four unreleased tracks from the "13 Unlucky Numbers" sessions. The proceeds will go to UCP Wheels for Humanity, a charity that provides wheelchairs to the needy.
Sib and band mates Tom "Soda" Gardocki, Dave Georgeff and Fall recently played Riot Fest Chicago, and he said the response was flattering. "All those floors we slept on, all the records we made – it’s not going to be forgotten. It’s inspiring to think that, who knows, maybe a kid will hear one of these songs and maybe start a band. I know we’re a band that people dig, but it’s just nice being remembered."
This hometown hero is hard to forget, seeming that he remains constantly productive. In addition to getting Wax back together and manning SideOne, Sib also hosts the syndicated radio show Complete Control and spins yarns via the spoken word act California Calling. But, he insists, "I just love to play. I just love to entertain. I love to work. I love to keep busy. … I don’t know if I like unwinding."
"Free Booze" is a recurring theme here at The Deli LA, but free shoes? And sets by Avi Buffalo, Killkillkill and Spider Problem? This has Deli Approved written all over it. But where? When? What time? How? If you’d 
