While most of the country is swooning over the current crop of Swedish acts like Lykke Li and Robyn, Sweden’s original dance-rockers The Sounds proved that their fan base hasn’t gone anywhere, with a full-capacity crowd at the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday night.

The Sounds began their raucous set with fan favorites “Living in America,” “Dance with Me,” and “Hit Me.” When it came time for “Queen of Apology,” lead singer Maja Ivarsson climbed to the top of the drum stand and announced, “I know we’re gonna have a good time tonight.” Read more…

Swedish indie darling Lykke Li capped off an impressive performance at L.A.’s El Rey Theatre on Monday night with a completely unexpected encore: a cover of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can I Kick It?”

It started with a vaguely familiar “Doo, doo doo, doo doo,” but it wasn’t until she broke into the opening lyrics that I realized, “Holy sh–, she’s doing Tribe!” And even though she’s been schooled in Swedish pop, don’t let her credentials fool you — this girl can flow. Li balanced her sugary sweet “doo’s” of the chorus with powerful delivery of the verses, on par with an MC Lyte or Salt n Pepa.
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While much of America basked in the laziness of Labor Day weekend with hot dogs and beers, a few thousand in Los Angeles hit the streets with water bottles and running shoes. It was all part of Nike’s Human Race — a 10k race held in major cities all across the world on August 31.

Waiting for the runners at the finish line was fully rigged stage, where 12,000 participants were treated to a concert by Kanye West. While the show was scaled down from his Glow in the Dark Tour, Kanye didn’t fail to hype the crowd. A sea of red shirts and shutter shades (provided by Nike) greeted the rapper as he took the stage just after 10 p.m. Kanye’s DJ teased the crowd with snippets of “Stronger” before launching into the first part of his set, which included “Flashing Lights” and “Homecoming.”

It was a perfect setting for an end-of-summer show. The stage was nestled just outside of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, right under the Olympic flame. And the cool August night provided the perfect climate for the thousands who had spent the previous few hours running on the streets of Los Angeles.

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Is it rock? Is it techno? Does their recent departure from the indiest of labels, Saddle Creek, mean anything for their “new” sound? For the Omaha born and bred dance-rockers the Faint, a lot has been up in the air in anticipation of their newest album, Fasciinatiion, which dropped last week.

And naturally, there’s been a huge amount of speculation regarding their current tour. Well, all those fleeting thoughts were put to rest this weekend when the Faint took the stage, including frontman Todd Fink rocking a lab coat and goggles, bearing a strange resemblance to Doogie Howser. But I digress.

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Last night I decided who I want to be when I grow up: Katie White, lead singer of the Ting Tings. I caught their show at the El Rey in Los Angeles and became a little girl in middle school wishing I could be a rock star all over again.

With just two members, the Ting Tings kept a high-energy show, and although they played a short set, every song was on point, and they added a lot of unexpected twists to hits that we have all already heard.

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We’ve got a special his ‘n’ hers set of reviews from this show. First up is Dave, and after the jump you’ll find Elena’s take on it.

Saturday night, amidst monsoon-like conditions in Los Angeles, fellow YouRHere user estorres and I headed out to the Echoplex — hipster central — to catch a performance by electro-rock trio Ratatat. And whether the group gets its name from the sound of a tommy gun, or from a sewer dwelling rodent, the band’s music definitely packs the intensity of the former, and the infections nature of the latter.

While I’m very well-versed in Ratatat’s music, I had no idea what to expect with their live show. Beforehand, I imagined founding members Evan Mast and Mike Stroud taking the stage armed with only an array of keyboards and synthesizers. Let’s just say I grossly underestimated them.

Mast and Stroud took the stage, along with a mysterious third musician hidden behind a massive afro, named Jacob Morris (according to Wikipedia), and between the three of them, no musical instrument was spared. As they played through brand-new songs like “Mirando,” off their week-old LP3, as well as classics like “Wildcat,” I could swear that each bandmember switched instruments at some point during every tune.

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A few months ago I was mildly intoxicated, standing outside a San Fernando Valley bowling alley when a friend asked if I wanted a ticket to see Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors Tour. How could I say no? I am the type of guy who needs a 12-step program to cure my addiction to live music.

So last night we made our way out to the Greek Theatre, which nearly burned down in a devastating fire last spring. I was grateful for another trip to this picture-perfect venue. Knowing only the hits of the artists involved, I really just expected to kick back under the stars, drinking some beers with my friends. Instead I got an entertaining reminder of something that really should be common sense by the year 2008 — the simple-to-comprehend fact that we are all equal.

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Calling anyone with free time on a Monday night in Los Angeles! I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about free Monday-night shows at popular eastside venue the Echo, and last night I decided to go see what all the fuss was about. Turns out all that fuss was totally reliable and I happened to catch a show from one best L.A. bands I have seen in a really long time.

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Los Angeles is a diamond in a giant sea of vomit, feces and biological waste from one of the 5,694 rhinoplasty facilities this town has to offer. Oftentimes, the refuse can drag you down, making you forget that just past the fat removed from the backside of a 43-year-old Beverly Hills housewife is something truly beautiful and one of a kind. Last night, Death Cab for Cutie dove headfirst through the muck and mire to get to that diamond, and were considerate enough to share that swim with 7,100 of their closest friends who made it into the sold-out Nokia Theatre.

As I made the trek from the garbage-stained streets of Hollywood to the garbage-stained streets of downtown Los Angeles, I found myself concerned: where was the traffic? Why is it that I can take the 101 to the 110 on a Saturday afternoon and my trip takes an hour, but at rush hour it only took us 10 minutes? Did Jesus come back and I didn’t get the memo?

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I found the perfect date night. Too bad it was a one-time-only show in my area — at least for a while. Last night Welsh import Duffy sang jazzy love songs to the sold-out El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles.

If you are looking for some crowd surfing, an occasional serious injury, screaming rock stars and a lot of jumping around, a Duffy show is not for you. But if a chilled-out crowd, some music played right on point and a good love songs are your thing, get your tickets now.

I can’t put a finger on exactly the type of crowd that was at the show, because frankly, it was a little bit of everything: people in suits coming straight from work, young pop-loving girls (after all, her music has been featured on “The Hills”), couples in their 40s and even an L.A. hipster or two.

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