Before I launch into the gems that the L.A. Music Scene offered up; fireworks went off in my head on October 5, 2019.
As I entered into the realm of the Hollywood Palladium to attend the, sold out show of Greta Van Fleet and it felt as if I had walked through a time warp of some sort. WOOOOOOOW!
Had not been to the place since I saw Rod Stewart there and a Polka band opened for him. That was a most interesting gig indeed and decades ago…I was around 27-years old at the time.
And now here we are returning to the place of my youthful Hollywood Palladium days to see Greta Van Fleet. The guys have been on the “March of The Peaceful Army” tour since they had played at the Grammy Museum last year and have a few notches added to their belt of experience.
Greta Van Fleet have noticeably improved while on the road which has had a few bumps but overall has weathered the storm to outperform themselves if such a thing is possible. For those of you that have read my few stories on Greta Van Fleet, it is already known that I offered up the keys to the “Kingdom” to the guys and also put what points I had behind them.
It was so weird being at the Hollywood Palladium and all the ghosts from the past as a Go-Go Dancer there came flying out of the walls to greet me.
I could hear the roar of teenagers flocking to the Teen Fairs and the smell of lumber from the freshly built stages for the “Battle of The Bands” which is what the fair was really all about. To have been able to dance on the stage with Greta Van fleet back then would have been a mind-blowing experience from what I could see and hear on October 5th, 2019. Sunday’s show also sold out which is the way it has been since the Ford Theater and their appearances at The Viper Room and The Troubadour. Around the world and back again Greta Van Fleet could truly be called “wandering troubadours” as it seems that they’ve been on the road for a very long time. Vicky Hamilton was also at show and had seen them at The Viper Room which was their first gig in Los Angeles. Hamilton agrees that they have gotten more polished and in a groove while on the road.
While some say that it’s time for them to shed their skin and grow a different way, others say that they are still young and just need to perfect what they have before they move on to something else. Sometimes that morphing takes a bit of time to make an appearance. According to a Greta Van Fleet insider the guys wanted to broaden their perspective fans to accommodate the younger teenagers and I think that night I witnessed that they had succeeded at that goal. Lots of teenagers and some parent and child pairings in addition to the older population of their fans. I was very happy that I could have a Mimosa there while enjoying the intensly talented Greta Van Fleet.
No shoes, no shirt, who cares? The guys rocked it up!
In other doings in Hollywood, The Hotel Cafe offered up a few unique acts recently that were quite a departure from my smokin’ hot rock tastes.
Ivo Dimchev hails from Sophia, Bulgaria, but his flair and sensuality are from a different realm altogether.
Dimchev’s past is steeped in performance art for which he tells his interviewer, “I would rather be weird than run of the mill.” Run of the mill isn’t on the menu from the beginning of his show to the end with his delicious baritone speaking voice to the fluttering of his high tones in a Falsetto register, his mannerisms are carefully choreographed and his chiseled good looks add to the nuance that is Ivo Dimchev.
Dimchev’s songs are penned by him and tell stories about his life such as “Melrose” which echoes his early days on Melrose Avenue. Dimchev is a singer, songwriter, choreographer and self described stage addict. He has appeared on the “X- Factor UK” in 2018 as a contestant and describes his performance as wanting to push the boundaries and believes that he can do just that.
Dimchev also has a background in physical theater which was delved into armed only with his art history degree and the rest is history. The photographs that he posts on his Instagram belie his “artistic” background and are very mature themed and display his flair and sensuality in very creative ways.
Dimchev did manage to pack the house as far as I could tell and I believe him when he states that he does very well when he tours Europe. Dimchev doesn’t have a huge cadre of dancers, singers and musicians that fill the space on a stage. Dimchev does it all, and then some.
Up next were “The Soundflowers” which are Paris Jackson and Gabriel Glenn, who is her boyfriend.
The pair didn’t go into this gig with a lot of fanfare and, according to Facebook friend and frequent companion of “The Soundflowers” Elliot Mintz, they never do a big publicity blast when they are playing gigs around town.
According to Mintz “they write their own songs and play acoustically. In recent months they have appeared in approximately seven different clubs around Hollywood and I have joined them each time. There is no announcement or fanfare, they just appear and begin to play. Their sets last for an hour. I have watched them mesmerize audiences who usually have no idea who they are or where they are from. Nobody leaves. In the process, they are fine tuning their talents and singing with added confidence and passion. Watching them evolve gives me great pleasure.”
Mintz also adds that Paris and Gabriel are a “magical union,” which I totally agree with. I had the opportunity to tell Mintz that he was soooo right about “The Soundflowers” in his post about their local shows and how glad I was for listening to him and going to see for myself how they are.
Paris has a very soft, delicate and almost angelic voice that compliments any of the songs that she and Gabriel presented at this gig.
There is no playlist and they play what feels right for the venue and crowd I am told. That’s ok. There are currently two short clips of them at The Hotel Cafe on my YouTube channel if you care to get a bit of a peek and hear for yourself how they sounded. I only offer up short peeks at an acts set because I only want those that have never seen or heard them before can hear for themselves what I am talking about. This pair combine and mingle their eclectic styles into quite a chill and aesthetically pleasing show.
Keep your eyes open next month for the Dirty Honey show at The Troubadour on November 22, 2019 as these guys have been breaking records such as earning the #1 spot on the Rock Radio charts with their “When I’m gone”. This unsigned act is slated to fill two openings for Guns N’ Roses who are known to kick some serious Rock N’ Roll ass. I’ve even been to a concert of theirs and wow! In fact, I even wrote a story which included the above mentioned concert. “Too Old To Rock N’ Roll…Don’t Believe It” is the title and was first published in the “Metal News,” a local rock rag.