Damn good music hijacks my emotional control and sends me spinning. It takes me from zero to melancholy, electric, exuberant, and horny in five seconds or less. So, I know the band Actress is damn good because their shows send me to the edge of bursting with good feeling. It’s clear that this band has a passion for the music, but it occurs to me more than once during the show—maybe Actress enjoys being up there because they’re just really f’ing good at what they do. My girls and I leave the show with damp panties.

You could compare their sound to the Killers, and their vibe to ‘60s rock, but that’s just for point of reference. Actress is like Havarti—it’s got flavor that is distinct, well-developed, and all its own.
Aaron Ficchi is a naturally gifted singer. He hits his vocal sweet spots across the octaves so effortlessly that his vocals seem less like singing than melodic release. It’s the soaring vibrato; it’s the airy crooning of bright, catchy melodies punctuated with “GO”s belted at perfect pitch. Aaron Ficchi doesn’t have to try. He just works. His icon-worthy good looks and signature get-ups—tight slacks, flashy white boots, retro shades, and startling baby blues—-paint a pretty good picture of this band’s playful-but-sophisticated, trendy-but-grounded personality.

Drummer Josh Ficchi plays the drums like he must lay his lovers. He throws out a self-assured, fiery rhythm. The percussive accompaniment is fast-paced and energetic, propelling tunes forward. In spite of that velocity, the music feels deliberate and composed.

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The taco lifestyle continues to extend its reach deep into the worlds of politics and popular music. This week saw two of the world’s most powerful women, Beyonce Knowles and Hillary Clinton, chow down at taco spots in LA and NYC. Mrs. Clinton chowed down at the East LA King Taco branch with Mayor Villaraigosa, where she ordered one carne asada taco con todo. Beyonce, a native of a great taco town, Houston, went for late-nite tacos after a night out on the town with friends as she prepares a new solo album.

Los Angeles ~ CA 

Alpha Cult ~ 408 E 1st St. Long Beach, CA 90802 ~ (562) 432-9144 ~ Map

Alpha Cult is proud to welcome San Francisco based artist Matt Linares to its walls. With an eye for sci-fi/fantasy themes and a sophisticated color palette, Linares expresses the inescapable bond between the organic and the mechanical through his depiction of artificial life forms exploring their realities.Also featuring works by Aaron Kraten, Chris Granillo, Daniel Fleres, Down6, Ganyan, Josh Taylor, Meph One, Phoneticontrol and Shawn “AKO” Whisenant.Music provided by DJ Pur One and Namo.

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The latest attack on the Taco Lifestyle comes from San Antonio, which is usually a great taco town. In this case, however, a city worker says he’s been canned for the simple crime of taco eating. This outrageous decision simply will not stand, and we call on the legion of taco lovers the world over to petition the city fathers of San Antonio and let them know that their short-sighted decision may have cost their city millions in bad PR from the ever-growing taco community.

Munky King’s first show of the year featured CRAOLA’s interpretation of the GOSHO (produced by Super Rad Toys) and other original paintings by CRAOLA this weekend.

Greg ‘CRAOLA’ Simkins was in attendance chatting with people and signing his GOSHO and other pieces of his work. Music was provided byR-Rated and DJ Colby.

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Andrew Bynum hit the deck last night, grabbing his knee in pain. The air was sucked out of the Staples Center as the crowd worried both for their young rising star and the Laker’s season.

The news today is that Andrew does not require surgery, and will be out 8 weeks. 8 weeks from now, the Lakers will have 17 games left in the season, so they’ll need to do the bulk of the rest of the year without a kid who’s been getting better every game. Bynum is averaging 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

Keirin Brown (L,) Olya Petrakova (standing), Bryan Brown and Ilana Turner. All photos by Taso Papadakis.

After literally feeling your way to a seat in the pitch dark theater, you hear actors moving about on stage, feeling that anytime now the lights should shine. The performers sound like they’re shoveling dirt, but you really don’t know, as you can’t even see your hand one inch in front of your eyes. Strangers next to you are antsy. “Lights please!” Despite a few audience complaints, whoever is on stage goes about their dirty business, echoing machines from the dawn of the industrial era or maybe the monster hiding in your closet, whose sole purpose is to get you.

“TURN THE LIGHTS ON!” spectators are now shouting. Sharing my peers’ mounting anxiety, I also jubilate in witnessing the house stand up for its rights, holding cell phones over their heads like torches. The American Russian Theatre Ensemble Laboratory has struck again!

These 10 minutes of revolutionary theater was ARTEL’s way of kissing 2006 goodbye. Last December, the provocative ensemble folded 2007 with a two-night presentation of their work-in-progress: Variation #50 (the memorable adventures during the legendary times of Mikhail Afanesievich Bulgakov) at Highways Performance Space.

Author Mikhail Bulgakov in the hands of Stalin (Ilana Turner.)

Under ARTEL’s domination, the stage suggests a street off of Skid Row, in the early morning, when the unhoused slowly wake, stir, and start their daily routines. Clothes hang on makeshift hooks, suitcases are strewn on the floor next to buckets, shovels and the skeleton of a bed. Actors, deep in character set the stage, get dressed, and mumble. Who are these forms? What are they doing? Whose names are being written on that blackboard? Like a trusted lover, ARTEL savors blindfolding us, keeping us waiting, wanting, guessing…our senses wide awake, ready to engage.

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