Twilight Concert Series, The English Beat, Maxwell Smart and Troup: August 13, 2013

august 15, 2013

FREE, THURSDAY NIGHTS, 7-10PM

The English Beat Maxwell Smart & troup

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Table of contents page 4

pages 8-9

Still thriving

Map

The English Beat a blast from the ‘80s

Find your way around the Pier

pages 10-12 page 5

TCS lineup

Insider’s guide The 411 on this year’s shows

Learn about this summer’s future shows

page 6

page 14-15

A bay’s best friend

Take a picture

Heal the Bay fights to keep our beaches clean

Shots from last week’s show

Twilight Concert Series Schedule Aug. 15

The English Beat

Sept. 5

with Maxwell Smart & troup

Aug. 22

Gardens & Villa and Mr. Little Jeans

Nick Waterhouse

Sept. 12

with Boogaloo Assassins

Jimmy Cliff

Aug. 29

with The Delirians

Trombone Shorty with The Dustbowl Revival

Twilight Concert Series Partners Myspace Cirque du Soleil KCRW OneWest Bank 98.7 FM G'day USA Quantas Airways Shore Hotel Chili Beans Eyewear Michelob Ultra

LA Weekly Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Mambo Cotton On Australia.com Loaded Boards Rum & Humble Spaceland Laemmle Santa Monica Daily Press

Drum Workshop Uber Barefoot Wine Sabian

WSR Creative Bagavagabonds Heal the Bay Del Frisco's Grille Mariasol City of Santa Monica Pacific Park of Santa Monica Studio 16 City TV Whole Foods Buy Local Santa Monica For more information, visit

www.SantaMonicaPier.org

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The English Beat

Still thriving The English Beat a blast from the ‘80s D

ave Wakeling is a hell of a nice guy! Dave loves to tell you the stories behind his songs, either from stage or after the show. Ask any one of the thousands of fans who have met him over the years and that’s what you’ll hear.

Expect that same embrace when Dave leads The English Beat onto the Twlight Concert Series stage this Thursday at the Santa Monica Pier.

Never mind that Dave is the singer/songwriter from two of the most popular bands of the end of the millennium, The English Beat and General Public, he’s a stand up man from Brum. Whether it’s the personal as political in “How Can You Stand There,” making politics personal in “Stand Down Margaret,” taking a stand against global warming as he did making Greepeace’s Alternative NRG, or helping little kids stand tall with “Smile Train,” Dave has always stood for something.

And like the mighty Redwoods of his adopted home of California, it’s easy for Dave to take a stand because of his strong roots.

Hailing from working-class Birmingham, England, Dave and The English Beat entered the music scene in the troubled times

of 1979. When The English Beat rushed into the music scene it was a time of social, political and musical upheaval. Into this storm they came, trying to calm the waters with their simple message of love and unity set to a great dance beat.

The six member band consisted of singer/songwriter Dave Wakeling (vocals & guitar), Andy Cox (guitar), David Steele (bass), Everett Morton (drums), Saxa (saxophone) and Ranking Roger (toasting). The band managed to fuse all of their respective musical influences — soul, reggae, pop and punk — into a unique sound that was highly danceable. Along with contemporaries such as The Specials, The Selecter and Madness, The English Beat became one of the most popular and influential bands of the British Two Tone Ska movement.

Over the course of three albums, The English Beat achieved great success in their home country, charting several singles into the top 10. In addition to their UK chart success, in America the band found a solid base of young fans eager to dance to the their hypnotic rhythms and absorb their message of peace, love and unity. Their constant touring with iconic bands such as The Clash and The Police helped to boost their popularity in the States.

Despite his huge success, Dave didn’t stop singing and acting on the problems caused by what he called the “noise in this world.” The band donated all the profits from their highly successful single version of “Stand Down Margaret” to the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament.

Dave Wakeling once said that every great band only has three really good albums. And true to form, The English Beat disbanded in 1983, after their third album, “Special Beat Service.”

Dave is currently entering a musical renaissance and, still enjoying that legacy moment, he’s now planning on going into the studio to lay down a new album. Dave also continues to tour as The English Beat, as he had done for the last three decades, with an amazing all-star ska backing band (featuring players from The English Beat, General Public, and guest stars from the likes of The Specials, The Selecter, and other iconic ska bands) playing all the hits of those bands and his new songs. Expect the unexpected and prepare to be blown away by the ever-changing King of Ska! One thing that hasn’t and won’t change though, Dave Wakeling remains a hell of a nice guy.

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WATCH ING THE SHOW from the beach tonight?

Don't forget to recycle your glass bottles and aluminum cans.

2411 Delaware Avenue in Santa Monica

(310) 453-9677

Twilight Concerts insider’s guide Tickets

Smoking

No tickets necessary, this is pure free summer fun (remember that?) all thanks to our partners and sponsors who have brought us another season of awesome free concerts at the beach. Make sure to show them some love.

Don’t even think about it, it’s a 100-year-old wooden Pier, and we really like it.

Pets Dogs are welcome, but must be on a leash.

Time 7 p.m. — 10 p.m., but those in the know stake out a good spot early.

Parking Parking is available in the 1550 Pacific Coast Highway Lot next to the Santa Monica Pier on a first-come, first-served basis. Those wanting to avoid long waits should try one of the municipal lots around Second Street and Colorado Avenue or grab the ParkMe app for live data of parking availability and prices.

Go technology!

Weather & attire It never gets too cold, but sometimes it gets a little chilly once the sun goes down. So bring something or head up to the Pier Tent on the deck to grab this year’s limited-edition sweatshirt or T-shirt!

Seating Seating is not provided, so feel free to bring your own chairs, blankets, etc ...

Food & drinks Bike & skateboard valet Park your wheels at the free bike and skateboard valet located next to the beach bike path just south of the Pier.

There are plenty of great food and beverage options on the deck and at the various restaurants on the Pier. Most even have to-go options perfect for munching during the show. As a reminder, alcohol consumption is not permitted in public spaces, but there are several full-service bars in the area.

Friends & family

The Concert Garden

Bring them, the more the merrier. You will not regret it. This is one epic summer tradition.

There is a 21-and-over Concert Garden featuring Barefoot Wines, an assortment of cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages.

Do not miss this view.

First aid/lost & found If you need first aid or assistance, please visit the Pier Tent or flag down a security officer. If it is an emergency, please call 911.

E-mail list & special offers Sign up at TwilightSeries.org for special announcements, offers and invites.

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Santa Monica Recycling Center

CLOVERFIELD

Aluminum Plastic Glass Bi-Metal Newspaper CardboardWhite/Color/Computer Paper Copper & Brass X DELAWARE AVE. 10 WEST

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A bay’s best friend Heal the Bay fights to keep our beaches clean B

lanket? Check. Picnic basket? Check. Illicit bottle of wine? Maybe we’ll hit up the beer garden instead.

So goes the planning session before a Thursday night at the 29th annual Twilight Concert Series, a 10-concert series that transforms the historic Santa Monica Pier from sightseeing destination to dance party and the beach into a casual dinner spot for those who would rather mingle than twerk.

Down below, people take in the sounds of the music above and the ocean below as they enjoy the pristine sand of Santa Monica Beach.

That condition is no accident — a collaboration between the Pier and the concert series’ nonprofit sponsor Heal the Bay keeps the area clear of trash and hospitable for humanity.

Heal the Bay has a long, productive history with the Pier, of which its support of the Twilight Concert Series is only a piece.

Heal the Bay began its work in 1985 with a fight to end the dumping of untreated wastewater from the Hyperion Sewage Treatment

Plant, and its mission continues, albeit focused largely on educating the public about their impact on the ocean and lawmakers about policies that could protect one of California’s most valuable resources.

To further that goal, Heal the Bay leads beach cleanups with hundreds of volunteers to pick up the trash that works its way to the waterfront both from beachgoers and residents further inland who chuck cigarette butts out of car windows that find their way into storm drains and eventually to Santa Monica Bay. The organization isn’t content to simply pick up the mess, however.

For the last decade, the organization has also run an aquarium on the pier with exhibits depicting local animals, plant life and the ecosystem that people appreciate about Santa Monica.

It took over the facility in 2003 from UCLA, and has used it to connect with the 7 million Santa Monicans, Angelenos and world visitors that arrive at the Pier every year.

“It’s part of our education and outreach to

the community, a way to talk about sustainability,” said Heather Doyle, the aquarium’s director.

The pier makes the perfect spot for the aquarium because of the foot traffic and proximity to the very subject matter that the educators there like to talk about. Aquarium representatives take people on field trips to the beach for relay races, clam hunts and other activities that expose people to the environment around them.

This year, Heal the Bay was selected as the Pier’s education programming curator, and will host two large events in conjunction with Pier leadership.

The first took place on April 20, a “Blue Green Expo” that set up a Green Market on the pier. Participants perused gently used items at a free-cycle table, learned environmentally friendly tips from organizers of the Santa Monica Farmers’ Market and then joined in a beer crawl that featured Heal the Bay IPA by local brewer Golden Road Brewing.

The second is called “STEAM Machine” and will launch in November. High school and college-age teams will compete to build the best Rube Goldberg Machines, overengineered contraptions that go through complex machinations to accomplish very simple tasks.

Heal the Bay plans to sneak in messaging about single-use plastic bag bans approved in Santa Monica and Los Angeles and the sixyear journey it took to make it happen, Doyle said.

“We want to use that as a fun, artistic teaching tool for Heal the Bay’s mission,” Doyle said.

That ethos makes the Twilight Concert Series an ideal foil for the Heal the Bay message. The sponsor will have a booth, and has even paired with certain bands to get their eco-friendly information front and center before concert-goers.

“A crowd may not be completely aware or active, but this is our way of reaching out to them,” Doyle said.

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2013 Twilight Concert Series

Nick Waterhouse

Aug. 22

Boogaloo Assassins

Nick Waterhouse

The Boogaloo Assassins’ name might hint at homicide, but their efforts are strictly life-saving. Dedicated to re-creating and re-interpreting the boogaloo craze that swept East Harlem, the Latin Caribbean and South America from 1965 to 1969, the Los Angeles nine-piece band attempts to do to R&B, doowop, Afro-Caribbean jazz and salsa fusion what the Dap Kings do to classic Stax soul.

with Boogaloo Assassins Nick Waterhouse is the new breed — an R&B fanatic who combines an uncanny oldschool sensibility with a charged, contemporary style. At just 25, he joins the ranks of a growing cabal of similar acts and producers of recent times — Mark Ronson, Mayer Hawthorne, the Daptone Crew et al — that are all moving forward into the past, yet all quite different. For Waterhouse, his muse is the over-modulated sound of vintage R&B, and his take on such a time-honored tradition evokes the back-alley thrill of New Orleans, Detroit and Memphis in their heyday. He combines an astute attention to detail with an honest desire to match the emotional impact of the music that inspires him.

When asked to pinpoint the sound or style he strives for, Nick Waterhouse simply shrugs and responds, “American music. And I know that’s pretty general, but it is what it is. I have spent so much of my life immersed in this stuff, because I wanted to figure it out, [yet] all I figured out was that there was no plan.”

In other words, whatever musical style Nick may choose to espouse, it’s not done because someone else did it, but done for the same reason someone else did it.

Growing up in the Southern California, Waterhouse eschewed his surroundings and found emotional authenticity in the vintage wax of Ray Charles, Roy Head, Little Willie John and the whole panoply of American music, where feel so often trumps technique.

Aug. 29

hip-hop beats, and they’ve added some tangy new ingredients on “For True” as they keep pushing the envelope, exploring new musical territory.

“We never sat down and really thought about concepts and what we wanted our music to sound like,” Andrews explained. “It’s just that, over the years, we allowed each one of the band members to bring their influences and taste in music into our music. Anything we hear or are influenced by, it naturally comes out in what we’re trying to do. It’s just our sound, and it happened naturally.”

Andrews wrote or co-wrote all 14 tracks on the new album, including collaborating with the

legendary Lamont Dozier on “Encore,” while this time playing as much trumpet as trombone, as well as organ, drums, piano, keys, synth bass and percussion. Indeed, he played every part on the swaying, Latin-tinged “Unc.” He’s also come into his own as a singer, honoring the hallowed legacy of the great soul men of the 1960s and ‘70s. Like its predecessor, the new album turns on a rare combination of virtuosity and high-energy, party-down intensity.

SEE LINE-UP PAGE 12

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with The Dustbowl Revival Since the release of their Grammy-nominated 2010 debut album, “Backatown,” Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue have grown creatively while winning hordes of new fans performing nonstop on five continents.

Their latest album, “For True,” offers substantive proof of their explosive growth, further refining the signature sound Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews has dubbed “Supafunkrock.”

“There was excitement from everywhere,” said Andrews of the experience on the road and how it fed into the creation of “For True.”

“We did over 200 shows in the last year and a half, and every night we allowed the music to take us over. Musically and creatively, we wanted to shoot for some different things.”

The band — Mike Ballard on bass, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums, Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax and Tim McFatter on tenor sax — stirs together old-school jazz, funk and soul, laced with hard-rock power chords and

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

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LINE-UP FROM PAGE 10

The Dustbowl Revival The Dustbowl Revival is a Venice, Calif.based collective that merges old school bluegrass, gospel, jug-band, swamp blues and the hot swing of the 1930s to form a spicy roots cocktail. Known for their inspired live sets, The Dustbowl Revival boldly brings together many styles of traditional American music. Imagine Old Crow Medicine Show meeting Louis Armstrong’s Hot Seven Band in New Orleans or Bob Dylan and Fats Waller jamming with Mumford & Sons on a front porch in 1938.

Growing steadily from a small string band playing up and down the West Coast (hundreds of shows in the last two years), DBR has blossomed into a traveling collective featuring instrumentation that often includes fiddle, mandolin, trombone, clarinet, trumpet, banjo, accordion, tuba, pedal steel, drums, guitars, a bass made from a canoe oar, harmonica and plenty of washboard and kazoo for good luck.

With an enthusiastic and growing national following, DBR released their first LP “You Can’t Go Back To The Garden of Eden” to rave reviews. Their tune “Dan’s Jam,” received Americana Song Of The Year honors by the Independent Music Awards (Tom Waits, Ozzy Osbourne judging). The group has placed songs in several independent films and TV projects including “Made In China” (IFC) which won SXSW, and in an upcoming episode of “American Idol.” National radio play includes L.A.’s KCRW and KCSN, Austin’s KGSR, San Francisco’s KPFA and Seattle’s taste-making KEXP.

Sept. 5

Gardens & Villa and Mr. Little Jeans Gardens & Villa is the project of five college friends from Santa Barbara, formed following the collapse of a noisier post-punk band and a hitch-hiking journey up the West Coast.

Members Chris Lynch, Adam Rasmussen, Levi Hayden and Shane McKillop began playing in earnest as Gardens & Villa in 2008.

The name is pulled from the location of their house on Villa Street, and the property’s lovely garden to which they tend. The music they make is very much connected to the coastal city they call home — the stoney bike rides, dance parties and a scene free of judgment.

For two weeks in the summer of 2010, the band camped behind visionary and now-labelmate Richard Swift’s Oregon studio. No shower, no kitchen, but all the magic you could ask for. After taking a band oath to always play all

Jimmy Cliff parts live — a la Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense” — the band added member Dusty Ineman to supremely execute the live incarnation of the band.

Mr. Little Jeans Meet Mr. Little Jeans, a.k.a. Monica Birkenes. She is small and Norwegian and she makes music that will leave you reeling.

Her pop dances left of center, a curious thing of equal parts organic magic and buzzing electricity. She has worked hard to get to this place, traveled far to find it. On some unmarked pasture between St. Vincent’s prettiest moments and Debby Harry’s wilder inclinations, she stands fronting an army of bright ideas and sharp sounds, a shipbuilder’s daughter with a voice that could part a sea.

Monica grew up in the middle of the woods in a seaside town called Grimstad. Her dad built catamarans and her mum was a secretary whose love for music was infectious. They didn’t have much money, but put their daughter through years of piano and voice lessons which she’d attend wearing her mother’s oversized outfits from another era. There were four black cats called Missy, and some neighbors who killed a man, but otherwise it was all Nancy Drew, dancing through the trees, and singing to mum’s records.

Mr. Little Jeans

Her first instrument has always been her voice. Monica sang in the church choir at 5, then around town wherever and whenever her mum saw fit: malls, old folks’ homes, theaters, even on local television once or twice. At 10, she recorded a cassette of children’s classics and shopped it around to gas stations mainly.

By 15, she was singing in bars, clearly underage but backed by a band of boys in their 20s. She focused on music in high school, then relocated to London to study drama.

A year later, Monica was on her own in England, having left college to chase singing leads gleaned from the “wanted” pages.

Mostly she spent an endless string of years as a terrible waitress and, after an exploratory trip to Los Angeles, a couple more years sofa-surfing, country-hopping, and racking up credit card debt as she wrote with different producers — Peter Moren (Peter Bjorn & John), John Hill (Santigold) — and shaped her sound into that of the inimitable Mr. Little Jeans we now know.

Sept. 12

Jimmy Cliff with The Delirians “I got one more shot at the goal/Straight from my soul/I’m in control,” sings reggae legend Jimmy Cliff on “One More,” the lead track from “Rebirth” the new Universal Music Enterprises album from the Grammy-winning musician, actor, singer, songwriter, producer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, produced by punk icon Tim Armstrong, of Rancid and Operation Ivy fame.

The release, his first studio album in seven years, is the next step in their collaboration on last year’s “Sacred Fire” EP, an effort Rolling Stone called Cliff’s “best music in decades ... [his] tenor still soars.” With the groundbreaking 1972 film “The Harder They Come” celebrating its 40th anniversary, Cliff — who starred in the movie and contributed the title cut, “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “Many Rivers to Cross” and “Sitting in Limbo” to the soundtrack — is still going strong in a career that has spanned almost 50 years and includes his native Jamaica’s highest honor, the Order of Merit.

In the autobiographical “Reggae Music,”

Cliff recounts going to see famed Jamaican producer Leslie Kong in 1962 to convince him to work with him, releasing Cliff’s first hit, “Hurricane Hattie,” when he was just 14.

“Jimmy is one of my musical heroes and I’ve been responding to his music my entire life,” said Armstrong, who had never met Cliff before, but was once recommended to him by mutual friend Joe Strummer of The Clash.

Gathering Armstrong’s studio band, the Engine Room (bassist/percussionist J Bonner, drum/percussionist Scott Abels, organ/percussionist Dan Boer and piano/lead guitarist Kevin Bivona), the first song they tackled was a cover of Rancid’s “Ruby Soho,” a skatinged number from the band’s 1995 album “... And Out Came the Wolves” about a musician having to tell his lover he’s headed for the road.

“I had no idea it was one of Tim’s songs, but I liked it and could identify with the sentiments,” said Cliff. “I never really had the opportunity to hear his music, but it was a great thing how we hit if off in the studio.”

They also worked on a cover of The Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton,” a song about the growing tension in Brixton at the time.

Ironically, Strummer’s last session ever was with Cliff on “Over the Border,” a song from Jimmy’s 2004 album, “Black Magic.” It was at that time Joe talked up Armstrong as someone who might make a good collaborator for him.

“It was inspiring working with Tim because even the sound of the album feels like we went back to the ‘60s and ‘70s,” said Cliff. “I had forgotten about a lot of the sounds and the instruments we used then, and we brought that all back.”

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Freeze frame Hanni El Khatib, Bombino brought a healthy dose of guitar fury last week

T

wo dudes, two guitars, one crazy night.

Bombino and Hanni El Khatib came equipped with their six-strings to the Twilight Concert Series and their efforts were repaid in applause.

They rocked the Santa Monica Pier with opposing styles, yet unified by guitar play. It was a show to remember to be sure.

This week brings 1980’s ska pioneers The English Beat. Toss on your vans, skinny ties and Swatch watches for a little nostalgia.

photo courtesy Brandon Wise

Bombino

photo courtesy Brandon Wise

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photo courtesy Brandon Wise

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Hanni El Khatib

photo courtesy Brandon Wise

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Hanni El Khatib

Surly | Linus | Biria Virtue | Phat Cycles Schwinn | Nirve Purefix | Haro Free Agent | Litespeed Stromer | E-motion

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