Into The Night 2 or Listening To New Local Music

I end up skipping the Silverlake Lounge and just going to The Satellite.  I also end up solo that night, and that is also taken into account when I make that decision.  It’s just too hard to make such ambitious plans--going to Silverlake Lounge then going to The Satellite--when it’s just you on your own.  Besides I really want to check out what they’ve done to Spaceland and hear what sounds Micah Calabrese’s Younglight have developed.
I get down into Silverlake passing the reservoir at about nine and I find the place for free parking down there.  Don’t believe Yelp you can find free parking down by Satellite without getting a ticket; you just have to park about four blocks from the venue and next to a sketchy park.  You also have to arrive before ten otherwise you won’t find any space on the short strip next to the sketchy park.  Okay if you are faint of heart perhaps it’s best you pay five bucks for valet.
I walk up to the door just as Hexham Head is leaving.  I don’t regret missing their set, from what I sampled they would have just driven me outdoors to smoke anyway.  I finish a cigarette and chat for a spell with the door guy before heading inside.  From what I can tell nothing has changed.  There are small details that jump at me, but there have been no significant renovations.  I had half-expected to walk into the Roxy; I’m glad it’s the same old Spaceland familiar and comfortable.
I queue up to the now well lit and perfectly arranged bar.  They’ve got all the standards, but my eye spots Boddingtons and I know what I’m having.  I take my pint and walk around a bit to try to get a feel for the crowd, but it’s a sparse one and I don’t feel there are any opportunities there for me to start any conversations.  So I retreat to what was once the smoking lounge but is now--I’m not sure what it is now--I’d call it a parlor or sitting room.  There’s just one person there sitting and sharing the space with me; some guy engrossed by something on his laptop(porn).  He doesn’t look up when I take a seat a few feet from him.  
Oh how I remember this room; it used to be so packed in there.  They still have those concave installations on the ceiling.  The kind where you can whisper under one edge of it and be heard by those standing opposite to you.  I remember catching smokes between acts here and it was shoulder to shoulder crowded and now here I am with my choice of seats.  It’s the loneliest VIP room in Los Angeles.  I remember those cool, vinyl chairs they sit pretty low and look like they’ve been busted out of some Pinto or Yugo.  The bar is closed and caged; no one sits at the stools that face it.  I spend this time reminiscing until Wilding have taken the stage.
This was supposed to be Gothic Tropic.  I kinda like the samples I heard from them.  They are not them.  I don’t relish random music.  Too many times I have been burned by some band trying too hard or not trying at all.  I wait for whatever comes next.  When the driving drums and crunchy licks begin I am very pleased.  For the first few songs I am not bothered by the whiny, shrill vocalist.  I don’t think how much more interesting and appropriate a stronger voice would be to accompany the tight music.   wish they had tried some harmonies; that would have made for a stronger vocal without adding new vocals.  These flaws wear on me a little more, but I endure it for the sake of the beautiful music--very much like a popified Joy Division--until the set ends.  Perhaps they solve this in the studio.(I check out their page later and it’s a close call, but I say they are worth listening to and definitely worth catching live for the music alone.)
I’m outside again smoking while the last act gears the stage.  A small crowd begins to form outside.  Some are smoking.  Some have only just arrived just in time to catch Younglight.  I see Wilding’s drummer catching some air.  I tell him how much the music pleased me especially his tight drumming.  He thanks me for the compliment.  When I criticize his vocalist the conversation ends shortly thereafter.  This is why I’ve never been able to make friends with musicians I can’t keep my critical mouth shut.
I end up back inside chilling in the back parlor watching Younglight set up.  I think there’s more left to set up after a drum kit and guitar are done, but soon enough two guys take the stage and start to play.  I’m always intrigued by two piece acts; how can they avoid sounding hollow and dull?  When it works the sound of voice, guitar and drums can fill a room, when it doesn’t the sound just bounces off the walls falling flat.  Younglight does much more than just fill the room; they fill the room with gorgeous, delicious distortion.  This band blew me away.  To be fair Younglight does run with synth.  Purists might turn their noses up at the thought of synths, but I recall the ‘80s and back then it was all synth.  There were a few minor hiccups; they did not affect the quality of the experience.  They were more endearing then anything else.  Micah couldn’t quite accept a slight difference in key; they pushed through that eventually.
Standing there listening to Younglight I am reminded why going out to shows was so enjoyable.  There’s a certain pleasure in being there knowing of the thousands of other people all around me at home watching television; they don’t know what they're missing.  I know I could yell at the top of my lungs about how wonderful the experience is but it wouldn’t help.  After Younglight’s last song ends I head back out into the night resolved to find as much music by Younglight and to put their music in front of everyone--the two people--I know.(Unfortunately I end up being stymied by the fact that Younglight doesn’t have a presence as yet on the Internet.)Despite how unbearable it is to go out to live music alone, I’m comforted by the possibility of catching Shadow Shadow Shade next week at the Satellite or Eastern Conference Champions at the end of February.
So that’s it.  That’s how I find new music.  Pick a day.  Check the venues.  Check the bands.  Enjoy the night.