TONIGHT IN LOS ANGELES: SHOWS EVERYWHERE

Too many great options tonight in LA, so here's some picks based on past FS friends....

The biggie tonight has to be at the Hollywood Bowl> NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS, SPIRITUALIZED & CAT POWER. Show starts at 7:30pm.

Their quick rise has them jamming the Wiltern, but VAMPIRE WEEKEND has earned it by touring non-stop. Support comes from WHITE WILLIAMS and ABE VIGODA.

Are you kidding me, MGMT on the same night as the others? They play tonight at the Music Box @ Fonda.

Fresh off his appearance at the Monolith Festival in Red Rocks, POP LEVI returns to play Spaceland tonight for the Club NME night.

The upstarts from the OC, VENUS INFERS, will be playing tonight at Club Moscow at Boardeners in Hollywood.

If all these choices aren't enough, TWEAK BIRD has their record release show at the Silverlake Lounge. I've heard the record and it's good!

SPOON + THE DELTA SPIRIT + VAMPIRE WEEKEND = TRIPLE THREAT

Wow, what an evening of great live music last night. Started out at the ASCAP PARTY at the Troubadour and walked into the set of a band I've been dying to see live, VAMPIRE WEEKEND. They packed the place from the opening of the doors and on top of it all, they delivered. It's great in LA when you see a crowd dancing, and the call and response nature of Vampire Weekend really lends itself nicely to the live audience. If this band played Bonnaroo, they'd have been a festival highlight. Straddling that fine line between jam band and indie band, they pull it off because you feel the sincerity. Sounding at times like Graceland-era PAUL SIMON, they seem poised to be this year's SPINTO BAND. Hot damn if I don't get to see them again tonight when they play the SILVERLAKE LOUNGE with a band that can crush it, EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS.

Next up was GRAND OLE PARTY, a three piece with a female vocalist on vocals and drums. She comes off a little like THE GOSSIP, very bluesy and she really gets swept away in the moment, which I will always tip my cap to. Once they figure out how to add a little diversity to their sound, and have a few tracks that aren't marches, they have real potential.

Finally, a band I've thoroughly enjoyed on recording and finally saw live, THE DELTA SPIRIT. A revelation for sure, and my vote for taking over as the new version of THE BAND. Huge vibe, big energy, they are truly captivating live. If you like what you hear online, go see this band live. You'll be a new follower, as I now will become.

Jumping off towards set end, and driving to the other end of the Earth - we LA people consider deep Downtown, the LITTLE RADIO "secret" show for SPOON was wall to wall. As consistent a band as there is out there, Britt and the boys did what they always seem to do, deliver a tight show that mixed new tracks from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, with all your Spoon fav's. The army that is LITTLE RADIO know how to put on a party, and I was jealous that I wasn't up behind stage with the legion of dancing girls that actually had space enough to move to 'I Turn My Camera On' and the rest.

Ears still ringing....why is it I always leave the house without my earplugs?