The road from busy L.A. to Santa Ana was lined with freeway lights blue-white and blurring out of focus. This iridescent air is special to those nights when you’re driving out to see a show with friends and in Southern California, ALTANGELES are the keepers of this feeling. Los Angeles is coming alive again and Death Lens at the Constellation Room was the beginning of several ALTANGELES shows scheduled for this year. These events are a unique reminder of the talent of the region — talent that is cruising along the coast, revving loudly like a sports car engine, and bursting electric through crowds like traffic lights on a freeway.
The air on February 19th was warm. In the parking lot kids danced and laughed in the kind of infinity you age and try to never lose. This infinity comes alive with live music – always at live music. Always with the sound bouncing and kicking in your ears, and hitting your body against strangers who are savoring every second of that sound you share. It was there that night as every band came and went.
Punk band Hold Fast came on first — exploding with energy, exalted. A trio of young adults stood tall on the stage leaning back and forth into the crowd, and the drummer manned the stage like a fortress. In the mosh pit, someone dropped a cellphone and out of thin air – on time with the song’s build up, a hand came triumphantly out of the pit holding the phone, delivering it perfectly into the owner’s hand. A familiar camaraderie. Hold Fast ended their set smashing their guitars into pieces and throwing them into the crowd as souvenirs. A relic of those nights that you spend your weekdays wishing for.
Picking up their instruments and walking across the stage in an utmost cool, Rain on Fridays took command of the room. The singer yelled “can we just check levels?” They broke out into a quick 30 second jam and the crowd adored them. From “Hey Man”, to “Slumber Party” (and a Turnstile cover), Rain on Fridays’ set was intimate and kickass. At the end of their set, the band, having driven up from San Diego, left the venue quickly, packing up their merch table complete with stickers, pins, and t-shirts, leaving the audience glistening.
The night ended with a set from Joynoise, where people danced holding hands and raged in youthful angst. The singer ignited the crowd and the minutes flew by like time was made of nothing. In the moment everyone was waiting for, DeathLens came on and performed their newest single “Abrupt” live. “Repeat and repeat again, over and over again” went the track and up-and-down went the bodies. The audience got to enjoy the band’s elation of telling a long-held secret. Outside, people dispersed and said goodbye, many having known eachother from before and some saying “hey! I saw you at the last show”. Back into the night we all went, still feeling the frequencies present on our skin.
ALTANGELES is an online alternative music publication that has recently shifted focus into putting together live events. They know how to put on a killer show. They have a string of live events coming up in the next few weeks including March 11th at the Programme Skate + Sound, March 25th at the Smell, and April 2nd at the Offbeat Bar. If you’re in Southern California, you have to come be a part of what ALTANGELES is creating.
“For the love of music”.
Written by [@skeletosphere]
Velvet Noise 