The Sunset Junction Fair will be back on August 21 & 22 for its 30th anniversary, and after having attended this fair for quite a few years now, I can say that it is becoming bigger and bigger, although it almost was put on hiatus last year.
Over the years, I have seen tons of local and not so local bands: Elliott Smith, Sonic Youth, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Dandy Warhols, The 88, Rilo Kiley, X, The New York Dolls, Eagles of Death Metals, The Eels, The Cramps, Ben Harper, Blonde Redhead, Buzzcocks, Cold war Kids, The Black Keys, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Built to Spill to name only a few, and it seems that this year will not be an exception with an expansion to five stages of music (instead of 3 or 4 the previous years). The price will be $20 at the door, $15 in advance, a big increase since its first days, but still a good deal.
So this year, among the bands I plan to see, there are:
– Saint Motel: I just saw them at the Hammer museum last week and it was pure fun and excitement, so great to see them live!
– Bad Brains: never seen them live, never really heard them but they are a hardcore punk band named after a Ramones’ song, so! However, the Sunset Junction crowd can be really wild, and I bet this band is going to be the kind to unleash the raw energy of an already agitated crowd after hours of beer drinking. It’s gonna be a-stay-at-the-first-rows-at-your-own-risk kind of deal.
– Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros: I love them, I have already seen them 3 times and this resurrection of the hippie days and this outpouring of uplifting tunes is contagious.
– Fitz & the Tantrums: I hope I will have the chance to see them before, a fantastic Motown sound and Woody said he fell in love with the band. I have also heard they have a great live rendition of Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet dreams’.
– Mayer Hawthorne: I wanted to see him live at the Getty, I missed it because of his incredible success. The 7 level parking was full! This made me want to see him even more, plus the fact that, when I asked Iman about him, he told me Mayer was a great ‘blue eyed soul man’.
I’m also curious about Ghostland Observatory, Moses Campbell, The Deadly Syndrome, Crystal Antlers but I forgot exactly why.
If you’re interested, go there for the full list of the bands playing