DJ kidPEACE & DJ CutmarC @ The Beauty Bar

Credit: The Beauty Bar, Hollywood

For a Wednesday night in Hollywood off of Cahuenga Boulevard, the Beauty Bar was getting its mind blown by the funky beats of guest DJs kidPEACE and CutmarC. The interior was warm and playful with an aura of pink ambiance befitting of a retro beauty parlor inspired bar. Imagine a mid 1960s set up your grandmother would adore but wouldn’t understand – equipped with faux retro hair dryers, vanity mirrors, vintage beauty décor in the window front, and even a photo booth ($5)…alongside a fully stocked bar.

While taking a shot of rum I noticed that a woman and her boyfriend opened the double doors, peeked inside, and walked up to the bar and asked the bartender if they could get an actual haircut. The bartender looked amused and told them that they were mistaken and asked if they wanted a drink. They declined and exited embarrassed and still hair challenged. My friend, rogue hairstylist and co-guest DJ, CutmarC joked that he should set up shop right there on the bar floor in front of the window so passerby’s could come in and get a cut while they drink. Not a bad idea, I thought. This idea could be good for promotion. It is, after all, the Beauty Bar. Why not make people even more beautiful in La La Land?

                The atmosphere surrounding the Beauty Bar was busy and buzzing with customers getting free bubble gum flavored vodka shots from four very sweet, giving, and camera clutching women in bright pink Britney wigs. My guess is that they were trying to capture all the evidence of debauchery going on. Not a bad set up you finely disguised, sneaky, liquor toting ladies. Outside there was a live television shoot going on – complete with lighting and worried people with clipboards and hands free sets telling patrons on the sidewalk  (who could care less) to move because they were trying to get a scene shot.  You could hear DJ kidPEACE supply the fuel for their shoot with her set of spins starring Bob Marley and The Wailers, Lake Side, and pushing the party into overdrive with songs by Indeep, and Dr Dre. The crowd looked like they were loosening up and gettin’ on their good foot!

It seemed the speakers were sending out a mighty fine buzz because all you could see coming down the street and stopping in front of the Beauty Bar was the Pap. It must have been TMZ because you could see their flashing bulbs and feel their invasiveness from a mile away. You could have sworn that a Hilton or a Lohan tried to escape them by actually walking down the sidewalk trying to escape them. Fueling the beats, DJ kidPEACE and CutmarC shimmied everyone into the jam of some real old school dance classics by The Commodores, James Brown, Rick James, and Stevie Wonder to name a few. After they puppet mastered the dance floor into a funk storm with The Gap Band and Warren G, they brought the bass bumping of Chromeo, and Ducksauce to the mix. At the close of the night DJ kidPEACE ended her set on a high note with her own favorite band Guns N Roses. So money.

Rockers Give Back To LA Youth @ The Avalon

Photo Credit: Love Absurd Productions

Sunday November 22^nd, 2009 The Los Angeles Youth Network hosted a sold out concert, LAYN ROCKS presented by Slash and Friends, at The Avalon in Hollywood. The event was hosted by comedian George Lopez and rock headliners Slash and Ozzy Osbourne. The night’s acts featured collaborative performances by Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Perry Farrell, Billy Idol, Travis Barker, Chester Bennington, Andrew Stockdale, Dave Navarro, and an opening performance by Juke Kartel. 

The night was full of surprises, with Slash and Friends rocking out to Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” and “Tangerine”, Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak”, Wolfmother’s Andrew Stockdale belted out “Woman”, and “By The Sword” off of Slash’s upcoming album. A surprisingly bad ass performance by Chester Bennington during the Zeppelin song “Good Times, Bad Times”. Billy Idol performed “Out Ta Get Me” and “Rebel Yell”. Bennington also nailed “Slither” along with “Paradise City” performed by Stephen Adler on drums and Duff McKagan on bass! Perry Farrell sang “Mountain Song”, “Sympathy For The Devil”, and an unforgettable version of “Jane Says”. Ozzy Osbourne began his set with “I Don’t Know”, “Iron Man”, “Crazy Train”, and ended the night with an unforgettably sung “Paranoid”.

Photo Credit: Love Absurd Productions

The Los Angeles Youth Network, LAYN, is a non-profit organization devoted to ending “homelessness one kid at a time”. At one of the three LAYN homes the youths (12-21 years old) that come through are provided with what many take for granted – a place to sleep, food in their stomach, water, medical services and even counseling, as most come from abuse, were neglected, or abandoned. Without LAYN many of these kids would become a part of the frightening reality that, “Nearly 150,000 people live on the streets of Los Angeles” and that out of that large number “Over 10,000 kids sleep on the street in abandoned buildings and under freeways each night”. It is because of charitable donations made by regular folks like you and I that help the Los Angeles Youth Network provide these kids with “9000 home nights, 13000 meals, 6500+ hours of counseling, 1000 hours of education and tutoring, and 300+ arts and recreation hours” per year.  Imagine if no one contributed to these kids and future adults’ lives.

Photo Credit: Love Absurd Productions

LAYN not only helps youths NOW, it helps prepare them for the FUTURE. Their services provide at risk youths with transitional living programs, vocational and placement services, independent living and job training, that helps to make sure that each kid “successfully completes the permanent transition away from street life to a safe and secure living environment to fully participate in society”. LAYN graduate and fellow guitarist/bass player Jill Avilez, shared why the program is still so important to her. She says, “I was lucky to end up at L.A.Y.N. The program and its supportive staff helped save my life and pull me out of my darkest times. I can wholeheartedly say that if I didn't end up at the Beachwood house I most likely would have committed suicide. They helped me get back into Hollywood High School and influenced me to get better grades and focus more on my arts. They supported my creative self when almost no one else did and it and gave me the confidence to be the unique individual that I am today. I was guided with the tools to help overcome deep mental and emotional trauma and emancipated the program a high school graduate to go on to a 4 year State University to pursue my artistic ambitions". Jill is one of the fortunate“80% of our youth” who “exit our program to live successfully with their families, in foster or group home placements, or independently”.

Jill reminds us that “Not all youth get a chance to explore their own potential and have supporters who genuinely care about their growth and development. And not all youth can find their way to L.A.Y.N., but L.A.Y.N. needs to be there for the ones that do”.  Hopefully along with the celebrity rockers that helped host the LAYN ROCKS concert there will also be more attention to keeping kids off the streets and into a home where they are truly cared for by individuals who want to shed light on an otherwise potentially dark road.

Photo Credit: Love Absurd Productions

Jalopy @ The Viper Room in October!

I've already seen them live at Genghis Cohen and they were amazing! Please go and show some support for these guys! Having a show at The Viper Room just screams that they're probably going to be playing really REALLY loudly.

Flyer art by @kidPEACE from kpeace designs

Follow Jalopy on Twitta! @JalopyMusic

Jalopy MySpace here!