Punk rock, Luchadores, and historical theaters on my electric bike!
My husband loves music. He is always turning me on to some amazing new artist that I never would have known about were it not for him. His favorites are not often in the mainstream and I don’t have the time or the inclination to search out these hidden gems, so lucky me, I have him as my musical guide through the 21st century. Lucky for both of us, we live in LA where so many great artists are available to melt our faces off.
LA is also home to a variety of concert venues, from little divy clubs with sweating walls like the Viper Room, to woodsy outdoor venues like the Greek theatre and the Hollywood Bowl, modern masterpieces of architecture like the Disney concert hall, and everything in between.
No matter where the venue, or what style of concert it is, Matthew and I arrive via bicycle!
We recently saw Puscifer at the majestic United Artists theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. We live in Hollywood, about six miles from the concert venue. Before my Dasher, I used to huff and puff to keep up with my athletic husband, but now, I have to put the brakes on for him! Our electric bike ride was so much fun. We put on some tunes on a portable bluetooth speaker and rocked out while zipping down 4th street, then Catalina, then 7th street which has a bike lane. That makes riding with traffic a little safer.
The United Artists theatre is on Broadway and 7th. Back in the early hey days of film, the movie palaces that were built in this city seemed hell bent on outdoing each other for grandeur and expense. This particular theatre is patterned after the Segovia Cathedral in Spain. In the 90’s it was used by televangelist Dr. Gene Scott. He gave sermons to his flock that were recorded for televison. Now it is a part of the ACE Hotel. It is really worth a visit.
I imagine that any performer would feel some amount of pressure to live up to the glory of their surroundings, and the Puscifer show did that and more! What an amazing show. Puscifer is like punk rock meets psychedelic rock meets hee haw. I think people call it “surreal rock.” The show opened with a warning, NO CELL PHONE USE. Hooray! Then the luchadores came out. Two guys and two gals duked it out in a full on wrestling ring to the amaze and delight of all of us. They paused in their fighting, only to dance, which they did often. Then Puscifer played their hypnotic set, followed by more fighting, more dancing, then more playing and on and on. I didn’t want the show to end!
But all good things do come to an end. Waiting patiently for us were our trusty steeds. The IZIP E3 Dash electric bike was a welcome site. I felt sorry for our fellow concert goers, braving bumper to bumper traffic on our clogged streets. Two bicycles, no waiting for the Hoffmans. Off come the bike locks, on goes the music and a painless, beautiful ride home, singing and bike dancing through the city making our way to our little comfy Hollywood bungalow. Ahhh, the good life.
By: JJ Hoffman