Greetings everyone and welcome to another look inside some of Hollywood and musics coolest events. “The Outsiders Guide to the Inside of Hollywood”, is not your normal entertainment blog. My blog, focusses on my experience with the entertainment industry, ranging from being a life long fan, working as an actor, Talent Agency assistant, music manager and photographer. Some of my blogs are about A list celebrity events. While others are about, actors and musicians I feel could or should be the next big thing.
This blog is dedicated to one of my favorite Indie bands called “The Limousines”. http://thelimousines.com If you are not familiar with the band, check out two of my past blogs on them here: https://theoutsidersguidetotheinsideofhollywood.com/2012/01/24/the-limousines-show-indie-music-is-far-from-dead/ & https://theoutsidersguidetotheinsideofhollywood.com/2012/06/13/18th-annual-live-105-bfd-festival-and-the-23rd-annual-glaad-media-awards-one-long-day-blog/
The Limousines are an Indie electronic duo from the Bay Area made up of multi-instrumentalist and producer Giovanni Giusti and songwriter and vocalist and author Eric Victorino. This blog is dedicated to their new album “Hush” which was released last week. The band held to sperate events to debut their new pice of musical art “Hush”. The first one was a listening party for Kickstarter backers and the second, a live show at Rickshaw Stop, where each fan in attendance received a CD copy of “Hush”. The concert featured the band playing the entire album from start to finish.
The Limousines “Hush” listening Party at Hipstamatic in San Francisco 5/31
“Hush” is the second album released by the Bay Area band. “Hush” is the follow up to one of my Top 25 Albums of the 21st Century “Get Sharp”. The album was self-released, in the Summer of 2010. The band signed to Dangerbird records, which re-released “Get Sharp” in February 2011. The relationship was short lived due too creative differences before the start of their sophomore album. The guys wanted to do their music their way and not have to answer to a corporation. The Limousines turned to their fans and the creative project funder Kickstarter.com to help raise funds, so they could independently produce and release “Hush” on their terms. The guys were hoping to raise $30,000 when the campaign ended they had a total number of 1,767 (including me) backers and raised over $75,500. Eric and Gio decided to have a thank you party for some of the backers in San Francisco at the offices of a trendy company that is a photo application Hipstamatic.
The venue was a cool spot. I was even able to find parking close by. The downstairs had a DJ spinning records and people danced and hung out at the downstairs bar. There was another bar up on the roof of the company. Not long after I got there Eric and Gio showed up. The guys spent time greetings fans and close friends. you can always tell how much The Limousines care about their fans. Weather it was posing for pictures or signing everything from CD’s, posters and even a Baseball. Eric and Gio thanked their fans and backers and said that this was their party. “Hush” was played and everyone seemed to be digging the new album. I found it a little hard to hear with the tons of people that were at the party. I took some pictures of the party guests and actually went outside so I could hear “Hush” with out the noise of the party guests. One thing was certain I couldn’t wait to hear them perform the album live the following Thursday.
The Limousines “Hush” Album Release Party and Concert at Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco on June 6, 2013
I arrived to the venue about 15 minutes before doors were going to open. I saw a long line wrapped around the corner. After getting a hard time from a door guy I finally got into the club to find the front stage area completely packed. I knew at this point this was probably going to be a point and shoot photo shoot. Instead of opeers the clubs resident DJ’s aaron and Miles The DJ, Assistant Music Director and On-Air Personality at Live 105 , spun the latest indie hits along with mixes of older tunes.
The show started a little after 11:30, as the crowd in the club gave the band a nice welcome. From the very start you could see this was a special night for the band. Eric and Gio, had experienced different sides of the business since they first started on the music scene. You could tell how much this night and this release met to the band. Like the band promised ahead of time, the set list was the album from start to finish.
From the opening note and lyric from “Love is a Dog from Hell” you get the feeling musically and creatively “Hush”, has a completely different feel and sound than their debut album. “Get Sharp” was the it’s Saturday Night lets go out and have fun album. There were multiple songs like were like musical anthems. “Hush” shows the growth lyrically, musically and possible personally, that Eric and Gio have gone through in the process of creating “Hush”. A number of the tracks talk about love and the struggle to maintain it and keep it growing. The sound and feel for the album “Fools Gold” and it’s groovy sound is another great live song. The crowd seemed to be split between people who downloaded “Hush” already and others who were experiencing it for the first time. They crowd continued to dance not just on the crowded dance floor but dancing on tables. At one point to get some better shots I stood up on a small table on the side of the stage half way back. “Haunted” which happens to be one of my favorite tunes talks of being haunted by the past. The music fits the mood of the song perfectly.
The great thing about “Hush” is the musical diversity of every song. The music sounds fresh and unlike anything that is out there. “Wrecking Ball” was another song well received by the crowd. All of the songs had the crowd dancing along with every note. “Gimme Control” was another highlight and could be another musical anthem. It did remind me of a Nine Inch Nails type performance. The band also had some of the lyrics flash on the screen behind them which was also trent like. Eric announced like on the album, that the last song on the album would be the last song. Though some did leave a little disappointed about not hearing one of the bands radio songs from “Get Sharp, I get the feeling after listening “Hush” they’ll realize how special the night was for the band and it’s fans. “Hush” is avaiable for down load on I Tunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hush/id646459930
Thank you for going me on this musical adventure. My next blog will be from Los Angeles. Events will include the final night of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers residency at the 19020’S The Fonda Theatre in Hollywood and The Los Angeles Film Festival. For more celebrity photos and stories follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Jonathanshensa or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jonathan.shensa.
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