After 2 music showcases and a trip to Oakland I had to have a moment to
gather myself for rest and
reflection before a huge and significant event that
celebrates, dominates and defines the Eastsider’s sensibilities and lifestyle choices like no other event
: SUNSET JUNCTION. While
Sunset Junction may
polarize those who are pro
–or
-con, there is nothing on the “
Eastside”
that so
clearly defines our hopes and dreams
more than
The Junction.
Sunset Junction clearly
celebrates diversity by
creating commonality between us
all, as it has for the last
30 plus years.
My first
Sunset Junction was
way back in 1986
with the focus on local,
alternative and ethnic
musicand lifestyles.
It was The Junction that offered openness to us all by bringing together the Latin and Gay
communities,
among others, to celebrate the amazing cultural
richness of an amazing and picturesque part of Los Angeles.
I have fond memories of seeing
Dezz Cadena announcing the
bands year-after-year and hanging out
backstage with
Candye Kane,
Patrick Mata’s The Legendary Wrong People & Kommunity FK,
The Muffs, Luis Güereña of
Tijuana No and
the legendary Pete Shelley of
The Buzzcocks.
The Junction holds
great meaning to me and
to many,
many others too.
These are all very rich and wonderful memories deeply engraved in the community from years past. They include all the
delicious Queens like
Tanja,
Johnny and the many
others who “
Brought it
!” with flair and
drag-a-licious marvelousness every
year in
late August!
! For years The Junction became a home for
Punks and
Alternative types like myself,
who blended in
well with the Latin and Gay
communities. It gave
us all a forum of self-
expression and creative individualism on the streets
, when no one else
would have
bothered todo
so.
This is enough
of a legacy for me to hold on to, one that revitalizes the
Eastside community as
no other entity could. However, even more important to remember is the year-round, community outreach and good works provided by Sunset Junction founder/organizer Micheal McKinley and his team. Proceeds from the annual event benefit the less
privileged of our
community, while
continuing to promote understanding and
tolerance among such a
diverse population.
With
this in mind, there has
been an
upswing of interest focusing on
Sunset Junction over the
last couple
of years
. The shift has moved it beyond the
spread of misinformation and negativity, while ushering in an exciting “rebirth“ to a
whole new
generation as we approach its 31st Anniversary.
I was fortunate
enough to observe this new push
and believe as never before that the best
is yet to come
. An
important indication of this renewal
was clearly signified with
Sunset Junction’s 2011 Media Mixer last Wednesday
at Silverlake landmark El Cid. Part
of the buzz started when it was announced
that El Cid is partnering with Sunset Junction to present a SixthStage called “Locals Only” that features home
grown talent.
Three snaps, it’s on!
Essentially
this mixer brought together a
whole new
synergy for
The Junction,
by illuminating all of the
marvelous talent in our community that wewill be sharing this
year at
El Cid.
The
mixer demonstrated how The Junction is an important player in
fortifying, building
and maintaining the Eastside
community, hands down.
I arrived at
El Cid promptly at 7PM to start the
photographic work
in documenting
this milestone
event. I arrived in the
golden light of the
late afternoon sun, ready to
knock out hundreds of
shots of local personalities, community leaders,
and established and
emerging local musical
artists. The patio was serene as I walked in
to see Sunset Junction’s Micheal McKinley,
The Hotel Cafe’s Marko Shafer, El Cid’s Julianna Young and
The Satellite’sJennifer Tefft,
the team
responsible for
producing this year’s music and entertainment. They were
prepping for the
necessary photos op
ps, as a sea of photographers surrounded them. The
table to
my right was set
with a red
tablecloth along with tons of
goodies to eat, for the crowd
that would soon
descend to this
historic site.
Besides the food
, there was an
Open
Bar
— to further promote the
good vibes and celebration for this special evening. The
Media
Mixer also showcased the Eastside’s
wide reservoir of talent
, including well received performances by Left Over Cuties and Peg Leg Love. This allowed the media to get
an advance preview of what the team had in store for this years festival. Thanks to
Karen Sundell from Rogers & Cowan (a fellow eastsider), whose deft
planning skills supremely provided the necessary
touch of
elegance that made
El Cid totally ready to
party!
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Some of the first folks to celebrate were , Steve Chagollan of Variety, Harlan Lansky of Seany Records, Andy Sternberg of LAist, Tanja Laden of Flavor Pill and Brick Walh of LA Weekly, Andrea Dominack of LA Weekly, Kevin Bronson of Buzzbands, Jessica Wedemeyer of People Magazine, Jose Martinez of Venice Magazine, Abigail Parsons of Young Hollywood/Central Talent booking, Ronna Bronstein-Trumfio of Kingsize Sound Labs, reps from CBS Radio, The Huffington Post and a wide assortment of tastemaker/bloggers in support of the event. The artists, musicians and personalities in attendance were many and that included, Stuart Johnson, Shirli McAllen, Ryan Feves and Mike Bolger of Leftover Cuties, Marie Hall, Daven Hall and Jasmine Ash of Oh Darling, Travis Moore, Ilir Zeneli and Henry Lopez of Peg Leg Love, DJ Morgan Page, Nicole Eva Emery, Summer Spiro and Ruby Spiro of Ruby Summer, Jacob Maltinsky, Adam Kurtz, Sean Johnson and Maria DeLuca of The Damselles, Kate Flannery, Aaron Finley, Erik Desiderio, Steve-Z Brenner and Andrew Van Baal of Big Dick, Mike Hopkins, John Graney and Jake Gideon of The Californian, Nick Sandler, Mike Goldman, Matt Schwartz and Drew Beck of Chasing Kings, Matthew Teardrop and Katya Arce of Manhattan Murder Mystery, Steven Scott and Brian Canning of Shadow Shadow Shade, Alex Staniloff, Geoffrey Halliday and Sean Hess of Hands, Graham Fink, Jimmy James and Calixto Hernandez of Barrio Tiger, Holly Conlan, Carina Round, Dan Burns and Zack Rae of Early Winter, Betty Kelly of Martha and the Vandellas, Bob Lee and Jon Wahl from Clawhammer, Mike Fong, East Area Director for Los Angeles City for Mayor AntonioVillaraigosa, Native Wayne representing Indie 103.1 and Kat Corbett representing KROQ. On a side note, the Black Lips crashed the party, to hang out in the courtyard and soak up the radiating afterglow. Surely, there weremany more in attendance, but your eyes and my eyes would suffer from fatigue in viewing a longer list.
The atmosphere was more than gregarious: it was a blend of class reunion, a shindig, a hootenanny, a POB (Part Out Of Bounds) as we all mingled, greeted, got to know, laughed, shared stories, noshed from the fine dining spreadset before us and bellied up to El Cid’s comfy open bar. The craziness had gone on for hours and would have done justice to El Cid builder D.W. Griffin’s classic Hollywood standards. It was Ten-ish when Team Sunset Junction, that is: Micheal McKinley, Julianna Young, Jennifer Tefft and Marko Shafer took the stage to make announcements regarding this year’s Sunset Junction and to take questions from the audience. Michealwas channeling the excitement he’s held for years about The Junction to an extremely engaged audience. Micheal is a huge fan of Motown Soul, so he couldn’t hold back his excitement as he exuberantly introduced everyone to Betty Kelly of Martha and the Vandellas to a loud round of applause. It was a sweet and classic moment as Betty rose to receive some much deserved praise and recognition. This was also near the time Micheal and Juliannaannounced the news that El Cid would host local music artists as the the Sixth Stage of Sunset Junction. There was crowd pleasing cheers from the audience. There were a few more announcements, including the “Win A Slot”at Sunset Junction contest, in which bands compete to win a much-coveted performance slot this years festival. For more details, please visit www.sunsetjunction.org. Micheal then opened up the stage for Leftover Cuties and Peg Leg Love to perform and close out the mixer.
Leftover Cuties performed first, bringing a hipster vibe to the El Cid stage that was reminiscent of bands like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros or Amanda Jo Williams,with a Freak Folk sound that went over well with all attending. Then it was Peg Leg Love’s turn. Peg Leg Love rocked the house with some hard-driving blues/garage oriented rock. They occupied the stage for nearly 45 minutes delivering power to their hot licks and kicks kind of sound. Soon, I drifted out in the courtyard to cool off and take a break. I saw Zack Rae (keyboardist Alanis Morissette, Carina Round and Early Winter) first and then Carina Round near the stairs. It had been months and it was great to see her! We visited for nearly a half hour. I learned that she has been very busy and that’s why I and others in our circle haven’t heard a peep from her for the last few months. She’s been traveling, has been deep in the recording process for her new CD, and regularly gigging with Early Winter, a band she sings with on the side.
It was nearing the witching hour and the party had thinned. I was finally able to kibitz with Karen on how stunningly the mixer had turned out. There were a lot of great things that had transpired that evening because of her very capable handling of the landmark event, in a landmark space. That evening at El Cid demonstrated a most favorable precursor to this year mighty Sunset Junction Street Fair and concert event. The mixer highlighted how stunning and innovative this year’s musical line-up is becoming and really got everyone pumped and excited for this year’s much-anticipated event. I predict it’s going to close out this Eastside summer with an appropriate bang, thatcan only lift the bar that much higher for every other party or event for the rest of the year!
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