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Unknown Mortal Orchestra :: Last ‘First Friday’ at NHM

June 9, 2014

The last of the First Fridays of 2014 featured headliner Unknown Mortal Orchestra as well as bands Painted Palms and De Luxon the main stage.   This amazing Los Angeles all-ages music event full of food trucks, festivities, and fans was brimming with concert and museum-goers who enjoyed buzz-worthy bands, dino bones, booze, tours and talks.  In between these acts, visitors swarmed around a full bar, food trucks, and the Amoeba Music booth selling $20 Amoeba certificates for $10. (What!? Steal!) Fuzzy-but-scary dinosaur mascots roamed around entertaining the kids and guests were allowed entry into the museum’s exhibits displaying loads of insta-worthy prehistoric pieces.

While still light out, Painted Palms were the first band to perform. Hailing from San Francisco, Painted Palms warmed up a trickling audience with lush psych-pop and shimmering melodies. A nice blend of 60′s pop and today’s indie-electronic nuances Painted Palms’ brightly colored jackets matched with their brightly colored grooves and set up for the next band, De Lux. L.A’s De Lux, influenced by about 2 decades further, got the crowd dancing with their catchy electro-pop-meets-disco-meets-indie. Sean Guerin and Isaac Franco front this duo but brought a couple other performers for the live show. The sun may have gone down for De Lux but wrapped in spotlights they brought light with their glimmering disco-indebted tracks reminiscent of LCD Sound System and Psychedelic Furs.

Once Unknown Mortal Orchestra took the stage, the entire area had completely filled with adoring fans who hopped from audience to bar to food truck to bridge to make an experience out of this nice summer evening. Oregon/Aukland trio Unknown Mortal Orchestra was very popular for their psych-rock pastiche. With echoes of 60′s pop, UMO form a concoction of dreamy psychedelia and scruffy vocals. This is the kind of mind-bending indie band that could do with a bit more of a visual element to their craft than just a backdrop of saturated hues. Singer/guitarist Ruban Nielson kept the crowd hollering at each burst of doubling-over in guitar-lick fervor. Fan-favorite “From The Sun” was a crowd-pleasing romp of loneliness with a very subtle ambiance of eastern flavor. “Ffunny ffriends” and “How Can U Love Me” were other popular chant-alongs with high-chested spacey guitarness much faster, louder, and jammier than their recordings.

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Painted Palms

Painted Palms

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De Lux

De Lux

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Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

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