I’m really behind in posting things…but I feel like procrastinating right now…so here we go…
Thanks to LA Metblogs, I was able to check out Michael Franti & Spearhead @ Club Nokia on Jan 30th. Club Nokia is part of the newish LA Live development next to the Staples Center. It is designed to complement the much larger Nokia Theater. It is still a fairly large venue, holding up to 2,300 people. It has two levels…the main floor and a balcony. For this show, the main floor was open floor space, and the balcony provided seats (Most of which were also general admission).
My friend and I staked a claim to a couple seats in the balcony to enjoy the show in a more relaxed setting than the “pit” of fans directly in front of the stage. Despite getting there shortly after 8pm (when the show was supposed to start), the second opening band was already on stage. The first thing I noticed, was how incredibly good the sound quality was. The mix was spot on for the space. No distortion, and the vocals weren’t overpowered by the instruments. Second, there really isn’t a bad seat in the place. The balcony seats all still feel very close to the stage, so for such a large venue, you still get the feel of an intimate show.
Franti & Spearhead were amazing. They came on around 9pm and played for a little over 2 hours. I wouldn’t have been disappointed at all if I had paid for tickets.
