The curfew is gone, head back downtown this weekend.
Mayor Bass finally lifted the curfew that was thrust upon downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, so this weekend is a really good time to support the venues who were impacted by the 8 p.m. shutdown. Over at the Grand Star in Chinatown, Club Tenderness is on Thursday, June 19. Underground is still happening on Friday, but note that Underground’s Pulp Party has been moved to Friday, July 18. Saturday, 6/21, is Club Disintegration downstairs at the Grand Star and ‘80s Night upstairs.
I’m not DJing this week, but there are a few special events happening that I think you should know about.
Leather Strip is playing Los Angeles on Saturday night *and* it’s a vintage Zoth Ommog set. I Speak Machine and Damascus Knives are opening, plus there will be DJ sets from Joe Virus (The Church, Dallas) and Industrial Nova (Oakland/SF). This is an L.A. Industrial show that’s happening at Slipper Clutch, which is pretty small, so, don’t snooze on getting tickets. There’s a good discount for advance tickets, while they’re available, over at Resident Advisor. This is a 21+ show.
Sunday is the beginning of Bleak Week: Cinema of Despair, the American Cinematheque festival of movies that will make you feel really bad. Screenings are happening between June 1 and June 7 at the Egyptian, Los Feliz 3 and The Aero. I highlighted some of the movies in next week’s Discover Los Angeles listings, but there are more worthy films in this year’s lineup. I regret to inform you, though, that the screening of Christiane F. At Los Feliz 3 on Tuesday, June 3, is already sold out. (If you’ve never seen Christiane F., you must and I know for sure that you can rent it at Videotheque because that’s where I found it.) But, there are still tickets to see Dogtooth at the Aero in Santa Monica on June 1, Melancholia at the Egyptian on Wednesday, June 4and so much more. What a lineup of movies! The film fest comes to a close the following weekend with screenings of Watership Down and Grave of the Fireflies. Check American Cinematheque’s website for the full, depressing schedule.
This Friday, May 9, Klub Nocturno takes over Catch One for five parties in one. I’ll be back in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room playing a mix of flashbacks and new bangers all night. There’s also the rock en Español vs. cumbia room, System of a Down night, the old school vs. new school reggaeton room and a disco room. Tickets are available on Dice for this 18+ event. Click here to get yours asap because Klub Nocturno does sell out.
Son of the White Mare (1981) screens at Philosophical Research Society on Sunday, May 4, 2025
Since my Premium magazine feature on L.A.-area repertory cinema is out now, I wanted to highlight a few movie theaters for this week’s recommendations. And since I love animation, that will be the focus of this week’s picks. All of the screenings are happening on Sunday and there is some geographic diversity, so hopefully, you can fit one of these into your schedule. They’re (nearly) all movies that I have seen previously and 10/10 recommend.
Cover of the soundtrack for Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus out on Sacred Bones
If you’ve ever requested “Goodbye Horses” at your local ‘80s or goth club, you need to seek out the new Q Lazzarus documentary. TBH, you need to see this movie even if you’re tired of hearing the song from Silence of the Lambs at every spooky night in town. You need to see it even if you think you don’t know what I’m talking about because- trust me- you will once year hear the first few seconds of the melody. Goodbye Horses: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus, directed by Eva Aridjis Fuentes, is a must-see music documentary, in part because it’s much more than one song that became an unexpected club hit. This film is no nostalgia ride. In it, Diane Luckey, aka Q, shares her struggles and what ultimately led her to vanish from music in the mid-1990s.
Last month, I reviewed the Goodbye Horses soundtrack for Bandcamp. The 21-song collection is the first ever full-length Q Lazzarus release and, while listening to it, I was stunned by how she built up a large and eclectic body of work over a 10 year period, yet struggled to find anyone to release it. So, I went to a screening of Goodbye Horses at Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz on Friday night to find out what happened. While I had read about bits-and-pieces of Luckey’s life and knew that she died while the documentary was in the works, I wasn’t expecting the revelations that come in the film.
Energy: A Documentary About Damo Suzuki, premiered in L.A. at Philosophical Research Society on April 13, 2024. Portrait in the background is of PRS founder Manly P. Hall. (Pic: Liz O.)
Energy: A Documentary About Damo Suzuki had its Los Angeles premiere on Saturday, April 13 at the Philosophical Research Society. Fortunately, I was able to attend, so I’m writing this post now to tell you that you should: 1. Seek out Energy and watch it. 2. Go to the Philosophical Research Society.
