Living up to their name, Los Angeles-based indie-rock band The Naked and Famous set aside the synth-fueled love affair that their music has been awash in since their debut for a night of intimate retouchings of their discography. Playing in a completely packed Constellation Room in Santa Ana, duo Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers peeled […]

This past Friday night, Beach House kicked off their final tour stop of 2017 at the Observatory in Santa Ana. The beloved duo played a perfect mix of songs from albums Teen Dream, Beach House Depression Cherry, Thank Your Lucky Stars and B-Sides and Rarities. The show began once the lights in the venue dimmed […]

LANY brought his feel-good pop party to Orange County this past Wednesdy night. The Observatory sold out to see frontman, Paul Klein shut it down and that’s exactly what he did. First up was up and coming electronic pop-rock trio, machineheart. I was blown away by the frontwoman, Stevie Scott’s eclectic style and energy. She demanded […]

Long Beach rapper Vince Staples brought the Life Aquatic Tour to the Observatory in Santa Ana and dished out an energetic and visually stunning set. At 10pm sharp after a theatrical and bizarre performance from Kilo Kish the house lights dimmed and all eyes were on a giant panoramic split screen backdrop lit up with […]

2016 has been… demoralizing. Reviewing the reasons why would be redundant, and quite frankly, triggering. We just want to forget. We just want to hide. But like all times of national despair in history, we can at least count on the musicians of the world to stand by us. Frank Ocean came back. System of […]

It all started with a drizzle. Like some cruelly designed Rube Goldberg device, Beach Goth 2016 on day two began with a promising overcast skyline that eventually deteriorated into a full-blown catastrophe that led to an entire stage being shut-down, the cancellation of headline acts, and utter confusion due to virtually no communication from the festival’s […]

For a venue that really likes give the fire marshall a heart attack by packing as many people as they can into one room, the Observatory was woefully empty Monday night as it welcomed back Australian indie-rockers The Temper Trap. The pit, which is typically a tightly squished wall of sweaty bodies for pretty much […]

Orange county’s Observatory reached max capacity Sunday night for alt synth pop duo, Phantogram. Their performance was a thrilling one right from the jump. From the crazy cool images projected on the backdrop, to leading lady Sarah Barthel’s fierce getup (patent leather thigh-high boots included), Phantogram gave one helluva performance. Touring in support of their third […]

The stage at the Observatory in Orange County was dark and the backdrop displayed a distorted bunny(man) as the iconic Echo and the Bunnymen made their entrance. As Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant walked on stage, the crowd roared with excitemet. Echo and the Bunnymen were just now kicking off their North American tour, and […]

Over the weekend, Los Angeles’ Autolux played an incredible 15-song set in the Observatory’s intimate Constellation Room. The L.A. trio started their set on a slower tone with “Reappearing” from their latest album Pussy’s Dead. With deep synth and bass layers, and delicate vocals the song immediately set the tone for the evening. The compelling imagery projected […]