I really feel for bands who get the 8:00 p.m. set at any show in Los Angeles. Yeah, opening bands are often ignored, but when your set is at 8, chances are that the crowd will be minimal, even if you have a recognized name. It's just the logistics of traffic. If you live anywhere outside of a three mile range of Hollywood, it will take you at least an hour to get into Hollywood in the early evening. If the club is on Hollywood Blvd., the situation is worse only because it will take an extra twenty minutes just to get through the light at Hollywood and Highland.
For example, last night, Carlos was supposed to be my +1 to see Action Action open for Morningwood and The Sounds. Then he realized that there was no way he would be able to get to Hollywood from the South Bay in time for the band's 8:00 p.m. set and told me to get someone else to go with me. I put out the phone calls, leaving messages like a radio announcer, "Call me back ASAP. I'm calling everyone at once and the first person to get back to me gets the ticket. The only catch is that you have to meet me at 7:30." I said 7:30 because, in LA, that means 8:00. Sometimes it means 9:00, but usually, it's 8:00.
Some people answered their phones. Ivan and Anthony had to work. Dave said, "I just got home, there's no way I can get up to Hollywood in time." Then I started to redial the friends who hadn't answered. Tim said, "Yeah, I think I can do that."
Tim, being one of the few people who actually shows up on time for things, arrived while I was in the cabana on the roof of the Music Box interviewing Clarke. We met up with Tim in the bar after the interview, chatted with Clarke a bit more and got our tickets. Let's get this out of the way: Clarke, who plays bass and synths for Action Action, is a charmer. He's nice all around, gives a lot of high fives and is all mischievous grins when he talks, even though the band's demon van was stuck in San Bernadino and he should have probably been in a foul mood after that. Everything else about him, you will read later.
Action Action essentially stole the show for us. I told Tim that even though everyone automatically mentions bands like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, New Order and the Cure when they hear a band with keyboards (which, is pretty much every band right now), I didn't really think of any of those bands. However, references to the Big 80s are hard to avoid, since so much of the 1990s lacked keyboards (excluding techno and industrial), and I had one myself.
"Can't you hear them play 'Red Skies at Night?'"
He agreed. It makes sense, though, since their producer, Bill Whitman, also produced a bunch of albums for the Fixx. Tim mentioned that Whitman also produced Too Much Joy. I didn't know that.
The thing about Action Action, though, is that they seem to have so much fun onstage that it's impossible not to enjoy the show. Clarke, who was right in front of us, mouthed the words to every song as he pointed his bass at the crowd and jumped up and down. By the end of the set, the band had a new fan in Tim and a huge line in front of the merch booth.
We met up with Xavier of 6ixteen Days and hung out with him throughout Morningwood's set. When I first heard "Nth Degree," I thought it was a great song. Then I realized that they were spelling out the band's name in the middle of it and the song was ruined for me. Maybe I took a bit of that into the concert, because I was sort of bored by the whole thing. This was all made worse when they invited Ginger Lynn, apparently a popular star of adult film, for a song called "Take Off Your Clothes," and the singer proceed to make out and disrobe her throughout the course of the number. I was expecting Snoop Dogg to appear midway through the song to tell us how we could order the video. Nudity and rock can go hand-in-hand, but the whole Girls Gone Wild motif has become trite.
The Sounds had a weak start. I really enjoy the band's work, but the songs that opened the set seemed to lack the passion on the album. Plus, Maja Ivarsson was working the whole slinky strut that is really more stiff than slinky (think Deborah Harry in the video for "Rapture"), which wasn't working. Midway through the show, though, the band hit its stride. By "Living in America," Maja was floating on top of the audience. When she suddenly disappeared, the security guards moved to the front of the stage, leaning over in an attempt to find her. The crowd, which was already moving like a rip tide, was uncontrollable after this point. At the end of the show, I had changed my mind. The Sounds are just as good live as on album.

P.S. In case you are curious, check out this page for the DVD of Tresspassers, which Tim wrote. He also wrote the song for the movie.