largo at the coronet

largo at the coronet is one of my favorite music venues in los angeles. we attended recently to revisit the watkins family hour - an incredible evening of music based around siblings sean and sara watkins of nickel creek fame. we were treated to a spell-binding set of folk/bluegrass/gospel fusion that even included a guest appearance by fiona apple. if this sounds appealing, i'd strongly recommend checking out their upcoming christmas show on december 16th.

watkin's family hour christmas concert

oh man. every once in a while you feel like you really got to witness something truly special and unique. on thursday we went down to the largo at the coronet for the watkin's family hour's annual christmas concert. it was pretty fantastic. not only did sara and sean watkins have some of their regulars from the watkin's family hour sessions (including benmont tench), but they also had several very interesting special guests like david rawlings, jackson browne, molly jenson, glen philips, and get this - john c. reilly (who read his christmas wish list while the band played charlie brown christmas music) and minnie driver!

just an incredible night of music - and all to benefit st. jude's children's hospital here in los angeles.

the photo featured today is of the stage before it all began. photography of any kind was not allowed during the concert. such a shame!

and finally, if you haven't done so already, please vote for your favorite photo of the year. it is a close race between to walk or ride and bridge from the arroyo seco. sorry about the insane amount of links included in today's post!

hanging out with our friends in nickel creek

i'm on an amazing streak of great concerts right now. on thursday we went down to l.a. to check out the watkin's family hour. those nickel creek fans out there may recognize sara and sean watkins - two of the three members of the band. they put on an amazing show most thursday nights when they aren't out there touring the country. a little bit folk, a bit rock, a bit blue grass, and a lot of awesome! largo at the coronet has a tiny back room that holds about 5o people when they pack in tight. the band when we were there consisted of sara on fiddle and vocals, sean on guitar and vocals, a piano player, upright bass player, and steel guitar player. i only recognized 3 songs, but had a big grin on my face the entire time.

the above picture is of (from left to right) our neighbor alan, sara watkins, sean watkins, and our neighbor jon.