Saturdays Off the 405
The Getty Center
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Enjoy outdoor music and evening views of the city and drink in the refreshing summer exhibitions in a casual and spontaneous atmosphere. The evenings feature performances by your soon-to-be favorite bands, along with DJ sets to open and close the night.
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Next in the series
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Allen Stone
Date: Saturday, June 16, 2012
Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
With a voice that belies his young age, Allen Stone is a "pitch-perfect powerhouse" (USA Today). The smooth falsetto vocals on his wildly successful sophomore album integrate classic soul, catchy pop hooks, R & B beats, and folk roots with lyrical matters of broken relationships, poisonous politics, and the age-old topic of simple, pure celebration. Stone got his start singing at his father's church in small-town America, but it wasn't until he was introduced to the greats of soul music—Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and the confessional lyrics of singer/songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s—that he found the passion that would eventually carry him to a musical home.
Watch a performance of "Unaware" from his self-titled album, Allen Stone (2011, StickyStones):
Watch a performance of "Unaware" from his self-titled album, Allen Stone (2011, StickyStones):
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Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang
Date: Saturday, July 14, 2012
Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Janka Nabay is the undisputed king of bubu, a style of dance music that is characterized by a frantic pace and has centuries-old religious origins in Sierra Leone. The Bubu Gang, featuring members of the Skeletons and Gang Gang Dance, among others, is a posse of musical collaborators Nabay has hooked up with in the US. The Gang creates a wild, high-octane juggernaut of call-and-response vocal interplay, juddering dance-floor rhythms, synths, and guitars.
The New York Times writes: "There was also an African apparition: Janka Nabay from Sierra Leone, wearing a straw skirt and singing and dancing to recorded tracks of what he said was a 500-year-old tradition called bubu music. The tracks were modern, and the beat, fast and skeletal and driven by bell taps, was unstoppable, demanding wider dissemination."
Watch a video of "Eh Congo" from Bubu Kin (2010, True Panther Sounds):
The New York Times writes: "There was also an African apparition: Janka Nabay from Sierra Leone, wearing a straw skirt and singing and dancing to recorded tracks of what he said was a 500-year-old tradition called bubu music. The tracks were modern, and the beat, fast and skeletal and driven by bell taps, was unstoppable, demanding wider dissemination."
Watch a video of "Eh Congo" from Bubu Kin (2010, True Panther Sounds):
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Nick Waterhouse
Date: Saturday, July 28, 2012
Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Vintage R & B revivalist Nick Waterhouse combines an uncanny old-school sensibility with a charged, contemporary style. His muse is the over-modulated sound of 60s R & B, and his take on such a time-honored tradition evokes the back-alley thrill of New Orleans, Detroit, and Memphis in their heyday. Waterhouse's live performances, backed by the Tarots, thrill with his pure and undeniably raw and rhythmic take on American music. They'll perform songs from his forthcoming full-length album, Time's All Gone, the follow-up to his wildly successful self-produced 45 record Some Place, which sold out almost instantly.
The Chicago Tribune praised his SXSW performance: "Also terrific: Nick Waterhouse. With the face of an engineering student and the voice of a soul assassin, Waterhouse sounded anything but retro as he channeled the unvarnished energy and drive of '60s R & B. He was backed by three singers, a swinging rhythm section and a saxophone blurting mad commentary"
Watch Nick perform "Some Place" from his debut album Time's All Gone for the Urban Outfitters Music Video Series (2012, Innovative Leisure):
The Chicago Tribune praised his SXSW performance: "Also terrific: Nick Waterhouse. With the face of an engineering student and the voice of a soul assassin, Waterhouse sounded anything but retro as he channeled the unvarnished energy and drive of '60s R & B. He was backed by three singers, a swinging rhythm section and a saxophone blurting mad commentary"
Watch Nick perform "Some Place" from his debut album Time's All Gone for the Urban Outfitters Music Video Series (2012, Innovative Leisure):
Saturdays Off the 405 continues on September 15 and October 20, 2012. Check back on this page for updates.
Don't miss the free Spotlight after Dark tours in the galleries. Join in a provocative 20-minute exploration and discussion of art with an educator. Tours depart at 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.
A cash beer and wine bar and festival foods are available in the Museum Courtyard. The Main Cafe will be open with seven delicious food stations until 6 p.m. The Garden Terrace Cafe with a selection of sandwiches and salads will be open until 8:30 p.m.
The Restaurant welcomes walk-ins during Saturdays Off the 405. Enjoy a fine dining experience from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Please note: no outside alcohol is allowed on site.
Want to avoid the crowds? Get more out of your night at Saturdays Off the 405! Come early to visit the galleries, take in the sunset from atop the hill, or stroll the gardens.
Please be aware that construction on the 405 might affect your drive. Check Metro's Twitter feed for updates.
Pardon our dirt! The Central Garden is undergoing renovation and will reopen late spring. Picnic space will be limited.
A cash beer and wine bar and festival foods are available in the Museum Courtyard. The Main Cafe will be open with seven delicious food stations until 6 p.m. The Garden Terrace Cafe with a selection of sandwiches and salads will be open until 8:30 p.m.
The Restaurant welcomes walk-ins during Saturdays Off the 405. Enjoy a fine dining experience from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Please note: no outside alcohol is allowed on site.
Want to avoid the crowds? Get more out of your night at Saturdays Off the 405! Come early to visit the galleries, take in the sunset from atop the hill, or stroll the gardens.
Please be aware that construction on the 405 might affect your drive. Check Metro's Twitter feed for updates.
Pardon our dirt! The Central Garden is undergoing renovation and will reopen late spring. Picnic space will be limited.
Saturdays Off the 405 is produced by 
Most recently in the series
Dum Dum Girls
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Kicking off the 2012 Saturdays Off the 405 series was Dum Dum Girls, a fuzzed-out pop band fronted by gifted songwriter Dee Dee. "I've always wanted to be in a loud rock-and-roll band and still maintain some feminine sound," says Dee Dee. Her moving and deeply personal songs are rare for this style of music and surely gives the Dum Dum Girls its uniqueness and emotional impact. Their signature blend of the girl-gang eyeliner punk of the Shangri-Las, the trashy propulsion of the Cramps, and the moody atmospherics of Mazzy Star has won over a world of fans during their massively successful headline tours. All that time on the road has molded Dum Dum Girls into a very formidable rock-roll band, giving the music an undeniable force. Also performed: DJ Neil Schield, owner of Origami Vinyl spins from his impressive record collection.
Check out a recap of the 2011 season on our blog, The Iris.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Kicking off the 2012 Saturdays Off the 405 series was Dum Dum Girls, a fuzzed-out pop band fronted by gifted songwriter Dee Dee. "I've always wanted to be in a loud rock-and-roll band and still maintain some feminine sound," says Dee Dee. Her moving and deeply personal songs are rare for this style of music and surely gives the Dum Dum Girls its uniqueness and emotional impact. Their signature blend of the girl-gang eyeliner punk of the Shangri-Las, the trashy propulsion of the Cramps, and the moody atmospherics of Mazzy Star has won over a world of fans during their massively successful headline tours. All that time on the road has molded Dum Dum Girls into a very formidable rock-roll band, giving the music an undeniable force. Also performed: DJ Neil Schield, owner of Origami Vinyl spins from his impressive record collection.
Check out a recap of the 2011 season on our blog, The Iris.
Thundercat
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Thundercat's bassist and frontman Stephen Bruner uses his well-honed chops to turn out sunny yet layered ear candy on his debut LP The Golden Age of the Apocalypse. LA Weekly raves that Bruner "melds astral jazz and forward thinking electronic music. . . .His falsetto is soulful, but what really stands out is his bass playing, which is the most virtuosic most of us will hear all year." Also performed: Low End Theory's DJ Daddy Kev.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Thundercat's bassist and frontman Stephen Bruner uses his well-honed chops to turn out sunny yet layered ear candy on his debut LP The Golden Age of the Apocalypse. LA Weekly raves that Bruner "melds astral jazz and forward thinking electronic music. . . .His falsetto is soulful, but what really stands out is his bass playing, which is the most virtuosic most of us will hear all year." Also performed: Low End Theory's DJ Daddy Kev.
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Surfer Blood
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Surfer Blood calls West Palm Beach home and, while still in their early 20s, have penned an album worth of catchy, summery indie songs that even the most hook-laden power-pop band would rightfully be jealous of. They met as Ivy League astrophysics majors and recorded their debut album, Astro Coast, in their dorm room. Pitchfork called it "a relentlessly catchy, classic indie album" and named their breakout single "Swim" number 37 in their Top 100 Tracks of 2009. The guitar-based melodies have attracted serious fans, and they've been touring nonstop with their anthemic and bombastic indie pop.
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Charles Bradley
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Charles Bradley's voice has evolved from a lifetime of paying dues, having nomadically labored for decades at various day jobs from Maine to Alaska—singing and performing in his spare time—before settling in his hometown of Brooklyn and eventually finding a musical home at Dunham Records. His distinctively rough-hewn timbre showcases the unmistakable voice of experience—each note and gruff inflection a reflection of his extended and sometimes rocky personal path. Bradley's first full-length record, No Time for Dreaming, features instrumental soul revivalists the Menahan Street Band and is the inspired sound of an awakening. Also performed: DJ Clifton, the resident dj at L.A.'s Club Underground and Funky Sole, spun from his collection of classic & funky soul.
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Lord Huron
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Michigan-bred L.A. songwriter Ben Schneider, also known as Lord Huron, creates music that is an auditory travelogue. Evocative of many places, but tied to none in particular. Afro-Caribbean percussion and lush harmonies inspired by Calypso singers, folk traditions, and the American frontier fused with modern experimentation to create an expansive sound.
Also performed: DJ Boom Bip, aka Bryan Hollon, is an innovative DJ/producer/musician whose music roots are in hip-hop, electronic, and jazz. Boom Bip spins a hard-to-define mix of minimal techno, heavy bass grooves, and beyond.
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Best Coast
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Best Coast is the latest musical endeavor by perennially cool, self-described "weird girl" Bethany Cosentino and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno. Born when Cosentino decided to come home to L.A. after a time in New York City, she was inspired by the '50s and '60s aesthetic of the Beach Boys and the Everly Brothers. With a nostalgia for the California of Gidget and dates at the soda fountain, Best Coast's surf rock manages to balance pop and underground sensibilities that has made her sound so unique. Their debut album, Crazy For You, was named one of the 40 Best Albums of 2010 at Spin and the Los Angeles Times dubbed Bethany one of the Queens of L.A.'s lo-fi scene.
Also performed: DJ Kevin Fitzgerald, aka Kave-In, spun from his collection of old and rare soul, garage, and girl group 45s.
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Dengue Fever
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Dengue Fever, whose exotic blend of Cambodian rock, Afro grooves, surf, and garage psych returned to the Getty with songs from their newest release, Cannibal Courtship. Featuring songs sung in English and Khmer (Cambodian), the band's unique take on '60s Cambodian pop and American surf rock has garnered praise and attention from fans and critics alike. Deftly balancing the wide-ranging influences that inform their sound, Chhom Nimol's haunting vocals and the band's spooky, kinetic, mood-swinging sound are like the tropical malady that gave the band its name. Complements the exhibition Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia. Also performed: DJ Mahssa, part of the B-Music/Finders Keepers collective and founder of the LA-based Cureation parties, spun psychedelia, fuzz, funk, and rock from around the world!
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Avi Buffalo
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Avi Buffalo was once just the kid named Avi. Years of 12-hour days attacking the guitar, getting lessons from iconoclastic local blues musicians and learning to record on his laptop, revealed a natural talent for creating bent but lovely pop sings. Snatches of Wilcos easy early 2000s amble, Built to Spills curly fretwork, and Shinsy shuffle turned up everywhere here, and occasionally all at once. Also performed: DJ Kevin Bronson of BuzzBands LA, known for tipping readers to myriad unsigned artists, spinned a mix of local indie bands and summer party music.
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Tom Tom Club
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Beloved for its funky club beats and art-school rap, the Tom Tom Club's iconic new-wave sound has been prominently sampled in both hip-hop and pop music. Founded in the '80s as a side project of the Talking Heads, husband-and-wife team Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth played their polyrhythmic smash hits completely live without sequencers or backing tapes, and alongside remixed tributes to the band's dance-happy classics.
Also performed: DJ Paul V.—an LA dance-club favorite, a former Indie 103.1 FM DJ, and the creator of Smash Mix—spun his signature mashups and eclectic, alternative-electro-indie dance tunes for our last Saturdays Off the 405 of the year!
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Aloe Blacc
Saturday, September 11, 2010
"My purpose for music is positive social change," says Orange County California native Aloe Blacc. "Even if the music itself does not explicitly express anything that may signify positive social change, the product of the music will." Blacc's compassionate lyrics, energizing beats, and addictive harmonies place him directly in the framework of modern soul yet inspire comparisons to John Coltrane and Marvin Gaye. He shared songs from his upcoming album, Good Things, a project he describes as his report on present conditions.
Also performed: The Do-Over DJs, Jamie Strong and Chris Haycock, brought their backyard-boogie sounds to the Museum Courtyard. Summer's not yet over!
Video
Aloe Blacc talks about how he creates music that makes you think but doesn't bring you down--and about the awesomeness of L.A's own Do-Over DJs, who'll be appearing alongside (at 4:05 in the video). If you caught Blacc at the Getty back in 2006, make sure to check out his comparison of what you heard then to what you'll hear Saturday (at 4:47).
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The Antlers
Saturday, August 28, 2010
With a "skyscraping blend of the ambient and the anthemic," the Antlers make music that is at once simple and immense—dream pop with an epic storyline. The critically acclaimed trio crafted its delicately powerful melodies with a fervent, artful earnestness that captivated listeners with lyrical surges, sweeping strings, and starry, sonic layers of postrock.
Also performed: Dublab founder, L.A. stalwart, and host of Celsius Drop and KPFK's Future Roots Radio, DJ Frosty was back again, mixing beautifully genre-bending and progressive new music.
Bomba Estéreo
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Straight out of Bogota's exhilarating underground electronic music scene, Bomba Estéreo brought an explosive dance fusion of hip-hop and dub to the Getty. With Afro Colombian cumbia and champeta rhythms deftly layered under surf guitar, keyboards, and bass beats, singer Liliana Saumet's fierce dance hall vocals fired up the fresh coastal sounds.
Jorge Verdín (Clorofila), of the acclaimed Nortec Collective also performed, colliding banda and cumbia with drum machines and electronica in an ecstatic, tropical Nortec ("norteño" and "techno") style.
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Dawes
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Dawes is a folk-rock rookie true to its Cali roots with music in vintage Laurel Canyon style: full of twangy melodies, dusty singalong, and ripping lead guitar. Fusing intimate introspection with bursting optimism, the band has won fans on the road with standout lyrics and evocative indie-folk harmonies.
Also performed: L.A.'s best music blogger, Justin Gage of Aquarium Drunkard, spun an eclectic set that bridged the gap between indie, folk, country, New Orleans funk, r&b, soul, and vintage garage.
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Mayer Hawthorne & the County
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Mayer Hawthorne sounded like magic: a new-school soul sensation whose sweet crooning revels in retro, while break beat riffs inspired by years spinning vinyl revived the legends of Motown. Not simply a classic soul throwback, Hawthorne's hanging-by-a-string falsetto and self-taught, multi-instrument skills mingled with hip-hop drum loops, brilliant harmonies, and heartfelt nostalgia.
Also performed: DJ Clifton, the resident dj at L.A.'s Club Underground and Funky Sole, blended a retro-rhythm-rockin' smorgasboard of underground indie and funky soul.
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Les Savy Fav
May 8, 2010
Post-punk provocateurs and former art-school denizens Les Savy Fav brought a concoction of dissonant pop defined by driving bass, disco drumming, bratty guitars, and spastic vocals; the band put on one of its much-storied performances for the Getty, featuring the vivid antics of frontman Tim Harrington.
Additionally, Philly-born KCRW DJ Mario Cotto spun a kaleidoscopic mix inspired by strong coffee, Marcel Duchamp's ready-mades, the NuYorican Poet's Café, Blade Runner, Repo Records, metropolitan railways, and golden-age hip hop.
Didn't make it to the show? Read Mara Gladstone's blog entry about it on the Iris.
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Dent May
October 10, 2009
Dent May brought his unique vocal style—part crooner, part falsetto, and all showman—to the Getty, along with an infectiously enjoyable combination of ukulele, drums, pedal steel, violin, horns, and bass. L.A.'s own DJ Nobody also took the stage as part of dublab's 10th anniversary celebration.
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Rain Machine with Kyp Malone
September 26, 2009
Kyp Malone brought his much-anticipated solo project, Rain Machine, to Saturdays Off the 405. Malone's new work is unflinchingly original, mixing elements of modern jazz, bluegrass, and blistering guitar-driven rock into a refreshing new sound. Defiantly personal, Rain Machine is the sound of an extraordinary artist emerging into his own.
The Dodos
August 8, 2009
The Dodos filled the Museum Courtyard with their psych-folk sound, which has been described as "joyously taut indie-rock" reminiscent of the Violent Femmes, Clinic, and Roxy Music. Sets from DJ Turquoise Wisdom opened and closed.
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Mas Exitos
July 11, 2009
The DJ collective—featuring Lengua, Hoseh, Ganas, and Enorbito—unfolded their international music selections and transformed the Museum Courtyard into a hot spot south of the border. DJ Lengua handled the laptop, while the rest of the crew took over the turntables. Also on tap was pan-Latin-and-Caribbean quartet Domingo Siete.
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Chairlift
June 20, 2009
Brooklyn-based trio Chairlift performed their unique blend of synth-pop. Band members Aaron Pfenning, Caroline Polachek, and Patrick Wimberly wove together keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, and some killer tambourine to perform songs from their debut album Does You Inspire You. Opening and closing were Dublab DJs Frosty and Ale.
How to Get Here
The Getty Center is located at 1200 Getty Center Drive in Los Angeles, California, approximately 12 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. See Hours, Directions, Parking for maps and driving directions.
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