Spoke'n Art Ride

Another second Saturday in Northeast LA, another Spoke'n Art ride. Hosted by the Flying Pigeon L.A. bike shop and the Bike Oven, the monthly bike ride visits galleries during NELAArt's Gallery Night. 

The ride kicked off with a belated display of Dia de Los Muertos altars erected along the sidewalk of Avenue 34, where the Flying Pigeon and Antigua Coffee House are located. Antigua coordinates a monthly Tunnel Art Show in the underground tunnel that runs below Figueroa at the intersection of Avenue 34 and Fig. The show, which is serendipitously adjacent to the meeting point, featured art from the The Painted Brain, a peer-driven arts organization for young adults with mental illness.  

The Tunnel Art Show itself has evolved into a block party that filled with community residents, artists and cyclists from NELA and nearby, out to enjoy a night of creative expression and exploration in the neighborhood. The first stop on the ride was Alley Vintage, where etched glasswork from Gnarly Charlie was on display. 

Meanwhile, the gallery across the street was hosting a Graffiti show and Chris Anthony's lit up sound bike was bumping Mikey Walley's latest mix.

This stop was just long enough to check out the art before heading a few more blocks south down to the Guerrilla Market to enjoy some more art, crafts, food and libations. A ride down the Arroyo Seco river path and a pinata full of peanuts took the art out of the galleries and into the hands of the riders themselves, who took no hesitation in setting the festive Hello Kitty pinata ablaze once all the peanuts had hit the floor. 

Gallery 50 on Avenue 50 would be the next destination, but the finale was waiting for everyone at the Bike Oven, where art from local artist and cyclist Sofia Mas was on display. Chips, mole, and sweet potato tacos warmed the bellies of riders as the night grew colder, while the first band set up to play. The two-piece punk band Peg Love kept the ride moving even though the riding was done, and the funky-punky Danger Junkies turned it up to end the night on a high note.

Art, bikes, good people and a new adventure is what you can expect on Spoke'n Art. Old friends, new friends, art and who knows what else. Art is an adventure, take the ride.  

Chantal Claret puts it all on the line

Chantal's got soul

I went to see the sweet and sassy Chantal Claret at Skinny's in North Hollywood this Saturday, where she was warming up for her first UK show in London, a few weeks from now.

I first heard Chantal Claret just a few months back, when she opened for her husband's (James Euringer aka Jimmy Urine) band, Mindless Self Indulgence.

Like MSI, Chantal Claret has got a sound you can't fit neatly into a clear-cut genre (not that those things exist in music anymore). The two bands hardly sound alike, but they share an intensity that can only come from pouring your whole self into what's being made, and damning the critics before they even get their grubby little critical hands on it.

Chantal Claret is a badass. She channels Tina Turner and Joan Jett all at once. Her Motown Punk sound stands apart from the rest, from what is and what was in the musical universe. She's Turner, she's (Johnny) Cash, she's Elvis and Madonna. But, really, she's not any of them. She's Chantal fucking Claret, make no mistake. She's a woman that's not afraid to bare her soul, but she makes it clear that she didn't get there overnight. Chantal just ditched her band and kept the backup singers, making her setup even more Motown than it was before. 

And on Saturday night, at the intimate NoHo venue, she stepped into the middle of the crowd, and invited everyone to take a seat. Then she knelt down on her knees and sang her fucking heart out in her delivery "Pleasure Seeker," a song about her father.  A genuine demonstration of passion in action. It's not about the music, it's about the heArt.