On Wednesday night I saw Ben Lee at the Troubadour. The opener was New Buffalo. This was an overall great show, and Ben Lee is a consummate performer. Going solo for about 6 songs, Ben was joined by Benji Madden of Good Charlotte for one song during the proclaimed "encore." ( I would also like to add that I am being very objective with this narrative, as I would normally never reference Good Charlotte). Sally from New Buffalo also came on stage with Ben for a little bit, which was pretty good as well.
On stage, Ben was absolutely entertaining. He had a smile on his face the entire show, was running around dancing, and dumping flower petals on his lead guitarist's head. 
Yes, there were bouquets of real flowers all over the stage. At one point Ben had his keyboardist film the audience (and himself) sing "happy batmitzfa" for his niece because he'll be touring in Europe during her party. Ben also had a great stage presence, and spoke to and with the crowd a lot.
Before the show Shannon and I were hanging in The Loft, the "VIP" section at the Troubadour. The bartender up there was making the best purple hooter drinks I have ever tasted. For Shannon's sake I hope she's working tonight, because she is all about those drinks right now. And we'll be there again tonight to see Shout Out Louds. Last time I saw the Shout Out Louds was at the Wiltern with Kings of Leon. Now they get a full set, and a sold out Trouadour.
Shannon and I ended the night at Canter's on Fairfax. We were both craving Canter's, and the last time we had it was last month, in Las Vegas. Shannon had her usual Potato Pancakes, and I got myself the Roast Brisket with mashed. Yes, I was a big boy eating real red meat at 2 in the morning. I love it.
I hate the police though. On my way to class, and a major presentation on Tuesday the PIGS stopped me, and promptly impounded my car. $300 later I have my car, now I wait to get my ticket tossed out of court. Watch out on the streets of California right now, as the dire state of the California economy is forcing more checkpoints (DUI/insurance/license) as well as higher targeted quotas for city PD's. A rather sick way to get more "TAX" money from citizens.
We had general admission tickets for the seats upstairs. Knowing Shannon and I, an early arrival was not an option. Even though we got there about 1 minute into the Stars set, we got a great seat in the front row Mezzanine. That was a very pleasant surprise. I am a pretty big Death Cab fan, but I was really looking forward to Stars. I have had them on heavy rotation for the past few months. They did not disappoint live. They played for about 45 minutes and were great. Each song was off their most recent album, 
their newest, 
