Reminiscing Burger-a-Gogo with FEELS, The Flytraps, Death Valley Girls, The Coathangers, Summer Twins, and Dengue Fever
Burger-a-Gogo rocked our buns off! If you totally snoozed it and missed the tour or if you just want to try and relive it, then this is the only recap you need! The festival was organized by none other than the great minds and ears of BURGER RECORDS. The whole festival was appreciating not only female musicians but female illustrators like Amber McCall (aka Thunderpuss) were also celebrated.The last two nights of this fem-fronted tour took place at the famous Long Beach punk-rock venue, Alex’s Bar. (Fun fact: hilarious comedy “Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny” starring Jack Black was filmed at Alex’s Bar.) First night consisted of energetic performances put on by Feels, The Flytraps, Death Valley Girls, and The Coathangers. Second night of the tour popped off with sets from Patsy’s Rats, Summer Twins, Winter, and the famous psychedelic Cambodian jams of Dengue Fever. Lighting up the first night was the legendary Mad Alchemist with some of the grooviest liquid lights in California, thanks to their team the entire night felt like you were partying in an Andy Warhol studio! Both nights were packed full of fans from all over California coming out to see this killer lineup of inspiring and talented females.
FEELS
Feels is a psych garage band from Los Angeles made up of Laena Geronimo, Shannon Lay, Michael Rudes, and Amy Allen. They have an early punk quality with a modern psychedelic garage take on their sound. Feels’ last set of the tour felt as if it was a classic rock performance straight out of the early 70s. Each member of Feels brings their own element to the table and in doing so creates an altogether unique dimension and texture to their sound. In a long white dress and combat boots, Laena fell to the floor in a sudden outburst during her solo. Thankfully they are one of the few bands that still believe in guitar solos, because to witness it live was truly a visual affirmation that rock’n roll still lives.
THE FLYTRAPS
Following Feels on night 1 of Burger-a-gogo was The Flytraps! These sassy hardcore punks of The Flytraps are Chloe, Beth, Fabian, and Kristin were all dressed to kill and played to kick ass. Founder and bassist, Kristin puts the hard in “hardcore”. She has a voice so wicked and raspy that’ll tear the paint off your motorcycle, and you’d thank her for it. With a dominating demeanor, lead guitarist Beth shredded on the guitar and made it look effortless. The insanely brilliant drummer in eyeshadow was Fabian and left of stage was skilled guitarist Chloe in heels so sharp they could’ve probably kill a man. All together, they had the energy of Motorhead but the bold female attitudes of The Runaways. Stirring up the crowd and creating a pit so gnarly that only the brave entered. It felt as if The Flytraps really let loose and gave their final performance of the tour everything they had left in them. If you missed the studs, rawness, and grit of The Flytraps, just make sure you catch them on tour with The Distillers starting April 25th. The Flytraps will also be performing at BURGER BOOGALOO, another stellar 2-day festival you wouldn’t want to miss! The festival is brought to us by Burger Records and is taking place in Oakland on June 30th and July 1st. Burger Boogaloo will be hosted by legendary cult mastermind, John Waters and includes other performances from DEVO and THE DAMNED! Get Tickets to Burger Boogaloo here!
THE DEATH VALLEY GIRLS
As soon as the squeaky animated voice of Death Valley Girls’ Bonnie Bloomgarden was heard, you immediately knew you were in for a wild treat with these guys. Death Valley Girls is made up of the Alana Amram, Larry Schemel, Laura Harris, and Bonnie Bloomgarden. Throughout their last performance of Burger-a-gogo, Bonnie held engagement with her bandmates as well as with the audience. She spoke her mind the entire time, playfully pouted and strongly expressed how heartbroken she was about the tour coming to an end and how much she would miss everyone. Bonnie also proudly confessed her undying love for Miller High Life beer and assisted bassist, Alana by holding a bottle to her mouth as she play bass! Alana and Bonnie have this rare best friend dynamic that is completely admirable and entertaining. Death Valley Girls just finished up a huge tour with iconic, late-80’s/90’s band L7! Death Valley Girls will be performing some dates in May and June in Los Angeles so be sure to stay posted on their Instagram! Keep an eye on Death Valley Girls they are creating something entirely extraordinary and to future generations, will most likely be considered classic and representative to the time we’re currently living in.
THE COATHANGERS
Last but not least, headliners The Coathangers wrapped up the night with their most requested bangers “Follow Me”, “Make It Right”, “Hurricane”, and of course “Squeeki Tiki”. Easily one of the most insane and high-energetic songs The Coathangers perform, “Squeeki Tiki” involves the use of a squeaky toy as an instrument and the whole audience bouncing and repetitively chanting the lyrics, “you can have it, I don't want that shit, it’s just a bad memory of what I did”. This performance of “Squeeki Tiki” was especially exclusive since almost every member of Feels, The Flytraps, and Death Valley Girls flooded the stage to dance and play each of their own squeak toys!
Catch The Coathangers on an east coast tour with MINUS THE BEAR from April 20th to May 5th!
04/27 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza tix
04/28 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory tix
04/29 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat tix
05/01 - Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom tix
05/02 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart’s tix
05/03 - Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot tix
05/04 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues tix
05/05 - St. Louis, MO @ Ready Room tix
Starting off the second night was Patsy’s Rats! No one could’ve been a better fit to get the crowd moving and ready for round 2 of Burger-a-gogo! The crowd fully embraced their power-pop 70’s style and couldn’t help but dance around and a few even busted out their air guitars in excitement. Patsy’s Rats will be touring in Europe all summer but you’ll definitely want to catch these Portland rock'n'rollers live as soon as you can because it’s just a matter of time before they blow up and conquer the world of rock music!
SUMMER TWINS
Burger Records’ babies, Summer Twins is a four-piece indie band from the beautiful city of Riverside, California! They began their set after Patsy’s Rats on the second night and totally killed it! Summer Twins involves Andres LaSource, Devyn, and sisters Chelsea and Justine Brown. In between songs, the down-to-earth guitarist/vocalist Chelsea Brown conversed with the audience and expressed her thoughts on the current state of the world and her recent move to Los Angeles. Summer Twins believe in being kind and spreading the love, you heard it and saw in in their performance. They serenaded the crowd with their soft melodies accompanied by surf-pop guitars that evoke shiny memories of summer and falling in love. Summer Twins completely enchanted the audience with their delicate harmonies and beautiful set. Seeing them live was truly something only dreams are made up of. Make sure to catch them on tour with LA LUZ in June; they’ll be going through Texas, Arizona, and back home to California!
06/18 Houston, TX @ Rockefellers tix
06/19 San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger tix
06/21 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress tix
06/22 Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom tix
WINTER
Following Summer Twins with bright pink hair and the biggest smile in the room was artist Winter! Lighting up the stage on the last day of Burger-a-gogo was Samira Winter with bandmates, and two sisters of Summer Twins, Chelsea and Justine Brown. Looking like a rock’nroll fairy, Samira was dressed in a cute navy skirt and a soft pink unicorn top. She shredded on a blue floral guitar that had two adorable mini polaroids of her cat Zoey by the bridge. She spoke to the audience a little about her fur baby before performing “Zoey”, the song she wrote about her. Samira’s style, mannerisms and the way she engaged the crowd reflected her inner-child and created a safespace for everyone else to do so as well. Winter brings a new meaning to pop music by adding their own ingredients to the mix. With Chelsea on the guitar and Justine on bass, they all together create this fusion of dream-pop and 90’s rock that’ll remind you of female-fronted artists like Veruca Salt, The Breeders, and Hole. Winter is currently on the last days of an east coast tour with Surfer Blood and will be returning home to Los Angeles to begin a small Southern/Northern California tour alongside artists Franky Flowers, Max Gardener, Summer Twins, and Tomorrows Tulips!
05/02 San Diego, Ca @ SPACE *with Franky Flowers tix
05/03 Costa Mesa, Ca @ The Wayfarer *with Tomorrows Tulips tix
05/04 San Francisco @ Thee Parkside *with Franky Flowers and Max Gardener tix
05/05 San Luis Obispo @ ShaBangSLO music festival *featuring Summer Twins, Sugar Candy Mountain, Depressed Specter, and many more!
DENGUE FEVER
Finishing the night and entire Burger-a-gogo tour were psychedelic enchanters, Dengue Fever! That night they transported everyone in the venue to a Cambodian Bar in the 1960’s. The exotic melodies of Chhom Nimol were completely hypnotizing. You didn’t have to understand Cambodian to feel the meaning of the song as Chhom expressed the lyrics gracefully through her hands and expressions. During their performance it was immediately evident how close the members of Dengue Fever are. They were playful with one another and would oven sync into some groovy coordinated dance moves. Not only Chhom, but all of Dengue Fever were fantastic on-stage performers! Bearded guitarist Zac Holtzman and bassist Senon Williams’ dances were constantly synchronizing up together almost as if they had rehearsed it, but it was just obvious they all had that natural connection with each other. What made the performance even more special that night was the fact that Long Beach is Chhom’s homebase, and as a result so many of her friends were partying amongst the crowd! Taking a tequila shot on stage in a gorgeous blue gown, Chhom was delighted to be home surrounded by friends and devoted fans. It was such an exceptional set, that anyone who was there that night practically received a VIP performance from Dengue Fever!
Coverage by Sade De La Espriella
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