The Stone is usually a venue I take note of, looking wistfully at the listings in Showpaper but never actually visiting. The shows are a little more expensive than I normally pay (although that probably evens out in the end because the venue is dry), and frequently it is jazz or avant-garde that I've never heard of, because I'm not cultured.
However, beginning yesterday, Luaka Bop started curating the Stone, and will continue to do so until December 29th. The shows I'm most interested in are happening this weekend. All weekend long, the Gamelan Kusuma Laras Invocation will be performing next to some of my personal favorites: Lucky Dragons, Moss of Aura, and Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt. Gamelan is a traditional kind of Javanese drum music and it's SUPER cool (Gamelan records are usually pretty cheap used, and they are all good. buy one to put on while you clean your room). In 1983 Ben Vida, Chad Taylor, and Elliot Bergman formed the Invocation to study and perform traditional Javanese music on a collection of instruments that were left at the United Nations during the 1965 World's Fair.
In addition to the Invocation, tonight at 8 we have Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, whose Christmas Spectacular last year at the Silent Barn was fairly legendary. They told me they are performing a set where you get a dessert treat with every song. A dessert treat they personally baked. Moss of Aura also plays tonight. This is Gerritt Welmers of Future Islands' side project, and it's a wonderful synthy exploration of ideas. Tomorrow night is Kelly Pratt, who is a trumpet player and has played with LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, and Beirut. And then on Sunday, the Invocation performs with Lucky Dragons, the lithe LA residents, whose show at the Clocktower Gallery earlier this year completely blew my mind out of my skull and then replaced it with minimalist, strengthening tones.
You can find out more information about Luaka Bop at The Stone here. This is definitely not to be missed.
