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“And what it all comes down to

Is that everything’s gonna be fine, fine fine”

Nobody walks in L.A. Not that Missing Persons took the stage. Dale and Terry Bozzio have been divorced for eons.

But we’re still here.

Broken, battered and excoriated. Prior to the fires L.A. was considered a hellhole.

But if you lived here…

We’ve been home for a month, in shock. It’s like a death in the family. Traffic has been light, until the recent rains you never knew if conflagration was just around the corner.

But these shows were booked weeks ago, on the schedule. Fundraisers sans politics. No elected officials. No politics. Just people, performers and LOS ANGELES!

If you don’t live here you don’t get it, if you’ve only visited here, you don’t get it. But if you live here, even though you complain about the traffic…there’s nowhere you’d rather live. But it’s an internal feeling as opposed to a communal one. Although Randy Newman wrote an ironic song, there is no I Love L.A. campaign, that’s for New York, other places that have to convince themselves they’re the best. California knows… Maybe it’s not the best city in the world, but living is easy, it’s a giant suburb, no one’s in your face and the weather…

And even though they’re part of the same nation, the people in Los Angeles are different from those on the east coast, especially the natives. They’re always friendly, but they don’t immediately invite you over for dinner, everybody’s in their own silo living their own life.

But last night…

Sure, Green Day started the show, with Billie Eilish sitting in, but the first peak came when Billy Crystal took the stage. Appearing everywhere usually with no edge, this was different. Billy was in his sweats, the same clothes he left his house in that fateful day. It was personal. That set the tone, it was personal for everybody in attendance.

And then…

“I’m broke, but I’m happy

I’m poor, but I’m kind

I’m short, but I’m healthy, yeah

I’m high, but I’m grounded

I’m sane, but I’m overwhelmed

I’m lost, but I’m hopeful, baby”

“Jagged Little Pill” came out thirty years ago this June. And although Alanis’s second LP made a dent, and she had that phenomenal soundtrack song “Uninvited” thereafter…she hasn’t topped the charts since. But “Jagged Little Pill” is so iconic. It evidences the values of L.A. In that you come from the hinterlands to make it. Oftentimes broke, but super-hungry. And few triumph, but those that do maintain a base in L.A. Sure, they might have more than one house, but they’re Angelenos, through and through. Like Joni Mitchell, she’s lived in L.A. for decades. Because once you’ve gotten a taste…it’s hard to leave. It’s just too comfortable, just too good.

So Alanis is no different from 1995. Her hair is still long. She’s smiling and moving her body like in the videos…

But you’d expect…I don’t know, “You Oughta Know,” with maybe Flea coming in from the wings to replicate his bass part. But when I heard that intro…SHE’S PLAYING HAND IN POCKET, MY FAVORITE SONG!

I immediately jumped to my feet, thrust my arms in the air and sang along.

And I wasn’t the only one. We’d all lived through the experience. This was not a gig for kids, we remember the nineties.

And I’m looking at the assembled multitude and I can’t stop smiling, we are here, we will survive, I’m tingling while I write this.

“And what it all boils down to

Is that no one’s really got it all figured out just yet”

Ain’t that the truth, but as we stood and shook, sang at the top of our lungs, one thing was for sure…WE’RE GONNA! We’re gonna figure it out, we’re gonna rebuild, the rest of the country is gonna hate us, but it’s clear…WE’RE GONNA GET THE LAST LAUGH!

2

And then Anderson.Paak comes out wailing on the drums, with Sheila E. out front doing the act she did with Prince back in the day. The energy is palpable. And it’s good…

But then came the second highlight of the night. From the side of the stage came…DR. DRE??

You’ve got to know what Dre means to L.A. You’ve got to know he’s out of sight. Sure, he played the Super Bowl, but he doesn’t go on tour, he’s an elder statesman. And his hair has touches of gray, but he’s out front on the mic and…

WOW!

Even if you hated rap you got it. This was the essence, from the Palisades to Altadena to Compton… This is L.A.

And when they went into “California Love”… You knew it was coming, but still it was shocking, 2Pac was not there, but I’m sure he was in the sky with his arms crossed, happy. There was a sensation of triumph, but sans compromise. There was no pandering, they were doing it their way.

Which is our way.

Then Joni Mitchell did a low-key “Both Sides Now” and Dawes came out and played an energetic “Time Spent in Los Angeles.” They were not as big as the rest of the acts on the stage, but born Angelenos.

And then came the transplants, Stephen Stills and Mike Campbell to do “For What It’s Worth,” not that stinging single of Buffalo Springfield, but the more energized take Stills has performed recently at the Bowl and the Greek. And the one thing that no one ever acknowledges is how great a player he is, and he’s going at it with Mike and then…

Graham Nash comes out and they do “Teach Your Children.” Not one of my favorite Crosby, Stills & Nash songs, but it sounds close to the record, as if there was a direct line from ’69 to ’25. But then I went to Wikipedia and… Stephen Stills turned 80 on January 3rd. Graham Nash is going to be 83 in February. Seeing them there on stage…

Stills has been there and done that. He shows up now and again, but… What is his life about? You’ve proved your mettle…some acts have a need to stay current, but when you’ve been to the mountaintop, what do you have to prove?

And it wasn’t clear everybody there knew “For What It’s Worth.” And I’d say it was a changing of the guard, but it was more akin to a last hurrah. Times have moved on.

The younger generation dominated at Intuit, but over here on the other side of SoFi…

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Which is when the action switched to down the block. Starting with Rod Stewart.

That’s the kind of night it was. Talent didn’t appear in order of star power. You could be a heavyweight and play early.

Rod joked about playing a new song and went into “Maggie May”…

And his hair still stands up, and he got the notes across with his sandpaper voice, but the backup band…was women straight out of a Robert Palmer video and youngsters. Everybody delivered, but Wikipedia told me Rod turned 80 on January 10th. He’s not trying to look young, he’s had no plastic surgery, although his legs are super-skinny, but…this ain’t gonna go on for much longer folks.

And then back to the Forum. From this point on, the venues switched off. At Intuit there’d be a bit of fire footage, an introduction and…

This is when I looked at my watch.

It was too late on the east coast. We were in it alone…same as it ever was.

We’ll tune in early for the east coast events, but when we rev it up on the west coast…the rest of the country is turning in. They’ve got no idea what is going on out here, they don’t even think about us. But as evidenced by the performers on stage, the people in the audience…

THIS IS WHERE IT’S HAPPENING!

It’s a hiding in plain sight secret.

And at the Forum John Mayer took the stage acoustically. And after playing his songs “Neon” and “Gravity,” he intro’ed the song from the legendary transplant who stayed here, never went back to Florida…

“She’s a good girl, loves her mama

Loves Jesus and America too

She’s a good girl, crazy about Elvis

Loves horses and her boyfriend too”

Tom Petty didn’t live on the westside, but Encino. The San Fernando Valley, which was never and still is not hip.

Sure, Tom ultimately decamped for Malibu, but…

“It’s a long day livin’ in Reseda

There’s a freeway runnin’ through the yard”

I remember using my mother’s Redken shampoo. Right there on the plastic bottle it said it was made in Van Nuys, California. Seemed exotic in the tub in Connecticut, but if you’ve ever been here… That’s where they used to make Camaros, there’s nothing special about Van Nuys.

And there’s nothing special about Reseda, even though it’s suburban sans industrialization.

It’s like an inside joke. Tom was encapsulating Southern California. It’s not special, there’s very little history, everybody moved here and established roots and…

“All the vampires walkin’ through the Valley

Move west down Ventura Boulevard”

That got a hoot, that’s the main artery in the Valley, there’s not a soul who doesn’t know it, hasn’t driven down its endless length.

We were all singing along…

“And I’m free

Free fallin’

Yeah, I’m free

Free fallin'”

Yes we were. That’s the essence of SoCal, the lack of constriction, the FREEDOM!

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And then back to Intuit for Earth, Wind & Fire and this is when it became clear you had to be there. It’s one thing to watch it on the big screen, it’s quite another thing to be in attendance.

And then back to the Forum for the Black Crowes. And watching the now gray-haired Chris Robinson on stage… It was a lesson in rock performance, rock charisma.

And then the Crowes backed up John Fogerty who always kills, but then…

Slash came out with his top hat and he and Rich sat down with their acoustics as they and Chris performed GOING TO CALIFORNIA!

Even Robert Plant got it:

“Made up my mind to make a new start

Going to California with an aching in my heart

Someone told me there’s a girl out there

With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair”

There most certainly was, and still is.

They were standing on a hill, in this case a stage, in my mountain of dreams… That’s the L.A. landscape, the mountains and the canyons. The wilds. The possibilities. Nature.

And earlier Pink played  “Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” after doing a very good version of “Me and Bobby McGhee.”

How strange, two Zeppelin songs and neither Robert nor Jimmy were there, never mind John Paul Jones.

And I’m thinking about seeing the band on their last tour in the summer of ’77 in this very building. But Jimmy was 81 on January 9th, he’s never going on tour again, we’ll be lucky if we see him live much at all.

Gracie Abrams and Tate McRae did not work at all on the big screen from Intuit. It almost looked like they were embarrassed to be there, with all the legends showing us how it was done.

And Katy Perry couldn’t get the tone right.

But Jelly Roll killed. The energy was palpable, even though it was from a distance.

He played his recent hit, “I Am Not Okay,” the one he talked about on Howard Stern, but he followed that up with… HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS!

In those Hollywood Hills…

This Bob Seger song was unavoidable on the radio of the seventies, the five rock stations in Los Angeles.

And sure, Travis Barker was pounding the skins, but Jelly Roll was truly carrying the weight. This portly 40 year old putting to shame the popsters in the Spotify Top 50. Jelly Roll had been around the block, experienced the challenges of life, you believed he believed in what he was singing. It didn’t seem that the young audience at Intuit even got “Hollywood Nights,” that was nearly fifty years ago, then again it’s hard to judge audience response from a TV screen. But Jelly Roll…he was not a break from the continuum, but right on it, in the tradition.

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Gwen Stefani and No Doubt evidenced energy. They did “Don’t Speak,” the girls were on her side.

But not like they were with Stevie Nicks…

Man, you should have seen the faces. Every woman standing, smiling, singing along at the top of their lungs.

Stevie is a woman who made it in a man’s world without sacrificing, without playing by their rules, she was a beacon for women then and still is. The highlight was “Landslide”… And you’re never going to hear Fleetwood Mac perform this again, so this is as good as it’s going to get.

As for the Nirvana tribute… It represented Dave Grohl’s re-emergence from his self-imposed exile. This was an unbilled surprise, but really it was time for Dave to take the front of the stage with the Foos. This seemed like a baby step.

As for the Chili Peppers…

They are California. And they demonstrated this by playing “Dani California,” “Californication” and “Under the Bridge.”

But by this time people had started to leave. Grohl et al… This was more punk than mainstream, and L.A. is a punk town, but not everybody is a punker. Then again, that’s what’s great about L.A., all this music, all these people, they can coexist.

Then again, maybe people were worn out. They could only handle so many peaks. This was not your average concert. This was household names, one after another, performing only a couple of songs, which most knew by heart…this was the concert of your dreams.

And there was no hang whatsoever. You were too busy watching. I did got to the bathroom at one point during one of the Intuit transmissions, but otherwise I was eyes front and ears open.

How much money will be raised?

Well, the final numbers are not in, but…

Ultimately it was not about the money, it was about the healing. Bringing us all together, seeing each other, acknowledging the city we love and giving us all hope.

We will rebuild. Not quickly, but faster than you expect.

Those outside the state will say we’re crazy for building in fire areas. They’ll talk about stringent California building codes. They’ll keep poking holes.

Just like they do with anything that is great.

We know this.

Most people are afraid to pick up and come here, leave their past behind and search for their dreams.

But we did.

Some of us made it, some of us did not.

But ultimately it didn’t matter. 

Because we’re here.

AND WE AIN’T GOING ANYWHERE!

Are you watching this Hulu show “Paradise”?

I take notice of the volume of hype. If a show is reviewed everywhere, that means the producer/distributor has a lot invested in it, and I need to pay a modicum of attention.

I usually look at the last paragraph of the review. And maybe the first. Oftentimes that’s all you need to tell you whether it’s the worth the investment of your time. And if I’m getting a good feeling, I’ll go to RottenTomatoes for the ratings…well, oftentimes the foreign shows don’t even have ratings, but if it’s a popular American production, you’ll see numbers right away, which can fluctuate, up or down, but right this very second “Paradise” has a 79/80, and you know my threshold is 80, so…

I won’t watch anything week to week. It’s a lousy experience. And I did a bit of research and found out that all eight episodes of “Paradise” were presently available, but when I pulled up the show on Hulu this turned out to be untrue. But, without something more pressing to watch, I said what the hell.

We actually watched a movie the night before, “Number 24” on Netflix. Being a Norwegian production, the critics haven’t weighed in yet, but the audience score as I write this is 95. Does this mean you should watch it? I wouldn’t put it at the top of your list, but I will say it’s worth watching because…

It’s about the resistance in World War II. Norwegians who decide to fight against not only the occupying Nazis, but the Norwegians who are complicit with them. This is something I always think about. There is this organization of rich Republicans and entertainers in Northern California called the Bohemians. I’ve been invited to attend a few times, but I won’t. Because when the revolution comes, I don’t want my name on that list. They did not forgive the Norwegians who became Nazis, they shot them. Are they going to shoot those who did what was expedient, for the perks, when the revolution comes to America?

One thing you need to know about revolution. It happens instantly. That’s what we learned with the Arab Spring. One spark causes an entire conflagration, like the fires in SoCal.

So in “Paradise”… I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so I’ll just say something fishy is going on, and they can only depend on one person, Sterling K. Brown as Special Agent Xavier Collins, to figure it out and save the community. Because Xavier always does the right thing. Even if his father doesn’t like it.

I know almost nobody who does the right thing anymore. Everybody’s scratching for an edge. There are people stealing the identities of fire victims for the benefits. And the icons of yore have turned out to have clay feet, at least their present day descendants.

I know if I say anything negative about Trump I’ll get negative feedback and lose subscribers, but when you heard about the plane crash last night was the first thing you thought about DEI? I mean we can debate DEI programs and implementation, but it is not the root of all evil. Trump and his minions sacrifice credibility.

Then again, it’s a team sport and just like in major league sports, everybody’s looking for an edge, stealing signs, trying to make a fair fight less fair.

So who do you believe in?

Used to be the musicians. That was their power. Speaking truth, standing up to power. But we haven’t had that spirit here in the twenty first century. Sure, there are brain dead people who still believe in these sold-out performers, then again, Rick Beato posted his podcast with me on YouTube and the comments are filled with misinformation. The top one just now was demanding that Spotify pay a penny a stream. Forget that there is no per stream rate, but if there was and it was one cent, Spotify would be out of business nearly instantly. The math doesn’t add up. Spotify does not take in enough cash, nowhere near this. Nor do the rest of the streamers. But these wannabe musicians want theirs. That’s what it comes down to, they believe they’re entitled.

But underneath this constant jockeying for position whilst employing falsehoods is an incredible desire for honesty and credibility. Because we all need someone and something to believe in.

It got so bad that in the past couple of decades people have believed in brands more than bands. We can argue Apple vs. Android. It’s like a religious war. But the acts are niche cartoons, not worth spending your time picking apart. You’re a fan of BTS, good for you, I don’t care and I don’t want to talk about it, that’s how most people feel.

And Biden and Harris sacrificed all credibility and their support teams never blew the whistle. It’s kind of like these inane confirmation hearings going on in the Senate as I write this. No one is honest, everybody’s parsing the issues and lying, and we all know this is true. And you wonder why people don’t trust the government?

Now you can take sides.

But really, it’s all about the people sitting out. Just waiting for someone to carry the flag.

And for a lot of people recently it’s been Elon Musk.

Elon Musk spearheaded the adoption of electric vehicles, he’s advanced space flight, however he’s an extremely flawed human being. And the more he’s in the spotlight, the more this is evidenced.

But recently there was an inflection point, which undercuts Musk’s credibility and will haunt him hereafter.

He lied about his gaming ability. And continued to stonewall. And then finally admitted he had others boosting his scores, utterly taboo in the gaming world.

Now you may not care about gaming, but video games are bigger than both movies and music. They just don’t get the equivalent press. And the bros who play video games… These are the people who adore Elon, who put him and Trump over the line.

But now Elon has broken the code.

And has appeared mortal in the process.

Why do you need to be the best at everything, no one in the history of the world has been. Can’t you kick back and say I like playing games but I’m not in the league of those who do it for a living?

To be as good as Elon said he was you’d need to play 16 hours a day. Needless to say, Musk doesn’t have the time.

But, but, BUT, you say, look at Trump!

Sure, Trump has no credibility. But his success is based on him convincing his fans that he understands them and is working for them, the truth be damned. Find a Patriots fan who will admit to Deflategate… It’s impossible.

But Musk is different. He’s ultimately for nobody but himself.

This is like all those Silicon Valley titans who donated to Trump’s inaugural fund and showed up in D.C. last week. Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most hated men in the world.

It looks like these people are winning, but in truth they’re losing. Because life is a long game. And you only have one reputation.

But it’s hard to believe you should be honest and credible when everybody in the news is not.

That’s a rot at the center of our society. That does not make it right.

Without trust one lives in an outlaw community. Isn’t that the basis of relationships. trust?

People are hungry for honesty, trustworthiness and credibility. Sure, if you speak the truth there are some who won’t be able to handle it, who will excoriate you, but there will be a cadre of those who will be bonded to you.

I will never forgive Rod Stewart for making those “American Songbook” albums.

But Alex Chilton who had nowhere near the amount of success stayed true to his roots, his beliefs, until his death.

That was part of the magic of Kurt Cobain. And some of the classic rock acts who still won’t do commercial endorsements, who can still sell tickets.

Just because everybody else is doing it…

We’re looking for people like Xavier Collins, who will do the right thing. And they don’t have to tell us this, their behavior evidences it. And stands out in a world of expedience and phoniness.

Hell, if you don’t have an identity, if you can’t trust yourself, what have you got?

There are business legends with tons of money but no friends. Sitting home alone like the President in “Paradise.” How fulfilling is that?

Not very.

Michael Jackson’s last guitarist, Australian Orianthi has a new album, and tales of how she got from Down Under to the international radar screen.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/orianthi/id1316200737?i=1000687098778

 

 

 

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/c4194786-84b0-42d6-858b-f1e284a6908e/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-orianthi

Re: Why You Should Be On TikTok

my company compound.fm is currently working 3 of the top 10 billboard records right now on tiktok.

99% of the records we’ve broken have been from work on titkok . The remaining 1% was one campaign that was an anomaly that broke on IG (a pussycat dolls remix for buttons in 2022).

Also 2 months ago I started a tiktok page that saves dogs that are in shelters and in the past 6 weeks we’ve been able to get 8 dogs adopted from the viral power of tiktok.

@savethedogs

Also made a tiktok page for a homeless Senior citizen who continues to go viral and hes also now getting paid as an influencer on tiktok to promote records from artists like Weeknd, Kendrick, and others.

He has been homeless in LA for over 12 years and had no hope and we were able to raise over $30k on a gofundme to get him a home all thanks to tiktok:

Www.tiktok.com/@savenorris5

IG just doesnt have the viral discoverability that tiktok has. Great content RESONATES on tiktok. Music that needs to be heard continues to be heard and dogs that need to be rescued continue to get rescued and their content still shows to people who need to see it.

Also if you have $10k to spend on YouTube or IG it only goes so far… its a drop in the YouTube bucket and IG is so self contained.. $10k spend properly on titkok can lead to an ABUNDANT amount of streams

Nima Nasseri

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Re: Why You Should Be On TikTok

Tik Tok has turned the hospitality industry on its head.  Legacy media does not matter. 

I have shown w viral Tik Tok (I do it by disruption) content you can fill up a tree house in Antarctica.  Now I have many concepts / restaurants and LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION doesn’t matter anymore.  When one of our 2’ Specialty Milk Shakes @ Diner 24 (highest Google rated diner in USA) goes viral (collectively over 200 mil views) our Diner 24 in Gramercy is filled w tourism.  Listen to those words carefully.  There is zero tourism in Gramercy Park NYC but through the powerful TIK Tok media platform and our viral unique content our 24hour Diner has exploded to $3,600 in sales per sq ft.  Industry norm is $700 and anything over $1200 is huge.

My 14 year old daughter was calling me on the opening of Diner 24.  I said Isabel I cannot talk I’m doing an interview w NY TIMES, NY MAGAZINE & WSJ.  SHE taught me a lesson by saying no one cares about them. What I’m trying to tell you that your crazy milk shake was posted on Tik Tok and has over 3 mil views, 27,000 likes and 455 comments in 1 hour ……….AND DAD THATS WHAT MATTERS.

I am an author of two books (Damn Good Dumplings) taught in multiple universities on disrupting hospitality (Be A Disruptor) and here is my 14 year old teaching me a very important lesson in business & the importance of TIK TOK.

Thx you

Stratis Morfogen
Dot.Cards/stratism