GP Scenes: The Real Tuesday Weld, Lal Meri

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Friday night saw The Real Tuesday Weld and Lal Meri on the watercourt for Grand Performances, in a show that KCRW’s Chris Douridas told you to come out and enjoy.

A comfortably full crowd was on hand to enjoy a night of music, with fans of both bands mixing with those who simply stopped in to check out the scene.

If you haven’t been to a night at Grand Performances yet in 2008, likely one of the first things you’ll notice is that there’s suddenly a lot more to eat on the California Plaza Watercourt. After years where the only options for refreshment were Starbucks and California Pizza Kitchen, a revitalized Downtown has brought some new options to the scene. Both Famima and Organic to Go were open and doing a brisk business.

A very informal straw poll suggests that the night’s crowd hadn’t come from too far away. Before the show began, Douridas asked the crowd who had shared his lengthy commute in from the westside, getting only a smattering of hands in the crowd.

Opener Lal Meri won’t have a CD out until January of 2009, but already they brought fans. The L.A.-based group returns to the watercourt for a noontime show on August 15th.

The show wrapped up a North American tour for headliner The Real Tuesday Weld. The band’s musical performance was a hit, with the experience enhanced by captivating visuals projected onto a screen set up behind the performers. Even front-man Stephen Coates was fond of turning around and taking in the scene.

Grand Performances continues this evening at 8pm with Waldemar Bastos & Ricardo Lemvo.