My friend Solly came down last weekend on a miniature vacation from Seattle. She was unlucky enough to have the rain follow her down and catch up to her by Monday, but the weekend was still nice, if chilly. I had checked the local listings to see if anyone decent was playing; I noticed the Les Savy Fav listing but ignored it. I’d had a chance to see them play a couple years ago with The Hold Steady up at the Avalon (the first show I saw after I moved to LA) and ended up leaving early; watching Craig Finn close their set with a blue-lit version of “Killer Parties” was all I needed to complete my night. But Solly found the listing herself and proposed we go, and although I balked at paying an $8.00 service charge to Ticketmaster for advance tickets, the show hadn’t sold out by Saturday afternoon so after dinner at El Coyote, we parked on 9th Street and walked the two blocks up to Wilshire to try our luck at the box office. (more…)