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Homegrown band makes return engagement

Caroline Helper

Media Credit: Photo courtesy of Big Hassle Media Monday, Monday | Comedian Andy Dick emcees the last of L.A.-based

West L.A. band Rooney has lived the past month at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, where each of its Andy Dick-emceed all-night affairs feature different opening acts. The band's monthlong gig celebrates the completion of their second album, Calling The World, which will be released sometime in July.

By playing the Roxy, they have returned to the place where it all began.

"We decided that it had been so long since we played there," said guitarist Taylor Locke, "and the Roxy has always reached out to us."

The band invites new artists to open Monday nights, and it has already had Ben Lee and fellow Angelenos Everybody Else as guests. They plan to have singer Robert Schwartzman's older brother Jason bring out his old band, Phantom Planet, for one of the shows as well.

Locke described the residency as a grassroots effort by the all the members of the band.

"It's really been pretty home-grown," he said. "For the first show, we treated it like a party for our friends. We were pretty nervous, to be honest, and it went down really well, and the second one was even better."

The energy at the show this past Monday reflected that attitude as the band, throughout their set, invited friends from the opening bands onstage to participate. Robert Schwartzman, the band's vocalist, encouraged the audience to participate by hand-clapping, dancing and singing along. He taught the audience songs from the band's forthcoming album. The crowd was enthusiastic in response and the atmosphere rang with a sense of friendly familiarity.

The band recognizes the unique energy of playing a show in their hometown and getting back to their roots.

"When you go on tour you may have a great night in some towns and an average night in others," Locke said, "but at these shows, we have a lot of fans coming in who have always been there for us and there is no point in doing it jaded or half-assed. It's a very loose, party vibe."

That "party vibe" is one that the band also hopes to carry over into its new album. Locke said Calling The World is a pop-rock album, infused with more dance and rhythmic elements, more ambitious arrangements (reflecting the band's maturation) and a wide range of musical influences including Queen, The Beach Boys and the Beatles.

"This is an album that has a lot of story behind it, and (it) took a long time to make," Locke said. "We actually made three different albums with different producers and songs before we came up with Calling The World," Locke said.

Rooney's residency at the Roxy provides an excellent cure to a case of the Monday blues. Andy Dick's brief but hilarious moments between acts, combined with the chance to see great local bands playing together, as friends, at a venue as legendary as the Roxy, makes for one of the most exciting shows in town this month.

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The Roxy is located at 9009 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. For more information, visit www.roxyhollywood.com or call (310) 278-9457.

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