Pierre Dorge and the New Jungle Orchestra swung madly at The German House Theatre Monday night with Ellington elegance and Sun Ra psychosis. Dorge was pleasant and soft-spoken between tunes, yet his eyes danced excitedly as windows into his oddity. He hung back behind his guitar allowing the whole band plenty of shine time. The music was luxurious one minute --- just long enough for you to catch the groove and start snapping your fingers --- and angular and jittery the next. It was as if it was being played on the back of a flatbed truck that started out on smooth blacktop and wound up barreling off-road. Very, very cool.

Braved the cold Saturday night (man, am I getting sick of this shit) to see L.A. Guns, The Veins, Bludwulf, and The Purrs. Got there in time to hear The Purrs rap up a loud set of energetic, catchy stuff despite the band's rather stoic stage presence. The Veins' onstage energy, however, matched the music. This band writes some incredible songs in the anthemic big rock vein. This is a rock fan's dream band with some incredible players. Rob Filardo's playing is the closest you'll ever come to hearing an actual melody coming from drums that still hold down a solid and savage beat. Jett, his brother-in-law stage left, positively wrung the life out of his virgin white Flying V, while front man Dave Gentner oversaw the goings-on like with a mixture of amusement and apocalyptic satisfaction. Why weren't you there?

Maybe it's because the headliner was a not-quite original line up of L.A. Guns. The two original members that did make it --- singer Phil Lewis and drummer Steve Riley --- brought along two young capable cats for this tour. The band was a little more rock 'n' roll than its Sunset Strip days and played a little more solid, genuine, and whittled-down for the club scene. And it may be a bummer playing to half-filled clubs, but that's where rock ‘n' roll's at these days. Still sounds good, anyway.