Did a band from Cincinnati, Ohio steal the show at Permanent Records Roadhouse? Maybe I wouldn't go that far as they were book ended by Los Angeles bands Julez and the Rollerz and Jagged Baptist Club who have their fan bases. Yet, Artificial Go definitely got the crowd behind them and in rather quick fashion. How would I describe the band? I'll just steal the description from their Bandcamp page, "existential post-punk chamber pop."
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| Artificial Go at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
I'll be honest, when it was announced that this would be the first show ever for Stinkus, my expectations weren't set all that high during this particular set at Rocknite LA event at The Goldfish. I mean, it takes a few sets for a band to get into a groove on stage, right? I was wrong. Maybe there were a couple clues to be had. The first clue was that the venue filled up for their set. It being their first set, they had a surprisingly large following. The second clue was that King Mala showed up to support Benjamin Hon who was on guitar.
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| Stinkus at The Goldfish |
I was planning (and did) head off to catch Bruvvy at Good Times at Davey Wayne's on this particular Tuesday night. They were doing an April residency and I had yet to catch one of those sets. I pinged one of the band members and was told they were going on somewhere between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. I figured I would start my night off at WFNM's night at Hotel Ziggy and then take off at around 9:30 p.m. to get to Good Times at Davey Wayne's to catch Bruvvy.
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| Fifth Lucky Dragon at Hotel Ziggy |
As mentioned in a prior blog post, I notice via a Gracie Gray Instagram Story that Mini Trees was going to play a short set on the ArtCenter College of Design rooftop (curated by the Altadena Seed Library) during the Printed Matter Art Book Fair. A number of singer-songwriters performed throughout the day. I saw only four of those performers. The last performer was Georgia Maq (aka Georgia McDonald).
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| Georgia Maq at the Art Center College of Design |
Creatrix Jem Presents put on a jazz night at Club Tee Gee that featured Will Brahm celebrating his Distance to Empty album release. Opening up the night was the Jake Leckie Trio. Brahm mention that musicians shouldn't have more than three one word song titles in their setlist. I counted five such song titles on the 1 hour and twenty minute set. I guess a cardinal rule was broken, but I don't think the audience cared about that particular rule. The venue was packed with people who got to enjoy jazz as well as mini cupcakes that Brahm brought to celebrate the record release as well as his birthday. As I was leaving for the night, I grabbed one.
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| Will Brahm at Club Tee Gee |
I took off to Zebulon on Memorial day to catch Hysteria (you can read my Hysteria NFV Song Spotlight here). Now I didn't want to head out for the full four band line-up. I've mentioned this in past blog posts, but I'm trying to put a quota on the numbers of nights I go out each week. I was partially successful at this during the early part of the year, but April onwards has fallen apart. I'm just too addicted. After listening to Hysteria's single that they were celebrating, I decided I was heading out even though I knew it would bust my quota for the week (already knew I wanted to head out on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday). But it is a holiday Monday, I rationalized. I knew the approximate start time for Hysteria (they were the last band up), but decided I should at least see two bands.
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| The Opera at Zebulon |
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| Jia Pet at the Lodge Room |
A Handful (Bucketful) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Jun 22nd: Night Talks at The Paramount. Doors at 7 p.m.I first came across SASAMI in January 2019 at The Echo.
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| SASAMI at the Lodge Room |
There's a little fun music history involved in that.
First, The Echo used to have FOMO week. The first week of January would be dedicated to free shows at The Echo. Like any year during that music era, the week was packed with top notch local bands (you can see a schedule here). Here are some awesome performers:
Hysteria fronted by Dakota Cosgrove took to the Zebulon for only their second set ever. The set was to celebrate their "Reason to Pray" single release. I wasn't planning on heading out on Memorial Day. I was going to stay home and watch an old war movie (Where Eagles Dare), because of . . . well . . . Memorial Day. I did watch that movie at a later date. Was it a good idea to head out to Zebulon on this night? It definitely was.
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| Hysteria at Zebulon |
I went off to a Ryan Pollie presents night at The Fable mainly to catch Swimming Bell. I'd seen Swimming Bell back in 2022 and figured I'd catch another set. If I were more real life work focused, I probably should have been tapping away at my computer instead of heading out to The Fable. The company I work for is going through system upgrades and people who send out reports are sending the reports out much later than normal and the reports are filled with errors. It will all get resolved eventually, but there's always that rough patch where sometimes you just got to put in the extra effort to deal with all. Well, I was like screw it, it is 8 p.m., I'm heading out to catch some live music. I should note that I don't always prioritize music over work. I often pass on various assignments for US Rocker Music due to real life work. Don't worry, I'm not trying to drive myself into unemployment due to my love of the LA music scene, but I do try to walk that fine line.
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| MacGregor Burns at The Fable |
On Julez and the Rollerz's Instagram account, they announced that they were "playing a short and sweet set" at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Before heading out, that announcement was a bit of a disappointment for me. This was the first time I was going to catch the band in about a year and they were going to play a shortened set? Then I got to the venue and saw that they were playing a 9 song set. Hmm, that seemed like a normal number of songs to play during a set. Also, my estimate is that their set clocked in at the 30 minute mark. That to me is your standard set length in the LA music scene so I feel like I got more than anticipated of their 60s retro rock. I suppose that is called under-promising and over-delivering?
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| Julez and the Rollerz at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
The Audrey Lisette Band Instagram page describes their music as "genre fluid band." The Spotify bio says that their music mixes jazz, rock, and blues. The band's WFNM night at Hotel Ziggy definitely aligned and expanded on that description. The set opened up with "Love Again" that featured her deep vocals and 70s rock chops. The song has addictive climatic moments that resolve in repeat fashion. The song ended with a lengthy and enjoyable riff.
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| Audrey Lisette Band at Hotel Ziggy |
A Handful of Show Alerts
Sunday, Jun 15th: El Colmo at Alex's Bar. Doors at 2 p.m.I first came across Swimming Bell, the moniker for Katie Schottland, in late November 2022. I was off to Permanent Records Roadhouse to catch an Emily Rose & the Rounders set and Swimming Bell was the opening band for me (I say opening for me as I missed Selland & Starr set -- I believe this was the night I was expecting Selland & Starr to come on after Emily Rose and was hanging out around the stage while the Permanent Records crew was breaking down equipment and I finally realized I missed their set). I learned at the time via one of my Q&A interviews that Schottland is a New York native and had moved to Los Angeles a couple years back. Since that was 2022, I'd say she's an adjusted Los Angeleno (or maybe not).
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| Swimming Bell at The Fable |
Ferry Townes, the moniker for Julia Gargano, walked up to the Hotel Ziggy microphone during a WFNM night with a smile and an enthusiasm for her music that was shared by the audience. It didn't take long for someone to yell out, "So f*cking awesome." Her response, "Thank you, dude."
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| Ferry Townes at Hotel Ziggy |
Seko was the first band up during Pretty But Wicked's night at Zebulon. I was impressed as soon as the first notes were played of their opening song "Say Hi To The Son." While writing this blog post, I had to do some research on the band (I had never heard of them before). To be honest, my first observation was that their band name is very similar to the long time Los Angeles band Sego.
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| Seko at Zebulon |
Jagged Baptist Club took to the Permanent Records Roadhouse stage, yelling out "Los Angeles!!!" The band is fronted by Blake Stokes who has to rank as one of the more engaging lead singers of the Los Angeles music scene. He gave his audience a complement after their first song of the night, "Now ladies and gentlemen of Los Angeles, California, I have to tell you something . . . I'm already impressed. We were playing eleven shows in England. And they were very good at clapping. And in the past, you Americans have not been very good at clapping. But guess what, you're very good at clapping." He then called out someone who had stopped clapping to the beat set by their drummer Morgan Ponder.
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| Jagged Baptist Club at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
Memo PST brought the punk to Zebulon. One has to give it up to Secret Fires who booked a great night of music. The night did belong to the headliners Gustaf, but Memo PST was not to be ignored. The band "was formed in 2022 by longtime associates Orville Neeley and Chris Shaw." Neeley takes the electric guitar duties while Shaw handles the vocals and front man responsibilities.
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| Memo PST at Zebulon |
A Handful of Show Alerts
Sunday, Jun 8th: Dagger Polyester at Zebulon. Doors at 7 p.m.I've been wanting to catch up with Paper Citizen for a few months now. The band is the brainchild of Singaporean Claire Gohst. I had previously circled a date at The Escondite in January, but the night got cancelled due to the Los Angeles fires. Fast forward three months and I noticed that she was playing another show at The Escondite. This time, there was no interference to my getting to catch a set other than a rather bad accident on the southbound 2 freeway, which resulted in a less than 30 minute trip turning into a 1 hour torture drive.
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| Paper Citizen at The Escondite |
I first came across Mini Trees (the moniker for Lexi Vega) at the 2019 Echo Park Rising festival. If you so wish, you can find a photo I took here on a Buzzband's photo gallery from the festival. I only caught a song or two. That's just how it is when you're running and gunning for a blog site. The band played at Trencher. Trencher was a restaurant (since closed) and I remember people coming in and out to pick up or order food throughout the time I was there.
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| Mini Trees at the Art Center College of Design |
It was off to Hotel Cafe on a Wednesday night to cover a Lisa Crawley single release party for her song "What You Can Do." I wrote up an article for US Rocker Music with a Q&A that you can read here. The night included the opening duo of Jeffertitti and Chloe Kat. This was my first time seeing Chloe Kat on stage (I believe, always possible I've seen her as part of a backing band) though I'm rather sure I've seen her around town. As for Jeffertitti Moon, well, what long time Los Angeles music fan hasn't crossed paths with Jeffertitti?
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| Jeffertitti and Chloe Kat at Hotel Cafe |
Jameson Tabor recently played the WFNM at Bar Lubitsch with keyboard support from Elise Go. He had a million dollar smile and a dance performance that was no doubt influenced by his musical acting background. His engaging performance had the crowd chanting UFO with him during the song "UFO." UFO is the acronym for Unexplored Feelings of Obsession. With arms outstretched, he provided the early crowd with a warm singing embrace to start the night off on a positive note.
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| Jameson Tabor at Bar Lubitsch |
I first came across Madam Bombs at The Redwood Bar in 2022 when they played alongside Speed of Light and The Pumps. At the time, I was unfamiliar with the band. I had gone there specifically to catch Speed of Light and The Pumps. Speed of Light used play in the short lived, but memorable DIY punk scene Bands In A Barbershop. I was familiar with The Pumps via Rio Infante who played in the band Strawberry Army.
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| Madam Bombs at The Escondite |
Cody's Program had a packed crowd at The Goldfish during a Rocknite LA night. It was partially driven by the backing vocalist Kelly Rose Golden (in a band called Rigby) who had a gaggle of friends surrounding her on stage while the band was setting up. I was hanging out at the stage with my camera, waiting for the band to start their set and I was gently edged out of my spot due to her crowd of friends. I wasn't upset by it. I just found it amusing. As the DJ played the tunes over the sound system, many of them were dancing.
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| Cody's Program at The Goldfish |
Lower Merion is the brainchild of Ryan Pollie. Playing alongside him are Ben Absent, Brooke Tannehill (who plays under the moniker Brookelen), and Pearce Gronek (who plays with Tannehill in the band We Shrunk).
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| Lower Merion at The Goldfish |
Destiny Petrel hit the Bar Lubitsch stage during a WFNM night with a distorted metal walk-on guitar intro. It was like a moment on a Sunset Strip stage. "How are we feeling, guys?" That got some yells from the crowd who packed the venue. What a way to get the blood pumping both for Petrel and the crowd. She then launched into "Trippin In Chanel." It is an unreleased song, but it needs to be released. It started off with a quiet opening -- far different than her intro. Then one knew it was just about to explode. The lyrics got stretched out and the vocals peaked, an indication to her backing band that it was time to blast the ear drums.
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| Destiny Petrel at Bar Lubitsch |
I took off to Zebulon on a recent Friday night to catch Agender's record release show (you can read the write-up I did of their set here). Prior to heading out, I took mild notice of the opening band Muscle Beach. By mild notice, I mean I glanced at their Instagram page just so that I knew what the band looked like. I walked into the venue not having a clue about what to expect. My assumption was that they were likely a punk band or based on their band name perhaps something in the line of Bonavega.
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| Muscle Beach at Zebulon |
A Handful of Show Alerts
Sunday, May 25th: Rachel Goodrich at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.Agender's record release show for Berserk at Zebulon was the third time I came across this band. The first two times were memorable moments. My first time crossing paths with the band was at The Echo during one of the last Monday night residencies held at the venue (oh how I miss those nights). It was Crook's 2023 residency and the line-up included Iress and Silent Mass. Iress is a band I've followed since 2019. The first time I saw the band was at Echo Park Rising and lead singer Michelle Malley played the set in a sling around her right arm. As for Silent Mass, I've been following lead singer Ammo Bankoff for years through various bands. She has a new project, I'll be there -- well, actually, she's in New York City these days so I guess technically if she comes out with a new project that plays a Los Angeles set, I'll be there.
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| Agender at Zebulon |
Sakshi Chopra stood off to the side, dressed as a modern day genie, while her guitarist played a quiet reflective intro. She then walked onto the staged, standing barefoot on a carpet that took on magical qualities. Standing there, she looked a touch nervous to start off the Hotel Ziggy set (a WFNM night). That nervousness quickly ended once she started to sing and dance through her opening song "Hypnotized." The song mixes in traditional Indian music with modern pop and R'n'B. The set got support from a huge fan base that was beyond capacity of the venue and had many standing in the hotel lobby area.
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| Sakshi Chopra at Hotel Ziggy |
Doing some research on Trent Peltz, I came across an article that mentioned that he backs Grace McKagan on bass. I've seen Grace McKagan a handful of times and so I decided it was time to glance through some photos. (If interested, I covered Grace McKagan for Buzzbands, which you can read here when she opened for Irontom.) And yes, indeed, I do have photos of him on bass. He also played with her in the band The Pink Slips. I'm going to tuck that piece of information away as those who read my blog know that I love referencing the intertwining of musicians across various Los Angeles bands.
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| Trent Peltz at Bar Lubitsch |
It was a Rock Nite LA night at The Goldfish. It was my second time heading out to this weekly (Wednesday) night of free music. So far, Rock Nite LA is two for two in my book.
Maddie Ross closed it out on this particular Wednesday. Playing with her was Zach Bilson. I bring this up, because there used to be this music festival called Brokechella that was forced to change their name to Broke LA for a legal reason. The festival focused on the Los Angeles music scene. Anyways, back in the 2017 version, Bilson played in 4 or 5 bands. That is just a memory that stuck in my head. What also stood out that year was that it was the first time I came across my favorite American Idol, Zealyn. It was also the first time I came across Thumpasaurus. Got to say, it was a solid festival line-up.
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| Maddie Ross at The Goldfish |
It is late spring, which means that country music showcases are returning from their winter break. Grand Ole Echo is currently in Season XX and you can read my recent post on one of their weekly Sunday shows here. Also up and running at Frogtown Brewery is Bigtop Bandstand, which I believe is a monthly Saturday event.
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| The What Four at Frogtown Brewery |
Kora (Kora Puckett) opened the night for Jawdropped on a Friday night at Zebulon. He introduced the start of the set by saying, "Check the hands on the clock. It is 8:05, it is time to rock." He then proceeded to blast back open the Zebulon stage doors that had just closed. That did not literally happen, but it could have in an alternate universe where music has physical force.
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| Kora at Zebulon |
I was doing some research about a particular Rocknite LA event at The Goldfish. I was like, okay, I've seen Cartalk a handful of times. I've seen Maddie Ross. Who's this Slowpoke band? I took a look at their Instagram page and the faces looked familiar. Of course, this being Los Angeles, it was very possible that I just recognized the faces from other bands. That is, in fact, true when it comes to Tamara Simons who plays in the band Goon that I've followed for a number of years. When I took a look at their Instagram page, they only had 20-ish posts with their first post coming in 2022. Hmm. I decided to take a look at their tagged photos. There were a lot more photos and as I scrolled through I finally came up with the answer. Yes, I did know this band. They were previously playing under the name New Media.
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| Slowpoke at The Goldfish |
Kesley Bou played a recent WFNM night at Bar Lubitsch. She played a short 5 song set with three of those songs coming from her recent 2024 Bad Dream album. The set opened up with "in the dark" that has the lyrics, "You told me to move on, but I can’t let this one go." Yes, the album is filled with sadness. The next song was also from the album and got the introduction with a chuckle, "This next song is less sad. Give or take. It's called 'the end.'" This one has the lyrics, "Flowers wilting underneath. The weight of your feet."
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| Kesley Bou at Bar Lubitsch |
