The Echo's Final October 2017 Residency Night

It was a great night of music at The Echo for the end of the Alyeska/Goon residency.

Gypsum opened up the night. Just a few days back at The Smell, I walked in during the final notes of their set. I was actually a bit upset that I'd missed their set. I always thought The Smell's first set started at 9 p.m. On that particular night, it'd obviously started at 8:30 p.m. So when I figured out they were playing at The Echo, I looked to see what time they would play. They were the first band up at 9 p.m. I made sure I was there. Wow, so good, they remind me of a female-version of Local Natives.

Comment of their set: I brought candy to throw out into the audience, but I forgot it in the car. You all are too old for that anyways . . . Except for you out there who complained. You're never too old for the magic of Halloween.

Gypsum

Alyeska came up on stage next with Alaska Reid on vocals. This was my second straight Monday night at The Echo. I just couldn't get enough of Alyeska. My first time seeing her was about 1 1/2 years back. There is just so much power in her set. A sense of shyness, yet a power to her sound. Yeah, her set was memorizing.

What did I notice: Whenever the tempo picked up during a song, there was a definite smile that cracked her lips.

What did I notice 2: There was a nice play between Alaska Reid and her band mate Wolf Woodcock. She played it cool, while he'd go wild. A fun little contrast of styles.

Story of the set: There were some bones that were at the front of the stage. I just assumed they were fake bones, bought at a store. But no, they were real. Alaska Reid's father found the bones in the mountains and gave them to her.

Alyeska

I caught partial sets of Lily Waters and Goon. I previously saw Lily Waters at The Smell on that same night that I just missed out on seeing Gypsum. I'll also say this, I just missed seeing Lily Waters a few months back at Echo Park Rising. All these random missed connections and I am so happy I ran into both bands later on. Lily Waters is this beautiful combination of Lauren Ruth Ward and LP. Think about that awesome combination of sounds.

Lily Waters

I do love Goon, but I do have to admit I snuck out through part of their set. Sometimes, I just need to hit my bed. There is just something beautiful about their music. There's this pulsating power beat that just blends in with this awesome melodic sound. To me, they're just amazing and they also have some great band interaction. That isn't something you can say about every local Los Angeles band.

Goon

And a final note: so the first time I went to see the Alyeska/Goon combo, I was shocked at how small the crowd was. The Echo was perhaps less than half full. On this night, the placed was nicely filled. I was happy to see that. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to check out the bands that played on this night.