Hotel Cafe: A ROVE/Baltisoul fundraiser night for homeless youth

I got asked by ROVE if I would be interested in covering their fundraiser night at Hotel Cafe. I was happy to do so. They were raising money for homeless youth. I was also asked if I was interested in doing a ticket giveaway via Instagram. This was the first time I'd done something like that. It was cool to do.

Michelle Young & The Collection

What was also cool about the night was that this was the first time I'd seen most of the bands/musicians. The only band I'd seen previously was Michelle Young & The Collection, Michelle being the one who put on the night via ROVE. Though I've seen Emma Cole, this was my first time seeing her in GMNII. A funny moment came up when the MC said something like, "They remind me of the Olsen twins." Actually, I could see how Gigi could pass as a sister of the Olsen twins. And then I've noticed MAWD on various music lineups, but this was the first time I got to see her. That was cool to finally catch someone after just noticing them on lineups.

MAWD

Mads Paige

The big surprise of the night was Velvet Starlings. You could tell they toned it down for Hotel Cafe. In fact, they didn't tone it down enough as they were asked to turn things down. From watching their set, one couldn't help but feel that at another venue (with speakers and a stage that isn't designed for singer-songwriters), lead singer Christian would be putting on one energetic show. 

Velvet Starlings

Mads Paige and New Dialogue also played the night. Mads Paige did some solid singer. Mads' father was front row for the set. New Dialogue mentioned that their songs were toned down for Hotel Cafe. "We didn't realize that tonight would be rocking."

GMNII

New Dialogue

As the night was close to Christmas, each band/musician did a Christmas song.