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| At WFNM |
I seemed to have forgotten to post about this back in June, but I'm up on California Rocker with an interview with Róisin Marie. She totally blew me away from her first note during her WFNM set. Sure the above photo stinks, but that doesn't take anything away from her vocals.
School Night is back in this online world and is now branded as Home School. I logged on recently to catch their 4th edition. They take the same approach as Los Angelenos. They get pre-recorded short sets. A difference is that Los Angelenos does their sets on Facebook and Instagram. Home School does it on Twitch and the artists can join in on the chat while everyone watches the set.
For me, I must have had a bad connection, because the artists kept on freezing up. Even though I was getting a glitchy video, I do have to give it up to the School Night team for booking 3 great artists.
Luz opened the night. What a wonderful voice. I couldn't see her playing the keys, but it really sounded like her fingers were just floating over each note. She had a good set-up with a headset and microphone.
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| Luz |
Stacey went all out with production value. Someone was doing the filming and did close up shots and long shots. It was a professionally done video. She played on a real piano - an instrument I don't get to hear much of these days by a live band as everything is electronic. Her music was like being in an enchanted forest -- the nice kind, of course.
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| Stacey |
Michigander's lead singer closed out the night. In his video, he played in front of a large window that allowed us to look into his back yard of grass and trees. Very pleasant. His music mixed in folk and rock. And he was able to take his vocals on a journey going up and down the chords as well as quickly speeding up and slowing it down. His last song had me thinking of Bobby McFerrin of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" fame.
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| Michigander |
Wednesday night meant heading over to Desert Night's Instagram to catch a couple artists.
Brendan Willing James opened up the night. His music has a Glen Hansard quality to it. There is also this lullaby softness to them.
Throughout the set, he tossed in some thoughts about his life. For example, he's spent this time in COVID-19 lockdown planting a garden. He also moved out to Ojai (not sure if this might have been done way prior to COVID-19). This is the second musician I've heard has moved to Ojai. Very interesting as the town has a population of less than 10,000.
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| Brendan Willing James |
Justine Bennett closed out the night. Her vocals and music has a real warmth. During the middle of her set she did a cover of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." Throughout the set, she dedicated songs to friends she noticed were watching online. A fun classical folk set.
During the set, there was this beeping sound that kept popping up. Initially, I actually thought it was coming from my work phone and I was getting notices. No, it was coming from her boyfriend's / husband's computer. She and those online had some fun comments about that. The beeps showed how much effort she put into the set. They had set everything up via a software package on the computer and then connected it to the phone.
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| Justine Bennett |
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| Fawns of Love at The Echo |
Husky from Australia popped up on Desert Nights Instagram live. I had never heard of them, but of course had faith in Desert Nights. I was blown away. What peaceful tonal sounds. They threw in a wonderfully done cover of "Need You Tonight" by INXS. A cool Australia shout out.
As can be seen in the photo below, their set was played in a clean white painted living room. There was a wood floor, a fireplace and a painting hanging from the wall. A look that matched the style of the band.
One thing I can say is that I survived the month of August and first half of September. Was that not one of the hottest periods in years? Of course, it didn't help that I was working from home and couldn't work in an air conditioned building. Per Weather.com, Glendale hit 112 on September 6th. On another site, I read 115, but perhaps 112 is the official number. I slept with wet frozen towels over my head. These sort of periods just gives me one thought, "My next apartment or house is going to have central air."
I'm still using my free time to catch up on old classic movies. TCM is now probably the most watched channel for me. Some of the highlights would be The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with Clint Eastwood. Bullitt and The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen. A number of Charlie Chaplin movies such as The Kid, City Lights and The Great Dictator. Peyton Place with Lana Turner.
Peyton Place is perhaps the movie I loved the best. It felt like the city was in a parallel universe to what was going on in the world at the time, World War II. Sure, there was interactions between the two worlds. There was a military draft. High school seniors were sent off to war. But it was also a world where everyone was beautiful and handsome. And sure, this movie took place in the early 1940s, but it felt like everyone was living in the 1950s.
With the heat, my exercise routines have been greatly diminished, but I do try to go out when I can. One of my favorite walks recently is a rather long walk that takes me into Atwater Village and I walk alongside the Los Angeles river. On one walk down by the river, I saw a musician packing up his monitors, microphone, etc etc. He had done some sort of live set. If only I had known about it in advance, because I would have come with my camera.
Okay, Los Angeles music scene speculation time. Let's say that live music doesn't start up until sometime in Q3 2021. I predict that Live Nation will have to sell off The Echo and Echoplex. Maybe not the Regent. Who will buy it? Mitchell Frank of Spaceland Presents. Yep, what was merged in 2019 will be undone in 2021 (or perhaps in early 2022).
Other assumptions that I'm making: It doesn't matter if Save Our Stages goes through Congress or not as Live Nation won't benefit from that legislation. Mitchell Frank will have had to keep his money that he got from the merger. Now it is known that Live Nation spent $20 million to $25 million on the transaction, but I doubt Michell Frank got that much. I'm sure a lot of that money went to take over loan amounts associated with the venues, but surely he walked off with a few million. Now perhaps he spent most of his money, banks would likely still take a chance on him. Or he could easily raise the funds via investors.
I don't say this will happen with 100% assurance, but I give it 50%. Music venues have to stay shut until Q3 2021 before this speculation kicks in.
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| Pink Sock at the Echoplex |
First off, Grant Owens who puts on WFNM just got a new job as a casting producer for America's Got Talent. That is some good news to hear, especially during these tough times.
This Version 44 post is about WFNM Instagram Live.
Nilo Blues opened up the night with youthful energy. His music was a nice mix of cheerful pop music and RnB. He was just having a lot of fun. The set ended up with amusement. He ended his set and was trying to connect with Grant Owens for a quick interview. I think he was a touch unfamiliar with how Instagram Live works, because he couldn't find Grant Owens and decided to just do another song. Unfortunately, that pushed him pass the 6:30 p.m. start time of Oranj Goodman. Not intended, obviously, but an example of technical glitches that pop up in this new world.
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| Nilo Blues |
As mentioned, Oranj Goodman was up next, playing his set from Washington state. I believe he mentioned that he was about 1 hour south of Seattle. What an amazing array of musical tastes. One song was chill rap. Another had him showcasing his vocal range. And his closing song was like he was participating in a poetry beatnik competition. That song had some poetic moments and then he let his guitar take him into moments of musical explosions.
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| Oranj Goodman |
My night ended with Bad Tuner. He gave us DJ set with plenty of samples. Asian voice overs. Electronic beats. Atmospheric moments. Nice way to end a Wednesday night with WFNM.
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| Bad Tuner |
Los Angeleno had their Friday night quick sets on September 4th. Andres Renteria opened up the night playing drums with backing music and videos of mountains and other scenic scenes. He was dressed in white. His music had a spiritual indigenous quality.
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| Andres Renteria |
Andrew Rinehart had a pixelated beige background which caused his tie-dye blue t-shirt to stand out strong. His set was acoustic and was played low key with a folk rock sound. One could imagine him playing his guitar on the beach, enjoying a bonfire with friends. There was a tenderness in his vocals.
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| Andrew Rinehart |
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| Joy Downer |
Flyana Boss is a duo rap group. Their music took inspiration from various youthful cultural highlights. Their song integrating the book "The Giving Tree" and took their own spin of the "Ring Around the Rosie" nursery rhyme. They definitely were having fun.
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| Flyana Boss |
Laura Jean Anderson closed out the night with her country twang. There is just something to how she twists her lips while she sings. And her vocals had me thinking Bonnie Raitt.
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| Laura Jean Anderson |
WFNM last Wednesday night (Sep 2) was just splendid.
It started off with NOA from Toronto. She used to be based in Los Angeles, but due to COVID-19, she moved back home to Toronto. I was blown away by her vocals. Her voice just floated where ever she wanted to take it. Just soulful. Due to my work from home situation, I had to drop off after the first song to take a meeting, but caught the rest afterwards. I seriously suggest catching that set.
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| NOA |
After my meeting, I got back onto WFNM to catch Kelsey Karter. She had some cool special effects going on: star sparklers flashing from her teeth and eyes, emojis taking flight from her eyes.
One can tell that she has a very crazy extroverted personality. And who cares about being part of polite company. She brought a party attitude that fits in with a Sunset Strip vibe. She'd fit right in with The Runaways. Yet, she couldn't help but do a cover of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling In Love."
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| Kelsey Karter |
Lindsey Lomis just brightened up the Instagram Live screen. Her jazz vocals had that light beat touch that at times floated like Anita Baker. Meanwhile she plucked those guitar strings with skill. She mentioned that she was imagining the applause. I'm sure plenty were applauding. She is based out in Nashville. What a talent. I hope she comes out to Hotel Cafe soon.
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| Lindsey Lomis |
Malia Civetz closed out the night. She brought some Whitney Houston music influence. Just a perfect R&B sound that would have fit on Houston's second album. Her pianist added some classical inspired background music.
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| Malia Civetz |
The Satellite was putting on their "6 songs at 6 p.m. for 6 nights" series on their Livestream, curated by The 6*6*60s.
Cathy from The Great Sadness opened the series up on Monday. She brought her desert rock and a guitar that dated back all the way to 1905 (I believe that is what I heard).
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| The Great Sadness |
Electric Children was up on Tuesday. The three strong band made an entrance. The online stream started with an empty stage and the members made an entrance. I loved it. They played some haunting sounding rock music.
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| Electric Children |
Taleen Kali on Wednesday was dressed in all black and with black sunglasses. She was looking super cool during a hot late August afternoon.
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| Taleen Kali |
Thursday had half of Jagged Baptist Club playing an energetic vocal driven rock set.
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| Jagged Baptist Club |
Polartropica on Friday provided an end of the work week pool party.
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| Polartropica |
Closing out the series was two members from the bands Qui and Cunts. They did a set of cover songs.
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| Qui and Cunts |
A Wednesday night meant WFNM night. I had some various things I needed to do so showed up online well into the night. I was able to catch Luna Aura and Holy Wars.
Luna Aura played the set in a bedroom with a friend on guitar. They actually had some social distancing going on there with him playing at the headboard and she was sitting on the edge. She was particularly excited by the fact that she was raising money for Music Cares. She realized early on that she hadn't put up the link to donate and so shut down the livestream and then restarted it so that she could put the link.
Her music had a pulsating sound to it. The guitar's beat drove the music forward while her vocals emphasized every beat. She had fun playing to the online audience, sticking out her tongue at times and using her arms and hands to full effect.
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| Luna Aura |
Then came Holy Wars. Three of the usual four band members took part in the set. If anyone has watched any Holy Wars sets online, you know upfront that this set would rock. The band goes all out for these online sets. For this one, it appeared like they were playing in a music studio. They had the stage and floor lights flashing. They had the amps set up. The sweat was flying. And the audience got to punk-rock out for 30 minutes.
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| Holy Wars |
