Echo Park Rising 2020: Online Edition Part 1

As August approached, I just figured that Echo Park Rising would be cancelled for 2020 due to COVID-19. Then I noticed an Instagram post that hinted the event would be held online. A couple weeks passed and I didn't hear much else so figured plans had fallen apart. I was wrong, because the online event was held on Saturday, September 26th.

For me, Echo Park Rising started on the 20th when I got an invitation to head down to American Barbershop to shoot the band FARTBARF. While there, everyone was social distancing. There were 3 cameras doing video. Two were being handled by humans while the third was in front of the stage and was just mechanically moving horizontal to the stage. The sound person was actually off in a separate room of the barbershop. There were 3 photographers (me being one) in the back about 15 yards from the stage on the left side. And then there were a couple other people off on the right side. Everyone except for the band wore masks. It was all done with solid social distancing. Even without an audience, the band dived head long into their relentless synthesizer sound with enthusiasm. 

FARTBARF

Flashforward a week, and Echo Park Rising went live with a multitude of pre-recorded sets. The festival started off with Masa of Echo Park doing an introduction video. With some background music, one of the pizza makers cut mushrooms and opened/closed oven doors to provide the beat. With that, it switched over to Kevin Bronson of Buzzbands walking around Echo Park doing some jaywalking and being angry that The Echo was shut down due to COVID-19. With that added introduction to the festival, Kevin did a brief interview with COSMO GOLD. The band then had their music video play their dance sounds. The video had some interplay with a futuristic Garden of Eden with UFOs travelling across the landscape. The dance songs including 2 backup singers one of which was Gracie Gray, a favorite singer of mine. 

GOSMO GOLD

Masa of Echo Park

Leroy from the North came up next playing his Southern rock sounds from the patio of The Echo. It was really nice seeing that patio again. Just like my normal self while doing photography during a live Echo Park Rising, after catching a couple songs of his I jumped over to the Portia Street Studios Youtube page to catch Deep Waters. It was a jump from Southern rock to a grunge attack on the patriarchy. Portia Street Studios looked like they had 3 cameras going, perhaps 4. There was definitely one that was hanging from the ceiling or atop an elevated platform that provided a top-down view. And then cameras from the sides. Pretty cool setup. I couldn't help but wonder who put the music video together as well as all the videos that were shot at the studios. The band did a shout out to the city of Lancaster due to the support they got from an enthusiast audience one time. That's my hometown city. 

Deep Waters

Leroy from the North

From Portia Street Studios I jumped back over to the main page to catch Kid Row. Kid Row teaches children how to play musical instruments. There were a handful of one song sets by those who take classes there. One lead singer was definitely a Peanuts fan. A guitarist was making sure he hit his chords. And the final set was played like a Zoom meeting with three teachers helping out.

Kid Row

I jumped back over to Portia Street Studios to catch Nate Redmond and his songwriter type jams. He allowed the music to take center stage. One of the comments left on Youtube was "silky smooth." I agree with that comment. 

Nate Redmond

Jumping back over to the main site, The Gooms had their set in the middle of a tennis court. For one song, a couple friends popped in to sing a few notes. During their song "Judy Garland," tennis balls came flying across the screen.

The Gooms

REL provided some big vocals songstress tunes. I loved seeing the carefully written musical sheet music. I love movie watching and with theaters shut down, I've been watching a lot of movies on TCM. Of course, TCM shows movies from the 1930s and 1940s so listening to REL had me thinking about those movies where jazz bands play their tunes in large dining halls. 

REL

Trip Tides had a lava lamp atop of an electric organ. That provided the backdrop for their 70s grooves. Veneer  played their set from the same location as Trip Tides. During last year's festival, I caught them at Little Joy Cocktails. For this set, they went with a no vocals set. Just a great jam session, but I have to say I missed the standup bass. I hope they still plan to keep that in their live sets.

Veneer

Trip Tides

There was more to the festival than just the above, but those will be found in Part 2.