Madame Munchie: Potty Mouth, Ramonda Hammer, SLUGS

With so many venues having closed down in Los Angeles and a couple other venues that have just started re-opening, DIY events are a way to catch your favorite bands as they get back into playing 30 minute sets before a live audience. That is how I got to catch Potty Mouth, Ramonda Hammer, and SLUGS. They played in what I gather is the outdoor patio of Madame Munchie's facilities.

Of the three, Potty Mouth is the band that I hadn't seen in the longest time frame. I swear when they started playing their song "Smash Hit," I just felt this swell of emotion hit me. To me, that is one of the great Los Angeles indie songs. The song has punk origins with melodies and rifts that just catch your attention. Seeing Ally hopping up and down while playing the bass . . . seeing Abby mosh pit it with the crowd . . .  seeing Victoria slamming the drum kit . . .  please, this band needs to break out big time.

Potty Mouth

Ramonda Hammer organized the early evening event. They were the most recent band I saw of the three. I happened to catch them in November 2019 when they were playing as part of the bill for Rosie Tucker's Bootleg residency. Rest in Peace, Bootleg Theater. Lead singer Devin's vocals just bring out the pain of the lyrics all while singing at the top her lungs. Even though the music is filled with pain, she mentioned that throughout the set she couldn't stop smiling. Yes, we all were smiling because we were seeing one awesome line-up of bands. They introduced a new song called "All for What." It was so new that there were written lyrics on the concrete. And I can't end this by saying that Andy Hengl is one of the most entertaining bassist to photograph.

Ramonda Hammer

Opening up the afternoon was SLUGS. Since I'm mentioning the last time I saw bands, I last saw SLUGS at the Moroccan Lounge when they were opening up for Illuminati Hotties. I shot that show for Buzzbands back in March 2019. The band was a last minute replacement. They played their set as a two piece. They were so last minute that lead singer Marissa Longstreet told the audience that Devin had called them up and asked if they were free for a Friday set and that she was happy to say that they were. Someone out in the audience just had to point out the obvious, "But it isn't Friday." No, it was Saturday. Is this bad to say, I love Marissa's facial expressions. It is like we're all on an inside joke.

SLUGS

Over-all, a gathering of friends that included members of bands such as Broken Baby, Gypsum, Illuminati Hotties, Iress, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, Suzie True, Taleen Kali and probably a few more that I am over-looking.