I took a Friday to Friday vacation recently and decided to head out a number of nights to catch some live music. I was tempted to go out every night, but ended up deciding against that.
Friday
Friday was spent heading off to The Love Song Bar to catch a favorite for the first time in 2021: Gracie Gray. I knew it was going to be dark inside the venue so I pulled out my 85MM F/1.2 lens. It is a very slow lens when it comes to focusing, but luckily Gracie Gray is a singer-songwriter. Towards the end of her set, she sand "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I am blown away every time I hear her sing that song. The audience was blown away, as well. Backing her up was Lexi of Mini Trees on bass -- her regular bassist was off playing in Pomona with Livingmore.
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| Gracie Gray |
Opening up was Mercutio. Since their Instagram reads: Bay Area Synth Guy, I'll assume they came down from San Francisco. Rather soothing music if I can say so.
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| Mercutio |
Tuesday
Tuesday was spent at Little Joy and the music switched to punk - rock sounds. Moonfuzz just throws out the fuzz. And they're just exciting to watch with the constant face offs between the bassist and guitarist as they amp up the music.
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| Moonfuzz |
Mr. Max brought the rock. Ladyhump brought the old-school punk. The Richard Ramirez Beatdown had those in the audience talking about the band name.
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| Mr. Max |
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| Ladyhump |
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| The Richard Ramirez Beatdown |
Wednesday
I went off to The Silverlake Lounge to catch my second dose of The Gooms' October Residency. One thing I've noticed is they've changed things in terms of their stage show. It used to be Chase Buttons (lead singer) who used to do the jumping on stage. They've now allocated that fun duty to Nicole Rae (guitarist).
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| The Gooms |
To be honest, the main reason I went to this particular night (I had previous gone to see The Gooms' a couple weeks previously), was to catch Young Winona. This was my first time catching this New Zealand band live and in person. I previously caught their set online.
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| Young Winona |
Also playing was New Media with their 80s / 90s rock sounds.
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| New Media |
Thursday
This night was spent driving off to Bar Lubitsch to catch what WFNM had on the docket. I was already familiar with three of the artists: Heyboy, Mia Nicolai, and Hayley Warner. I love Heyboy's enthusiasm on stage as well as the earnest nature of his music such as the song "Wasn't it Fun?" Mia Nicolai is in Los Angeles from The Netherlands. I hope she sticks around. I love her enthusiastic personality. It is infectious. Like Young Winona, my introduction to Hayley Warner was from watching an online set. She was definitely the primary attraction of the night for those who dropped by the venue. I can totally understand. Estef opened up the night for me with a soulful performance.
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| Heyboy |
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| Mia Nicolai |
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| Hayley Warner |
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| Estef |
Friday
I got an invite by French Mouth to head out to Permanent Records Roadhouse. Enjoyed the set, but am mad at my photography skills. There was a moment where the lead singer got up on a counter and I just knew he was going to jump off at some point. So I got my composition all set up, but . . . forgot to up my shutter. Shoot.
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| French Mouth |
Urns & Argyles and Hurt Hawks opened it up. Hurt Hawks sound is aggressive punk. Urns & Argyles had a goth rock sound that fit in perfectly with the Halloween theme though the lead singer apologized for not dressing up in a costume.
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| Urns & Argyles |
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| Hurt Hawks |
I decided to do a random run to Highland Park Bowl. The band name Friends Don't Die caught my attention. They were supposed to go on at 10 p.m. and so I targeted to get their at around 9:45 p.m. Luckily, I planned to get there early, because they must have gone on at 9:30 p.m. Shoot. I'm telling you, that vocalist has some pure sounds. Just loved it.
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| Friends Don't Die |
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