NFV Song Spotlight: North by North's Bad Vibes

The Chicago band North by North rolled into Atwater Village as part of their 11 week tour. Club Tee Gee was waiting for the duo even if it was a Monday night, "Thanks for hanging out with us on a Monday. That's special." The duo includes Nate Girard on vocals and guitar and Kendra Blank on drums. Girard introduced the band by saying, "We're going to play some songs and we're going to sweat." Their sweating wasn't going to result in dehydration for this band. Each had a 1 gallon bottle of water within reach.

North by North at Club Tee Gee

NFV Song Spotlight: Sister Gemini's Elvira

Note: The Goldfish re-opened a few weeks back. I also recently did a Max Look review of his The Goldfish night. It took a little bit of time for this one to get posted, which was my first 2025 visit to the venue.

It was off to The Goldfish for the first time since February 2024. Prior to venues shutting down in 2020, The Hi Hat occupied the location and I spent a significant amount of timing hanging out there. During that 2020 timeframe, The Hi Hat officially shut down. It was with a sense of relief when another ownership group took over the location and kept it as a music venue. You can read this Buzzbands article about The Goldfish opening up in the back half of 2021 here. Nearly a year passed since I last stepped foot inside the venue, primarily due to the fact that they stopped booking bands. The venue is up and running once again and I do hope the Los Angeles music scene shows the venue some love. 

The Goldfish

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Apr 27th - May 3rd

A Handful (Bucket Full) of Show Alerts

Sunday, Apr 27th: Pu$$y Cow and The Letter Openers at Uncle Ollie's Penthouse. Set times at 10 p.m.
Read my song spotlight article for Pu$$y Cow's "Taco-Chariot" here. Read my song spotlight article for The Letter Openers' "Camerford, Where Ya Been" here.

Sunday, Apr 27th: Maybellene Ryder at Club Tee Gee. Doors at 8 p.m.

I happened to catch Ryder playing violin for a band called Oh, Rose at the Shrine. I wrote a review of that night on US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Sunday, Apr 27th: Rachel Goodrich and Tino Drima at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.

I covered Rachel Goodrich for Buzzbands during Echo Park Rising 2018. You can see my photo here. Ready my song spotlight for Tino Drima's "Life on the Patio" here.

Monday, Apr 28th: Mineral King at Genghis Cohen. Doors at 7 p.m.

Read my song spotlight for "Threadbare" here.

Wednesday, Apr 30th: Savannah Sgro at Hotel Cafe. Set time at 7 p.m.

I've been following her for a few years now.

Wednesday, Apr 30th: Self Improvement at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

I covered the band at 2024 Happy Sundays Long Beach for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Thursday, May 1st: Child Seat at The Goldfish. Set time at 8 p.m.

I covered the band in 2024 for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Thursday, May 1st: Ferry Townes at Bar Lubitsch. Doors at 7 p.m.

Just recently caught her at Hotel Ziggy. Awesome set. 

Thursday, May 1st: Jett Kwong at Scribble. Doors at 8 p.m.

I covered her in 2022 for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Friday, May 2nd: Cosmic Kitten at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.

I've been following the band for a few years now.

Saturday, May 3rd: Mike Watt at Zebulon. Doors at 7 p.m.

I covered the him at 2024 Happy Sundays Long Beach for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Saturday, May 3rd: The Mormons at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.

I always have fond memories of seeing this band playing outside music festivals as fans were heading home.

NFV Song Spotlight (and The Goldfish reopens): Annie Jets' Avalanche

Note: The Goldfish re-opened a few weeks back. I also recently did a Max Look review of his The Goldfish night. It took a little bit of time for this one to get posted, which was my first 2025 visit to the venue.

It was a hot minute since I last walked into The Goldfish. In early 2024, Rosie Tucker had a residency and I was able to make it to one night of the residency. That was it, I do believe for my 2024 visits. I would always visit their Instagram page and website to see what was going on and never noticed anything. I believe it was in December that I finally saw some hope that they would return to live music. There was mention that they'd finally gotten their liquor license. A few weeks later, they were scheduling events.

The Goldfish

NFV Song Spotlight: Mineral King's Threadbare

Hotel Ziggy was packed throughout the night for a recent WFNM night. This isn't always the case. Sometimes for a particular singer, friends show up in mass and then quickly disappear into the night. There was potentially a rotation of fans throughout this particular night, but it just meant that every act was a draw. The size of the crowd might have surprised the opener, Maxie Mandel, or she was just being modest. During the set she made a couple deferential comments. "You all must be here for Mineral King." "You all must be here for Menea." 

Mineral King at Hotel Ziggy

NFV Song Spotlight: Moonfuzz's Hell Week.

Moonfuzz was shredding it throughout their entire set at Permanent Records Roadhouse. The trio includes Heaven Martinez on bass and vocals, Miranda Viramontes on guitar, and Brandi Estrada on drums. They were dressed in black, which helped emphasize their doom rock credentials. The set started off with the aggressive "Golden Girl." Martinez and Viramontes almost immediately went into a faceoff, pushing each other to perform at their very best. 

Moonfuzz at Permanent Records Roadhouse

NFV Song Spotlight: Giselle's Skeletons

Giselle hit the stage at a WFNM night at Hotel Ziggy with the brightest personality. The persona immediately put a smile on the faces of those in the crowd (at least on mine). She opened up the set with the R&B driven song "Convenience" that had her vocals playing with the music octaves. For "Vegas," she made sure that people knew that song was not something she experienced, "It's not about me. It's funny, because people are always like, 'Damn, you are so spiteful.' No, this song is actually about a completely third party. I just heard a story of a story story." It is about a spouse who goes out and returns with the smell of another person's perfume. After finishing the song, she gave a coda of, "So if someone cheats on you in Vegas, tell them to go back and stay there."

Giselle at Hotel Ziggy

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Apr 20th - Apr 26th

A Handful (Bucket Full) of Show Alerts

Sunday, Apr 20th: Pussy Riot at the Lodge Room. Doors at 7 p.m.

I covered Nadya Tolokonnikova for US Rocker Music a couple months back. You can read that article here.

Sunday, Apr 20th: Restavrant at Alex's Bar. Doors at 2 p.m.

It has been a hot minute since I last crossed paths with the band.

Sunday, Apr 20th: Sisters of Black Mountain at Gold-Diggers. Doors at 7 p.m.

I've been following various members of the band for a few years now.

Sunday, Apr 20th: Spirit Mother at the Moroccan Lounge. Doors at 6:30 p.m.

It has been a hot minute since I last crossed paths with the band.

Tuesday, Apr 22nd: AZRA at The Whisky a Go Go. Doors at 6 p.m.

You can read my NFV Song Spotlight "If it wasn't for you" here.

Tuesday, Apr 22nd: Bruvvy at Good Times at Davey Wayne's. Doors at 10 p.m.

You can read my NFV Song Spotlight "Concealer" here.

Tuesday, Apr 22nd: The Blushes at The Redwood Bar. Doors at 8 p.m.

One of my favorite bands. The band played Echo Park Rising in 2024. You can read my review of the festival for US Rocker here.

Tuesday, Apr 22nd: Kat French at Hotel Ziggy. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my NFV Song Spotlight "Casket" here.

Wednesday, Apr 23: Rah Rah Rabbit at Harvard & Stone. Doors at 10:30 p.m.

I covered Rah Rah Rabbit at the 2024 Americana West Fest for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Thursday, Apr 24th: Beeson at The Roxy. Doors at 8 p.m.

You can read my NFV Song Spotlight "everyboy's baby" here.

Thursday, Apr 24th: Mikayla McLean at Harvard & Stone. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my NFV Song Spotlight "Run!" here.

Thursday, April 24th: Taleen Kali and Izzy Outerspace at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

You can read my Buzzbands review of a prior Taleen Kali set here. You can read my recent review of an Izzy Outerspace set here.

Saturday, Apr 26th: Bushfire and Gottlieb at The Redwood Bar. Doors at 8 p.m.

I covered Bushfire for Buzzbands when they played Happy Sundays Long Beach 2023. You can read about it here. Gottlieb was one of my favorite "new to me, but maybe not to you" bands of 2024.

Saturday, Apr 26th: Chase Petra at The Roxy. Doors at 7 p.m.

I covered the band at Happy Sundays Long Beach 2022 for Buzzbands, which you can read here.

Saturday, Apr 26th: Jagged Baptist Club at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

I covered the band at Happy Sundays Long Beach 2024 for US Rocker, which you can read here.

Review: Max Look "Always" dreaming at The Goldfish

I first came across Max Look and the Tomorrow Band in July 2021. As one might recall, venues were just starting to reopen around that time. It wasn't the first time I ventured back out into the world of the Los Angeles music scene. My first official venture back out was catching Starcrawler doing an acoustic set at Stories Books and Cafe. I do believe it was my fifth time out when I caught up with the band and it actually wasn't at a venue. It was at a house party in Highland Park, hosted by Broom Closet Records. It was a solid lineup. Cheekface and Suzie True were the headliners. I next came across Max Look at the 2023 Echo Park Rising Festival (it was admittedly a brief encounter as I take a run and gun approach at Echo Park Rising as I cover the festival for various blog sites and try to catch as many bands and singers as possible). Once again, it was at the outdoor stage of The Semi-Tropic. 

Max Look at The Goldfish

Total Pleasure and Friends mix it up at Zebulon

I will occasionally make references in these blog posts to a past DIY scene called Kiss or Kill. That's the scene that got me hooked on Los Angeles bands. One part of that scene that always fascinated me was how bands helped other bands. I distinctly remember a night where the guitarist for the band The Randies broke a guitar string. Immediately, someone from the band Underwater City People came to the rescue, took the guitar, and started to replace the broken string. For someone outside of the Kiss or Kill scene (which would probably be most of the readers of this post) who comes across this review, you've probably never heard of the bands The Randies and Underwater City People. Hey, that's perfectly fine. Why would you have? I think the important point is that each generation of Los Angeles bands often form friendships and that it the emphasis of this post. 

Total Pleasure

NFV Song Spotlight: Lael Neale's Down On The Freeway

Zebulon and Secret Fires hooked up the Los Angeles music scene with two awesome nights of free music. First up on Tuesday was Gustaf (you can read my review here). Then on Thursday, they hosted Lael Neale's record release party for Altogether Stranger that will be officially released on May 2nd, but those in attendance were able to buy the vinyl copy early. Let's say that again, both nights were free.

Lael Neale at Zebulon

Review: Gustaf amps up their fan base at Zebulon

Gustaf played a packed out Secret Fires night at Zebulon for a show celebrating the life of the Father of Loud Jim Marshall. He founded Marshall Amplification and the company was at Zebulon in a massive display of music power, bringing 6 stacks of amplifiers that were lined up at the back of the stage. If the stage was larger, their might have been 7 stacks as there were some additional amps off in the stage stairwell. Were those amps used during the set? Unfortunately not as I suspect that would be too much power for Zebulon's electrical systems to handle and perhaps the ears of the band and audience. 

Gustaf at Zebulon

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Apr 13th - Apr 19th

A Handful of Show Alerts

Monday, Apr 14th: Letting Up Despite Great Faults at The Echo. Doors at 7 p.m.

Been loving this band since 2013.

Tuesday, Apr 15th: Bruvvy at Good Times at Davey Wayne's. Doors at 10 p.m.

Wrote a Song Spotlight for their song "Concealer" that you can read here.

Friday, Apr 18th: Matt Axton at the Bigfoot Lodge. Doors at 8 p.m.

Wrote a Song Spotlight for his song "Golden Times" that you can read here.

Saturday, Apr 19th: Sasami at the Lodge Room. Doors at 7:30 p.m.

I covered Sasami for Buzzbands in 2019, which you can read here.

NFV Song Spotlight: Sally Spitz's Lovebuzz

I've followed Sally Spitz since 2016. At the time, she fronted the punk band French Vanilla. That date in 2016 was a residency night at The Echo. I obviously don't recall all the details from that night, but I do remember it well. Drinking Flowers was the residency band. Bassist Jade Christensen had a jar / cup / box (I don't exactly remember) that was filled with glitter. She started to sprinkle the audience with the glitter. I was taking photos at the end of stage left. When she got to me, she just dumped what was left of the glitter right on top of me. I was finding glitter years later on my camera and camera lenses. I am still using that same camera bag from that night and I suspect that if I went looking through it with a magnifying glass, I'd find some glitter in there somewhere. Mercy, maybe there's still some in my hair or inner ear, who knows, it was a lot of glitter that got dumped on me. Also playing that night was HOTT MT, a band that I really do need to see again. I've followed that band since 2014. 

Sally Spitz at Hotel Ziggy

NFV Song Spotlight: Capri's Spiders

Capri has a youthful enthusiasm that served her well at Hotel Ziggy during her WFNM set. The singer has an interesting background. Prior to writing on this blog about singers and bands that I've never seen before, I'll do a little Internet search on them to provide me with some writing material. Results popped up without much effort. 

Capri at Hotel Ziggy

NFV Song Spotlight: Menea's Ponder

 

Menea, the shortened moniker for Menea Kefalov, provided the WFNM crowd at Hotel Ziggy with an enchanting performance. It was in support of her March 5th EP release paint me green. She started off her set with "that familiar place." There was just something about her vocals that immediately caught my attention. She wasn't trying to always sing in a smooth and melodic manner. She sang at times like she was tuning her guitar, just going slightly off-tune for just a moment before veering back. Was it an inability to keep a tune? No, it was done on purpose. Other times, she just let her vocals switch time signatures on a dime. It hit me shortly that there was a touch of Basia in those vocals. 

Menea at Hotel Ziggy

Review: Dirtydom & The Vibe energize the soul at Hotel Ziggy

Do I suddenly have a jazz fixation? Since restarting this blog in August of last year, I've written a few times about local jazz bands. This includes noworriesLMK at Zebulon and Wayne Redfern at Club Tee Gee.  

It was off to a WFNM night at Hotel Ziggy on a Tuesday night. Now I went to this specific night to catch a singer (non-jazz) that I've followed since 2016. I'm very happy I made that decision, because I also ended up seeing Dirtydom & The Vibe. 

Dirtydom & The Vibe at Hotel Ziggy

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Apr 6th - Apr 12th

A Handful of Show Alerts

Tuesday, Apr 8th: Bruvvy at Good Times at Davey Wayne's. Doors at 10 p.m.

Wrote a Song Spotlight for their song "Concealer" that you can read here.

Tuesday, Apr 8th: Gustaf at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.

Shot the band back in 2019 for Buzzbands. You can read my review here.

Tuesday, Apr 8th: Mo Dotti and My Veronica at Gold-Diggers. Doors at 7 p.m.

I covered Mo Dotti's 2024 set for US Rocker Music. You can read that here. I listed My Veronica as one of my favorite new bands of 2024. You can read that post here.

Wednesday, Apr 9th: Ryan Hahn & The Believers at Harvard & Stone. Set time at 11 p.m.

One of the first bands I saw when venues re-opened. You can read about my night here.

Thursday, Apr 10th: Lael Neale at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.
An album release show.

Thursday, Apr 10th: Smooth Jas at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.

Covered a 2022 Happy Sundays Long Beach set for Buzzbands. You can read my review here.

Thursday, Apr 10th: The Spyrals at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

Wrote a review of their 2024 album release show that you can read here.

Friday, Apr 11th: Essenger at The Echoplex. Doors at 7 p.m.

Wrote a Song Spotlight for his song "After Dark" that you can read here.

Friday, Apr 11th: Primitive Ring at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

They opened up for The Spyrals' 2024 album release show discussed above.

Saturday, Apr 12th: Paper Citizen at The Escondite. Doors at 5:00 p.m.

Covered Paper Citizen in 2022 for Buzzbands. You can read my review here.

NFV Song Spotlight: Alice Sandahl's Walk It Off

I first came across Alice Sandahl at the Sage Brews stage at Echo Park Rising last year. I only caught a song or two. For those who don't know, I rush around Echo Park Rising like a wild man, shooting as many bands and artists as possible. I don't particularly remember a whole lot about her singing, but I do remember one thing specifically. There were three children hanging out next to the outdoor stage. Prior to her set, they had their hands and ears pressed against the stage monitors, feeling the vibrations of the DJ music. I almost went over to them and told them that putting their ears next to the monitors would damage their hearing, but then I didn't want to be the old person who basically was lecturing kids when their parents were only a few feet away. 

Alice Sandahl at Permanent Records Roadhouse

NFV Song Spotlight: The Morning Yells' These Days

BIG NOTE: The band announced a farewell show for April 5th at the Cinema Bar. See additional details here.

Phil Stancil of The Morning Yells recently played a set at Harvard & Stone. Though he was playing a solo set, he was still playing songs from The Morning Yells catalog. The set started off with "Hummingbird." That song hasn't been officially released, but there is a Youtube video that you can view here that was filmed in Mount Washington last year. It is a song not about a living hummingbird, but a Gibson Hummingbird guitar. It caught my attention at the Americana West Fest that I covered for US Rocker Music that you can read about here. "Oh sweet Hummingbird where are you now . . . once I held you safe in my arms . . . searched every pawn shop . . . Oh sweet Hummingbird, wherever you go, you know . . . your songs will stay with me forever and never grow old."

Phil Stancil of The Morning Yells at Harvard & Stone

NFV Song Spotlight: Meels' Falcon and the Loon

Take a teaspoon of Arrow De Wilde and give it an Americana twist and Meels emerges. Meels is the moniker for Amelia Einhorn who recently played a WFNM night at Bar Lubitsch. Einhorn is from Mill Valley and a recent graduate from NYU. Based on the Bar Lubitsch performance, I'd say that the Los Angeles Americana-country music scene is lucky that she decided to unpack her bags in the city and nto Nashville. 

Meels at Bar Lubitsch