A couple weeks back I got to photograph Tommy Newport at The Bellwether. I was there covering Pond for US Rocker Music. You can read my article here. I got to capture a photo that I think is a rather cool shot of the singer.
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| Tommy Newport at The Bellwether |
The Natural Supernatural, fronted by Sean Fortier, closed out a Swyndle Monday night showcase at Harvard & Stone. I first came across the band in 2021 at a WFNM showcase night at Bar Lubitsch. I've got to say that was a good night of music as the line-up included Beck Pete, Carli Storms, and Young Rising Sons. I did a Q&A with the band at the time that is tucked way back in 2021 on my Instagram account. Here's a small snippet:
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| The Natural Supernatural at Harvard & Stone |
Emma Smalley stepped up to the microphone at Hotel Ziggy for a WFNM showcase with her acoustic guitar. It was her second time in Los Angeles. She's a native to South Carolina, currently living in Nashville. Is this one of the last times people in Los Angeles will be able to catch her in such an intimate setting?
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| Emma Smalley at Hotel Ziggy |
Trucker country stole the show at the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. Dylan Andrews was playing his third WFNM showcase night. If I understood correctly, this was the first of those three sets where the majority of the songs were his own. No matter if I heard correctly or not, I was caught up in his country charm from the start. He's putting together a catalog of songs that are just waiting to get released in a debut EP or album.
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| Dylan Andrews at Hotel Ziggy |
Walter the Producer (moniker for Reid Hosp) opened up a recent night at Zebulon. With vocals that hinted of Bob Dylan, he took command of the venue. Or maybe not. While up on stage suggesting that people should feel free to dance during his set (though he admitted that he himself did not dance when he went out), he heard some people off on the step seats talking, "Who's talking? What the hell. I thought I commanded request."
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| Walter the Producer at Zebulon |
October kicks off three months of holiday celebrations. And for those in the know, Explorsion (aka Daiana Feuer) and Stepping Stone Presents (aka Liz Garo) put on their annual Murder Ballads & Dark Songs event. Last year, the event occurred at 2220 Arts. This year, they shifted locations to Zebulon.
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| Sugarmill Slim at Zebulon |
To bring along the Halloween spirit, there were bowls of candy throughout the venue. Did I have some candy? Of course, I did. The Halloween theme did not stop there. As one entered, spooky sounds could be heard. The stage was decorated with skeletons, a severed arm, eye ball floor lights, and synthetic spider webs. Those spider webs did do their job as I saw them clinging to people throughout the night.
What were some of the highlights of a night that included 16 acts?
The scene-stealer belongs to Sugarmill Slim (Anders LaSource). "Have you seen my daughter?" LaSource said, rushing around the venue before getting back up on stage to sing PJ Harvey's "Down By The Water." It ended with fake blood being splattered across a white dress and a death scene. Add to it all: Easy Love on drums -- do I have to go back to Summer Twins days when I last saw her behind the drum kit? Maybe. "I bet you never saw that episode of SpongeBob SquarePants."
Main squeezes, Borrowed Lips and Swimming Bell, sang tales from two perspectives. It was Borrowed Lips first performance ever. Swimming Bell (Katie Schottland) mentioned that "Murder Ballads were the very first form of storytelling. That's how news got around. People would write songs and tell the story of the news."
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| Borrowed Lips and Swimming Bell at Zebulon |
Ravens Moreland took Bob Dylan's folk tune "Ballad of Hollis Brown" and turned it into a "nocturnal industrial death rock" cover. Does one dare say that Ravens Moreland's version is superior to Bob Dylan's. It can't be. It must have been the Halloween ghosts having too much influence.
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| Ravens Moreland at Zebulon |
Los Angeles punk royalty, Alice Bag, performed a song before a peak audience crowd. Backing her up were the Bloody Death Skull band members. You could tell it was a moment to remember for them. Alice Bag's right hand was telling the story. "I love Alice Bag, that's all I've got to say," was Taleen Kali's reaction.
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| Alice Bag at Zebulon |
Four favorites went back-to-back starting with Taleen Kali. I've seen her a number of times throughout the years. There was a moment where I was just stunned by her vocals. I was thinking, I don't believe I've ever heard her hit those high notes before. Anyways, the band has a Kickstarter going to raise funds for their sophomore album (link can be found on their Instagram page).
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| Taleen Kali at Zebulon |
Covers of the Williams country family were a favorite for Harry Katz and the Pistachios and Emily Rose. Harry Katz sang "Endless Sleep" by Hank Williams Jr. while Emily Rose sang "The Angel of Death" by Hank Williams.
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| Harry Katz and the Pistachios at Zebulon |
Between Harry Katz and Emily Rose was Bart Davenport with Emily Rose doing backing vocals.
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| Emily Rose and Bart Devonport at Zebulon |
I had seen over half of the 16 acts before, many multiple times. So who was new to me (in a way) and will need to catch in the future? Crowjane. She's a member of Egrets On Ergot (I don't know how active they are at the moment). Oh mercy, it was a blast from the past. That band made my list of favorite new finds of 2018.
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| Crowjane at Zebulon |
The night ended at "10 o'clock on the dot."
Sylvia Fae (aka Sylvia Fae Massey) set at Harvard & Stone (a Swyndle showcase night) was a stylish goth performance. She mentioned with a deserved sense of pride that she "produced all the tracks [of the set] in her bedroom." She is a multimedia artist. In 2024, she released a book titled I Could Be a Maggot's Feast which is a collection of "poetry, photography, and drawings from 2017-2023." The inspiration behind the book is the fact that she moved from North Carolina to Los Angeles in 2022. Not only was it a coastal move, but it was also her first time living outside of Carolina.
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| Sylvia Foe at Harvard & Stone |
Tele (moniker for Sophie Telegadis) brought her vibrant personality to Zebulon. Before starting her set, she jumped excitedly on stage, she was almost giggly. Yet, when the music started she went for a cool nonchalant attitude that worked perfectly for her desert-psychedelic rock. One could see influences of Jesse Jo Stark in both her music and performance style.
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| Tele at Zebulon |
Someday's passion came through during their set at Zebulon. The vocals screamed emotion and their music rocked the night. One could tell that the crowd was getting into their sound -- and not just their cover songs. For their soon to be released tune "Falling," the crowd could be heard yelling their approval as the band stretched those guitar strings to the limit. I conducted an interview with the band, which you can read pass the jump.
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| Someday at Zebulon |
I try to head out into the DIY Los Angeles music scene a specific number of times a week. On this particular week, I had a couple larger venue events (Bellwether / The Belasco) so there were only so many nights left on the calendar to head out to my various favorite venues (I just can't go to these larger venues, I have to also spend a night writing up articles). For my first DIY night of the week, I took off to Zebulon. Then I was like, I'm going to squeeze in one more night. Yep, that would equate to going out four times in a week.
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| Eva Rose at El Cid |
A couple weeks back, I got to shoot Pond at The Bellwether for US Rocker Music. It was my third time shooting the band. You can read my article here.
I figure I'll discuss one of the photos that I took during their set. I don't get to shoot at The Bellwether that often. In fact, this was my first time shooting the venue in 2026. The last time I shot the venue was when I shot the The Dandy Warhols back in Oct 2025. That night was actually a reason why I got this photo of lead singer Nicholas Allbrook. As I was roaming around the venue (after getting to spend the first three songs in the photo pit), it suddenly dawned on me that I had gotten some good photos of The Dandy Warhols from the right side of the stage. There is an ADA area where people can sit and enjoy the concert. It was just outside that area that I had gotten those photos. So off I went to that side of the stage.
SEÑOR JAGUAR opened up the night for a Swyndle showcase at Harvard & Stone. They're a Pomona based band that was coming to Hollywood. They spent time trying to get a sense of the crowd's reaction to their music. "Thumbs up or thumbs down?" "Anyone tired of us?" "We can just go back to work." Their onstage spunk won over the crowd, which demanded an encore. While the band packed it up, lead singer Javier Chairez-Vega entertained the crowd with a solo tune.
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| SEÑOR JAGUAR at Harvard & Stone |
It was an east side meets west side situation when Linus Hablot (aka Linus Hablot Lester-Hodges) took to the WFNM showcase night at the Sunset Strip's Hotel Ziggy. Just a couple weeks earlier, he played Echo Park Rising at Stories Books and Cafe. I do believe I overheard a conversation where he said he lives on the east side. At the end of the set, he mentioned that he is playing at The Fable on Oct 20th, which may very well be a Ryan Pollie showcase night.
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| Linus Hablot at Hotel Ziggy |
Scotland based singer-songwriter JP O'Grady recently dropped by The Airliner Bar. He was part of the School Night showcase (a collaboration between Make Out Music and KCRW). I will say he has a song out there called "Half Way Home" that has rather detailed lyrics about Los Angeles county so perhaps he hangs out across the pond extensively. Either way, he spent part of September playing venues in Los Angeles: Hotel Ziggy, Healing Force of the Universe, and The Airliner Bar. It was in fact his Hotel Ziggy set that had me checking out his set at The Airliner Bar. How so? The Hotel Ziggy set was a WFNM showcase night. I wasn't able to go to that night, but WFNM's Grant Owens suggested that I check out the School Night set.
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| JP O'Grady at The Airliner Bar |
Lyla George took a flight out from New Orleans to Los Angeles and ended up at The Airliner Bar. This was a School Night showcase event (collaboration between Make Out Music and KCRW). Interestingly enough, the previous time I attended a School Night event, New Orleans based singer Olivia Barnes was on the bill. I've got to give it up to the New Orleans music scene.
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| Lyla George at The Airliner Bar |
A Handful (Bucketful) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Oct 4th: Natalie Claro at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.I've been hooked on TCM for years now. I just always remember being a fan of Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, James (Jimmy) Steward, John Wayne, and many many more. Around a decade ago, I used to do some reviews of movies I saw on TCM. I figured I'd start it up again. If you're interested, click on through.
ALYSSAD (moniker for Alyssa de Boisblanc) took Hotel Ziggy (a WFNM showcase night) by storm. Per her bio, ALYSSAD is Boisblanc's alter-ego. She is "blending genres to create her unique musical style to showcase haunting vocals" and "grunge aesthetic." I knew I was going to be into her set from the start. Her first song was Jesse Jo Stark's "Fire of Love." I've been a long time fan of Jesse Jo Stark and you can read an article I wrote up for Buzzbands back in 2022. I was thinking, "Yes, more please."
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| ALYSSAD at Hotel Ziggy |
It was a flashback night at The Fable (an In Sonic Dreams showcase). JOE LIES was playing their first set in 20 years (you can read that write-up here) and opening up the night was Auditorium (moniker for Spencer Berger).
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| Auditorium at The Fable |
