Online Quarantine Sets: Version 99

What drew me to School Night on Wednesday was Alicia Blue. I've gotten to catch her live in the past and always enjoyed her sets. For this online set, her music hit some country notes with a high level of confidence. Then she smoothly transitioned to Lisa Loeb influenced vocals. In the middle of her set, she sang the song "Queen of Echo Park," a tribute to Lauren Ruth Ward. As for the stage, there were lamps placed in strategic locations. It gave the set a country feel. 

Alica Blue

Monjola came on next from Ireland. He played out in the living room of his house. His band played the set sitting on two sofas. He sang the set sitting on the shoulder of one of the sofas or occasionally standing next to the sofa. In front of him was a coffee and corner table. The two tables had 2 computers, wires, synths and speakers atop. Yes, a bit of musical messiness. His music mixed in rap and soul with tweaks to his musical progressions. For one of his songs, it looked like he sped up the video to 1.5x. 

Monjola

Sofia Valdes came up next from Panama. She did just a single song called "Silhouette." Though it was just one song, I didn't feel cheated as I was able to catch a longer set a few months back on School Night. She did her song just with a guitar and her vocals. Her vocals just blew the online audience away. She mentioned that her mom was cooking in the kitchen. A touch of home live. 

Sofia Valdes

Closing it out was Emily Vu. She played her set in the back yard of a recording studio. She wore an Oklahoma City jersey. Ouch to all Lakers fans. She did a full set with lyrics that got shot out in the smoothest style. 

Emily Vu

Echo Park Rising 2020: Online Edition Part 2

I ended Part 1 of my Echo Park Rising review with Veneer  After their set I took a short break and then returned to Portia Street Studios Youtube page to see Spare Parts for Broken Hearts. Their set just blew me out of my apartment. Did I need to wear ear plugs!

Spare Parts for Broken Hearts

From there, I jumped over to Bands in the Barbershop via Twitch. I caught the last song of Jagged Baptist Club. Then Chase Petra came on. All members of the band wore masks. I liked that fact. What I noticed was how the bassist and guitarist bounced their feet to the beat in the same directions. Their duo vocals perfectly built on top of each other. 

Jagged Baptist Club

Chase Petra

ModPods' lead singer wore a hockey type mask. The drummer started the set off the stage, watching her band members. "My headache is like a bullet." The band is like a lounge singer deciding to go punk. The band goes without a guitarist and the drummer / bassist switched off. The lead singer asked, "Are other bands better at banter?"

ModPods

Broken Baby's lead singer wore a t-shirt that said, "We are RBG." Her energy just takes her body in every direction. The microphone stand traveled along with her sometimes ending up on the stage and other times ending up on the floor and sometime held high like an exclamation point. It got a workout. "This is the first time we've practiced since April . . . no, February." Pretty good practice session.

Broken Baby

Back over to the main Echo Park Rising site, Alica Blue played "Queen of Echo Park," a song dedicated to Lauren Ruth Ward. And Lauren Ruth Ward joined in for part of the song. Leila Sunier shared the stage with Alica Blue. They did a two person round. Leila Sunier had the wind blowing through her hair throughout the set. I learned that Alicia Blue wanted to be a poet and that she wakes up at 6 a.m. What was interesting about the set was watching the shift from late afternoon to night fall. They finished the round singing Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide.

Alicia Blue, Leila Sunier, Lauren Ruth Ward

Clit Kat hit the Bands in the Barbershop Twitch page. Their set started off with a brief John Williams introduction and then their Blade Runner inspired android punk music took over. They scream with a metal growl. I noticed that the band members (other than the lead singer) all wore midriff t-shirts and gym shorts. The Twitch comments section was all about mosh pits. The floor lights of the Barbershop were flashing. And the lead singer had her notes on the floor, which might be a reason why she spent moments throughout the set looking down at the floor.

Clit Kat

A jump back over to the main site had Skullcrusher up. I first saw this musician during this quarantine. I got to catch her a second time during this quarantine. She has a soft approach to her music that is filled with emotion. She played her set on the edge of her bed. Winter made what I think was a surprised appearance as I don't believe it was on the schedule. She did a one song set. 

Skullcrusher

Winter

Ramonda Hammer also played a one song set with each member of the band playing from different locations. Their song was their recent release "Big Hands." The video was done in B&W.

Ramonda Hammer

Slaughterhouse took over at Bands in the Barbershop. The lead singer was dressed in a leopard dress suit. And to end the songs, she'd often shake her head and make a kick with her right foot. The vocals at one moment are screaming and the next they're like a giant taking its time to crush you as you run as fast as you can away from it (of course, with those long legs, a leisurely stroll by a giant means they're rapidly closing the gap no matter how fast you run). A couple members of the band couldn't help but crack smiles throughout the set. In the comments section it felt like it was a live show. Instead of emojis people were typing out comments like, "Didn't put on deodorant so I can smell like I'm there."

Slaughterhouse

For me, I closed out my time at Echo Park Rising by heading back over to Portia Street Studios to catch Naia Izumi who was a blissful way to end the night. A guitar aficionado providing jazz vocals. But wait, was that some recorded growling during one song? 

Naia Izumi

Quarantine Online Sets: Version 7

I saw a full set by tiLLie for the first time in 2018 at Broke LA and immediately fell in love with her pop driven music. A couple years went by and I was invited to the Geometro Party where I got to catch a two song set. When I noticed that she was part of BIIANCO's curated Uncancelled Fest, I was on board. Sure, it wasn't the same as seeing her live, but it was still an amazing experience. She spent her time siting in front of the camera inside her garage, either singing karaoke to tracks or using a synth-type guitar. The set went from talkative to depressing to party town. She took us through all levels of emotions. And she gave an over-time performance, adding 15 minutes to her set for a 45-minute set. Just brilliant.

tiLLie

Buzzbands has been doing a series of QUARANTUNES. Up recently were Will Fox, Alicia Blue, and Mini Trees. Will Fox, like tiLLie, gave an extensive set at 45 minutes. As his 30 minute set was coming to a close, he kept saying, "Let's play one more." Though there was no interaction between those watching and the musician other than messages on Instagram Stories, it felt all so close none the less.

Will Fox

Alicia Blue and Mini Trees played 4 p.m. sets on Thursday (4/16) and Friday (4/17). I'm currently working at home so I tuned in while working on the computer. The folk sounds of Alicia Blue and the acoustic moods of Mini Trees made for a perfect background music while closing out the workday. What was really cool was seeing my Show Alert for Alicia Blue go a touch viral on Instagram Stories. I saw that it got picked up by Alicia Blue, The Hi Hat and Buzzbands. Maybe others picked it up, also.

Alicia Blue

Mini Trees

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Alicia Blue

Alicia Blue at El Cid

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I’d say my sound is reminiscent of the golden era of folk stylings mixed with modern melodies and lyrics.

Is there a process that you go through to come up with your song titles? Sometimes a song title starts the entire writing process, like “Bob Dylan Architect No. 01,” like a prompt, and other times it comes after it’s been written once I hear the chorus

Own final thought: something other than music is that I’m pretty obsessed with astrology and now just getting into gardening

The Hi Hat: Purple Bite night

Purple Bite highlighted some of their current and former clients this past Friday night. The night was filled with variety of sounds and the crowd was filled with familiar faces.

Alicia Blue started the night off with some singer-songwriter sounds. I just recently saw Alicia Blue at a Wild Riot event at El Cid. I didn't even know she was playing The Hi Hat on this particular night and when I saw her coming on stage, I was thrilled. There is something magically about her vocals. And she had the comment of the night, "I've always been an old soul. Interestingly, all my recent boyfriends have been younger than me."

Alicia Blue

Dyllan has a pop sensibility. I happened to cross paths with Mikel of Purple Bite in late April and asked him about his new clients. He mentioned Dyllan. So yeah, I won't lie, Dyllan was one of the main reasons I showed up at The Hi Hat for this event. You can tell she has a passion for music and I can't wait to hear her throughout the years.

Dyllan

Molly Moore is someone I saw last year at Chinatown Summer Nights when she was singing in a band called Cosmos and Creature. Her set on this night brought the dance tunes to The Hi Hat. And I noticed that her guitarist brought her own fans with her. Just before their set was about to begin, a couple friends came over to the stage and gave her some waves and love.

Molly Moore

Magic Bronson turned up the funk volume. Or is it funk? I find it hard to describe their music. It is a sound that makes you want to Pogo dance. It is a sound that makes you want to form a mosh pit. Though no one formed a mosh pit, you could see folks in the audience having big smiles and going just a bit wild in their dance moves.

Magic Bronson

Georgi Kay is someone I've seen on various bills throughout Los Angeles for a while now. I've also seen her hanging out at various venues. I've just never gotten a chance to catch a set. Well, on this night, I got to do so. She's a one person show with her electric drum, computer and vocals. It was one enjoyable set.

Georgi Kay

Closing out the night was the Yip Yops. The Yip Yops have gone from a four piece to a two piece as two members of the band decided to head off to college. Yep, this band is still very young. I believe when I first came across the band, at least one of them was still 16. On this particular night, the floor lights flashed bright and the music was electric with slamming drums and guitar riffs. We'll have to see if they stick with the two piece or eventually add in new members.

Yip Yops