Heading Out in 2022: Harvard & Stone and Permanent Records Roadhouse

It ended up that heading out to VIVA! Pomona would be my last time I did concert photography in 2021. As the new wave of COVID-19 hit Los Angeles, many venues shut down for a couple weeks. The urge to do some band photography took hold and off I went to Harvard & Stone on January 3rd. I went to catch  Friends Don't Die, a band that I consider to be one of my favorite bands that I saw for the first time in 2021. I just love their melodic sounds. Opening up for them was a band called Funds for Jimmy. They rocked it out. The sound guy loved them so much that he requested that they play an encore.

Funds for Jimmy

Friends Don't Die

Then later that week on January 7th, I went off to Permanent Records Roadhouse to catch GospelbeacH. That led to one of those amusing moments for me. Billy Tibballs and Uni Boys played their 60s / 70s rock sounds. Then I stood around playing around on my smart phone waiting for GospelbeacH to hit the stage. The band wasn't setting up their gear. I decided to go check out some used records and then went back to see if they were about to hit the stage. Instead, I noticed that the drum set was being packed up. Oh, it hit me that GospelbeacH was the first band up that night and I'd missed them.

Billy Tibballs

Uni Boys

Vacation Week: Time To Go Out Multiple Nights

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

Mr. Max

Ladyhump

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).

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. 

Young Winona

Also playing was New Media with their 80s / 90s rock sounds.

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.

Heyboy

Mia Nicolai

Hayley Warner

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.

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.

Urns & Argyles

Hurt Hawks

Saturday

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.

Friends Don't Die