Sierra Levesque hit the WFNM stage at Hotel Ziggy with a firecracker personality. She hails from Canada, but now lives in Santa Monica. She introducing herself with, "I'm mostly rock music so I'm going turn it up just a little bit for you guys." Then she kicked off the set with "Don't Make Me Repeat Myself." It had me thinking Heart 1985.
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| Sierra Levesque at Hotel Ziggy |
Mac Hanson used to play under the moniker Joshua & The Holy Rollers. I caught a set back in 2018 at The Hi Hat (current location of The Goldfish). It was a high energy set. I later caught a portion of a set while running and gunning at the 2019 Echo Park Rising. Fast forward to June 2025 and I was looking for something to do on a Sunday night. I happened to notice that Swyndle was doing a free night at Gold-Diggers. First off, I realized that I hadn't gone to Gold-Diggers yet in 2025 and the year was basically half way over. (Once I got to the venue, someone that I run across every so often at various venues mentioned that she hadn't see me at Gold-Diggers in a very long time. Totally true.) Also, I noticed that Mac Hanson was doing a Single Release party. I'm always good for an album, EP, or single release party.
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| Mac Hanson at Gold-Diggers |
Okay, a good romance is always nice to see on the movie or television screen. It is a unique moment when you see it played out at a music venue that. That occurred at Hotel Ziggy during a WFNM night when significant others Blake Stokes and Liza (Aliza Kate Barlow) played back to back sets.
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| Blake Stokes at Hotel Ziggy |
I first came across Lucy & La Mer (the moniker for Lucy LaForge) in 2017 at Chinatown Summer Nights. I was immediately sold. And she must have been sold on my photography, because every so often I'd get asked if I wanted to shoot a show.
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| Lucy & La Mer at Hotel Ziggy |
I was introduced to Ned Casual via his band Zooluxx. Their PR person reached out in late January 2020 about covering their set at the Moroccan Lounge. If you wish to do so, you can read the article here. The article posted on February 21st. It is interesting thinking back to those times. Just a couple weeks later, venues would shut down and stay shut down for more than a year.
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| Ned Casual at Harvard & Stone |
I really do enjoy catching the opening band or singer when I head out on any particular night. One never knows if you'll catch a gem. Then there are those times when I walk into a venue (often because I've misjudged the start times) and the opening band is just about to end their set. That's what happened when I saw Gypsum for the first time at The Smell. I caught maybe half a song, but I knew I was going to love that band from that moment onwards. Now some of you who come across this are saying, who is Gypsum? Members of the band included Rosie Tucker and Sapphire Jewell (who tours with illuminati hotties).
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| BANDANNA at Hotel Ziggy |
Did a band from Cincinnati, Ohio steal the show at Permanent Records Roadhouse? Maybe I wouldn't go that far as they were book ended by Los Angeles bands Julez and the Rollerz and Jagged Baptist Club who have their fan bases. Yet, Artificial Go definitely got the crowd behind them and in rather quick fashion. How would I describe the band? I'll just steal the description from their Bandcamp page, "existential post-punk chamber pop."
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| Artificial Go at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
