Blank Tapes with Veronica Bianqui and Avid Dancer at The Echo

The brilliant thing about the Los Angeles Music Scene is that if you miss an artist/band one night, you're able to catch their next set within a month or so. I happened to miss Veronica Bianqui during Lauren Ruth Ward's residency as I was starting to feel ill and had to leave. And so I was eager to catch her during the Blank Tapes' residency. She played a shorted set out on The Echo patio.

Veronica Bianqui

Avid Dancer hit the stage inside The Echo. His drummer was on tour so he took his place behind the drums for this set. I also learned a piece of information that I didn't know prior: his wife used to front a band called Banta, a band I saw a couple times a few years back.

Avid Dancer

Blank Tapes closed out the night for me. I still couldn't help but think 70's psychedelic music. The lights via Stranger Liquids helped in the cause.

Blank Tapes

I loved how this night was about musicians backing each other up. Matt from Blank Tapes backed up Veronica Bianqui. Veronica Bianqui backed up Blank Tapes. Brandon from Dream Phases backed up Avid Dancer and Blank Tapes.

Gypsum and Sleuth Dogs at The Satellite

It was off to The Satellite to catch a favorite band, Gypsum. I swear that they took their music composition course work seriously. Their music is just so beautifully written. They need to get a residency so that folks can discover this band.

Gypsum

Sleuth Dogs followed up next with fuzzy sounds. Moment of the set: The drummer got the set list mixed up and started hitting the beat to the wrong song. The lead singer turned around and said, "Explain, dude." The drummer then did a quick smart phone check.

Sleuth Dogs

The Blank Tapes residency at the Echoplex

This was one country/psychedelic night at the Echoplex. Trans Van Santos opened the night with an Uber driver story. The Uber driver made a pass on him, asking if he wanted to hang out in an hotel room.

Trans Van Santos

Psychic Jiu-Jitsu had some radio signals blasting in the middle of their set. There was also an amusing comment, "Thanks to The Blank Tapes for having us and I'm not saying that because I'm in The Blank Tapes."

Psychic Jiu-Jitsu

The Blank Tapes had me thinking that their sound was like seeing a weird sequence from the comedy "I dream of Jaennie."

The Blank Tapes

Dream Phases ended the night for this psychedelic series of bands. Their sound sent the crowd out on a smooth high.

Dream Phases

Jesse Jo Stark and Jimmy Sweet at Harvard & Stone

It was off to Harvard and Stone to catch Jesse Jo Stark. Yet, I found myself so happy I was also able to catch Jimmy Sweet. He has some deep vocals that make you go wow.

Jimmy Sweet

Jesse Jo Stark came up next. Her fan base was out. And why not. She approaches music with an understated tone, but still so so compelling.

Jesse Jo Stark

Young Jesus with Follies at the Bootleg Theater

I headed off to the Bootleg Theater on February's last Wednesday night to catch Young Jesus. It was their final residency night. I had previously seen them before at The Hi Hat and really enjoyed their set. I was eager to catch them again. They didn't disappoint. They started their set with an avant-garde flair. Then their set shifted to moments of calm and moments of explosion. It was all very thrilling. 

Young Jesus

Opening up was Follies.

Follies

Harvard and Stone Celebration

This is a night I had circles on my calendar. Harvard and Stone was celebrating its 7th anniversary and Lauren Ruth Ward was playing a set. It was kind of a secret, I guess. Though I wonder how much of a secret. It was listed on the Harvard and Stone website. Buzzbands listed it. Though posters for the event stated their was a special guest.

Turtles On Speed opened up the night with a rock sound that mirrored their fashion sense of torn and ragged cloths. I did have a conversation with a photographer, Robert Noise, who usually shoots stadium shows. We had an amusing comparison on ISOs. He stated he usually shot around 2500. I said I usually shot around 6400. Yep, the difference between shooting stadiums vs local venues.

Turtles on Speed

Up next was Bjorn and the Sun. I actually first saw them at Harvard and Stone. They haven't been active much recently as from what I can tell the lead singer spends time doing photo tours in Cuba. They provided some joyous folk inspired sounds.

Bjorn and the Sun

Then it was time for the special guest hitting the stage at straight up midnight: Lauren Ruth Ward. When she was about to start her set, she said, "I'm the special guest." Ha ha. The place was packed with love both from the audience and artist. Sure, Harvard and Stone is like 1/5 the size of the Echoplex, but that didn't make a difference. Laurent gave it all and her fans returned it.

Amusing moment: anyone who watches Lauren Ruth Ward knows that she likes to reach out and touch her audience. So I'm pretty sure one individual in the front row was new to seeing one of her sets. She reached out with her hand and there was an awkward ticking of seconds as the person she was reaching out to wasn't sure what he should do. Finally, he reached out and they had their moment.

Lauren Ruth Ward