I came across Whitney Tai back in 2023 at a Monday Monday at Hotel Cafe night hosted by Brenda Carsey. Monday Monday nights are mini-sets so since that night I've always wanted to catch a full set. I know it took way too long, but I got to attend her record release party for her third album American Wasteland at Licorice Pizza Records.
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| Whitney Tai at Licorice Pizza Records |
I went off to WFNM's showcase at Hotel Ziggy to catch Mara Connor. My chances of catching her in concert are not as frequent as prior years as she's spending time in Nashville. You can read a blog post that I wrote close to a year ago for her song "Someone New" here. Anyways, the first artist of the night was Eliza Spear who happened to mention that she's also from Los Angeles, but has since moved to Brooklyn.
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| Eliza Spear at Hotel Ziggy |
A Handful of Show Alerts
Sunday, Jan 11th: Funds for Jimmy at The Smell. Doors at 8 p.m.A few months had passed since I last went to an Americana Joy night at the Bigfoot Lodge. For some reason, the Friday night events either snuck up on me or I had a scheduling conflict. On this particular night, I noticed that Harry Katz and the Pistachios was playing so I made extra sure that my calendar was cleared for that Friday night. What is always fun for me when going out to catch a particular favorite band is when I come across a band that isn't on my radar and I find their set rather enjoyable. That so happened on this particular night when Havana Bass hit the stage.
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| Havana Bass at the Bigfoot Lodge |
Maejoy closed out the night for me at the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. It appears that she is currently living in Los Angeles though she recently lived in Las Vegas. From what I can tell, she was ingrained in the Las Vegas music scene, putting together an occasional event called "All The Feels" at The Sand Dollar Downtown.
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| Maejoy at Hotel Ziggy |
The Romanian-born Sofia Ionescu recently moved to Orange County just two years ago and is now a freshman at USC. In early December, she performed at Hotel Ziggy for the WFNM showcase. Being a USC student, she brought along a contingent of fellow USC Thornton classmates who providing backing vocals and instrumental support. Her Spotify bio mentions that she is a fan Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, and Amy Winehouse. You know what that means, it was a jazz-blues set and, of course, a cover of Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good."
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| Sofia Ionescu at Hotel Ziggy |
Darienne Savoy opened up a December night at Hotel Ziggy the right way for the WFNM crowd. Her R&B vocals were smooth and polished, delighting all. Joining on keys and backing vocals was her producer Noriko Olling while Kaili Sincere and Aaron Junior provided additional backing vocals. And I should not forget that hidden off to the side was guitarist Yohei Nakamura.
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| Darienne Savoy at Hotel Ziggy |
They/Live took the stage at Zebulon on a December night. It was an interesting route to Zebulon on my part, but I'm glad I made it. The previous night, I got a last minute request to cover a set in DTLA. I pinged my contact the next morning (being the night of the They/Live set). I was told that everything was a go with a photo pass and ticket at the box office window. I got to the venue at around 7:30 p.m. I went to the box office booth and was told I had a ticket, but I wasn't on the photo list. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to resolve the situation. I sent texts to my contact. I sent Instagram messages to the two performers that night and even sent a message to someone I know who occasionally works at the venue. It just wasn't meant to be.
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| They/Live at Zebulon |
Sunrose (lead vocalist and guitarist Jaxon Rose, bassist Tripp Bowers, and drummer Jax Kemp) had drummer Kemp take to the El Cid stage for a Whiplash solo percussion opening. Got to love it when a band let's the drummer open up the night. On that early December date, the band's aggressive style was the perfect setup for headliner Devon Thompson (you can read that review here).
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| Sunrose at El Cid |
