SEÑOR JAGUAR opened up the night for a Swyndle showcase at Harvard & Stone. They're a Pomona based band that was coming to Hollywood. They spent time trying to get a sense of the crowd's reaction to their music. "Thumbs up or thumbs down?" "Anyone tired of us?" "We can just go back to work." Their onstage spunk won over the crowd, which demanded an encore. While the band packed it up, lead singer Javier Chairez-Vega entertained the crowd with a solo tune.
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| SEÑOR JAGUAR at Harvard & Stone |
It was an east side meets west side situation when Linus Hablot (aka Linus Hablot Lester-Hodges) took to the WFNM showcase night at the Sunset Strip's Hotel Ziggy. Just a couple weeks earlier, he played Echo Park Rising at Stories Books and Cafe. I do believe I overheard a conversation where he said he lives on the east side. At the end of the set, he mentioned that he is playing at The Fable on Oct 20th, which may very well be a Ryan Pollie showcase night.
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| Linus Hablot at Hotel Ziggy |
Scotland based singer-songwriter JP O'Grady recently dropped by The Airliner Bar. He was part of the School Night showcase (a collaboration between Make Out Music and KCRW). I will say he has a song out there called "Half Way Home" that has rather detailed lyrics about Los Angeles county so perhaps he hangs out across the pond extensively. Either way, he spent part of September playing venues in Los Angeles: Hotel Ziggy, Healing Force of the Universe, and The Airliner Bar. It was in fact his Hotel Ziggy set that had me checking out his set at The Airliner Bar. How so? The Hotel Ziggy set was a WFNM showcase night. I wasn't able to go to that night, but WFNM's Grant Owens suggested that I check out the School Night set.
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| JP O'Grady at The Airliner Bar |
Lyla George took a flight out from New Orleans to Los Angeles and ended up at The Airliner Bar. This was a School Night showcase event (collaboration between Make Out Music and KCRW). Interestingly enough, the previous time I attended a School Night event, New Orleans based singer Olivia Barnes was on the bill. I've got to give it up to the New Orleans music scene.
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| Lyla George at The Airliner Bar |
A Handful (Bucketful) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Oct 4th: Natalie Claro at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.I've been hooked on TCM for years now. I just always remember being a fan of Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, James (Jimmy) Steward, John Wayne, and many many more. Around a decade ago, I used to do some reviews of movies I saw on TCM. I figured I'd start it up again. If you're interested, click on through.
ALYSSAD (moniker for Alyssa de Boisblanc) took Hotel Ziggy (a WFNM showcase night) by storm. Per her bio, ALYSSAD is Boisblanc's alter-ego. She is "blending genres to create her unique musical style to showcase haunting vocals" and "grunge aesthetic." I knew I was going to be into her set from the start. Her first song was Jesse Jo Stark's "Fire of Love." I've been a long time fan of Jesse Jo Stark and you can read an article I wrote up for Buzzbands back in 2022. I was thinking, "Yes, more please."
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| ALYSSAD at Hotel Ziggy |
It was a flashback night at The Fable (an In Sonic Dreams showcase). JOE LIES was playing their first set in 20 years (you can read that post here) and opening up the night was Auditorium (moniker for Spencer Berger).
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| Auditorium at The Fable |
I happened to mention back in an April post (a Pisces' Song Spotlight) that In Sonic Dreams was bringing back bands from yesteryear once a month at The Fable. That was not a negative statement, because I have a long history in the music scene and love catching bands that are reuniting after being on hiatus. Jump ahead to September and In Sonic Dreams had another blast from the past. JOE LIES (I will admit I don't think I ever saw this band perform live -- nor an offshoot of the band called Adeline and the Philistines -- though a band member or two did look familiar.)
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| JOE LIES at The Fable |
Shacar (moniker for Andre Smith) mentions Sade in his song "Phone Off." His silky hip hop vocals are at a lower register than Sade Adu, but Bar Lubitsch set had the same chill approach. The WFNM showcase crowd gave him shout outs throughout. The audience response was unfazed by the fact that he strolled up onto the Bar Lubitsch stage wearing a New York Yankees vest.
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| Shacar at Bar Lubitsch |
Earlier this month, Arizona teen rocker Piper Connolly stole the show at Hotel Ziggy (WFNM showcase night). I didn't do much research on the performers prior to heading out. My primary reason was to catch a specific singer who ended up cancelling (I didn't know this until getting to the venue). One will never know when one will be pleasantly surprised when catching indie artists.
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| Piper Connolly at Hotel Ziggy |
Towards the end of the WFNM showcase set, Petie (moniker for Lily Dowling) mentioned that this was her first set in three years. Let's hope that one does not need to wait another 3 years to catch another Petie set, because she had Bar Lubitsch popping during her set. She's a Berklee College of Music graduate, but she mentioned that she didn't learn anything as she didn't pay attention in her classes. I don't know about that or she learned through osmosis.
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| Petie at Bar Lubitsch |
Does Yegor Borisenko love or hate yogurt? And if he loves yogurt, what brand? His Instagram handle is: www.instagram.com/yogurtsucks. I feel there is some room for interpretation there. That is besides the point. The band Yogurt that he fronts was joining forces with promoters Rocknite to celebrate a record release party for Ipso Facto at the Airliner Bar. Per the band's Spotify short bio, the music can be described as "post-surf prog-pop dark-rock, from LA."
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| Yogurt at The Airliner Bar |
