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 |
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 |
I've come across the eclectic band Annie Jets (fronted by BreeAnn Getman) three times over the last 2 years and each of those sets were hosted by Rocknite. I happened to write a Song Spotlight of their song "Avalanche" when I first came across the band at The Goldfish. The venue had just relaunched itself with a rather, say it again, eclectic feel and it was my first time at the venue after the relaunch. Unfortunately, the venue decided to move in a different direction and no longer hosts live music (at least on a regular basis). In an appropriate name match, my third time catching the band was at the Airliner Bar.
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| Annie Jets at The Airliner Bar |
Experimental synth performers DPSD (Danny Perez) and Soft as Snow closed out their short West Coast tour at Zebulon on Labor Day. DPSD is a Los Angeles based performer while Soft as Snow is a Berlin-based, Norwegian duo (Oda Starheim and Øystein Monsen). To start off his set, Perez described his sound as, "F*cking weird sh*t."
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| DPSD at Zebulon |
I won't argue with that description. Perez played an electric guitar and in front of him was a makeshift table loaded with his electronic gear and laptop. His music sounded like ambient tunes that was run through a computer program to give it a technological output. Behind him, the venue's projector screen was showing (what can I say, but) weird videos. Teeth. Robots. Palm Trees. Someone laying their large stomach onto a kitchen table and rolling it like bread dough.
Comment of the set: Don't applaud that. That was a terrible transition. I have ten minutes left.
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| DPSD at Zebulon |
I do think it is difficult to determine when an instrument set has concluded. There was a moment of silence and the crowd began to cheer. A little too early based on the above comment.
To conclude the set, he turned up the volume. There were some technical issues that led to less than desired results. Just as he was ending the song, the sound guy rushed to the stage to tweak things, but it was too late as the song had concluded. He did an onstage performer of a rock god, swinging his electric guitar high, "I felt like I was miming you guys."
While DPSD used videos to provide context to his music, Soft as Snow used the interpretive dancing skills of Starheim. Even more so than DPSD, Monsen had his table packed with gear, which he utilized with stylish flair. Starheim had primary vocal duties and walked casually around the stage. The vocals were like a imagined deleted scene from Fantastic Planet (1973) where an Om character gives birth to a Draag.
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| Soft as Snow at Zebulon |
Starheim occasionally took a fetal position onto the floor and rose like the birth of my imagined aliens. Or there were hair flings under the red glow, as if those alien creatures were taking their first breath of life.
The night ended with a song that featured heavy bass beats that vibrated the body.
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| Soft as Snow at Zebulon |
It was a night to enjoy a different part of the Los Angeles music scene.
