Banny Grove at The Hi Hat

It was a free night at The Hi Hat so I decided to head out to catch a band. I got to see Banny Grove. She's quirky in style and quirky in sound. Intriguing. She was dressed in white and had glasses that sort of reminded you of a combination of characters from 60s sitcoms: granny glasses blended with The Monkees flare. She was like a mesh-up of youth and age.

With her was a friend who didn't mind playing his guitar with one leg held above the ground.

Alina Bea with Danke and Brit Manor at the Bootleg Theater

A diverse night at the Bootleg Theater for Alina Bea's November residency. Danke started up the night with a Fifth Element genre. Pink hair. Long finger nails. Choker. Painter robe. A very artistic music set. Brit Manor danced it up even though she mentioned that she hurt her back a few days prior. It was interesting how her band was set up. She was off to the side, letting her co-singer being stage center. Alina Bea set was a beautiful mixture of sound and lights. It was like she was playing with the lights throughout her set.

Fatal Jamz with Leon Else and Starcrawler at The Echo

Off to The Echo to catch another residency night. Leon Else opened things up. He's a Brit invader. He gave a sweat filled set -- not used to the warmer weather of SoCal? He wore black, looking a bit like the black clad bad guy in American westerns or maybe a Johnny Cash who likes to dance.

Starcrawler was amazing. The set started with the band jamming. Suddenly, someone came rushing up behind me. He was carrying the lead singer who was in a straight jacket. He deposited her into the stage. Oh yeah, I knew this was going to be a solid set.

Fatal Jamz gave a Bowie-style dance set. The lead singer sure knows how to stage a look Zoolander style.

Air Traffic Controller with Bleu and Mercies at The Satellite

I got an invite to see Air Traffic Controller at The Satellite. After taking a listen to their songs online, I was sold.

First up was Bleu who was still dealing with the election blues. His set was a mixture of joyous music and sorrowful commentary about the Trump/Clinton results. Then came Air Traffic Controller. Their music is intricate and intriguing. They have some powerful tunes. I'd say half their songs were anthem sounds that just washed over you like a refreshing waterfall. I was just so into their set. They're from Boston and I hope they make it back to Los Angeles soon. Mercies closed out the night for me. It was their first set in 1.5 years. It sure didn't feel like it. They just rocked out the audience.

King Washington with Nathan Kalish and Night Talks at The Satallite

It was a rare Sunday night for a residency band. Due to a special event at The Satellite on Monday, the first November residency was pushed to Sunday.

Nathan Kalish was first up. He has been on constant tour for the last 6 years. His Americana started the night off on a solid footing. I say footing, because he said, "A cactus came right up my boot. I don't trust these boots no more."

Night Talks came up next. Their first two songs were epic. It was if they were saying, "We deserve a residency at The Satellite.

King Washington is the residency band. They came out with hair swinging. Hair swung so much that hair got caught in the guitar strings. Their set was a mixture of music and dead pan comedy. During breaks, there were some amusing comments that I'm pretty sure were written in advance.

Ramonda Hammer with Kamikaze Girls and New Evil at The Hi Hat

It was the day after Halloween. It felt like a good time to head on out to catch some music. It was off to The Hi Hat, which had a short Halloween maze to go through to get into the venue. It was actually a touch spooky as it was unexpected and there were a couple dead corpses hanging out.

Kamikaze Girls hit the stage first. They're from the UK. They had their Halloween gear on. The drummer looked like Jason from Friday the 13th series. They disagreed, saying that he looked like Charles Manson. Their set was psychedelic magic. They had some amusing tales from their US tour. The lead singer hates spiders so when she saw one she had someone spray it with hair spray.

New Evil was up next. The New Evil was also showing Halloween spirit, but then I looked through their Facebook page and it appears that the lead singer is always in skeleton face makeup. It was a fun set. For the final song, the lead singer put a sheer blindfold over her eyes. This band is evil fun.

Ramonda Hammer is the residency band for November. The lead singer was dressed as a hung over witch. She even had tattoos "inked" over her body. One band mate was dressed in a punk version of The Joker.

Yep, the day after Halloween was a fun filled music day.

Blend LA at the Resident

I got invited to the Resident to see the launch of Blend LA, which is a collaboration between various music entities in Los Angeles. Featured were: Elle Belle, Iris, Skin and Bones, Saint Cecilia and Cellars.

I came into the night not having seen any of these bands. Elle Belle is like 70s psychedelic rock. Comment of the afternoon had to come from Elle Belle who said, "A homeless guy gave me those lyrics." There were some amusing moments during Iris' set. During song breaks, echos popped around the Resident when the lead singer was trying to work out the monitor situation for her band mates. She'd say something through the microphone and a second later the speakers would repeat what she said. Everyone laughed.

Skin and Bones gave the audience some cool Americana. I couldn't help but notice how the guitarist used his heels to work the percussion set. As for Saint Cecilia, I learned that this was their first set. Maybe that's why I noticed at the end of one song, the lead singer looked super satisfied. And why not, they killed it. Cellars. What can I say? This is a band that I say will be opening for Grimes soon. Her music rocks. And I bet her stage presence is awesome. I say bet, because she did the set on a badly twisted (or broken) ankle.

Doe and Jennie Vee at The Satellite

Jennie Vee

Doe and Jennie Vee did a free night at The Satellite. I'm surprised the venue wasn't packed to the max. Doe did have a nice crowd of friends who they convinced to hang out very close to the stage. Their set started out with some technical problems, but they went with it. I couldn't help but notice that one member of the band wore a Crystal Castles (that I initially mistaken for Madonna) t-shirt while the other went with a Blondie t-shirt.

Jennie Vee is the bassist for Courney Love. Her set was awesome and amazingly short. Why was it awesome? Her sound (along with an assist on percussion) is constantly pushing forward. Her fashion style is black and Gothic. I was so disappointed when they ended after just twenty minutes. I wanted more!