Jesse Jo Stark with The Pink Slips, Laura Jean Anderson and Dr. Doctor at The Echo

So by the time I went to see Jesse Jo Stark on her 2nd night of her September Residency, I'd seen all the residency bands (Bootleg, The Echo, The Satellite). I'd say that The Echo was the most packed of the three residencies. Dr. Doctor opened up the night. The last time I saw this band was at Broke LA 2016. They gave some pop power to the night. Laura Jean Anderson came up next. Lauren Ruth Ward was in the audience, up front. She looked mesmerized by Laura Jean Anderson. I honestly couldn't help but notice the awesome similarities in their music. Jesse Jo Stark had the crowd packed in with her cool presence and vocals. The Pink Slips closed out the night with a wild stream of consciousness set.

Moons of Mars with Jimmy/James and Rad Horror at the Bootleg Theater

Bootleg Theater had Moons of Mars last Monday night to start off their 3 week residency -- a week cut off due to Labor Day. Jimmy LaValle from The Album Leaf and James McCalister of Planetarium joined forces to put together some synth inspired music. I half suspected that most of their set was dedicated to synth improvisation. It was an interesting set. Moons of Mars played the middle set. Their set was being sponsored by KROQ. I got a free chap stick out of it. I love how the two leads switched back and forth on the vocals. Closing the night out was Rad Horror. This was the second time I saw this band. Got to say, I love their punk style. One song is punk. The next song is melodic. It is all great.

New Language with The New Pacific and Cuesta Loeb

The Satellite brought the hard rock sounds on a recent Monday night. The night opened up with The New Pacific with their relentless hard sounds. There was a break when the lead singer jumped into the audience to kiss his wife (saw a couple rings on fingers). Cuesta Loeb brought the level down for a brief moment with her soothing sounds. Cuesta her sister in the band. Then New Language kicked it back up with a background of a light show. The first time I saw them, I was surprised by their hard core sound, because their set was right after Night Talks (pop sounds). This time, I knew what to expect.

Zealyn with Flavia and O'neill Hudson at Hotel Cafe

So I'm a little late posting this one. I sort of got busy and then I started posting more recent nights out and failed to post this one. Anyways, a little over a month back, it was off to Hotel Cafe to catch Zealyn.

Flavia was up first. The name was familiar, but I'd never seen her play. Her drum sticks danced along with her sound. She had a cheerful personality even after starting off with technical difficulties.

O'neill Hudson hit the stage next. I'd seen her before at The Resident. One of her songs was inspired by her husband who is also a musician. From what I understood, he's often on tour and is greatly missed when he is.

Zealyn was ending a tour. Her eyes can tell a thousand stories and can jump and hop around the stage in total joy. Noticed: she did leave the stage and microphone behind at one point and step into the audience and let her vocals shine. Awesome.

Brian Hill and the Noh Starrs with Shane McKenzie and Janelane at the Bootleg Theater

Solid night out at the Bootleg Theater. Brian Hill and the Noh Starrs was finishing up their residency. It was fun running into Laena from Feels. She was one of the Noh Starrs. Fashion ruled the day for this band. My first through on Brian Hill's fashion for the night was that he was a figure ice skater who was winning some extra points via his vocals.

Janelane was the reason I went out to the Bootleg Theater on this specific night. I saw this band at Echo Park Rising and just knew I needed to take another listen. Those lyrics are filled with youthful pain around love and rejection.

Shane McKenzie opened up the night with what I can say was more art than music. When I walked in, I was in temporary confusion. He was already performing, but part of me was thinking that he was still setting things up. Then I realized that he was actually performing. So weird, so fun.

Dead Dawn, ExSage and The Tissues at the Bootleg Theater

I'll be honest I wasn't planning on heading out to the Bootleg Theater on a Sunday night. The prior week, I'd done a whole lot of music: Echo Park Rising, a Monday night residency, catching Zealyn. I figured it was time to rest up a bit. But then Dead Dawn asked if I'd like to be on the press list for their Bootleg set. Well, I had to say yes to that one.

The Bootleg was holding a mini-festival, but I went out there later (needed to get some rest). First up for me was ExSage. Yeah, I love this band. I swear they played only a 15 minute set, but I was told by Kate, the lead singer, that they played a 25 minute set. Okay, so it felt like 15 minutes. It just went by too fast. The Tissues was a band I hadn't seen before. They brought the punk and the moves. Dead Dawn hit the stage last. Lead singer China brought the hard vocals and then at times shared a tender head rub with the bassist, Gabriel. This was the third time that I saw them play. I actually saw them briefly during Echo Park Rising. I was running around hitting a number of bands within a 45 minute period and I put them on my list for a 2 set photo opportunity.