Moroccan Lounge: Dream Machines with Cowgirls and MRCH

It was off to the Moroccan Lounge to catch Dream Machines' residency. I've seen them listed to play at various times, but was never able to catch their set. This seemed like a fine time to do so.

Opening up was Cowgirls. It was mentioned up front to be nice to the lead singer or she might never play with the band again. It looks like this band has been around for only a couple months. It'll be nice to see how they progress.

Cowgirls

MRCH was the middle band of the night. They're from Phoenix. They had the comment of the night: I got tangled. That could mean trouble. I'll figure it out.

MRCH

Closing was Dream Machines. Their sound reminds me of Wham and George Michael.

Dream Machines

Harvard and Stone: Murci and Stevi Daft

It was off to Harvard and Stone to catch a couple bands/musicians: Murci and Stevi Daft.

Murci had their friends out. Everyone was dancing to their romantic like sounds.

Murci

Stevi Daft shifted things up with their rock sounds.

Stevi Daft

The Satellite: Rivers and Suns with Balto

I got asked by Rivers and Suns to head over to The Satellite to take some photos of her set. It is always fun to catch this band. Jordan, lead singer, can really put on a show.

Rivers and Suns

Balto opened up the night. I saw only a part of their set, but their Americana style was catchy.

Balto

The Hi Hat: Racquet and Cartalk

It was off to The Hi Hat to catch Racquet. At Echo Park Rising, Racquet was playing on Sunday, but I wasn't able to catch their set. As I've said before, it is awesome to catch the various band members of Gypsum in their other forms: Racquet, Rosie Tucker. Raquet has a similar intricate sound of Gypsum, but is driven more by front woman, Sapphire.

Racquet

cartalk opened the night with a more aggressive sound than Racquet.

cartalk

Two different

The Echo: MetronOhm, Cassandra Violet and Def.sound

It was an eclectic afternoon of music at The Echo. MetronOhm hit the stage with some Sade inspired sounds.

MetronOhm

Cassandra Violet came up next with some show tune inspiration.

Cassandra Violet

Finally, Def.sound rapped the day to an end.

Def.sound

The Hi Hat: Hawk Percival with Jessie Williams and Dylan Rodrigue

After Echo Park Rising, there were more than a handful of bands that I wanted to catch again. One was Hawk Percival and Friends. There is just something cool about how she emphasizes certain words in her lyrics. And she's willing to let things float for just a millisecond longer than most.

Hawk Percival and Friends

Opening up the night was Jessi Williams and Coyote who happens to also be in the band The Lonely Wild, which I've followed for years. It was awesome seeing her fronting a band on her own. In fact, two members of The Lonely Wild were backing her up on this specific night.

Jessi Williams and Coyote

Dylan Rodrigue went from soothing songs to rocking out songs throughout his set. His parents were in the audience for support.

Dylan Rodrigue

Three Days of Music: Chinatown Summer Nights, Happy Sundays Long Beach, The Echo

It was a jammed packed three days of straight awesome music.

It all started on a Saturday in Chinatown for the final Chinatown Summer Nights of 2018.

Emma Cole with Lauren Ruth Ward

Opening up was Emma Cole who had some wonderful cameos, which included Lauren Ruth Ward. Jane Holiday followed up. When I looked at the schedule, I had no clue who he was. Then when he went up on stage, I recognized him. He used to go simply by Jane when I caught his set at The Hi Hat in early 2018. mini bear was up next. That band will get you dancing. Jasper Bones had the crowd packed in and swooning to his vocals. CLARA-NOVA gave us some French inspired pop while I got fascinated with her drum stick.

Then on Sunday I took a long trip down to Long Beach. I don't go to Long Beach all that often. The inspiration for heading off on this day was that a number of bands that I follow were playing a music festival called Happy Sunday: Spare Parts for Broken Hearts, Ramonda Hammer, The Paranoyds, Holy Wars, Draemings, and Death Valley Girls.

Those weren't the only bands I saw though. I also caught DCHAV, No Tides, The No. 44 and The Shrine.

Best memory was when The No. 44 ended their set at Iguana Kelleys. The Paranoyds were up next and weren't anywhere to be seen. One of the individuals running things went to the microphone, "If The Paranoyds are around, you can set up now." The stage remained void of The Paranoyds. Next, the person went up to someone in the audience and I could hear him ask, "Do you see The Paranoyds anywhere? Do you know what they look like?" Well, shortly after that, they walked in, set up, and basically started on time.

The Paranoyds

Another memory has to deal with Death Valley Girls. It was either the first or second song and the lead singer broke a string on her guitar. The look on her face was priceless. The bassist on this night just happened to be the bassist for Cat Scan.

I also happened to take a walk down to the Long Beach Playhouse to see a photo exhibit of Emery Becker's photography. He was a Los Angeles photographer who died in a highway accident earlier this year. It was a very moving tribute to his work. The photos were amazing.

To close out the three day stint, it was off to The Echo to catch the final Slugs residency night. The night had, in order, Egg Drop Soup, Rumblepak, Nicky Blitz, Slugs, and Turtles on Speed. I was eager to catch Egg Drop Soup as a photographer I know did a photo shoot for them. They were a fun band. I had previously interviewed Rumblepak and Turtles on Speed. Nicky Blitz got hot while wearing his a sport's jacket. It was a fun final night to catch Slugs. They were doing a team sports night. Jerseys were in and Lauren Ruth Ward did some on stage cheerleading.

Slugs

Interestingly, the three nights was a nice way to catch full sets of bands that I wasn't able to catch during Echo Park Rising. That includes Emma Cole, mini bear, Spare Parts for Broken Hearts and The Paranoyds. I won't mention Ramonda Hammer as I essentially caught 95% of their Echo Park Rising set.

Bootleg Theater: Cones residency

It was a chill night at the Bootleg Theater the day after Echo Park Rising.

Very Nice Massage opening things up. They're a two member band from New York.

Very Nice Massage

Malcolm Oliver Perkins was appreciative of the audience.

Malcolm Oliver Perkins

Cones had some sibling discussions. When one mentioned that he was going reverse Bob Dylan, the other explained the reference.

Cones

Sonoda brought some Asian sounds to close out the night.

Sonoda

Gabriel Delicious at The Hi Hat

Due to long hours at work, seeing Gabriel Delicious would be my last set until Echo Park Rising 1.5 weeks later. There was a full night of music, but I was only able to catch this final set. It was totally worth catching his set to start my Los Angeles music scene hibernation. His vocals were touching and poetic.