The House of Machines: Taleen Kali with The Knitts and New American

It was off to The House of Machines to catch Taleen Kali's 100th set. I'm actually surprised by the fact that she kept count of all her sets. I have no clue how many times I go out in a month. It was also her friend's birthday, which was celebrated with a cupcake. To celebrate set 100, the band rocked it out and Taleen put on a show.

Taleen Kali

Opening was The Knitts and New American.

The Knitts

New American

The Knitts put on some garage rock while New American rocked out.

Zebulon: Shannon Lay with Earth Girl Helen Brown

It was my second straight Monday night catching Shannon Lay and her short 3 night residency at Zebulon. There is beauty in those vocals. And with three backup singers, there is harmony layered with those vocals.

Shannon Lay

Earth Girl Helen Brown did a night mostly spent covering Joni Mitchell. The set definitely had me wanting to take some time on Spotify, listening to Joni Mitchell.

Earth Girl Helen Brown

South Lake Avenue to House of Machines: Trapdoor Social, The Letter Openers and Mean Heat

It was off on a double venue outing on a recent Saturday. First it was off to South Lake Avenue in Pasadena to catch Trapdoor Social. It was raining hard on the way to Pasadena, but once I got there, the rain was dying down. By the time Trapdoor Social hit the stage, the rain had stopped. It was great seeing Trapdoor Social for the first time since Echo Park Rising. And it didn't really matter if Skylar had a sprained ankle. He spent the set on the chair, but the music still shined through.

Trapdoor Social

A few hours later it was off to the House of Machines to catch The Letter Openers and Mean Heat. Perhaps over a decade has passed since I last saw The Letter Openers. There was a nice crew of Kiss or Kill folk in attendance to catch some rock and roll. Mean Heat told off their videographer, I'm assuming in jest. The set was filled with their lead singer showing her  body flexibility and emotional vocal delivery.

The Letter Openers

Mean Heat

Zebulon: Shannon Lay with Anna St. Louis

Shannon Lay has a December residency on Mondays. It is unfortunately just three weeks long. I swear to those coming across this post that there are 4 or 5 songs that will just gasping at how beautifully crafted they are. I'm not saying she just has 4 or 5 good songs. I'm saying she has a number of great songs. I also think it was genius of her to include a backing band of individuals who also do back-up vocals. It really fills out the music.

Shannon Lay

Anna St. Louis opened the night was country tunes.

Anna St. Louis

The Hi Hat: The Colour Coast with Surely Lorraine, The Time Travelers and All Things Blue

It was off to catch The Colour Coast one last time in 2019. It happened to be their final residency night at The Hi Hat. Their Latin-flavor beats were awesome, but someone in the audience kind of bumped lead singer Marley off the stage. An individual decided to take to the stage and started dancing to one of the songs. A friend could be seen trying to encourage the individual to get off the stage.

The Colour Coast

Opening was Surely Lorraine, The Time Travelers and All Things Blue. There were some blasts to the past, hair flings and songwriter touches throughout the sets. 

Surely Lorraine

The Time Travelers

All Things Blue

Bootleg Theater: Rosie Tucker with Ramonda Hammer, Bella Porter, Jess Kallen and Pauline Lay

I went over to the Bootleg Theater to catch Rosie Tucker's closing residency night. Opening up the night was Bella Porter who drew a solid crowd for her layered yet minimalist style.

Bella Porter

The night was packed with five different bands and artists. I wasn't sure how that was going to work, but I learned quick when Rosie got on Bar's stage after Bella Porter's set and told us to head over to another stage. I'm not sure of the name of this specific stage. Maybe it is called the multi-purpose stage? Anyways, on this stage Jess Kallen gave the audience a singer-songwriter set. She also happens to be part of Rosie Tucker's band.

Jess Kallen

Then it was back to the Bar stage to catch Ramonda Hammer who roared through their final set of 2019.

Ramonda Hammer

Then back to the multi-purpose stage, Pauline Lay gave a solo violin set. She took her violin through the paces with an artsy take on strings.

Pauline Lay

Then closing out the night was Rosie Tucker.  I haven't gotten to catch Gypsum all year long, but I've gotten to catch Rosie Tucker and Cuffed Up a couple times each. Both are formed via members of Gypsum.

Rosie Tucker

Redwood Bar: Prince of Lilies with Dirtycakes and Nebulaen

I've followed the members of Prince of Lilies for a decade or so via Barb Wired Dolls and Royal Distortion. When I noticed that they were hitting the stage at the Redwood Bar, I decided to head on over. Replacing Sunset Strip sounds of Barb Wired Dolls and Royal Distortion is straight out rock and roll. Also, Pyn who in Barb Wired Dolls and Royal Distortion was more the hard driving guitarist took lead vocals.

Opening the night was Dirtycakes and Nebulaen. Dirtycakes hit the political activism of rock music while Nebulaen hit the dark notes of life.

Nebulaen

Dirtycakes

Prince of Lilies

The Echo: Crook with The Great Sadness, Honey Child and Fawns of Love

Crook likes to play in the dark and they love to play loud. My whole body was vibrating during their set. I even felt like someone was trying to tickle my ears.

Crook

Fawns of Love opened up the night. They're a band from Bakersfield.

Fawns of Love

Honey Child does what many bands just don't have the nerve to do, they told folks to shut down the talking.

Honey Child

The Great Sadness ended the night with desert punk.

The Great Sadness