Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church: Shannon Lay and Ryan Pollie

Ryan Pollie has been putting on a weekly event at the Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church. I had gone the previous week. He has a sly sense of humor and rocks out some cool tunes.

Ryan Pollie

I've got to admit that Shannon Lay was the main reason I decided to go out on this Sunday night. I just can't get enough of her Irish folk tunes. She did a solo set and I have to say: does she really need a backing band? To me, her music works perfectly either way. 

Shannon Lay

Bar Lubitsch: Thomtide, Beck Pete, Carli Storms, The Natural Supernatural, Young Rising Sons

It is always fun to head to Bar Lubitsch for a WFNM night, especially when there are a couple bands that I've wanted to see, but just haven't been able to catch. 

Thomtide opened up the night. He had friends that flew in for the set. Now that is what friends are for. I'd say he started out a touch nervous, but he grew more confident as he got his sea legs.

Thomtide

Beck Pete was the only person on the bill that I'd seen before and that previous time was a short set. She played an El Cid afternoon set where there was a double booking and so bands got only 10 to 20 minutes of set time. Got to say that it was awesome catching a full set. She was super honest about one song where she mentioned that when her father died she briefly spiraled out of control.

Beck Pete

Carli Storms was one of the musicians that I've known about for a few years, but just never got to catch a set. She put on an enthusiastic set with arms raised out in an engaging manner.

Carli Storms

The Natural Supernatural played the recent Lunar Bloom festival. They were the final band of the night on one of the stages and their set time didn't hit until perhaps 1 a.m. It was just too late for me and I had to head home. Yet this is Los Angeles so that means sometimes you just have to wait a couple days and you'll be able to catch the band again (or like Carli Storms you have to wait a few years). They put on a 70s inspired set that had me wishing (if sleep wasn't an issue) I'd caught their Lunar Bloom set.

The Natural Supernatural

Young Rising Sons closed out the night with a pop-rock set. They put on an entertaining show that almost led to the lead singer falling off the stage a few times. Luckily, the stage it not that high up. And also, it was sort of self-caused due to where he set up his pedal board. For one song, the crowd lifted up their cell phones and turned on the flash lights.

Young Rising Sons

Over-all, I got to catch two new bands / musicians I hadn't heard of. Got to catch a couple bands / musicians that I've wanted to catch. And got to catch up with a musician I hadn't seen in a couple years.

The Goldfish: Sonoda with Brin + Mitchell Brown

I decided at the last minute that I'd see what was going on at The Goldfish. I went there in early September when they had their first live bands and hadn't been back. In fact, I'd barely even checked to see what was on their schedule. I think the issue is that many of their nights are dance nights and so it just doesn't make it on my list of venues that I regularly check up on. Luckily for me, the night I decided to head over to their Instagram page was the night that they had live music. The night was listed as "An Underwater Ambient Series." Sonoda was on the bill and that was a name that I recognize well and so that was the nudge that convinced me to head on out. Opening was Brin + Mitchell Brown.

Sonoda

The first thing I noticed was that The Goldfish had made adjustments to their stage. It was in the same location -- where the VIP area (which wasn't really a VIP area) used to be for the prior occupant, The Hi Hat. What the venue did do was replace the straight lines that made the stage have a geometric look with a circular style (which, okay, is also a geometric look). I wonder if they made the changes based on feedback that they were getting from bands / musicians.

Brin + Mitchell Brown

The night was dedicated to synthesizer music. I can't say I have a full appreciation of the music. My first full introduction to this type of music was when I spent some time in San Francisco back in 2013 and heard multiple nights of this type of music. It is a bit too eclectic for me still, but I do try my best at appreciating the music.