I got an invite to catch googly eyes at The Peppermint Club. I was unsure if I could attend due to my real life work and how certain days of the month required longer hours. On the other hand, the show was on a Friday night and I figured that no one was going to want to work late on a Friday night (as weird as it is to say, that is not always the case). I accepted and it all worked out well. You can read my US Rocker Music review here.
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| googly eyes at The Peppermint Club |
It was a special night for Alison Albrecht at her WFNM showcase. The day before, she had celebrated her 26th birthday and Bar Lubitsch was buzzing with good wishes. A friend who took to the stage earlier, gave her a shoutout. Her set ended with her full band (guitar, bass, keys, trombone, drums) playing "Happy Birthday" while the crowd sang the lyrics. While the tune was sung, she looked grateful and then maybe a touch awkward hanging out in front of the microphone. Eventually, she resolved the matter by stepping off the stage. A fun way to celebrate a year around the sun.
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| Alison Albrecht at Bar Lubitsch |
Joe Bourdet and his band The El Caps was the opening band for Leroy from the North's album release party at Zebulon. I've crossed paths with Bourdet a couple times. The first time was in 2023 during the Americana West Fest where he shared the stage with Leroy from the North. (You can read my Buzzbands coverage of the festival here and find a photo of Bourdet.) Last year, I caught a short set at the pre-Halloween event titled Murder Ballads & Dark Songs. In neither or those two occasions did I catch a full set.
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| Joe Bourdet at Zebulon |
I went over to The Goldfish for the Rocknite showcase to catch Zelma Stone (the moniker Chloe Zelma Studebaker). I ran across them twice in 2022, but hadn't gotten another chance to catch a set since. When I noticed they were scheduled for Rocknite, I circled the date and off I went.
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| Zelma Stone at The Goldfish |
Americana rocker Leroy from the North (the moniker for Eli Wulfmeier) recently celebrated his sophomore album release My Favorite Gun at Zebulon. The packed venue was filled with people wearing trucker caps and cowboy hats. It didn't take long for couples to take to the front of the stage to show off their dancing skills. Whenever the band hit the 70s rock beat, the back step bleachers shook. His Spotify bio describes his music as follows, "LA based, Americana/rock band, Leroy From the North, could best be described as a velour track suit with a Cowboy hat. influenced by the sounds of 70's country gold, mixed with a little Detroit steel . . . "
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| Leroy from the North at Zebulon |
I was hanging out at the Regent Theater on a Friday night to cover Hotel Fiction. The headliner band was The Strumbellas. I had no clue who they were (I actually didn't know who Hotel Fiction was, either), but learned quickly that they're a Toronto, Canada based band. I was thinking, "Hey, I have this photo pass, why not take photos of The Strumbellas. I didn't sign anything that restricted me from shooting the band." I was allowed into the photo pit without any issues and so I started to photograph the band.
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| The Strumbellas at the Regent Theater |
Former Los Angeles-based singer Alaska Reid (if I'm not mistaken, at some point she moved back to her home state of Montana), returned for a one-off show at El Cid with her new-ish band Witch Post (co-founded with Scottist musician Dylan Fraser) in tow. The venue was packed with friends and fans to welcome her back.
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| Witch Post at El Cid |
A Handful (Bucket Full) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Mar 22nd: Hex Code at Alex's Bar. Doors at 2 p.m.I got an invite to catch Figure Eight at El Cid. I had not heard of this Oakland based band until my industry connection pinged me about them. I took the invitation without hesitation. First, I trusted the person who made the suggestion. Second, the band was playing alongside three Los Angeles based bands that I adore: donna, Host Family, and Mo Dotti.
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| Figure Eight at El Cid |
Closing out a recent Rocknite showcase at The Goldfish was memoryloop. Interestingly, this was the night of bands who have changed their name. Opening up the night was Essencer, which used to be called Wizard Puffs. (You can read my Song Spotlight post on Essencer here.) Memoryloop used to be called Pedestrian. Both decided to go through name changes in 2024. I will say I do love the choice of memoryloop as a band name. It fits in so perfectly with their ambient shoegaze sounds.
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| memoryloop at The Goldfish |
Back in early February, the editor of US Rocker Music sent over a request for coverage of Hotel Fiction that was playing the Regent Theater on March 6th. The band was opening for The Strumbellas. The request revolved around coverage and a potential interview with the band. I have a regular job as well as keeping this personal blog site up and running. Putting in extra research into coming up with questions for a band can be draining. My default was that I was only interested in photographing and writing a review of the night. Before responding, I decided to check out their music (I had never heard of the band). It didn't take long for me to fall hard for their tunes. I decided to put in the extra time to come up with some questions for the band. You can read my US Rocker Music review as well as the band's full interview here.
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| Hotel Fiction at the Regent Theater |
The Rocknite LA showcase at The Goldfish recently had Essencer on their schedule. I've been following the Lee Jenkins (vocalist and bassist) and Alec Nelson (guitarist) founded band since 2022. One might say Essencer has only been around since 2024, but back in 2022 there was a band called Wizard Puffs that crossed my radar when I went to Highland Park Bowl (they used to have bands playing in a side room) to catch Diva and the Pearly Gates. Nelson kept playing a recording of a voice-over saying "Wizard Puffs" and Jenkins would start cracking up. I figured they were a dreamy-eccentric pop band.
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| Essencer at The Goldfish |
Taylor Jules took to the Bar Lubitsch stage for a WFNM showcase in front of a significant crowd of friends and family (from what I could tell). She was the first artist of the night and I missed perhaps half of her opening song "Real Love." As I maneuvered my way to the front of the stage to take my photos of her and her band, I came to an immediate conclusion, "Taylor has big time vocals." The night was to celebrate her debut EP The Good The Bad and The Ugliest that was being released the following night, February 27th.
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| Taylor Jules at Bar Lubitsch |
JESSA (Jessa Hadik's mononymous name) took to the Bar Lubitsch stage for the WFNM showcase, bringing along her broken hearted emotions, "I'm not singing about all my happy, heartfelt, amazing . . . whatever. I've dealt with a lot of heartbreak." Those feelings were expressed via pop / R&B vibes.
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| JESSA at Bar Lubitsch |
Living Hour joined The Pains of Being Pure at Heart for a mini-tour along the West Coast, which included a sold out show at The Echoplex. They ended their coastal tour with a secret performance at the Rocknite showcase at Zebulon. I guess it wasn't totally secret, it was announced the day before Rocknite. It wasn't last minute either, due to the fact that Rocknite mentioned there would be a secret guest. I suppose the correct definition is that the set announcement was under embargo due to their The Echoplex performance.
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| Living Hour at Zebulon |
Rocknite did what they do best: highlighted to me a brand new band that thrilled on stage. On a Tuesday night at Zebulon, the first band of the night was Modern Cult. From what I can tell via social media, this Miami based band is so new that they were only playing their second show ever.
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| Modern Cult at Zebulon |
I didn't get to catch the January version of the Americana Joy showcase at the Bigfoot Lodge. I decided I would just have to head over in February. It helped that Gilbert Louie Ray was scheduled to perform. Before heading off to the Bigfoot Lodge, I just couldn't help myself and took off to Zebulon to catch Cissi TV (a band that made my list of favorite new finds of 2025). As soon as their set ended, it was a 2 mile drive over to the Bigfoot Lodge. From art punk to Americana country -- that's just how I do things when it comes to the LA music scene.
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| Gilbert Louis Ray at the Bigfoot Lodge |
Dama Blake (the moniker for Jessica Harper) looked both classic 1920s and modern 2020s during her WFNM showcase at Bar Lubitsch. This was my second time catching a set. Back in September 2025, she performed an acoustic set at Hotel Ziggy. I considered writing up a blog post at that time, but I hesitated as her setlist was unreleased material and her sound differed from her released material. I was uncertain if she was shifting directions or not. I was impressed enough that I made a mental note to catch a set in the future.
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| Dama Blake at Bar Lubitsch |
I first came across June Swoon (the moniker for Juliana Kay Lydell) at an outdoor DIY music festival called Big Top at someone's back yard in 2021. It was one of the first music events I attended post-early 2020. You can read my review of that afternoon-night here. If I'm not mistaken, all the bands that played that festival are still active, which I find is an interesting footnote. Our paths crossed again in 2024 and then recently at Rocknite's showcase at The Goldfish where they closed out the night that included Sour Tongue and Slugs.
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| June Swoon at The Goldfish |
It was a mid-February date and I finally made it out to my first 2026 Rocknite showcase at The Goldfish. That took way too long to catch this showcase during the new year, but I did get sick in mid-January which reduced my opportunities to get out to Highland Park. The first band up on this particular night was Sour Tongue. This was my second time catching the band. I first saw them back in 2023. I apparently see this band when my favorite bands share the bill with them. In 2023, they shared the stage with Lauren Lakis (you can read one of my US Rocker Music reviews about one of her sets here). This time around it was Slugs (you can a song spotlight post here).
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| Sour Tongue at The Goldfish |
I recently went to the In Sonic Dreams showcase at The Fable to catch up with Bloody Death Skull and Modern Time Machines. As for the middle performer of the night, Eli Tarantula (the moniker for Eli Chartkoff), I wasn't sure who that was. When he went up on stage with his wife Mary Charkoff and the other band members, a realization kicked in. I know those two. I still couldn't exactly place them, but I knew I had seen them around the music scene. During the set, it was mentioned that he was in a band called The Monolators. My brain cells started to spin again.
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| Eli Tarantula at The Fable |
I've followed Bloody Death Skull for over a decade. I first came across the band at a long gone music venue called Pehrspace (which still lives on as part of 2220 Arts). The night was hosted on by the New L.A. Folk Festival. Going back a little further in time, in 2012 the actual festival was held at Zorthian Ranch. I covered the festival for the first blog site that I started working for called inTraffik. I'm sure if one looked hard enough via the Wayback Machine, one can find my write-up and photos. The festival had a really solid line-up, some of whom are still active and would be a festival highlight if we jumped to the present day: Dust Bowl Revival, Guy Blakeslee, and Leslie Stevens are just three that pop to mind.
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| Bloody Death Skull at The Fable |
The Oakland raised, SoCal based Destinee Alera hit all the perfect R&B and jazz notes at a recent WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. She had a four piece backing band (guitar, bass, keys, drummer) that highlighted the lovely nuances of her music.
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| Destinee Alera at Hotel Ziggy |
A Handful (Bucketful) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Mar 1st: Dreyted at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.
