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.
