Review: Figure Eight from "Beautiful Oakland, California" light a candle at El Cid

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. 

Figure Eight at El Cid

Their set started with an atmospheric introduction, highlighted by lead singer-synth-guitarist Abby Goeser's choral vocals. Her vocals were mainly backed by her synth playing and the band's co-founder Nash Rood on guitar. There was the occasional tap on the drums. It was a period of calmness and meditation. At around the 3 minutes and 30 seconds mark, the full four piece upped the volume for their opening tune "heart" driven by clashing drum play.    

Goeser's dreamy vocals reminded me of Mazzy Star's Hope Sandoval. Yet, the band was hardly a repeat of the Mazzy Star's atmospheric sound. This band exploded on you in frenzied "devotion." Guitarist and bassist would often face off with the drummer, backs to the crowd -- pushing each other to tests the boundaries of their music. 

What I noticed: on Spotify, the band has a brief description that reads "a candle burns devotion." On the El Cid stage, they had a single red candle burning. 

What I noticed 2: Goeser would occasionally hold her hands in a prayer like position. 

As of the posting of this review, the band will have wrapped up their 12-stop West Coast tour. At the start of April, they'll be hitting up New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. 

Up first on the night was donna. I first came across the band last year (you can read my song spotlight of "burn, Pt. 2" here). The band has long stretches of monochromatic sound driven by lead singer-bassist Catherine Reeves' strumming chords. At times, the only sounds one hears from the band is her vocals and bass. One might be deceived into thinking that this is an experimental bass only project. 

donna at El Cid

Just wait for that bit of vocal poetry to get disrupted by hard hitting drum sticks on the snare drum. The power of those hits makes one think for sure that the drum skin would rip apart like the land around the San Andreas fault. There was no destruction of the drums on this night, but part of the drum kit did go flying off. There was a smile the popped up when someone gave the band a "yahoo" of an approval.  

Playing the bookend sets around Figure Eight were Host Family at the start and Mo Dotti to close it out. The two bands must really enjoy hanging out with each other. This is at least the third time the two have shared a bill.

For Host Family (you can read my song spotlight of "Dromedary" here), Brooke McKnight was the lead vocalist. I don't know if this was a temporary situation due to circumstances or permanent (the band had a different lead vocalist the times I saw them in 2025). I haven't verified this by digging through my music database, but I think each time I've run across McKnight, she's in a different project. I first crossed paths with her via her solo project Brookelen. Then I saw her twice at Rocknite in Lower Merion and then We Shrunk. Including Host Family, that would be four encounters and four different music projects. 

Family Host at El Cid

It was mentioned that this was McKnight's first show with the band. She was instantly in her comfort zone: swaying, dancing, and hair flinging her way throughout the set. Surrounding McKnight was a band that was often in battle mode with each other, competing to drive each other to reach their full potential. Their garage rock had the crowd dancing. 

Mo Dotti (you can read my song spotlight "dead to me" here) fronted by Gina Negrini took a look at the venue and crowd before starting the set by saying, "This is cozy." If you thought that meant the band would do a chill set, that would be wrong. They opened up the set with the shoegaze volume maxing "pale blue afternoon." 

Mo Dotti at El Cid

What did I notice: Negrini was often up on her toes over her pedals, stretching towards the microphone. 

What did I notice 2: Negrini and her guitarist seemed to be perfectly in synch with their head nods. The audience copied the band with their own head nodding.  

Figure Eight Setlist: heart, a window, braided, hummingbird, until the sun swallows the earth, why is there a god.