Song Spotlight: Witch Post's Twin Fawn (a night at El Cid)

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.  

Witch Post at El Cid

When did I first cross paths with Alaska Reid? Turn the pages of the calendar all the way back to 2016 when I caught her band Alyeska at The Smell. She gained a fan base that included Lauren Ruth Ward. I even made brief mention of this friendship in 2019 while covering Echo Park Rising for Buzzbands (at that time she had retired Alyeska, going simply as Alaska Reid).

I initially thought I would be unable to catch her return visit to El Cid. I was scheduled to cover another band, but was told that they had to cancel their US tour due to visa problems. It took me a brief moment to realize that I could now attend Witch Post's set. I emailed my music contact (who also hooked me up with a guest spot for Figure Eight's set at El Cid) and got put on the guest list. It was an awesome week, getting to spend two nights at this venue. I do have a long connection with the venue that dates back a couple decades. 

Witch Post at El Cid

The band gave the audience everything they could possibly want in a set. They played every single track from both of their EPs: the 2025 EP Beast and the 2026 EP Butterfly. Their first song, "Ragged," introduced how wonderfully Reid and Fraser's vocals blend together. Reid showed off some rockstar attitude during the song "Rust." As the song started off, she slung the guitar over her shoulder, with the neck of the guitar held tilted towards the stage floor. The cool look got screams of approval from the crowd. 

I'm not sure she was even prepared to sing "Rust." There was an amusing issue with the setlists that popped up. Her official setlist had the order of songs as "Vampire" and then "Rust," but they got switched. She soon turned to her drummer and said something like, "I don't know what setlist you all are using." The same problem turned up for "Witching Hour" and "Twin Fawn."  

Witch Post at El Cid

"You have a completely different setlist than me," Reid this time looked over at Fraser. "Oh my God.  mine's the right one. I wrote the master setlist. I'm the setlist maker in the band." Apparently, someone has a problem writing down setlists. Hey, I totally understand, I sometimes write down things the wrong way when I'm transferring information from one source to another. Why this happens, who knows. 

The band went retro for "Tilt-a-Whirl." That song is an Alyeska tune that has been reworked for Witching Post. It was written when Reid was a teenager and is about the country fair (Montana, I'm assuming). When she said that, it automatically had me thinking about the 1945 movie State Fair that is about the Iowa state fair (there are three versions of that movie, 1933 and 1962 being the other two). Fraser mentioned that it was the song that got him connected with Reid. One has to say, that his feet went wild dancing up a storm during parts of the song. 

Witch Post at El Cid

Their final song "Chill Out" is the first song they wrote together in Fraser's bedroom. 

The song spotlight goes to "Twin Fawn." Not because it was part of the setlist mix-up. Instead, because the song is about Los Angeles. Reid introduced the song by saying that it was about, "My reluctant hometown." The crowd gave her a mild protest to her sentiment towards the city. A song that appears to reflect a wish that she could have avoided the decision to head off to the big city lights.  

I wish it back
Cut my teeth out here . . .
Playing music and trying to catch loose horses in our heads.

Setlist: Ragged, Dreaming, Country Sour, Rust, Vampire, Something to Give, Changeling, Worry Angel, Witching Hour, Twin Fawn, The Wolf, Tilt-a-Whirl, Spell, Chill Out.