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.Faydean (Faydean Drew Kielty's mononymous name) brought her folk-country tunes to the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. The Los Angeles native mentioned that she wasn't able to perform much in 2025 due to nodules. She has recovered and is rearing to go in 2026. Based on a recent Instagram post she had 8 performances scheduled just in January and February (a couple as a backup vocalist).
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| Faydean at Hotel Ziggy |
If PEGGY (Peggy Owens' mononymous name) needs a backup plan in life, she'll be a most beloved high school English teacher. She sang a series of songs that were inspired by her voracious reading habits ("DEAR READER," "WRITTEN BY A WOMAN," "ALICE," and one may as well toss in "FRANKENSTEIN," which was technically based on the recent movie). But that backup plan for the Berklee College of Music graduate is just imagined on my part, because at the moment she is highlighting her music talents at venues such as Hotel Ziggy (a night presented by WFNM).
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| PEGGY at Hotel Ziggy |
Scout Gillett was the headliner for the post-Super Bowl party at Zebulon. It should be said upfront that the night was a mash-up of music genres -- and I say that in a positive way, because the three bands that I saw were all excellent (Lackey and Dreyted were the first two bands). Lackey and Dreyted provided the audience with punk rock performances. Gillett shifted the music genre (she did rock her way through some of her songs, but I would not call her music punk). Her website bio describes her sound as follows, "Her acumen as a lyricist and musician are on full display, blending velvety vocals with twangy guitars, lo-fi harmonica, and dreamy pedal steel across the album and merging a variety of genres into a haunting sonic landscape."
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| Scout Gillett at Zebulon |
A tradition of mine is to head out to Zebulon after the Super Bowl. I've always had a good time hanging out there after the big game. In 2024, I got to run into a long time favorite Sally Spitz. Last year, I saw John Errol who ended up making my list of favorite new bands / artists of the year (you can read that list of favorites here). This year, after watching the defensive dominance of the Seattle Seahawks, I came across another band that will surely make my list of favorite bands of 2026: Dreyted (the moniker for DeRon Munroe).
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| Dreyted at Zebulon |
Brooklyn based Anastasia Coope headlined Zebulon recently. The artist has been spending the beginning of 2026 touring the two coasts of North America (there were some stops in Canada). Her tour will conclude with short trip through Europe.
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| Anastasia Coope at Zebulon |
I first came across Harmony Index (the moniker for Nico Leibman) in 2023. She was headlining a set for a Safe Travels Presents showcase at the Resident DTLA. I should just mention that the Resident DTLA closed its doors in October 2025. It isn't necessarily a shock to me. I remember talking to the manager back in 2024, because they were putting a stop (I believe it was just temporary) on live performances. It was a reason why Alphabet Soup (a collaboration between The Witching Hours and Safe Travels Presents) had to move locations that year. It was mentions that alcohol purchases had declined post-2020. Pre-2020, I always considered the venue to be The Arts Districts answer (smaller in size) to Zebulon. You'd hang out at the venue and occasionally run into people such as Victoria Justice.
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| Harmony Index at Zebulon |
A Handful (Super Sized) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Feb 22nd: Anna Ash at Zebulon. Doors at 7 p.m.Playing perhaps the shortest set I've seen in years, drummer Chloe Saavedra was the headliner at the Ryan Pollie showcase at The Fable. How short was the set? I say it clocked in at 15 minutes. She played a trio of songs from her upcoming record with the highlight being her single release "Physics." The short set was more than made up by her magnetic personality.
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| Chloe Saavedra at The Fable |
It was one of the best Ryan Pollie's showcases at The Fable that I've attended. It ranks up there with the night that Madison Cunningham played a set (you can read about that night here). What made The Fable the place to be on the first Tuesday of February? Jordana (the mononymous name for Jordana Nye) played a short opening set for her friend Chloe Saavedra, who was having a single release party.
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| Jordana at The Fable |
Rett Madison recently played a set at Permanent Records Roadhouse, opening up for Valley Queen. (If interested, I did a Valley Queen write-up a few months back, which you can read here.) I've seen Rett Madison a couple times prior. I first saw a set back in 2019 at the Bootleg Theater. During our online lives of 2020, I caught another set via a WFNM showcase. I did happen to mention in another blog post that I nearly caught a set back in 2018, but my arrival time was off by 30 minutes or so.
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| Rett Madison at Permanent Records Roadhouse |
Over a decade ago, I got to see The Album Leaf play at the 2015 Culture Collide music festival. It was the final year of that festival that brought bands into Echo Park from across the globe. Bands from South America, Asia, and Europe would fly in and play a couple sets at different venues. And then sometimes, Culture Collide would play a little loose with the facts and say that so and so band was from Sweden even though they lived in Los Angeles. No matter, it was a fun festival.
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| The Album Leaf at Zebulon |
I first came across Powder Pink & Sweet in 2023 at Permanent Records Roadhouse. The band was playing with my favorite New York based band Laveda. You can read my US Rocker Music post from the night here. As is often the case when it comes to Los Angeles bands that I find intriguing, way too much time had passed since I last crossed paths with the band. By chance, as I was putting together my weekly Show Alerts for this blog site, I checked out what Swyndle LA had scheduled for their Harvard & Stone Monday night showcase and noticed that the promotor was putting on a Friday night show at Gold-Diggers. It just so happened that Powder Pink & Sweet was playing. An opportunity presented itself and so off I went.
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| Powder Pink & Sweet at Gold-Diggers |
Noël Tsoukalas no doubt wishes she had advanced further in American Idol's Season 21 (2023), but her time there left a positive lasting impression none the less. As her WFNM showcase set came to a conclusion at Hotel Ziggy, she told the audience her fond memory when she sang her song "The Girl In Your Story" during the competition, "I was scared out of my pants. Literally about to pee myself. Shaking, having to play piano. I thought I was done for . . . I remember looking Lionel Richie in the eyes. And you know what he told me? 'Girl, you got to keep writing music to the day you die.'" She took that to heart. In 2025, she graduated with a music degree from Point Loma Nazarene University and released her debut album I Still Hear You.
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| Noël Tsoukalas at Hotel Ziggy |
It was an American Idol night at the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. The night included Lola Bonfiglio (Season 23 -- 2025) and Noël Tsoukalas (Season 21 - 2023). A third former contestant of the music competition was Olivia Soli who was also in Season 21 and made it to the Top 20 -- and is the focus of this particular blog post.
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| Olivia Soli at Hotel Ziggy |
Sometimes you head out and the unexpected occurs. There was that time back in 2022 when I went out to cover Night Talks at The Troubadour. Cherie Currie of the Runaways showed up to sing "Cherry Bomb." Currie's cameo appearance was due to the fact that her son Jake Hays was opening up the night. You can read my Buzzbands article here.
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| Lola Bonfiglio at Hotel Ziggy |
I first came across Mars Rodriguez (the moniker for Maria Alejandra Rodriguez Serrano) in 2019 when I got an out of the blue invitation to catch her set at Hotel Cafe. You can read my US Rocker Music interview that I conducted after the set here. I got to catch another Hotel Cafe set in early 2020 (prior to all the venues shutting down). The final time I caught one of her sets was in 2022, which resulted in an interesting adventure on my part in my attempt to get home for the night.
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| Mars Rodriguez at The Whisky a Go Go |
A Handful of Show Alerts
Thursday, Feb 12th: Giselle at Bar Lubitsch. Doors at 7 p.m.I've been hooked on TCM for years now. I just always remember being a fan of Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Audrey Hepburn, Katharine Hepburn, James (Jimmy) Steward, John Wayne, and many many more. Around a decade ago, I used to do some reviews of movies I saw on TCM. I figured I'd start it up again. If you're interested, click on through.
In January, I walked into The Three Clubs for the first time in likely over a decade. The venue does hold a special place in my heart, because it is where I first saw Rocket (the band fronted by Lauren Rocket). Over the years, I'd drive by it or walk pass it (while walking towards Sassafras Saloon) and always wondered what bands were playing inside the venue. An opportunity to return presented itself via the band Mystic Knights (you can read my US Rocker article here) and I was eager to attend. I showed up in time to catch most of Johnny Majestic's set.
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| Johnny Majestic at The Three Club |
Mystic Knights came to my attention last year in June when I was invited to cover Band of Skulls at The Troubadour. The Mystic Knights were the opening band (you can read that US Rocker post here). The band name may not sound familiar to many, but lead singer Chris Cester's better known band Jet is likely a known quantity (hits include "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Cold Hard Bitch").
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| Mystic Knights at The Three Clubs |
DanDan (moniker for Daniel Leese) is a recent USC Thornton graduate with a degree in Jazz Vocal Performance. He recently opened up the night at a WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. I was immediately struck by the potential symbolism in the set. It started with what he wore for the night: a white robe that reminded me of a Medieval monk. Perhaps that impression was implanted due to his first song of the night that was called "Savior's Song." On his Soundcloud account he mentions that the song is about a "fear-mongering troubadour on a busy street corner . . . the evil intentions of the troubadour become frighteningly clear." I'm speculating that his dressing up in white is him trying to avoid being put until the evil spell of the troubadour.
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| DanDan at Hotel Ziggy |
I noticed that the WFNM showcase featured Andie Yagher three or so times last year. After seeing her name pop up on the schedule a few times, I wanted to catch a set, but it just never worked out for me. One time I was shooting the Greek Theatre. Another time, it was squeezed into a rather busy week. One other time, a favorite local band of mine, Ramonda Hammer, was playing. Luckily for me, she popped up on the January 13th WFNM schedule at Hotel Ziggy.
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| Andie Yagher at Hotel Ziggy |
