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").
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| Andie Yagher at Hotel Ziggy |
Allegra Ondine's soprano vocals that take on operatic qualities hit the Harvard & Stone stage during a Swyndle LA showcase. I ran across Ondine previously back in 2023. I first ran across her in July when she was a back-up vocalist for Gaia Calista. Then in August, I happened to catch a Paradise Lovers set, which is a duo with Maybellene Ryder. In regards to Ryder, I happened to mention her in a US Rocker Music when she was playing violin for Oh, Rose (you can read that article here). Paradise Lovers is an interesting pairing. Ondine has classical vocals while Ryder has alternative pop / folk vocals.
 |
| Allegra Ondine at Harvard & Stone |
O.S. Coleman (initials for Odin Scott) opened up the night at the Swyndle LA showcase at Harvard & Stone. It was a set filled with bluegrass and gospel tunes with Coleman switching between the banjo and violin while his bandmate Troy Dillinger (known for playing with Harry Katz and the Pistachios) took up accordion duties.
 |
| O.S. Coleman at Harvard & Stone |
Yagki (aka Sarah Yagki) took the stage during my first WFNM showcase of 2026 at Hotel Ziggy. The Lebanese heritage, Australian born, current Los Angeles resident (apparently ended 2025 moving to Los Angeles) had an infectious enthusiasm during her 35 minute set. She made sure people were aware that her accent was Australian and "not a bad British accent." Personally, I'd like to know why Vegemite is a thing.
 |
| Yagki at Hotel Ziggy |
Chase Burnett was the opening performer for Ryan Pollie's first 2026 showcase at The Fable. He's Texan born and currently living in Los Angeles. He wanted to spend a month in Oakland, but will have to stick it out in Los Angeles for awhile as someone stole his catalytic converter. Though I do believe his current home base is Los Angeles, it would seem he spends significant time away from the city, as his Instagram page indicated that he spent a month or more in Austin, Texas. Time to time, when doing these write-ups and the corresponding research, I do notice the travel that various musicians do in life (beyond just touring), and I do say it gives me that travel itch.
 |
| Chase Burnett at The Fable |
I believe I first caught a Sharon Silva set in 2022 when she opened up for Jenny O, which I covered at the time for Buzzbands. Prior to that; however, I was familiar with her via The Wild Reeds and that dates back to 2013. I always seem to catch her playing with some awesome singer-songwriters. In 2023, she was on the same bill with Adriana McCassim. In 2024, she played a night that included Johanna Samuels and Valley Queen. I didn't happen to catch a set in 2025, but the opportunity popped up in early 2026 to catch a set at The Fable for Ryan Pollie's biweekly showcase.
 |
| Sharon Silva at The Fable |
Prior to headliner Never Knows Best taking the stage at the Redwood Bar, Spiral Teeth (you can read my review of that set here) told the audience "Happy New Year's Eve Eve." It was nearly the last day of 2025 and I finally made it to the Redwood Bar for the first time that year. The Redwood Bar isn't part of my standard rotation of venues that I visit, but you'd think I would have hit up the venue more than once in 2025.
 |
| Never Knows Best at the Redwood Bar |
I came across Batcave Lark (moniker for Lark Detweiler) in November at Substance Fest. They were a backup dancer for Pink Stiletto. Flash forward to the last few days of December and I was weighing two choices: head off to The Smell or the Redwood Bar. I took a look at the bands / artists playing at each venue. Playing the Redwood Bar was a band called Spiral Teeth. I quickly made the connection that Spiral Teeth was another artistic avenue of Detweiler's (maybe I figured this out back in November, but then just forgot about it). Decision was made, if Valery Kvochkova of Pink Stiletto had a connection with Spiral Teeth, I would head out to the Redwood Bar.
 |
| Spiral Teeth at the Redwood Bar |
I'm always looking for new bands in order to do write-ups on this blog site. It was the week of New Year's Eve and so not a whole lot was happening in the Los Angeles music scene. I wanted to head out a couple nights, because I do have a goal of writing at least 3 or 4 posts a week. There are a handful of weekly promotor inspired nights that I target when looking for new bands: AM Presents Music, Rocknite LA, and WFNM. All three were shut down for the week. Not all was lost. There was one final promotor that I track that was still holding a night of music. It was Swyndle and their Monday night at Harvard & Stone.
 |
| Nail Polish at Harvard & Stone |
Less of This who uses the hashtags post-hardcore and metalcore on their Instagram account were the main attraction at Zebulon. It was a post-Christmas night of music that had them as the opening band, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that the crowd showed up early to see them. The crowd was still in the festive mood of Christmas and spent plenty of time yelling their love for lead singer Aiden Grillo and wildly pogo dancing through many of their six song setlist.
 |
| Less of This at Zebulon |
Before Los Angeles was flooded by a series of holiday storms, D.A. Stern opened up the night at Club Tee Gee for an AM Presents Music showcase. Based on his Spotify bio, he's a New Jersey native who eventually made his way to Los Angeles. He must be a big baseball fan as his bio mentioned that while in New Jersey he'd spend time watching the Yankees with his mom and that once in Los Angeles he lived close to Dodgers Stadium. As for his music, "Stern’s laid back, tongue-in-cheek lyrics effortlessly compliment his dreamy pop rock arrangements of dense guitars and swirling organs. The music of D.A. Stern, who is more inspired by filmmakers Albert Brooks and Mel Brooks than any songwriter . . . "
 |
| D.A. Stern at Club Tee Gee |
I took off to see Mirrorball at AM Presents Music showcase at Club Tee Gee. Luckily for me, they played last. Why? Because I got to catch Photo Ops (the moniker for Terry Price). Based on the Instagram poster, I figured that Mirrorball would be up second and I was going to take off after that and jump into bed early. That plan was disrupted when Photo Ops took that slot.
 |
| Photo Ops at Club Tee Gee |
I first came across Devon Thompson in 2023 at The Smell and a couple times at WFNM in 2024. My 2025 encounter with the rising rocker was in December at El Cid (you can read my song spotlight for "Wishing" and other photos from the night here). Yes, a bit of a long wait to catch another set, but that is just how it is. The one thing I know about Devon Thompson is that she is one of the more photogenic musicians in Los Angeles. There is just a composure to the way she presents herself onstage. I knew I wanted to capture a photo that you'll see after the jump.
I came across Mirrorball at the 2024 Echo Park Rising festival. I was an official photographer for the festival and so I only caught a couple songs of their Bar Henry set before I was off to catch another performer. Bar Henry is a bit off the beaten path when it comes to Echo Park Rising so I was making a bee line all the way to Sticky Rice to snap photos of a favorite band of mine, Slugs. Along the way, I came across Beauty Queen playing a sidewalk performance. That was a pleasant surprise as I caught a couple of her sets back in 2019 and this was the first time connecting back up. Why am I bringing up all these random bands? Well, the purpose of this blog over the last year plus has been to randomly incorporate my memories of the Los Angeles music scene.
 |
| Mirrorball at Club Tee Gee |
Street Play opened up a mid-December night at the Lodge Room in support of Faetooth. Of interest, both bands have a commonality. Ashla Razzano played in both bands, ending her run with both in 2023. If the reader is interested, she is currently fronting the folk band Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit. This was my first time catching the band that currently has Jenna Reynoza on lead vocals and guitar, Jake Pavlica on drums, and replacing Ashla Razzano on bass is Keely Martin. Back in 2021, Martin directed a Street Play music video called "Teeth Puncture Lust" for the band. I love all these connections between bands. It just reminds me of last year's Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and how all these artists randomly connected during the same timeframe.
 |
| Street Play at the Lodge Room |
Before catching their December set at the Lodge Room, I had previously only caught Faetooth once before at Non Plus Ultra. It was 2022 and I was enthralled with their doom metal and the witchy sort of vibes that the band gave off. At the time, they were a four piece that included Ashla Razzano on guitar (currently in an alt-folk band called Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit). What really sticks in my mind is what happened after their set. I believe that Urns and Argyles was playing their set and a mosh pit formed. I was blissfully on my knees taking photos. Standing to my right was guitarist Ari May. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her motioning to me to move. I thought it was a very nice gesture.
 |
| Faetooth at the Lodge Room |
I came across Whitney Tai back in 2023 at a Monday Monday at Hotel Cafe night hosted by Brenda Carsey. Monday Monday nights are mini-sets so since that night I've always wanted to catch a full set. I know it took way too long, but I got to attend her record release party for her third album American Wasteland at Licorice Pizza Records.
 |
| Whitney Tai at Licorice Pizza Records |
I went off to WFNM's showcase at Hotel Ziggy to catch Mara Connor. My chances of catching her in concert are not as frequent as prior years as she's spending time in Nashville. You can read a blog post that I wrote close to a year ago for her song "Someone New" here. Anyways, the first artist of the night was Eliza Spear who happened to mention that she's also from Los Angeles, but has since moved to Brooklyn.
 |
| Eliza Spear at Hotel Ziggy |
A Handful of Show Alerts
Sunday, Jan 11th: Funds for Jimmy at The Smell. Doors at 8 p.m.A few months had passed since I last went to an Americana Joy night at the Bigfoot Lodge. For some reason, the Friday night events either snuck up on me or I had a scheduling conflict. On this particular night, I noticed that Harry Katz and the Pistachios was playing so I made extra sure that my calendar was cleared for that Friday night. What is always fun for me when going out to catch a particular favorite band is when I come across a band that isn't on my radar and I find their set rather enjoyable. That so happened on this particular night when Havana Bass hit the stage.
 |
| Havana Bass at the Bigfoot Lodge |
Maejoy closed out the night for me at the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. It appears that she is currently living in Los Angeles though she recently lived in Las Vegas. From what I can tell, she was ingrained in the Las Vegas music scene, putting together an occasional event called "All The Feels" at The Sand Dollar Downtown.
 |
| Maejoy at Hotel Ziggy |
The Romanian-born Sofia Ionescu recently moved to Orange County just two years ago and is now a freshman at USC. In early December, she performed at Hotel Ziggy for the WFNM showcase. Being a USC student, she brought along a contingent of fellow USC Thornton classmates who providing backing vocals and instrumental support. Her Spotify bio mentions that she is a fan Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, and Amy Winehouse. You know what that means, it was a jazz-blues set and, of course, a cover of Amy Winehouse's "You Know I'm No Good."
 |
| Sofia Ionescu at Hotel Ziggy |
Darienne Savoy opened up a December night at Hotel Ziggy the right way for the WFNM crowd. Her R&B vocals were smooth and polished, delighting all. Joining on keys and backing vocals was her producer Noriko Olling while Kaili Sincere and Aaron Junior provided additional backing vocals. And I should not forget that hidden off to the side was guitarist Yohei Nakamura.
 |
| Darienne Savoy at Hotel Ziggy |
They/Live took the stage at Zebulon on a December night. It was an interesting route to Zebulon on my part, but I'm glad I made it. The previous night, I got a last minute request to cover a set in DTLA. I pinged my contact the next morning (being the night of the They/Live set). I was told that everything was a go with a photo pass and ticket at the box office window. I got to the venue at around 7:30 p.m. I went to the box office booth and was told I had a ticket, but I wasn't on the photo list. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to resolve the situation. I sent texts to my contact. I sent Instagram messages to the two performers that night and even sent a message to someone I know who occasionally works at the venue. It just wasn't meant to be.
 |
| They/Live at Zebulon |
Sunrose (lead vocalist and guitarist Jaxon Rose, bassist Tripp Bowers, and drummer Jax Kemp) had drummer Kemp take to the El Cid stage for a Whiplash solo percussion opening. Got to love it when a band let's the drummer open up the night. On that early December date, the band's aggressive style was the perfect setup for headliner Devon Thompson (you can read that review here).
 |
| Sunrose at El Cid |
Jesse Detor might have been the opening artist at El Cid in early December, but as soon as the doors opened to let the crowd into the venue, many of them rushed to the front of the stage in anticipation of her set. That enthusiasm for her music was reciprocated with pop-punk energy on her part. The rocker recently moved to Los Angeles, having grown up in Minneapolis and attended the Berklee College of Music.
 |
| Jesse Detor at El Cid |
Child Seat (the duo of Madeleine Mathews and Josiah Mazzaschi) kicked off the night at The Goldfish in a celebration of girlish figure's music video release for "Please Her For Pleasure." You can read that review here. I've followed the band since 2022, but I've known about both Mathews and Mazzaschi for much longer. I came across Mathews via MAWD in 2019 and I've followed Mazzaschi since 2011 (oh yeah, I've been hanging out in the Los Angeles music scene for way too long) via Light FM and then in 2018 via Bizou. Interesting fun fact about Bizou, bassist Nicole Fiorentino is known for playing with Garbage and The Smashing Pumpkins. Circling back to Child Seat, I've always loved the band and in 2024 I covered their record release show for their sophomore album Dancing at The Disco, which you can read here.
 |
| Child Seat at The Goldfish |
I've been hanging out in the Los Angeles music scene long enough that when I saw the band Font was playing Zebulon, I immediately flashbacked to a band called LA Font. That was a band that played the Los Angeles music scene from around 2008 to 2018. I believe I saw that band band four different times between 2011 and 2014.
 |
| Font at Zebulon |