Ron Blakely hit the stage with high expectations on my part during their WFNM showcase at Bar Lubitsch. First off, WFNM founder Grant Owens mentioned to me that Blakely had great vocals. Then Giselle (who opened prior to their set) pumped them up during her set. (You can read my Song Spotlight of her song "Skeleton" here.)
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| Ron Blakely at Bar Lubitsch |
A Handful (bucketful) of Show Alerts
Sunday, Nov 2nd: Primitive Ring at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.Seeing Kelcey Ayer in concert always reminds me of my first few years in the Los Angeles music scene. Way back in 2009, a friend mentioned to me that I should head to the Silverlake Lounge to catch a band called Local Natives. The place was packed from stage to entrance. Somehow I was allowed inside -- I'm sure the fire marshal would have shut the place down. I squeezed my way to the front of the stage so that I could take photos of the band. It was love at first sight. And via Local Natives, I connected with bands such as Eastern Conference Champions (Mondo Cozmo) and Family of the Year.
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| Kelcey Ayer at The Goldfish |
Pearl Charles recently played the relaunch of KCRW x School Night. For the relaunch, the night shifted from Bardot to Zebulon. This was my first time catching her live (I did catch an online set when venues were shut down). Considering how long she's been part of the Los Angeles music scene, I am a touch embarrassed to admit that. It is what it is.
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| Pearl Charles at Zebulon |
Harry the Nightgown calls their music "electronic avant-pop." I would also add that the band is a playful outfit that enjoys each other's company. This band was having too much fun on the Zebulon stage during their recent September set. As the band was about to start their set, lead singer and guitarist Sami Perez took out her phone to take photos (or videos) of her bandmates Spencer Hartling and Luke MacDonald. She was laughing all the while. My curiosity has me wondering what she was finding so amusing.
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| Harry the Nightgown at Zebulon |
I've followed Ty Teg (the moniker for Audrey Reynolds) since 2022 when the band played The Smell. I caught the band a second time in 2023 -- once again at The Smell. In those two encounters, I've felt like I was hanging out with the cool art crowd. It helped that Reynolds is a graduate (or soon to be) of CalArts. Also, during both those nights the bands they played with had that artsy air to them. Hound played that first night in 2022. Though I believe the band has broken up as the duo headed off to college, it does appear that one of them has a solid following related to their art endeavors. The second time around, the band played with March Adstrum (someone I think highly of and you can read a blog post I wrote here) who is a CalArts graduate.
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| Ty Teg at Zebulon |
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| Cosmic Kitten at Happy Sundays Fest |
I've followed Kate Clover's music career since 2016 when her band ExSage had a residency at the Bootleg Theater (current location of 2220 Arts). That is nearly a decade ago. I remember having conversations about catching this awesome band called ExSage for the first time and people responding with, "You never heard of Cobalt Cranes?" Jump forward a few years and I ended up covered her solo sets twice for Buzzbands. Once in 2019 when she opened up for Death Valley Girls (you can read that article here) and another time when she was headlining her own show in 2022 (you can read that article here).
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| Kate Clover at Levitt Pavilion |
A Handful of Show Alerts
Sunday, Oct 26th: Patriarchy and Dagger Polyester at the Lodge Room. Doors at 7 p.m.I first crossed paths with All Things Blue in 2019 at The Hi Hat. The symmetry of life had me at The Goldfish (the former location of The Hi Hat) in late August to catch a farewell set. All Things Blue is the moniker for lead singer India Coombs. She announced earlier in the month that she was taking off to New York City after spending the last 11 years in Los Angeles.
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| All Things Blue at The Goldfish |
