2025 List of Favorite New Bands and Singers (new to me, but maybe not to you)

2025 List of Favorite New Bands and Singers: new to me, but maybe not to you (alphabetical):

20. Adrian Bourgeois (seen August 4th). A band that I had seen before called Wynn was playing a rare set. I was thinking of just doing a hit and run, but then decided to check out who else was playing that night. I happened to notice that Adrian Bourgeois follows me on Instagram so off I went to catch his set, as well. Killer tenor vocals that float through the clouds. 

Check out the song: Nothing Can Hurt Me. 

Adrian Bourgeois at Harvard & Stone

Random thoughts: Echo Park Rising was bursting at the seams. Time to expand to two days.

Song Spotlight: Dutch Interior's I'll Be Damned (a night at Zebulon)

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, I decided to head out to Zebulon for a free show that featured Dutch Interior. I will admit that I had never heard of this 6 piece band (Hayden Barton, Shane Barton, Noah Kurtz, Jack Nugent, Conner Reeves, Davis Stewart) and had no clue about their music genre. It was a situation where I wanted to catch some random bands and so off I went. For their set, the venue was packed deep with fans. That, of course, just made me realize once again that no matter how often I head out to catch live music, there are always Los Angeles bands out there that have a devoted following and are not on my radar. If this band had just started performing, I would just think I was one of the first people to find a hidden gem, but this band has been putting out music since 2021.  

Dutch Interior at Zebulon

Song Spotlight: Jay Som's What You Need (a night at The Roxy)

I recently covered Jay Som (the moniker for Melina Duterte) at The Roxy for US Rocker Music. You can read that coverage here. Like similar times when I've covered a band or artist for US Rocker Music, this Jay Som blog post is a more personalized write-up that focuses on a specific song. (Here are a couple other similar personalized posts: you can read my Sasami post here and my Dove Armitage post here.) 

Jay Som at The Roxy

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Dec 28th - Jan 3rd

A Handful (only two) of Show Alerts

Tuesday, Dec 30th: Rocco Deluca at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.
You can read my review of a recent set here.

Friday, Jan 2nd: Devon Williams, Lily Waters, and Sean Solomon at The Smell. 

Read my song spotlight for Devon Williams' "Futility" here.

Read my song spotlight for Lily Waters' "Big Star" here. 

I reference Sean Solomon in my Fashion Club blog post, which you can read here.

Two Movies seen on TCM: Champion (1949) and Hard Times (1975)

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. The following two movies: Champion and Hard Times follow the lives of boxers. 

Song Spotlight: Fashion Club's Confusion (a night at The Roxy)

I was covering Jay Som at The Roxy for US Rocker Music and before heading out I decided to do some research on the opening band, Los Angeles based Fashion Club (the moniker for Pascal Stevenson). I started off at the Instagram page and was like, "No, I don't think I've ever heard anything about this band." Then I did a Google search and up popped a Flood Magazine article. I clicked on the link and scanned through the write-up and the band name Moaning caught my attention. Then it all came together. I've been following Stevenson since 2010 when I saw a band called Moses Campbell playing a long gone music festival called Silver Lake Jubilee. 

Fashion Club at The Roxy

Song Spotlight: Syd Taylor's Heaven (a night at Zebulon)

Syd Taylor was the headline singer at the final 2025 School Night X KCRW at Zebulon. This was the fourth edition of School Night's return to the Los Angeles music scene after ending their multi-year run last year at Bardot. I won't lie and say that School Night was on my regular rotation, but I did attempt to make it to Bardot every so often. In fact, I wrote a couple articles for US Rocker Music about my adventures at School Night. In 2022, I wrote up an article featuring talker (you can read that article here) and another featuring King Mala (you can read that article here). 

Syd Taylor at Zebulon

Song Spotlight: Leyla Ebrahimi's i'm too pretty for this (a night at Zebulon)

Coming in from New York, Persian-American Leyla Ebrahimi took to the Zebulon stage for the final School Night X KCRW night of 2025. She took to the stage in baggy pants, hoodie, and cap . . . and an infectious level of enthusiasm. She and her band opened up the set with a Led Zeppelin-ish opening for "planet you forgot me." She gave the audience a look and a smile and they responded with cheers. She then roamed the stage, pogo dancing while singing the dream pop tune. The song has these memorable lines of shared misery, "Now I'm an 18th century graveyard you're a fucking mess like me." 

Leyla Ebrahimi at Zebulon

Song Spotlight: Lily Waters' Big Star (a night at Harvard & Stone)

I first came across Lily Waters in 2017 and put the band on my list of favorite new bands for the year. I went back to look at that list of bands. I've got to say that was one awesome year of coming across new bands. Who were some other names on that favorite's list?

Lily Waters at Harvard & Stone

Song Spotlight: Murdo Mitchell's One Glass (a night at The Goldfish)

Glasgow-based singer Murdo Mitchell dropped on by The Goldfish for a Rocknite LA showcase. It was one memorable showcase by this singer-songwriter with a Scottish accent. At the beginning of the set, when the crowd was standing back some ten feet from the stage, he looked out into the crowd and motioned with his hands that he wanted everyone to come forward, "Any chance I can ask a couple of favors? Can you take a couple steps towards me? F*ck, if you don't understand English, just follow the universal hand signal." 

Murdo Mitchell at The Goldfish

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Dec 21st - Dec 27th

A Single Show Alert 

Sunday, Dec 21st: Mike Watt & The Secondmen at Alex's Bar. Doors at 2 p.m.
In 2024, I covered his Happy Sundays Long Beach set for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Photo Review: TR/ST at Substance Fest (held at The Belasco)

TR/ST  (the moniker for Robert Alfons) was the closing band for both nights at this year's two day Substance Fest held at The Belasco. You can read my review of the festival at US Rocker Music (click here). This was my first time attending Substance Fest. To be honest, a main reason why I wanted to attend the festival was due to the fact that Silent Mass was playing the festival. Also, the fact that Pink Stiletto was playing, helped as well. If you follow my blog site, you know I have a soft spot for DIY local bands. (Though both Silent Mass and Pink Stiletto live outside of Los Angeles, both used to live in the city.) Of course, one could argue that all the bands at this festival were DIY bands. Let's just say I like catching bands that play the smaller stages. Substance Fest had three stages: the main stage and the two other stages being in the balcony and basement. I've been to The Belasco a handful of times and didn't even know they had a basement area (other than knowing that they had bathrooms down there). Also, to be honest, I actually didn't know there was a balcony area. I did some fun exploring of the venue during the festival. One of these days, I would mind having an all access pass and seeing what the back stage looks like.

Song Spotlight: Passion Mango's Boy (a night at Zebulon)

Passion Mango (the stage name for Connor Wilkinson) was the opening band for Hotel Mira's headlining show at Zebulon. Both are Canadian bands (though Hotel Mira's Charlie Kerr currently resides in Los Angeles). It was a time for the Los Angeles music scene to go out and support their northern neighbors. If interested, I wrote a review of the night over at US Rocker Music, which you can read here.  

Passion Mango at Zebulon