I arrived about ten minutes too late to catch Houston In The Blind's full set at Harvard & Stone (a Swyndle night). I walked into the venue and was immediately blown away and regretted not showing up just a few minutes earlier. The music was sonic bliss with a shoegaze touch.
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| Houston In The Blind at Harvard & Stone |
Jane Beeson who performs / releases music under her last name played the WFNM night at Hotel Ziggy the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving. This was my second time catching a set. My first time catching one of her sets was at the same location back in July. I was hesitant to head out on Wednesday night as I knew I had to wake up early on Thanksgiving to do some food preparation, but getting a second chance to catch Beeson won out.
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| Beeson at Hotel Ziggy |
A Handful of Show Alerts
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| Zeinapur at Non Plus Ultra |
I first came across Kianah LongChase of TwoLips in 2018 -- twice, in fact. What is an interesting point about the two encounters is that the sets were held at a couple favorite venues that have since closed: The Satellite and The Hi Hat. I then caught TwoLips twice more in 2019. This time those venues and events had better luck surviving: The Echo and Echo Park Rising. Unfortunately, though, I had to wait until 2023 to catch another set and only one set that year. That set was also at Echo Park Rising. And in 2024, I'm back to two sets a year. Once at The Echo and just recently at Non Plus Ultra. Yes, the number two is a trend here.
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| TwoLips at Non Plus Ultra |
I wrote the following back during the summer on Instagram, "This is my third time catching Scout LaRue Willis. The first two times were in 2016 at the Bootleg Theater. It only took 8 years to catch another set. I did try to catch a set in 2023. I was at an early show at the Moroccan Lounge and decided to make a dash to Zebulon. I got to the Zebulon and the set times had been moved up by 30 minutes. Usually Zebulon has a 15 minute buffer going in the other direction. Oh well, I waited a few months and got to finally catch a set at Zebulon."
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| Scout LaRue Willis at Zebulon |
Nashville based musician Austin Stambaugh dropped on by Club Tee Gee for a Back in the Garage night. He was at the end of a tour that took him from Texas to New Mexico to Arizona with two stops in California via San Diego and Los Angeles. The tour was to promoted his just released Speechmythology: The Musical Short Stories of Austin Stambaugh album. I will admit that my going out to Club Tee Gee was not due to knowing anything about Stambaugh. I noticed that Rosy Nolan was on the bill and the last time I saw a full set was back in September 2023. It sounded like a good time to head out and catch another set.
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| Austin Stambaugh at Club Tee Gee |
While hanging out at WFNM, I've seen Liza Light playing back-up for Megan Winsor and perhaps another singer or two. What I've noticed is the enthusiasm and joy that she has playing in a band. Looking at the WFNM schedule recently, I saw that she was playing a set as the front woman. I decided I had to circle the date. I was curious about what her sound was when she was in front of the microphone.
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| Liza Light at Bar Lubitsch |
It is probably due to my desire to catch local bands before they gain a following that explains why I like to catch opening bands. I've occasionally shown up at venues an hour early (because I simply can't judge when the first band hits the stage) just so that I can catch the opener. And by desire to catch local bands, I mean being one of the first photographers to snap some concert photos.
Side note: that theory of being one of the first photographers to snap photos could also apply to the last band of the night, but depending on when that band hits the stage, there is something called needing to wake up the next morning to go to work. Trade-offs in life.
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| Night Party at Zebulon |
Zebulon more often than not introduces me to bands that are new to me, but maybe not to others. This was the case on a recent Saturday night when Autogramm hit the stage just before 8:30 p.m. The band joked that there was a large contingent of Canadians in the audience. The band comes from Vancouver, British Columbia though their Instagram account also mentions Chicago and Seattle. I'm not sure if they all currently live in Vancouver or if they all grew up in Vancouver and now some of them live in the United States. Whatever to that wondering on my part, the band had their Canadian support crew in the audience.
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| Autogramm at Zebulon |
