Review: Max Look "Always" dreaming at The Goldfish

I first came across Max Look and the Tomorrow Band in July 2021. As one might recall, venues were just starting to reopen around that time. It wasn't the first time I ventured back out into the world of the Los Angeles music scene. My first official venture back out was catching Starcrawler doing an acoustic set at Stories Books and Cafe. I do believe it was my fifth time out when I caught up with the band and it actually wasn't at a venue. It was at a house party in Highland Park, hosted by Broom Closet Records. It was a solid lineup. Cheekface and Suzie True were the headliners. I next came across Max Look at the 2023 Echo Park Rising Festival (it was admittedly a brief encounter as I take a run and gun approach at Echo Park Rising as I cover the festival for various blog sites and try to catch as many bands and singers as possible). Once again, it was at the outdoor stage of The Semi-Tropic. 

Max Look at The Goldfish

Total Pleasure and Friends mix it up at Zebulon

I will occasionally make references in these blog posts to a past DIY scene called Kiss or Kill. That's the scene that got me hooked on Los Angeles bands. One part of that scene that always fascinated me was how bands helped other bands. I distinctly remember a night where the guitarist for the band The Randies broke a guitar string. Immediately, someone from the band Underwater City People came to the rescue, took the guitar, and started to replace the broken string. For someone outside of the Kiss or Kill scene (which would probably be most of the readers of this post) who comes across this review, you've probably never heard of the bands The Randies and Underwater City People. Hey, that's perfectly fine. Why would you have? I think the important point is that each generation of Los Angeles bands often form friendships and that it the emphasis of this post. 

Total Pleasure at Zebulon

Song Spotlight: Lael Neale's Down On The Freeway (a night at Zebulon)

Zebulon and Secret Fires hooked up the Los Angeles music scene with two awesome nights of free music. First up on Tuesday was Gustaf (you can read my review here). Then on Thursday, they hosted Lael Neale's record release party for Altogether Stranger that will be officially released on May 2nd, but those in attendance were able to buy the vinyl copy early. Let's say that again, both nights were free.

Lael Neale at Zebulon

Review: Gustaf amps up their fan base at Zebulon

Gustaf played a packed out Secret Fires night at Zebulon for a show celebrating the life of the Father of Loud Jim Marshall. He founded Marshall Amplification and the company was at Zebulon in a massive display of music power, bringing 6 stacks of amplifiers that were lined up at the back of the stage. If the stage was larger, their might have been 7 stacks as there were some additional amps off in the stage stairwell. Were those amps used during the set? Unfortunately not as I suspect that would be too much power for Zebulon's electrical systems to handle and perhaps the ears of the band and audience. 

Gustaf at Zebulon

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Apr 13th - Apr 19th

A Handful of Show Alerts

Monday, Apr 14th: Letting Up Despite Great Faults at The Echo. Doors at 7 p.m.

Been loving this band since 2013.

Tuesday, Apr 15th: Bruvvy at Good Times at Davey Wayne's. Doors at 10 p.m.

Wrote a Song Spotlight for their song "Concealer" that you can read here.

Friday, Apr 18th: Matt Axton at the Bigfoot Lodge. Doors at 8 p.m.

Wrote a Song Spotlight for his song "Golden Times" that you can read here.

Saturday, Apr 19th: Sasami at the Lodge Room. Doors at 7:30 p.m.

I covered Sasami for Buzzbands in 2019, which you can read here.

Song Spotlight: Sally Spitz's Lovebuzz (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

I've followed Sally Spitz since 2016. At the time, she fronted the punk band French Vanilla. That date in 2016 was a residency night at The Echo. I obviously don't recall all the details from that night, but I do remember it well. Drinking Flowers was the residency band. Bassist Jade Christensen had a jar / cup / box (I don't exactly remember) that was filled with glitter. She started to sprinkle the audience with the glitter. I was taking photos at the end of stage left. When she got to me, she just dumped what was left of the glitter right on top of me. I was finding glitter years later on my camera and camera lenses. I am still using that same camera bag from that night and I suspect that if I went looking through it with a magnifying glass, I'd find some glitter in there somewhere. Mercy, maybe there's still some in my hair or inner ear, who knows, it was a lot of glitter that got dumped on me. Also playing that night was HOTT MT, a band that I really do need to see again. I've followed that band since 2014. 

Sally Spitz at Hotel Ziggy

Song Spotlight: Capri's Spiders (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

Capri has a youthful enthusiasm that served her well at Hotel Ziggy during her WFNM set. The singer has an interesting background. Prior to writing on this blog about singers and bands that I've never seen before, I'll do a little Internet search on them to provide me with some writing material. Results popped up without much effort. 

Capri at Hotel Ziggy

Song Spotlight: Menea's Ponder (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

Menea, the shortened moniker for Menea Kefalov, provided the WFNM crowd at Hotel Ziggy with an enchanting performance. It was in support of her March 5th EP release paint me green. She started off her set with "that familiar place." There was just something about her vocals that immediately caught my attention. She wasn't trying to always sing in a smooth and melodic manner. She sang at times like she was tuning her guitar, just going slightly off-tune for just a moment before veering back. Was it an inability to keep a tune? No, it was done on purpose. Other times, she just let her vocals switch time signatures on a dime. It hit me shortly that there was a touch of Basia in those vocals. 

Menea at Hotel Ziggy

Review: Dirtydom & The Vibe energize the soul at Hotel Ziggy

Do I suddenly have a jazz fixation? Since restarting this blog in August of last year, I've written a few times about local jazz bands. This includes noworriesLMK at Zebulon and Wayne Redfern at Club Tee Gee.  

It was off to a WFNM night at Hotel Ziggy on a Tuesday night. Now I went to this specific night to catch a singer (non-jazz) that I've followed since 2016. I'm very happy I made that decision, because I also ended up seeing Dirtydom & The Vibe. 

Dirtydom & The Vibe at Hotel Ziggy

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Apr 6th - Apr 12th

A Handful of Show Alerts

Tuesday, Apr 8th: Bruvvy at Good Times at Davey Wayne's. Doors at 10 p.m.

Wrote a Song Spotlight for their song "Concealer" that you can read here.

Tuesday, Apr 8th: Gustaf at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.

Shot the band back in 2019 for Buzzbands. You can read my review here.

Tuesday, Apr 8th: Mo Dotti and My Veronica at Gold-Diggers. Doors at 7 p.m.

I covered Mo Dotti's 2024 set for US Rocker Music. You can read that here. I listed My Veronica as one of my favorite new bands of 2024. You can read that post here.

Wednesday, Apr 9th: Ryan Hahn & The Believers at Harvard & Stone. Set time at 11 p.m.

One of the first bands I saw when venues re-opened. You can read about my night here.

Thursday, Apr 10th: Lael Neale at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.
An album release show.

Thursday, Apr 10th: Smooth Jas at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.

Covered a 2022 Happy Sundays Long Beach set for Buzzbands. You can read my review here.

Thursday, Apr 10th: The Spyrals at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

Wrote a review of their 2024 album release show that you can read here.

Friday, Apr 11th: Essenger at The Echoplex. Doors at 7 p.m.

Wrote a Song Spotlight for his song "After Dark" that you can read here.

Friday, Apr 11th: Primitive Ring at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

They opened up for The Spyrals' 2024 album release show discussed above.

Saturday, Apr 12th: Paper Citizen at The Escondite. Doors at 5:00 p.m.

Covered Paper Citizen in 2022 for Buzzbands. You can read my review here.

Song Spotlight: Alice Sandahl's Walk It Off (a night at Permanent Records Roadhouse)

I first came across Alice Sandahl at the Sage Brews stage at Echo Park Rising last year. I only caught a song or two. For those who don't know, I rush around Echo Park Rising like a wild man, shooting as many bands and artists as possible. I don't particularly remember a whole lot about her singing, but I do remember one thing specifically. There were three children hanging out next to the outdoor stage. Prior to her set, they had their hands and ears pressed against the stage monitors, feeling the vibrations of the DJ music. I almost went over to them and told them that putting their ears next to the monitors would damage their hearing, but then I didn't want to be the old person who basically was lecturing kids when their parents were only a few feet away. 

Alice Sandahl at Permanent Records Roadhouse

Song Spotlight: The Morning Yells' These Days (a night at Harvard & Stone)

BIG NOTE: The band announced a farewell show for April 5th at the Cinema Bar. See additional details here.

Phil Stancil of The Morning Yells recently played a set at Harvard & Stone. Though he was playing a solo set, he was still playing songs from The Morning Yells catalog. The set started off with "Hummingbird." That song hasn't been officially released, but there is a Youtube video that you can view here that was filmed in Mount Washington last year. It is a song not about a living hummingbird, but a Gibson Hummingbird guitar. It caught my attention at the Americana West Fest that I covered for US Rocker Music that you can read about here. "Oh sweet Hummingbird where are you now . . . once I held you safe in my arms . . . searched every pawn shop . . . Oh sweet Hummingbird, wherever you go, you know . . . your songs will stay with me forever and never grow old."

Phil Stancil of The Morning Yells at Harvard & Stone

Song Spotlight: Meels' Falcon and the Loon (a night at Bar Lubitsch)

Take a teaspoon of Arrow De Wilde and give it an Americana twist and Meels emerges. Meels is the moniker for Amelia Einhorn who recently played a WFNM night at Bar Lubitsch. Einhorn is from Mill Valley and a recent graduate from NYU. Based on the Bar Lubitsch performance, I'd say that the Los Angeles Americana-country music scene is lucky that she decided to unpack her bags in the city and nto Nashville. 

Meels at Bar Lubitsch