Pretty But Wicked put together a solid line-up at Zebulon on a Tuesday night with Host Family as the anchor. The band was celebrating the release of their EP Extended Play. I will admit that the reason I went out to Zebulon was to catch Mo Dotti for the first time in 2025; however, the whole bill was fantastic. Seko opened up the night. The band was joined at different points during the set by Host Family band members Spencer Stange and Zac Hernandez.
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| Host Family at Zebulon |
I first came across Devon Ross in December 2023 at the Zebulon. I was an immediate fan. She was scheduled to once again play Zebulon in January 2025, but the night got cancelled due to the massive January fires in Los Angeles. I knew that the night would get rescheduled eventually so I kept an eye out. Finally, it was announced that there would be a Monday night set in May to help celebrate her single release "All the Things." Date was circled and I was there when it arrived. Of interest is that Longplayer was part of the bill for both that December 2023 set and this May 2025 set.
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| Devon Ross at Zebulon |
I noticed that Rachel Goodrich was playing Ryan Pollie's showcase at The Fable. There was a tough decision to make. That tough decision wasn't rather or not I was going to The Fable on a Tuesday night. No, the tough decision was what future night was getting cut out of my schedule. I'll repeat what I've written before, 2025 is dedicated to going out less often than I did in 2024. In 2024, I would not have made an adjustment to my schedule, but this being 2025 it means that unexpected surprises result in scratching a future planned music night. To say it this way: I really wanted to catch up with Goodrich again.
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| Rachel Goodrich at The Fable |
Mo Dotti played perhaps their best set ever (of those I've seen) during Pretty But Wicked's recent night at the Zebulon. It was, as they describe on their website, noise pop (or others call shoe gaze) heaven. The band was opening for Host Family. Let's flash forward to the end of the set and their song "for anyone and you." Lead singer Gina Negrini went reaching for the tambourines. That got her band questioning her as she was supposed to play guitar. She responded saying that it would take too long to tune the guitar and she didn't want to impose on Host Family's time. I thought that was such a thoughtful gesture. That didn't stop the band from playing those guitar riffs that give the song such notable power. It also did not go unnoticed that Negrini took off her glasses for the song.
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| Mo Dotti at Zebulon |
Sierra Levesque hit the WFNM stage at Hotel Ziggy with a firecracker personality. She hails from Canada, but now lives in Santa Monica. She introducing herself with, "I'm mostly rock music so I'm going turn it up just a little bit for you guys." Then she kicked off the set with "Don't Make Me Repeat Myself." It had me thinking Heart 1985.
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| Sierra Levesque at Hotel Ziggy |
Mac Hanson used to play under the moniker Joshua & The Holy Rollers. I caught a set back in 2018 at The Hi Hat (current location of The Goldfish). It was a high energy set. I later caught a portion of a set while running and gunning at the 2019 Echo Park Rising. Fast forward to June 2025 and I was looking for something to do on a Sunday night. I happened to notice that Swyndle was doing a free night at Gold-Diggers. First off, I realized that I hadn't gone to Gold-Diggers yet in 2025 and the year was basically half way over. (Once I got to the venue, someone that I run across every so often at various venues mentioned that she hadn't see me at Gold-Diggers in a very long time. Totally true.) Also, I noticed that Mac Hanson was doing a Single Release party. I'm always good for an album, EP, or single release party.
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| Mac Hanson at Gold-Diggers |
Okay, a good romance is always nice to see on the movie or television screen. It is a unique moment when you see it played out at a music venue that. That occurred at Hotel Ziggy during a WFNM night when significant others Blake Stokes and Liza (Aliza Kate Barlow) played back to back sets.
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| Blake Stokes at Hotel Ziggy |
A Handful of Show Alerts
Sunday, Jul 6th: Ben Reddell at The Echo. Doors at 5 p.m.I first came across Lucy & La Mer (the moniker for Lucy LaForge) in 2017 at Chinatown Summer Nights. I was immediately sold. And she must have been sold on my photography, because every so often I'd get asked if I wanted to shoot a show.
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| Lucy & La Mer at Hotel Ziggy |
I was introduced to Ned Casual via his band Zooluxx. Their PR person reached out in late January 2020 about covering their set at the Moroccan Lounge. If you wish to do so, you can read the article here. The article posted on February 21st. It is interesting thinking back to those times. Just a couple weeks later, venues would shut down and stay shut down for more than a year.
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| Ned Casual at Harvard & Stone |
