Singer and model Kwasi Stampley had the irresistible energy going at WFNM's showcase at Hotel Ziggy. It started from the very beginning of the set when his rock, rap, R&B fusion opening song had him switching between two guitars and hair whipping.
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| Kwasi Stampley at Hotel Ziggy |
Before playing her set, Hana Giraldo took a seat on the couches at WFNM's showcase at Hotel Ziggy. She got to catch a few songs from Tanja (read a prior review here). Tanja did a few dance moves in the direction of Giraldo who was grooving to the dreamy pop tunes. The two appeared to have made a friendship connection with each other prior to their sets.
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| Hana Giraldo at Hotel Ziggy |
In a pre-Halloween set, Katie Ward brought her jazz composition and vocals to WFNM's showcase at Hotel Ziggy. This was my second time checking out one of her sets. The previous time was at Bar Lubitsch in August. Based on her Instagram account, it would seem she first made her mark in the San Diego jazz scene and has since shifted her attention to playing around Los Angeles at venues such as Gold-Diggers, Hotel Cafe, and the aforementioned venues.
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| Katie Ward at Hotel Ziggy |
Cissi TV (the moniker for multidisciplinary artist Cissi Efraimsson) used the day before Halloween to celebrate her debut EP release Mixed Signals. Zebulon was packed to support her accomplishment. Backing her up was an all-star of DIY Los Angeles musicians or as bassist Kelsey Hart (The Little Ghost of Death Valley Girls) put out, "Girl Power!" In additional to Hart, there was guitarist Staz Lindes of The Paranoyds and keyboardist Izzy Glaudini of Automatic rounded out the Efrainmsson's backing band.
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| Cissi TV at Zebulon |
Actress and singer Nikki Hahn opened up a pre-Halloween night at WFNM's showcase at Hotel Ziggy. The set highlighted her love of scary movies and characters. Her costume for the night was of vampire attire, which included a pearl white necklace. The bottom part of the necklace was drenched in fake blood with red beads running down her chest. Her electric guitarists (who I do believe is her father) was dressed as a lord vampire. Her other band mates were not as into the holiday spirit, but did sport some fake blood on their faces.
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| Nikki Hahn at Hotel Ziggy |
I first came across the back to basics rocker Devon Thompson at The Smell in late 2023. In 2024, she played a trio of sets at WFNM that I caught, the last one being an acoustic set. A bit too much time had passed since I last crossed paths with the self described "Angel from the Valley." When I noticed that she was playing El Cid, I circled the date.
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| Devon Thompson at El Cid |
Meernaa (the moniker for Carly Bond) opened up the night for Shannon Lay's final October residency night at Zebulon. Outside on the patio, the venue was prepped for Halloween. A giant skeleton loomed high above the crowd. This was a subject of conversation when someone in the audience asked a question about what Bond sees when she looks into someone's eyes, "And you'll see it too, flames. You go see that skeleton outside. Bag of bones. And there's flames."
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| Meernaa at Zebulon |
On occasion, I get pinged by bands that are new to me, giving me a heads up about an upcoming gig. This happened recently when girlish figure (moniker for Analise Nelson) sent me an Instagram IM mentioning that they were having a video release party for "Please Her For Pleasure" at The Goldfish. I was given a synopsis of the music video, "a heavily 80s inspired pop jam with a video that will tell a dark, but campy story about queer love and transformation. We follow a Nun (girlish figure) whose Christmas Eve mass gets turned upside down when a mysterious woman (Catherine McCafferty) inspires them to leave the church and the habit behind. They’re sneered at by the sexually repressed priest (Sam Pancake) and chased down by Animal Control, but what their attackers don’t know is that the gay club they’ve fled to is frequented by gay werewolves...and tonight is a full moon."
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| girlish figure at The Goldfish |
When online sets were the rage in 2020, I caught Talk2Strangers via Los Angeleno (from what I can tell, the website still posts articles on an intermittent basis). It was an artsy set in the vain of other Los Angeles notables like Bloody Death Skull and Jess Joy (since moved back to her home state of Louisiana). You can see that performance here.
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| Talk2Strangers at The Goldfish |
I got introduced to American Mile by Sideways Media (Nicole Poulos) back in May. I've worked with Poulos for nearly a decade (give or take a year or two either way). She was asking if I could make their American Dream album release party in June, but that just wasn't going to work out for me (real life work issues). I did suggest doing a Q&A with the band for US Rocker Music.
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| American Mile at Hotel Ziggy |
Below is a response to one of the questions:
Question: Your sophomore album American Dream, just came out. How would you like the album to impact those who listen to it?
Answer" I would like the album to inspire people, make people groove and dance, give people hope and faith in life. I want the album to let people know, to never give up, to keep going. I also hope it inspires people to write more songs and pick up more instruments too.
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| American Mile at Hotel Ziggy |
You can read the full Q&A here.
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| American Mile at Hotel Ziggy |
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| American Mile at Hotel Ziggy |
I first came across Telah! when they played Echo Park Rising's Sunday after party (that's what I called it) at Sticky Rice in 2024. I don't believe I was there for all the bands that performed that Sunday, but they were the first band playing when I arrived. Their world music tunes stuck with me. This past October 2025, I got to catch up with them once again at The Goldfish (the sister location for Sticky Rice). Based on scanning their Instagram, I believe this was also their first set since Echo Park Rising. Though this was only the second time I've ever seen a set, this band has always remained top of mind. This is, admittedly, partially driven by the fact that I cross paths with their leader Dani who works at The Goldfish and also worked Echo Park Rising 2025 at the Sticky Rice stage.
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| TELAH! at The Goldfish |
Maryjo brought her stunning vocals back to the WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy -- she said that this October set was her 6th time at the venue. She mentioned to the audience before her performance that she was going to be singing her saddest songs. There was more than just singing. There was much laugher, because there were some off the cuff sexual entendre one liners (as well as some more direct ones) -- she did threaten to hunt down people if they posted the comments online, but I'll take the chance as they were amusing.
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| Maryjo at Hotel Ziggy |
