Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Oct 4th - Oct 10th

A Handful (Bucketful) of Show Alerts

Sunday, Oct 4th: Natalie Claro at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.

In 2021, I wrote up a review of the band, which you can read here.

Sunday, Oct 4th: Peg Leg Love at The Redwood Bar. Doors at 8 p.m.

In 2019, I wrote up a review of the band, which you can read here.

Sunday, Oct 4th: Sharon Silva at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight for their song "Underachiever" here.

Monday, Oct 5th: Dave Harrington at Club Tee Gee. Doors at 8 p.m.

In 2025, I wrote up a review of his set, which you can read here.

Tuesday, Oct 6th: Paycheque at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.
You can read my Song Spotlight for their song "Next In Line" here.

Thursday, Oct 8th: Finnish Postcard at The Airliner Bar. Doors at 7 p.m.

Back in May, I wrote up a review of the band's set, which you can read here.

Thursday, Oct 8th: High Tatras at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.

In 2025, I wrote up a review of their set, which you can read here.

Thursday, Oct 8th: Maryon King at Bar Lubitsch. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can ready my Song Spotlight for her song "What's a Girl To Do" here. 

Thursday, Oct 8th: Suzie True at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

In 2024, I wrote up a review of the band for US Rocker Music.

Friday, Oct 9th: Death Valley Girls and Cissi TV at Scribble. Doors at 7 p.m.

In 2024, I wrote up a review of Death Valley Girls for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Cissi TV made my list of 2025 favorite new finds, which you can read about here. 

Friday, Oct 9th: Pegzilla and Moonfuzz at Non Plus Ultra. Doors at 8 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight for Pegzilla's "Giver" here. 

You can read my Song Spotlight for Monnfuzz's "Hell Week" here.

Friday, Oct 9th: The Freebies at The Woodbridge. Doors at 8:30 p.m.

In 2025, I wrote up a review of the band, which you can read here.

Saturday, Oct 10th: Y La Bamba and Vanessa Zamora at the Lodge Room. Doors at 7 p.m.

In 2019, I wrote up a review of both bands for Buzzbands, which you can read here. 

Two Movies seen on TCM: The Little Foxes (1941) and The Narrow Margins (1952)

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. Around a decade ago, I used to do some reviews of movies I saw on TCM. I figured I'd start it up again. If you're interested, click on through.

Song Spotlight: ALYSSAD's butterf(lies) (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

ALYSSAD (moniker for Alyssa de Boisblanc) took Hotel Ziggy (a WFNM showcase night) by storm. Per her bio, ALYSSAD is Boisblanc's alter-ego. She is "blending genres to create her unique musical style to showcase haunting vocals" and "grunge aesthetic." I knew I was going to be into her set from the start. Her first song was Jesse Jo Stark's "Fire of Love." I've been a long time fan of Jesse Jo Stark and you can read an article I wrote up for Buzzbands back in 2022. I was thinking, "Yes, more please."

ALYSSAD at Hotel Ziggy

Song Spotlight: Auditorium's The Sex Offenders (a night at The Fable)

It was a flashback night at The Fable (an In Sonic Dreams showcase). JOE LIES was playing their first set in 20 years (you can read that post here) and opening up the night was Auditorium (moniker for Spencer Berger). 

Auditorium at The Fable

Song Spotlight: JOE LIES' Where the Bees Don't Bite (a night at The Fable -- technically a Adeline and the Philistines song)

I happened to mention back in an April post (a Pisces' Song Spotlight) that In Sonic Dreams was bringing back bands from yesteryear once a month at The Fable. That was not a negative statement, because I have a long history in the music scene and love catching bands that are reuniting after being on hiatus. Jump ahead to September and In Sonic Dreams had another blast from the past. JOE LIES (I will admit I don't think I ever saw this band perform live -- nor an offshoot of the band called Adeline and the Philistines -- though a band member or two did look familiar.) 

JOE LIES at The Fable

Song Spotlight: Shacar's Phone Off (a night at Bar Lubitsch)

Shacar (moniker for Andre Smith) mentions Sade in his song "Phone Off." His silky hip hop vocals are at a lower register than Sade Adu, but Bar Lubitsch set had the same chill approach. The WFNM showcase crowd gave him shout outs throughout. The audience response was unfazed by the fact that he strolled up onto the Bar Lubitsch stage wearing a New York Yankees vest. 

Shacar at Bar Lubitsch

Song Spotlight: Piper Connolly's unapologetic (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

Earlier this month, Arizona teen rocker Piper Connolly stole the show at Hotel Ziggy (WFNM showcase night). I didn't do much research on the performers prior to heading out. My primary reason was to catch a specific singer who ended up cancelling (I didn't know this until getting to the venue). One will never know when one will be pleasantly surprised when catching indie artists. 

Piper Connolly at Hotel Ziggy

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Sep 27th - Oct 3rd

A Handful of Show Alerts

Sunday, Sep 27th: Los Rock Angels at The Echo. Doors at 5:30 p.m.

In 2024, I covered teh band for US Rocker Music, which you can read here. 

Sunday, Sep 27th: The Mastersons at Gold-Diggers. Doors at 7 p.m.
In 2024, the band was part of a Roots Rock tribute night at Zebulon that I covered for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Sunday, Sep 27th: Ultraviolet Communication at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight for their song "No Return" here.

Monday, Sep 28th: Giselle at Bar Lubitsch. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight for her song "Skeletons" here.

Monday, Sep 28th: Gustaf at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.

In 2025, I covered the band for my blog, which you can read here

Tuesday, Sep 29th: Lo Moon at the Moroccan Lounge. Doors at 6:30 p.m.

In 2025, I covered the band for US Rocker Music, which you can read here.

Wednesday, Sep 30th: Sāde Frame at Hotel Ziggy. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight for her song "I Need You (No I Don't)" here.

Thursday, Oct 1st: Caravan 222 at Zebulon. Doors at 8 p.m.
In 2025, I wrote up a review of the band, which you can read here.

Thursday, Oct 1st: Ryan Pollie at The Airliner Bar. Doors at 7 p.m.

In 2022, I covered the band for Buzzbands, which you can read here. 

Friday, Oct 2nd: Jawdropped at The Echo. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight for their song "Skully" here.

Saturday, Oct 3rd: Funds for Jimmy at The Haven. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight for their song "unclean." here.

Song Spotlight: Petie's 1953 (a night at Bar Lubitsch)

Towards the end of the WFNM showcase set, Petie (moniker for Lily Dowling) mentioned that this was her first set in three years. Let's hope that one does not need to wait another 3 years to catch another Petie set, because she had Bar Lubitsch popping during her set. She's a Berklee College of Music graduate, but she mentioned that she didn't learn anything as she didn't pay attention in her classes. I don't know about that or she learned through osmosis.   

Petie at Bar Lubitsch

Song Spotlight: Yogurt's Red Flag (a night at The Airliner Bar)

Does Yegor Borisenko love or hate yogurt? And if he loves yogurt, what brand?  His Instagram handle is: www.instagram.com/yogurtsucks. I feel there is some room for interpretation there. That is besides the point. The band Yogurt that he fronts was joining forces with promoters Rocknite to celebrate a record release party for Ipso Facto at the Airliner Bar. Per the band's Spotify short bio, the music can be described as "post-surf prog-pop dark-rock, from LA." 

Yogurt at The Airliner Bar

Song Spotlight: Annie Jets' Passion (a night at The Airliner Bar)

I've come across the eclectic band Annie Jets (fronted by BreeAnn Getman) three times over the last 2 years and each of those sets were hosted by Rocknite. I happened to write a Song Spotlight of their song "Avalanche" when I first came across the band at The Goldfish. The venue had just relaunched itself with a rather, say it again, eclectic feel and it was my first time at the venue after the relaunch. Unfortunately, the venue decided to move in a different direction and no longer hosts live music (at least on a regular basis). In an appropriate name match, my third time catching the band was at the Airliner Bar. 

Annie Jets at The Airliner Bar

DPSD and Soft as Snow Expand the Imagination at Zebulon

Experimental synth performers DPSD (Danny Perez) and Soft as Snow closed out their short West Coast tour at Zebulon on Labor Day. DPSD is a Los Angeles based performer while Soft as Snow is a Berlin-based, Norwegian duo (Oda Starheim and Øystein Monsen). To start off his set, Perez described his sound as, "F*cking weird sh*t."  

DPSD at Zebulon

I won't argue with that description. Perez played an electric guitar and in front of him was a makeshift table loaded with his electronic gear and laptop. His music sounded like ambient tunes that was run through a computer program to give it a technological output. Behind him, the venue's projector screen was showing (what can I say, but) weird videos. Teeth. Robots. Palm Trees. Someone laying their large stomach onto a kitchen table and rolling it like bread dough. 

Comment of the set: Don't applaud that. That was a terrible transition. I have ten minutes left. 

DPSD at Zebulon

I do think it is difficult to determine when an instrument set has concluded. There was a moment of silence and the crowd began to cheer. A little too early based on the above comment. 

To conclude the set, he turned up the volume. There were some technical issues that led to less than desired results. Just as he was ending the song, the sound guy rushed to the stage to tweak things, but it was too late as the song had concluded. He did an onstage performer of a rock god, swinging his electric guitar high, "I felt like I was miming you guys." 

While DPSD used videos to provide context to his music, Soft as Snow used the interpretive dancing skills of Starheim. Even more so than DPSD, Monsen had his table packed with gear, which he utilized with stylish flair. Starheim had primary vocal duties and walked casually around the stage. The vocals were like a imagined deleted scene from Fantastic Planet (1973) where an Om character gives birth to a Draag. 

Soft as Snow at Zebulon

Starheim occasionally took a fetal position onto the floor and rose like the birth of my imagined aliens. Or there were hair flings under the red glow, as if those alien creatures were taking their first breath of life. 

The night ended with a song that featured heavy bass beats that vibrated the body.   

Soft as Snow at Zebulon

It was a night to enjoy a different part of the Los Angeles music scene. 

Environmental Studies Indulge in the Scientific Method at Zebulon

Experimental electronic music is not a genre that I seek out on a regular basis. To me, experimental electronic music is the equivalent of Arnold Schoenberg in classical music -- you catch it on occasion. My first encounter with experimental electronic music was when I was required to work up in San Francisco for a few months back in 2013. While up there, I decided to check out as many different venues as possible. It just so happened that three of those nights out were spent catching artists on their modular synthesizers.

Environmental Studios at Zebulon