The Whisky A Go Go: Royal Distortion, Vigil of War, earthsleep and Blue Silk

My occasional venture out to the Sunset Strip was driven by, who else, Royal Distortion (members of Barb Wire Dolls).

Blue Silk opened the night with some jazzy tunes. Compared to the other bands, it felt like they were playing with the sound turned down by half. The band even admitted as much when they said they were opening things up on a quiet note. Turned down or not, they set the good vibes going.

Blue Silk

earthsleep followed. For some reason, I felt they changed their sound up a bit. I'm used to hearing lead singer, Cindy, screaming her lungs out. This time out, I swear she controlled her vocals more. It all worked out.

earthsleep

This was my second time seeing Vigil of War. I love how this band has the confidence to use the full stage. Lead singer Alicia doesn't hide behind the microphone all set long. She moves around that stage like she owns it.

Vigil of War

Okay, so this is only my second time seeing Royal Distortion, but I'm a long time fan of Barb Wire Dolls.  So much charisma on stage.

Royal Distortion

The Paranoyds and Moon Honey at the Levitt Pavillion

I'm not going to lie, I think I'm addicted to The Paranoyds. The more I think about it, the reason I'm addicted to them is because they remind me of an old Los Angeles favorite band of mine called The Randies.

The last two times I've seen them, they've played as a four piece. I wasn't sure, but I figured that maybe their keyboardist had decided to call it quits. It was explained during their set that she was off with her side band. A band from Finland?

One has to say that Staz, the bassist, provides the humor in the band. When her dress was falling down her body as she jumped around the stage, she said, "This song is called Beyonce live streaming."  And then to downplay their great music, she said towards the end, "At least you're in MacArthur Park. We're done playing. We have merch and I'm selling some hairballs, too." The hairballs comment was in reference to the fact that at the end of the set, one could see her trying to get a strand of hair out of her mouth.

The Paranoyds

Closing out the night was Moon Honey. This band combines visuals with dissonant vocals. Their fashion sense makes you think of royalty visiting from a far away planet. The lights play into this as you think of Thor traveling through the Bifrost Bridge (okay, I'm not a Marvel expert so had to look up that term). And then Jess' vocals are dissonant to the core, making you think of what the future space aliens will bring to earth in terms of a cultural exchange.

Moon Honey

The Satellite: A Darker Bright, Super Space Nation, HUNTR

I had no clue what to expect on this particular night. I just spent the prior week working some long hours so just felt like doing some Monday night photography.

What did I get? Some bands that put some stage energy into their music.

For A Darker Bright, I imagined that the band was made up of musicians who either surf, play beach volleyball or live on the beach to soak up the sun. And I imagined that they just happened to run into each other randomly at a beach bar in the OC and decided then and there to form a band.

A Darker Bright

Super Space Nation started with a poem that actually jump started their set. I swear that I was expecting them to breakout and cover Top Gun's/Kenny Loggin's Danger Zone. What I noticed: the drummer acted part conductor throughout the set.

Super Space Nation

HUNTR brought the lights and hip-hop to close out the night. And there were some moments of hardcore drum beating.

HUNTR

Big Air at the Redwood Bar

Big Air. So it was off to the Redwood Bar to catch an early set by Big Air. The set didn't start off as early as expected as the lead singer headed off to the wrong Redwood Bar. That felt a bit deja vu to me. I swear I heard another band a few years back have to admit the same thing. I'm sure it happens a few times a year.

This band let's their musicianship shine.

The Smell: Miko Masoto, Lily Waters, Espresso

It was off to my occasional visit to The Smell.

Miko Masoto opened up with music that were part of the fun beach soundtracks of the 80s.

Miko Masoto

I listed Lily Waters as a favorite band that I came across in 2018. Those deep vocals thrill.

Lily Waters

Espresso had their female fan base pressed up close to the stage.

Espresso

The Satellite: Mo Dotti, Nanami Ozone, Easy Love

It was a nice time at The Satellite, catching bands where the lead vocalists are in other bands.

Mo Dotti lead singer does backing for Janelane and Peach Kelli Pop. The comment of the night has to go to the band, where the lead singer said to the DJ, "Be ready to drop the needle, because if there is an awkward silence, I'm going to feel like an idiot." And one couldn't help but notice the French Vanilla t-shirt worn by another member of the band.

Mo Dotti

Nanami Ozone was the middle band and there wasn't a connection with other bands I've seen. Of course, they're from Phoenix, which explains that. This band had a touch of orchestral rock and a touch of punk. And then, I couldn't help but notice that three members of the band wore caps, 2 baseball caps and a knitted cap.

Nanami Ozone

Easy Love has two sisters involved in the band. In this band, one sister takes the lead. In Summer Twins, the other sister takes the lead. What did I notice: there was a tambourine that got passed around to the members of the band. This was the second time I caught this band. The first time, the lead singer was under the weather, which impacted her vocals. It was cool to hear her being able to display solid vocals this time around.

Easy Love

Numb.er and Hit Bargain at The Echo

It was off to The Echo to catch Hit Bargain and Numb.er.

Hit Bargain's sound is about staccato vocals against speed demon sounds.

And then there are the occasional comments from the band:

"We'd like to thank our sponsors for the evening."

"We hope you've gained a deeper understanding to truly maximize your potential."

Hit Bargain

Numb.er was the May residency band. I was in for the surprise of my life. One of my favorite Los Angeles musicians, Laena Geronimo of Feels, is in the band. I had no clue she was in Numb.er. I swear, this band will have you thinking "Personal Jesus" from Depeche Mode. And when Laena brings out the violin, it adds a haunting nightmare to the sound.

Graves and the Bad Weather with The Grinning Ghosts/J. Bonigno at Harvard & Stone

It was off to see Graves and the Bad Weather. Back in 2017, they asked if I'd check them out. I happened to notice that they were playing at Harvard and Stone so off I went.

J. Bonigno opened things up. What did I notice: he was backed by a band. He didn't stand front and center. Instead,  he stood off to the side.

J. Bonigno

The Grinning Ghosts came up next. What did I notice: the lead singer's eyes kept on looking up at the ceiling. His eyes just above his eye glasses.

The Grinning Ghosts

Graves and the Bad Weather closed out the night. What did I notice: the lead singer just threw herself into their rocking set.

Graves and the Bad Weather

Junior High: Jett Kwong and Chris Del Rosario

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and to celebrate there are/were a series of music events being held in Los Angeles.

I happened to go to one such event recently where I caught Chris Del Rosario and Jett Kwong.

The night was rather relaxed. So relaxed that folks walked right past Chris Del Rosario while he was playing his set. Maybe it was too relaxed. Jett Kwong, who was hosting the night, gave a dirty eye to the person who did that.

Chris, of course, couldn't help but throw in some Asian jokes. He happens to be Filipino so he had to mention that his parents wanted him to study medicine and become a nurse.

Chris Del Rosario

Jett Kwong closed out the night with Chinese infused music. She play something called a Chinese guzheng. It's a vertical wood instrument that has a number of strings that you play with picks on your fingers.

I happen to have an interesting history of coming across Jett Kwong. While hanging out in San Francisco in 2013, I caught Queen Kwong. Jett was backing her sister that night. Also, one of my first photos on Instagram is of Jett Kwong.

Jett Kwong

Hotel Cafe: Rivers and Suns with Emme

It was a singer-songwriter night at Hotel Cafe on a Saturday night.

Both Rivers and Suns and Emme add a touch of folk to their songs.

This was Rivers and Suns single release party for the song Crooked Mind. The lead singer knows how to both sing a tune and put on a stage show.

Rivers and Suns

Emme brought out the guitar, singing tunes about love ending. Funny thing, a few days earlier, I happened to catch her roommate at The Hi Hat.

Emme

The Redwood Bar: ALÉ, Symbol Six and Broken Baby

If anyone should ever wonder, I do tend to pay attention to who follows me on Instagram. This applies to Broken Baby. They followed me on Instagram and I eventually was able to catch one of their sets at The Redwood Bar.

First up on the night was ALÉ. This band lives in the Boyle Heights area and brought their East Los Angeles rock to DTLA. What I couldn't help but notice was that the lead guitarist was using a wireless electric guitar. It gave the guy a lot of freedom to move around. In fact, he spent half his time out on the floor of the Redwood Bar. I say more bands should do this.

ALE

Symbol Six was up next. This punk rock band had it going. They had the head bandana. They knew how to move it on stage. They had the experience of putting on shows.

Symbol Six

Though Broken Baby followed me on Instagram, I have to admit I didn't do much research on them before heading out to catch them at The Redwood Bar. I just say, "Hey, I want to catch this band." When I got there, I thought, "They're going to be a shoegaze band." Was I in for a surprise. They take their cue, according to their Facebook page, from musicians/bands such as Cyndi Lauper and The Pretenders. I'd throw in Bananarama in there, as well. Broken Baby has this edgy pop sound going for them.

The Broken Baby

The Hi Hat: Arthur King & The Night Sea and teasips

A few weeks back it was off to The Hi Hat to catch a couple random bands: Arthur King and The Night Sea and teasips.

It was an interesting night of experimental music. There were wires going all over the place and multiple knobs on this night. As I was watching these two bands/musicians play, my mind flashed back to 2013 when I was hanging out in San Francisco for a few months. I hung out at places called The Lab, The Luggage Store and F8 where this experimental music was norm. Interesting memories.

Arthur King & The Night Sea

teasips

The Colour Coast with Lone Priestess and Livingmore at The Satellite

I circled this date to head over to The Satellite. The reason was that Lone Priestess was playing. I wanted to see what Kimi of Draemings was up to with this new project. Was Lone Priestess going to be wild and crazy like Draemings? Well, it was actually very Americana. And there was Kimi dressed in red like a priestess.

Lone Priestess

Livingmore was the second band up and another reason why I circled this night. This band knows how to put the sultry in rock 'n roll. The more I see them the more I think of one of my favorite all time Los Angeles bands, The Mulhollands.

Livingmore

The Colour Coast was doing their residency night. They make you think of being in the tropics. And lead singer Marley floats across that stage.

The Colour Coast