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

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

Song Spotlight: Neta's Blood and Ink (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

Note: This set occurred back in July. I put a hold on it until "Blood and Ink" got released.

Neta (the mononym for Neta Rozenblat) had his debut set at a WFNM showcase at Hotel Ziggy. It was his debut show, but he has a fascinating music background. He is a member of as1one, which is the first Israeli-Palestinian boy band. Unlike the boy band pop sounds behind as1one, Neta performed a solo singer-songwriter set with his only companion being an acoustic guitar. I should say his only companion on stage was his guitar. Off stage, his friends cheered him on and two (one, I believe, being his girlfriend) took turns taking video of the full set. 

Neta at Hotel Ziggy

Notes from Vivace Show Alerts (Los Angeles): Sep 20th - Sep 26th

A Handful of Show Alerts

Sunday, Sep 20th: Adriana McCassim at Healing Force of the Universe. Doors at 7 p.m.
You can read my Song Spotlight (Sep 2026) for her song "Rust" here.

Sunday, Sep 20th: The Blushes at the Lodge Room. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight (Aug 2025) for their song "Sex Cult Party" here.

Tuesday, Sep 22nd: talker at Oblivion. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight (Apr 2026) for her song "Gold Rush" here.

Wednesday, Sep 23rd: Jesse Detor at The Airliner Bar. Doors at 8 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight (Jun 2026) for "Hands" here.

Thursday, Sep 24th: Jesika Von Rabbit at Gold-Diggers. Doors at 7 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight (Oct 2024) for her song "Psychic Spice" here.

Thursday, Sep 24th: Mineral King at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight (April 2025) for their song "Threadbare" here.

Friday, Sep 25th: Swimming Bell at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 6 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight (Jun 2025) for her song "95 at Night" here. 

Friday, Sep 25th: The Silverados at Permanent Records Roadhouse. Doors at 9 p.m.

You can read my Song Spotlight (May 2026) for their song "The Public Opinion" here.

Song Spotlight: Mila Northrup's Space (a night at Hotel Ziggy)

With a sassy attitude, Mila Northrup took to the Hotel Ziggy stage for a WFNM showcase night. "How are you feeling? Good. You guys better not be silent when I ask questions." Her bio mentions that she's been writing songs since eight and loves being retro, "she grew up a little obsessed with eras she wasn't born into -- rotary phones, CD players, music that felt worn-in already -- and that never really went away." Someone who enjoys that moment in time where analog turned into digital. 

Mila Northrup at Hotel Ziggy

Echo Park Rising 2026: Sunday Chill

In many ways, Sunday at Echo Park Rising was far more chill for me than Saturday. This was helped by the fact that there were far fewer stages to visit -  though I was still attempting to visit some stages so that I could include them in my photos that I sent off to the festival organizers. Chill doesn't mean I wasn't catching a lot of bands; however. Instead of seeing 31 bands like I did on Saturday, it was reduced to 17 bands on Sunday. That is a lot, but it was less chaotic and I actually saw full sets for a number of bands.

 

Dyes at Echo Park Rising