Moments Caught from Desert Hearts 2023
Author Michael Walsh View all posts
Misty Midnights
Alfa Mist @ The Fonda, 5/4/23 by Harry Frahn (photos by Chloe Gonzales) In a dimly lit concert hall last Thursday night, around 11:30 pm, I watched someone standing barely two feet in front of me whip out their phone and, apropos of nothing in particular, type “Connect w people that was here – same…
Wednesday @ The Teragram [5/5/2023]
Written by Lucas Chen Photos by Chloe Gonzales It’s a Friday night in Los Angeles, spring has sprung, and Wednesday’s sold-out show at the Teragram Ballroom is teeming with restless energy, camouflage clothing, and people who definitely order alternative milks in their coffee. Wednesday, signed to the independent label Dead Oceans (Japanese Breakfast, Phoebe Bridgers,…
Coachella Journals (everything but the music)
To me, Coachella has always been an extravagant, elites-only experience that I never imagined I would participate in. Let alone the financial cost of the tickets, food, and lodging, the distance and desert heat were enough for me to rule it out indefinitely. The legendary festival, consequently, was not on my radar when my old…
The Backseat Lovers @ Hollywood Palladium [4/26/23]
Co-written and photographed by Angela Kan On an otherwise uneventful Wednesday night in Hollywood, The Backseat Lovers cast a magical spell on all that rode upon their powerful wave. While the back seat usually puts us into weird positions cramming for the right angle, as I’m sure these four band members have had plenty of…
Destroy Boys @ El Rey April 18th
Photos by Skye Schoenhoeft Leaning against the box office fence, I jolt at the initial booming guitar riffs and screaming that fling out of the front doors of El Rey. While I’m perched off to the side of the crowd, I’m caught in the middle of the scene, veiled in cigarette smoke and the cross…
Pi’erre Bourne and AG Club @ The Novo [4/13/23]
Photos by Angela Kan As if producing some of the biggest trap-hits of the modern era weren’t enough, Pi’erre Bourne also boasts a successful body of work as a rapper in his own right. My friend Wolfe and I have trekked our way to LA Live’s The Novo in DTLA to see if Pi’erre Bourne’s…
WILLOW and Yves Tumor @ The Fox Theater Pomona [4/19/23]
Photos by Angela Kan My favorite part of Coachella? Not going. Instead, I got to show-hop around LA for a fraction of the price, thanks to Goldenvoice’s annual “April 2023 Coachella Sideshows,” hosted at various venues across LA and the Bay. Tonight, I’m in Pomona to see Yves Tumor and WILLOW. Eagerly wondering if (and…
5 Artists to Look Out For @ Desert Hearts Festival
Coming in hot, this year’s Desert Hearts is being hosted in our very own backyard: the historic Los Angeles Coliseum. Changing venues from the traditional Lake Perris location to the city landscape will inevitably bring a different energy to the famous festival. For the first time, Desert Hearts moves from the desert into the big…
Kelela @ The Fonda Theatre
Photos by Sophia Russo If anyone can disrupt a scene and make it their own, it is singer-songwriter Kelela. Kelela debuted her experimental sound with her mixtape ‘Cut 4 Me’ in 2013, where she mixed R&B, house, electronic, and soul to establish her own sound and identity as an upcoming and unapologetically herself artist. Fast…
Boyish @ School Night 4/3/23
Monday, April 3rd, 2023. I am walking up the smoke-stained staircase, the carpet grayed by travelers like me. Rounding a rickety exterior walkway, I scoot around the bleach blond couple making out dangerously on the railing. I push through a thick curtain into a hazy art deco scene, populated by people shrouded in cloaks of…
Coco & Clair Clair @ El Rey [3/23/23]
When tapping into the ever-evolving tastes of Gen Z, Atlanta-based duo Coco & Clair Clair’s eclectic Y2K sound is nothing short of genius. In the last few years, Y2K aesthetics have dominated social media, and Coco & Clair Clair’s brazen pop-rap sounds straight out of the early 2000s. Their satirical mean-girl lyrics float over their…
Christian Kuria @ The Troubadour [2/25/23]
As a cradle Catholic, I grew up going to vacation bible school and religious retreats. Usually, at these retreats, we would always have a concert-like worship: praising the Lord, hands held up, people would scream and cry to the songs that connect them deeply to their faith. Surrounded by blankets of blue & purple and…
JAWNY (/Wallice/Devon Again) @ El Rey [3/4/23]
Outside El Rey at 7:15, I plugged in my borrowed headphones waiting in line for the door. I hadn’t yet listened to Jawny’s new album, It’s Never Fair, Always True, which was only released the day before the show. I might as well know what I was getting into: I was lightly battling nerves for…
Mau P @ Night Trip, Academy LA [2/18/23]
Mau P @ Night Trip, Academy LA As LED screens blared the statement “House Music All Night Long”, dancers and bass shook the pavement. However, when the clocks struck midnight, the whole venue stood still, and so did the music. Suddenly, the crowd was engulfed in a shower of red lighting, as the stereos projected…
Blondshell @ The El Rey Theater [2/11/23]
Leah Sokol Have you ever imagined getting a private concert in the comfort of your own home? Although the El Rey Theatre doesn’t quite offer the luxury of my living room couch, Blondshell’s intimate performance evoked a similar sense of intimacy. Preceding the headliner, Suki Waterhouse, Blondshell exceeded her title as “opener.” Never before have…
Charlie Havenick live review — folk, shoegaze aesthetics rage against orchestral sincerity
Charlie Havenick’s music is like….rain on a blue tarp. A dog blissed out in a patch of sunlight.
Sammy & The Friends @ The Fonda [11/13/2022]
What do you do after a 23 mile hike at Big Sur, you go to a Sammy Rae & The Friends Concert. I went with Harry Frahn, who was also on the camping trip with me. As I quickly shoved myself to the front before another wave of people came in – Miki Ratsula, the…
Tei Shi @ Zebulon [12/10/22]
My first and prevailing predominant thought over the course of the night: this venue is way too cool for me. Zebulon Cafe holds an intimidatingly good looking [and potentially pretentious] queer crowd. The cafe’s composition works perfectly for a low-key concert with a distinct separation of space between the performance and eating area, each with…
Gen-Z American Superstar
Wallice @ Lodge Room [12/6/22] “LA is my favorite show ever,” Wallice says. Up on stage, she towers over a sea of cowboy hats, unif jackets, and Tik Tok inspired fits. Tonight, the Lodge Room is a Gen-Z mecca, where hundreds of Zoomers are gathered to see Indie-Pop darling Wallice. Although Los Angeles native Wallice…
Soccer Mommy @ The Wiltern [12/13/22]
Photos by Soph Russo, Art by Skye Schoenhoeft At around 7pm on December 13th, the 720 bus spits us out at the entrance to the Wiltern — I’m grateful the driver did not notice we didn’t pay our fare. We picked up our tickets and went inside. Eyeing the incoming crowd, I see a lot…