Los Angeles Loved… 25
For those who made it out on a warm July night on Tuesday, you were treated to four artists we very much love and will support until the end of days.
First off, let’s just get this out of the way. Frances Whitney is an absolute fucking star. There we said it. I mean, we fully realize that she’ll be told this incessantly from here on out and there is no doubt about it. She is built different. The minute she stepped on stage it’s as if the equilibrium in the atmosphere shifted. Frances probably doesn’t know that we saw T. Swift play her first LA show on that same stage almost exactly twenty years before this night, and that’s the kind of energy she gives off. She’s a great songwriter. An incredible presence on stage. And has an understanding of the room like we haven’t seen in a long time (she’s the only artist that made an effort to engage with all the other musicians on the lineup). She’s also just plain magnetic. Ok, we get it enough of the praise, just do yourself a favor and get on the Frances Whitney bandwagon sooner than later. So you can brag about it some day like we flex about Taylor.
We didn’t mention this before, but the first time we saw Alexander Biggs was in 2019 at our bestie The Great Escape festival in Brighton, UK and nearly lost our shit with every longing, forlorn phrase in every one his heartbreaking, sad songs. So, unsatisfied, we immediately saw him again just a few days later after the festival at the annual Aussie BBQ showcase in London hosted by Sounds Australia, which was equally impressive despite him performing his delicate folk songs in front of, well, Aussie BBQ attendees (iykyk). This was followed-up with his aforementioned stint in Los Angeles where he played his LA debut at the Hotel Cafe. Then, after moving back to Australia for way too long, he returned to the states this year to play SXSW and was easily one of our favorites of the whole festival. What we haven’t told anyone really was that we actually met Biggs for the first time randomly at the Stephen F. for the Brother Bird showcase that never happened (she canceled and didn’t tell anyone, not even SX). So, with no music to see, we chatted for a bit and we invited him to the Victoria Canal showcase at British Music Embassy (mere months before she won her second Ivor Award in May and performed with Coldplay at Glastonbury in June, both of which we were present for) then Kevin Garrett’s wild showcase at Gillian Jean’s event. And it was then we felt we should maybe do a showcase of our own with him back in LA. And that’s the story of how we got Alexander Biggs to play his soul-crushing tunes at our little show on Tuesday. And it was truly fantastic. The End. Now, go listen and see Alexander for yourself and make your own dreams come true, like we did.
Is it blasphemy to utter the words “holy shit” when one is listening to the self-reflective indie/gospel music according to Nate Cole? Truth is, he’s been preaching about his conflicted relationship with his faith for a good while now dating back to his days with the indie rock lords and lordesses of Castledoor. We’ve always enjoyed the comfort — and discomfort — one might have when listening to music that mentions religion unironically and unabashedly, especially when it’s performed in the undeniably beautiful way that Nate performs it. After sharing songs from his upcoming album, entitled The Biblical Way, he finished his set with what he called “his best song ever” with “If You Live Long Enough,” a song that probably says everything about Nate that you need to know. It’s deeply personal, heartfelt, and the song we want played at our funeral. With every chorus refrain, we had flashbacks to 2006, the year we “friended” Nate on MySpace and fondly remembered all the great times we’ve seen him on stage since then, now nearly 20 years later. Beat that TikTok.
The dark horse of the whole lineup (apparently) was Céline del Carmen. Do people not know how incredibly talented this woman is? Now, we’re fully aware of her past life as a teen pop star, but it’s a given that half the artists in town have risked everything to make it on some sort of singing show at some point. And there is no shame in living your dream. But what she’s done since then is what we’re most interested in, especially the night she opened for Maisie May and Ally Evenson at MakeOutMusic earlier this year where she looked much more in her element playing a DIY space to kids who really appreciate discovering new artists. That’s where we first saw her do a lovely cover of Frank Ocean’s “Ivy,” but more of note, that’s where we saw her perform her new original song “Michelle,” resulting in the crush we now have on her because it’s just so good. So good, in fact, that we basically begged her to play this dang show just to hear it again. It’s a song that kinda comes out of nowhere from her usual pop repertoire (a nice amalgam of Olivia Rodrigo, Reneé Rapp, and a hint of 90s pop/R&B). But “Michelle” is heart-on-your-sleeve cardigan sweater- wearing twee pop. Don’t believe us? Well, do us a favor then, when it comes out (which hopefully is soon) take a listen and tell us if it doesn’t remind you of a today version of Mary Lou Lord, Mirah, and Dear Nora (all three we first saw back when we were her age, ouch). In the meantime, heart Céline in your favorites list, smash the like button and subscribe.
And that is all she wrote for 25. As you know, we really don’t promote shows. We present them. And if you miss out, well, we tried. In 25 years, we’ve done shows with everyone from Rilo Kiley, Silversun Pickups, and Airborne Toxic Event to Jewel, Elle King, and of course Phoebe. Hardly anyone went to those shows either. And there are artists right now playing venues in front of small crowds with people talking over them as they bare their souls in song. We’ll be there looking for them. Unknown and unseen. Forever, la-underground.
We love you all.
