There’s a certain look that consumes Samuel T Herring’s face after performing a song, as the lights fade and the audience stops dancing. Somewhere between gratefulness and exuberance, a momentary pause from the euphoric nature of performance, a welcoming of reality,...
An intimidating line of teenagers in streetwear, sporting tracksuits and rare sneakers, curved around Santa Ana’s The Observatory, slowly moving through security as they removed cellphones and forgotten chains from their pockets, staring at a group of teens in...
It starts with a screen. But before that, a bedroom. Scotch-taped posters plastered on the walls and a thumbtacked string of lights; the familiar objects of Claire Cottril’s space which would soon be recorded and uploaded online as the minimal setting for her...
“There’s a place I know where we can go,” whispered David Portner, otherwise known as Avey Tare, into two conjoined microphones, strumming alongside childhood friend and bandmate, Noah Lennox, nicknamed Panda Bear, and along with Tare, one-half of Animal Collective. ...
Out of the darkness, Unknown Mortal Orchestra emerged as silhouettes, backlit by pillars of purple light, concealed rather than illuminated, hiding from the hundreds of eyes staring up at them. Yet loneliness found its way onto stage as frontman Ruban Nielson’s voice...
Baltimore-based indie rock band Snail Mail has become one of the most buzzed about bands of 2018, with singer/guitarist Lindsey Jordan putting forth some of the most passionate and wise music I’ve heard in years, and all at the age of 19. They are in the middle of a...
“Let’s dance,” said Lydia Night, frontwoman of The Regrettes, facing an audience eager to embrace everything the punk rock band represents: unapologetic teenage energy. The 17-year-old tipped her cowboy hat and joined the audience in singing the first few lyrics of...
Four years of utter silence only contributed to the excitement brewing in the Santa Ana Observatory, where Vampire Weekend would soon take the stage to face a sold-out crowd of eager concertgoers, ready to break the silence. The long-awaited return from their hiatus...
Ty Segall demonstrating his incessant musical prowess on drums, the instrument he originally started out on. On Wednesday June 27, hometown hero Ty Segall performed at the Sandpiper Lounge in Laguna Beach with his garage-surf-punk trio, The Traditional Fools, as part...
“Wait. Hold on. Before we start again, I just want to say thank you. I can’t tell you how much I needed this,” said Charity Rose Thielen, (vocals/guitar/percussion/keys) for indie-folk band, The Head and The Heart, behind locks of faded pink hair. Blinking back...