View from the DJ booth in the new wave/darkwave room at Klub Nocturno on 12/20/25
I’m writing this on Sunday morning and the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet, so IDK what to say except that last night at Klub Nocturno was a vibe. I DJed alongside Milagro in new wave/darkwave room. Played a few of my favorite tunes from this year, like “Women Respond to Bass” by Sextile, “Catch and Release” from Alice Glass, Pixel Grip’s “Reason to Stay” and “Everything We Thought We Knew” by N8NOFACE. People danced. Good times were had. Anyhow, set list is below. The newer songs (past year or so) are in bold and link to other mentions here on the blog. Wishing you all happy holidays!
This Saturday, December 20, Klub Nocturno is back at Catch One for a full venue takeover, meaning that there will be five rooms of dancing for you and your friends. I’ll be playing in the new wave vs. darkwave room this time around. This is an 18+ event and tickets are available now on Dice. Nocturno’s Xmas parties usually sell out in advance, so the sooner you get yours, the better. I’ll see you on the dance floor this Saturday night and maybe you’ll hear something off my Top 10 Bangers for 2025 too.
Keep reading if you want my recommendations for concerts, clubs and movie screenings happening in Los Angeles between Thursday, December 18, and Wednesday, December 24.
Still don’t have plans for Halloween weekend? On Friday, October 31, Club Underground is happening at Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown. Both floors of the club will open with Larry G. and I DJing open-to-close. Dress your best because there will be a costume contest as well. Underground’s Halloween party always sells out and tickets are going fast on Dice right now, so get yours as soon as possible. This is a 21+ event.
French Police live at The Novo on 10/16/25 (Pic: Liz O.)
I’ve seen French Police a few times this year and last night’s show at The Novo was the best of them. The energy was really high, both from the band and the crowd. I watched the show from stage left, where you’re looking at a diagonal past the band and into the crowd. L.A. has a rep for not dancing at shows, but, here, seemingly everyone was bouncing around, even in the balcony seats, maybe especially in the balcony seats.
Riki does a terrific cover of “Porque Te Vas,” the Jeanette song, that’s on her second album, Gold and I was so excited to hear her play it live in the opening set that I can’t remember what else was in the set. Again, I watched from stage left and noticed how the crowd was vibing.
This isn’t a show review, btw, because I think it’s weird to review shows in which one is a participant and I was on DJ duty for Klub Nocturno’s support sets. I played the tunes for the first hour and then for the half-hour between Riki and French Police. So, all this is to say that it was a fantastic night. The set list is below.
French Police live at the Glass House back in May. (Pic: Liz O.)
Are you going to see French Police at The Novo on Thursday? Not only is Riki playing, but I’ll be on hand DJing as part of Klub Nocturno’s support set. I got to play with Klub Nocturno for the French Police shows at the Glass House and El Rey earlier this year and they were fantastic, so I’m psyched to be doing it again. See you at the club this Thursday night.
Then, on Sunday, October 19, I’ll be playing and all-vinyl set with XL Middleton, Moniquea and more as part of Salt Box Sessions inside Hello Stranger. Come through between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. to dig through the Salt Box’s vinyl selection, hang out and dance a bit. For the record, I have no idea what I’ll be playing. It could be Italo disco or minimal synth or norther soul or all of the above, so you really have to stop by to find out.
View from the DJ booth: Vilevo live at Nocturno (Pic: Liz O.)
Vilevo played live last night at Nocturno and their set was fire. I watched from the DJ booth, both above and behind the stage, so I really could only see the backs of the musicians, but I saw the way the crowd lit up when they played and that was really cool. Anyhow, I bought their album, Recopilación, this morning and am listening to it right now. Give it a listen when you have a chance.
Alice Glass dropped a new single a couple weeks ago, “Catch and Release,” and it slayed last night. Instant banger. You’ll definitely be hearing this more in the coming weeks/months. Other new tunes in the set include “My Love” from Lebanon Hanover, which turned up pretty early in the set, plus “Everything We Thought We Knew” from N8NOFACE and “Rearrange” by Sextile, both of which I started playing at Underground in the past few weeks. Then there are the new-ish songs that I’ve played at Nocturno previously this summer, but are definitely getting more people out on the dance floor now: French Police “Sugar Killer,”Mareux “Nonstop Romance” and Ultra Sunn “Wrong Floor.” Set list is below.
Nocturno is back at Catch One (4067 Pico Blvd. 90019) for five rooms of dancing on Friday, August 8. You’ll find me in the darkwave vs. indie sleaze room, which is also where Vilevo is playing live. On top of that, I’ll be playing an extra dose of She Past Away tunes for you throughout the night. Tickets are available now on Dice for this 18+ night. Check out my set list from last month’s Nocturno and make plans to join us on Friday night.
Here’s what else is happening this weekend and early next week.
Black and white view from the DJ booth in the new wave vs. darkwave room. (Pic: Liz O.)
It was She Past Away Night in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room at Nocturno last night, so, if you were there, you heard a lot of them throughout the night. But, also, French Police’s new song, “Sugar Killer,” made it into the set early. It did pretty well for 10 p.m., so you’ll probably hear it again. “Nonstop Romance,” the title track from Mareux’s new album, was first played in the new wave vs. darkwave room at the last Nocturno party and, since it did well earlier in the night, I dropped it somewhere around 11:30 p.m. this time around and it did really well. “Reason to Stay” from Pixel Grip is a middle-of-the-night song now, which is good to see. “Wrong Floor” by Ultra Sunn, which someone requested last month, stuck around this month. I like that one a lot. And “Women Respond to Bass” from Sextile is basically this year’s summer song. I think that’s it for the new music from last night.
Overall, it was a fantastic night and the crowd was great, as well. Someone made two requests that were in the BPM ranges I was playing in, which never happens. I asked, “Are you a DJ?” No. “Are you a drummer?” No. Anyhow, it’s an impressive skill and it means that those requests landed in the set immediately instead of whenever I was able to raise the tempo or slow it down enough to fit the song into the set.
Klub Nocturno is back at Catch One this Friday, July 11, and, yes, I’ll be your DJ in the new wave vs. darkwave room, where it will be She Past Away night. There are five rooms for you and your friends to explore at Nocturno, whether your tastes lean towards rock en Español and cumbia, Deftones, reggaeton or banda. Tickets for the 18+ event are available now via Dice, so get yours asap and join us on Friday night. Party starts at 9:30 p.m.
As for the rest of the weekend and early next week, keep reading for my recommendations.
This Friday, May 9, Klub Nocturno takes over Catch One for five parties in one. I’ll be back in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room playing a mix of flashbacks and new bangers all night. There’s also the rock en Español vs. cumbia room, System of a Down night, the old school vs. new school reggaeton room and a disco room. Tickets are available on Dice for this 18+ event. Click here to get yours asap because Klub Nocturno does sell out.
