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.
View from the DJ booth in the New Wave vs. Darkwave room at Klub Nocturno on April 11, 2025 (Pic: Liz O.)
Last night was Klub Nocturno at Catch One, where I was the DJ in the new wave vs. darkwave room from open to close. The theme was Boy Harsher Night and a lot of their songs made it into the set alongside bands like Lebanon Hanover, Twin Tribes, French Police, Glass Spells, plus the new wave bangers and lots, lots more. Thanks to Nocturno for having me play and to everyone who made it out to the club last night. Set list is below.
This Friday, April 11, I’ll be back at Catch One for Klub Nocturno. Find me in the Boy Harsher Night room, playing darkwave and new wave for you. (And, obviously, expect to hear a lot of Boy Harsher in the set.) As of the time of writing this, there are still tickets available, so click this link and get yours asap. This is a full venue takeover, so there are five rooms to explore all for one cover charge. Party starts at 9:30 p.m. This is a 21+ event.
As for the rest of the weekend, Saturday is jam-packed with events taking you from day to night. So, even if you didn’t get tickets to see Ultra Sunn at 1720, which is sold out now, there’s still a lot to do.
