Who Put The Bop

On Tuesday, I went to The Velvet Underground for a couple of bands from the L.A. area. The drawback of an all-ages show is a reminder of how old and obsolete you are. But the enthusiasm of the young, mostly girls, crowd was a nice change from the head-nodding of a typical show. They sang, danced, and clapped along to everything, not only for the 3 bands but even when certain songs played between sets.

The bands themselves were also baby-faced. Hala from Michigan opened the show with bright, cheery pop that reminded me of early Beatles (Love Grows) with a bit of groovy funk (Sorry). At the start of several songs, I thought he was doing a San Cisco cover. Greer the Band continued the very retro vibe with a laid-back early 60s, Beach Boys feel (Song For Me). Being a relatively new outfit, they played several covers including The Strokes' Someday.

Given how loud the audience cheered for the openers, it was unsurprising that it was deafening when The Regrettes took the stage. With the encouragement of band lead Lydia Night, a joyful mosh pit started with the first number California Friends. I read a review panning their doo-wop (Pumpkin) meets girl pop-punk sound (Go Love You). But seeing them live with ecstatic fans who danced all through their set, I saw young people playing infectious music (I Dare You). But The Regrettes do have some bite in that fun: Seashore ("Hey I've got news, I'm not a little girl") where they encouraged their fans to raise their middle fingers during the chorus; and encore song Poor Boy ("Tellin' you to shut your mouth") where Night asked women and non-binary folks to come to the front and be heard and the men to support them by moving back.