In what was perhaps the epitome of an independent media and culture night with could not be better timing, DIY venue OC DIY and DJ Nice Girl of Slumber Party put on a sold out show on Thursday, January 19th.

The night had a low electrical hum with the amount of buzz about catching a more well-known act in a place such as this. Several solemn faces were turned away with the last wristbands issued, while others who had planned ahead proudly flashed their printed tickets.

Blivet were the first to start off the night promptly at 9PM with “No man mr”. Best described as just the right amount of sinister, their grinding guitar prompted a mosh pit in no time at all. Not a typical opener they warmed up the room-literally- as a mist of sweat soon filled the space. It was a little too infectious not to move.

TONSTARTSSBANDHT took the stage next, with quite a change of pace. These headset dawning spacy cats really slowed down it down with an air of complete comfort. Brothers Edwin and Andy White have been quite prolific in their time as TONSTARTSSBANDHT, with a larger collection of psychedelic tracks available to choose from than most bands at their level. Their set made you feel like you float calmly on the river of rain water that was sure to waiting outside when you left all the way home.

Walter TV kept things slow, but with a quirkier funkier sound. Alternative rock with a high pitched twist, especially catchy were the lines “have you seen this TV show?” repeated during “Paranormal Witness”. Poking fun at the mundane aspects of life subtly through the combination of their lyrics and sound is what stood out about Walter TV for me.  

To wrap up the night Jerry Paper took the stage. Having been exposed to his artwork and merchandising in the past and having met several of his enthusiastic fans, I was eager to see what his performance would be like. It’s safe to say that the slow trickle of perfectly increasing strangeness reached a peak here. Jerry by far had the best dance moves of the night and with his flickering wrists and slinky motions. His blend of quirky lounge music was honestly incredibly fun to dance to. It was unconventionally groovy. Jerry’s nonsensical style may be just what we needed considering the morning was to come with real world political mayhem.

DIY community members left satisfied with such an incredible line up of bands spanning from alternative garage rock to psychedelic and jazzy hits that all somehow fit so well together.

 - Shay Mehr // Photo Credit: Sean O’Connor

Links:

OC DIY: https://www.facebook.com/OrangeCountyDIY/

BLIVET: https://www.facebook.com/Blivet69/?fref=ts

https://blivet69.bandcamp.com

TONSTARTSSBANDHT: https://www.facebook.com/Tonstartssbandht/

https://tonstartssbandht.bandcamp.com

WALTER TV: https://www.facebook.com/WalterTV/?fref=ts

http://waltertv.tumblr.com

JERRY PAPER: https://www.facebook.com/Jerry-Paper-366269650150225/?fref=ts

Red Curtain @ OC DIY INDIEGOGO #3