LA Buzz Blog Review on My Show for Hear NoHo

The Fest Heard ‘Round NoHo

The Hear Noho Festival is a music showcasing emerging artists  in small, intimate venues in North Hollywood, happening the first Thursday of every month. Five bands performed between the Cella Gallery and the NoHo Arts Center. The first band, The Restless Monsters played at the Cella Gallery first.

While musically a cross between Hall and Oates and Jimmy Eat World, they weren’t altogether engaging, it did give me a chance to check out the art on the walls. Jerome Prieur had some great artwork, featuring washy backgrounds and painted characters with all the precision and technical skill of pen & ink renderings. WB Fontenot displayed prints and archival photo collages with a gothic steampunk aesthestic, with beautiful and ethereal portraits overlaid in soft grays and delicate blacks.

The stand-out of the art show was Wiley Wallace, who displayed finely-drawn penciled Rorshachs with neon graphics incorporated into the drawings and enhancing the gosh-darn fun of it all. Wallace’s pop culture optics are something that graphics department of early-80s MTV would be proud of.

Getting back to the music, Al Slavik threw down a relatively hi-tech drum and bass groove akin to a new age Sting at the NoHo Arts Center. Slavik played a hybrid bass/guitar instrument were he was able to play the bass line with his left hand and the guitar line with his right, and was entirely fascinating to watch.

Back over at Cella, Aria Johnson was performing with her guitarist and drummer on a stripped-down drum set that added a depth of sound to the performance. Aria herself initially presented herself as a pop singer in the vein of Christina Aguilera, and it was obvious she knew how to perform. The minimal instrumentation really helped her voice stand out and she turned out to be a great singer.

The hands-down highlight of the show was Jessie Payo (pictured above), performing at the NoHo Arts Center. Payo had a slow-groove, alt-country thing going on, reminiscent of an early Dolly and Kate Bush love child – at times a little more Dolly, and at times a little more Kate Bush. She was definitely the crowd darling, crooning out bluesy country, rock and jazz, which at her best reminded me of what it must have been like to see Jeff Buckley. Payo commanded the stage, had fun with the audience and was entrancing to watch onstage. Check her out at the Stronghold in Venice on April 14!

The Hear NoHo festival is a nice way to catch some great emerging musicians without feeling stuck at a bar, or having to sit through the really crappy bands to get to the good ones. The Festival happens every first Thursday, so definitely check it out!