School Night’s back in session! The season kicks off tonight at its new Eastside home: Zebulon! You know, the live music spot in LA’s Frogtown neighborhood that you probably already frequent. School Night will feature the same carefully curated line-ups as always and it’s completely free — all you gotta do is RSVP (get on that right here).
Keep reading to learn more about the four artists playing at tomorrow night’s premiere show. And scroll to the very end of the page for a special bonus cut.
Bardo – “Funky People”
It’s right there in the title. This funky track from Bardo is a celebration of all the people who made him who he is: an LA treasure, a man transformed, and an artist fully realized. This early single off Transformation Time, his first release under Stones Throw Records as just himself, is the embodiment of the full-time solo career that perhaps he’d always envisioned (as our beloved Chicano Batman takes its extended hiatus). The message of “Funky People” is one of joyful appreciation for others. Catch Bardo live at School Night.
Catch the tail end of the summer breeze with this stunning single from Pearl Charles. Close your eyes and you’ll sense the California in this amber-hued track: warm sands, salty lips, summer loves that burn up quick, but you wouldn’t trade ‘em. Charles’ layered vocals sound like a perfect tan feels… deep, confident, a little bit dangerous. Citing American folk music and a sense of psychedelia as references, Pearl Charles is sure to enrapture you from the stage at Zebulon.
Multi-disciplinary artist Cleo Reed makes super duper attention-grabbing, conformity-breaking country music that’s as much poetry as it is music (her full album is called CUNTRY). The video here is just what it should be, a single shot that moves around Reed in an unbroken stream as she plays and sings, encouraging total focus on lyrics containing an extended metaphor worthy of your attention and analysis. Catch it live!
There’s something so comforting about the wall of shoegaze fuzz that hits you in the face when this tree-fitty track from LA band Host Family hits its crescendo. Same goes for the tinkly soft touch that follows it. Get you a band that can do both. Host Family has been playing around LA since 2022, and it doesn’t take much listening to tell that they know what they’re doing. On YT, they’re currently sub 100 followers and sub 500 views on this sunsoaked vid. We think they’re stratospheric in sound (and vision). Let’s gooooo… to watch their set for what’s sure to be an “I was there” moment in the making.
We promise a bonus, we deliver a bonus… from perhaps the most esteemed School Night alum of the series’ 16-year history. That would be none other than Billie Eilish, who rocked that hallowed stage as a teenager in 2015, when she was teetering on the edge of pop stardom. Hit play on “The Diner,” a track from her 2024 LP HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, a favorite of School Night co-founder and KCRW DJ Chris Douridas.
[Please note: Billie Eilish will NOT be performing at Zebulon tomorrow night, this entry is just a nice walk down memory lane. The rest of the artists featured above will be there.]