We had a great time at the 1st Annual Wilmore 9 Film/Music/Arts Festival this past Sunday in downtown Long Beach. We covered a lot of ground and saw a lot of really great bands over the course of the 10 hour day. The music portion of the festival took place on three different stages. Our first stop was The Lot stage to catch Sunday's opening band, Mia Koo & The Moonlight. Lead singer Mia Koo's saccharine vocals layered perfectly on top of the band's great songwriting. This quintet really got the audience hooked early on in the day with a melodic bang and high energy performance. Mia closed out the band's set with a amazing solo performance of Hall and Oates' "Sara Smile."
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| Mia Koo & The Moonlight |
Our next stop was the Long Beach Independent Stage to catch the band Gorgeous. The bands' moniker seems to also be a great descriptor for their sound. Check out the video and judge for yourself. This was the second time we had the pleasure of seeing Gorgeous around town. Both were great performances. The band played a quick 6 song set of fantastic melodic tunes. Setlist: There's No Telling, Little Things, What Were You Thinking, It Doesn't Make Sense, Time I've Wasted, Burn Off. Lead singer Joel Jasper is a Long Beach local and told us that he recently started a new record label named Porch Party Records.
Gorgeous
We headed back to The Lot stage to catch the 3:30 performance from Josh Harmony. Josh's set was one of the highlight's of the day. His sound was truly a little bit country and little bit rock n roll. Judy shot a great video of song "Will You Be My Girl" which reminded us of a cross between Ritchie Valens and Buddy Holly. The song is from his album Calico & Romeo which was released back in June.
Kevin Miso took the Long Beach Independent stage with just his guitar and soulful voice. The simplicity and power of his sound resembles Jack Johnson. Below is a video of his performance of the song "Let You Go" which showcases his amazing talent.
The Portland based band Dresses took The Lot stage and gave us a great set of sweet pop tunes. Lead singer Timothy Heller's sunny vocals fit perfectly with the laid back vibe of the festival.
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| Dresses |
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| So Many Wizards |
The closing act and highlight of the festival was the performance by Naïve Thieves. Judy shot a great video of their opening song from inside the Madhaus Music Hall. We have been fans of the band for the past few years and this was our first time seeing them play live.
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| Naïve Thieves rock the Madhaus |
