LOS ANGELES, CA- Sometimes the best nights in music start with a gamble. No months of playlist binging, no setlist research, just a ticket, a venue, and a willingness to be surprised. That’s how I walked into The Fonda Theatre on August 9, a night headlined by Late Night Drive Home with support from Theo Moss and ALEXSUCKS. I knew almost nothing about any of them. By the end, I walked out with three new names etched into memory; each for very different reasons.
Theo Moss was already on stage when I arrived, and catching only the tail end of her set felt like stumbling into a film mid-scene… you’re trying to piece together the plot, but the mood is unmistakable. Moss, a classically trained violinist who ditched twelve years of disciplined scales for fuzzed-out guitars, has a sound that pulls from indie rock and grunge but retains an emotional precision you’d expect from someone with her background.
Her debut EP “Garden Drummer” drapes heavy feelings over woozy guitars, a push-pull between dreamscape and raw nerve. Live, even in the fragments I witnessed, her presence was magnetic. She’s still early in her career, but there’s something compelling about watching an artist shift from the polished world of classical music into the messier, louder catharsis of alt-rock. It made me regret showing up late, but it also made me want to catch the full set next time.
Where Moss offered introspection, ALEXSUCKS kicked the doors off the hinges. Their set was unfiltered adrenalin: a sweaty, high-volume reminder that rock still thrives in chaos. The Fonda transformed into a pressure cooker: kids shoving toward the stage, lyrics screamed back with abandon, mosh pits swelling and collapsing in rhythm with the band’s jagged hooks.
The setlist leaned into fan favorites and new blood alike: the sneering rush of “6 Pack and Cigarettes”, the jangling swagger of “Can We Forget”, and the slashing anthems “Worm in the Sun” and “Flowers & Dirt.” Their latest single, “The Headache,” hit with an immediacy that felt like it had already been in the rotation for years. Its chantable chorus… “And now the headache won’t go”… and whistle-tipped hook pulls the crowd in.
What makes ALEXSUCKS compelling isn’t just their ability to rile up a crowd. It’s how they balance recklessness with precision. Onstage they look like they’re winging it. Frontman Alex Alvarez teasing the audience, the band careening between songs… but musically they’re locked in, each riff and drum hit delivered with intent. The result is the sweet spot where punk looseness meets arena-ready tightness.
They’ve already racked up millions of streams, toured with FIDLAR, and earned praise for last year’s Warm Beers EP, but seeing them live clarified why their momentum feels unstoppable. They’re not just another LA band hustling through the scene; they’re the kind of group you see in a packed theater one year and on a festival main stage the next.
The night belonged to Late Night Drive Home, and it was easy to see why they’ve been steadily gaining traction. My first brush with their music was almost accidental. Spotify threw me their breakout single “Stress Relief,” a song that instantly reminded me of “Harvey” by H.E.R.S, one of my personal favorites. That similarity wasn’t just in my head: Spotify itself identifies Her’s as a “Fans Also Liked” suggestion for those who listen to Late Night Drive Home, proof of the connective tissue that initially pulled me in.
Born out of El Paso and Chaparral, New Mexico, the trio (Andre Portillo, Brian Dolan, Freddy Baca) are entirely self-taught, carrying the blue-collar work ethic of their hometowns into their music. Their debut album, as I watch my life online, is a chronicle of growing up on the internet songs that toggle between buoyant riffs and ominous unease, reflecting how screens have become both playground and prison.
At The Fonda, those themes landed with a heavier punch. Songs like “Drug Asphyxiation” and “American Church”carried a restless intensity, while “Star Love” and “Terabyte” leaned into more expansive textures. The band played with the urgency of a group determined to prove they belonged on that stage, and the audience fed off it—screaming lyrics, jumping in unison, and swaying during the quieter moments. When they launched into “Euphoria” and closed with “Stress Relief,” the response was explosive. The room turned into a collective release, with fans dancing and shouting along, as if they were part of the song’s DNA.
It’s worth noting how quickly they’ve scaled. In just a few years, they’ve gone from self-released EPs to signing with Epitaph, from local shows to Coachella and ACL. What struck me most, though, was how their live performance added grit and weight to the glossy streaming versions. There’s a rawness, an immediacy, that makes their music feel less like commentary and more like confession. Watching them headline The Fonda, you got the sense of a band right on the edge of breaking into a new tier.
Walking into a venue blind can feel like a roll of the dice. This night, it paid off in spades. Theo Moss, ALEXSUCKS, and Late Night Drive Home each offered a different window into the current state of rock and indie music: one leaning inward with grunge-tinged vulnerability, one blowing the roof off with reckless garage-punk energy, and one bridging nostalgia and digital-age storytelling.
Together, they made the gamble of unfamiliarity feel like a revelation. In an era where algorithms feed us the comfort of the known, nights like this remind me why live discovery matters. Sometimes the bands you’ve never heard of are the ones you can’t stop thinking about the next morning.
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