The Harbor Club stage was home to many of the lesser-known artists for Wonderfront this year, providing artists with opportunities to play for a bigger audience. Half Hour late, Spacehall Sound Machine and Moon Panda were a few noteworthy performances to play on the stage.
Half Hour Late
As I got settled into the second day of the festival, sitting on a bench eating a burrito and lemonade in hand, I heard Half Hour Late making one-liners and riffing nearby at the Harbor Club stage. As a San Diego local band, they displayed an eccentric stage presence that’d attract anyone just entering inside. A favorite of the songs they played, was the recently released “Gloomy Days.” A laid back feel-good rock song the band compared the song title to the weather at the time. The sound of Half Hour Late is the carefree live music you’d want to hear when going to an outdoor concert, and I’m looking forward to seeing them around again soon.
Spacehall Sound Machine
With only 388 monthly listeners on Spotify, Spacehall Sound Machine deserves recognition as an up-and-coming San Diego psychedelic rock band. I first saw the group perform at a local San Diego festival a year ago when they hadn’t released any music yet. Seeing them perform at the Harbor Club Stage was as exciting a show as ever. The band is made up of a six-piece instrumental ensemble incorporating hypnotic sounds in four to five-minute songs. Matt Bozzone, the leader group, would quip and joke in between songs, opening their set by introducing themselves and saying, “We’re here to take your Dad by the hips and kiss your Mom on the lips.”
Their song “Collapse,” felt it took inspired sounds from Latin American music and a Jamaican sound, each set of instruments complimenting one another. This constant high-energy song brought in loud banging drums, rattling textured sounds, and keyboards to bring orchestrated chaos to the audience.
Moon Panda
The most notable artist on this list, Moon Panda, lifts you to the heavens with silky guitars and heavenly vocals. I have been a fan of the group since their 2023 album “Sing Spaceship, Sing!,” and was a welcome addition to the lineup when I saw their name was added to the list of smaller bands performing. Lead vocalist Maddy Myers and guitarist Gustav Moltke helm the group that produces music to make you sway, close your eyes,dream and all of the above. Myers’s vocals live felt just as intimate and glistening as they do in studio recordings, such as when they performed, “Slow Drive,” and feels as zen as it does inviting the audience to feel the cool air around them.
