Kevin Bronson on September 30th, 2018

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In the long buildup to last week’s release of the album “Mixed Media on Woman,” Louisiana-birthed Moon Honey became favorites on the L.A. scene for their wild, colorful performances, inimitable musical style and their enthusiastic support of those around them (support that they reciprocated).

Those all collided Friday night at the jam-packed Echo in the celebration of “Mixed Media” — their second album, their first since 2013 and their first since principals Jess Joy and Andrew Martin moved to Los Angeles.

It was a night teeming with fellow musicians as well as fans, and like their June 2017 residency nights, it was a night given to no particular style of music, and one emblematic of the idiosyncratic tentacles of a neighborhood that never spins on one axis. The duo HOTT MT started off the night with their droney but kaleidoscopic psych-pop; the ever-improving SLUGS followed with a set of muscular, ’90s-indebted rock; then the re-formed, dark-dressed Black Flamingo drenched the crowd in gothic shoegaze.

Moon Honey, with Joy and Martin backed by an all-star band including two keyboardists, a bassist, a harpist and a drummer, then took over to play the bulk of their album — and even tossed in a new song. It was as explosive a performance as the band has ever given. Lauren Ruth Ward joined the band for a song late in the night, and by the end, no fewer than 20 people had crowded onto the stage to dance and Martin had forayed into the crowd, guitar held high.

Photos by Jessica Hanley