Drama Duo at The Mint

 

You may or may not remember me mentioning DRAMA in a previous post. Well, I got the chance to see this lovely pair live this past weekend in LA.

Fair warning before we start – I made the mistake of trusting Chris to be the photographer of the night, so the only photos I have look like this:

You know, for a guy who claims to love me, he sure knows how to make me look awful in a photo.

Like…

But I digress. You can find much better pictures of that night’s show at Bolder Beat.

Made up of vocalist Via Rosa and producer Na’el Shehade, this Chicago-based duo’s live setup was pretty simple, with just the two of them onstage accompanied only by Shehade’s laptop and a synthesizer (and/or sampler).

The sparse staging worked well for the intimate venue, but if I ever got the chance to hear them play in a larger setting, I’d love to see them expand their act a bit. Maybe it was the relatively mellow crowd, or the fact that I chose to enjoy the set from a seat in the back of the room where I could take in the entire scene, but I felt like I was missing that bass-in-your-gut feeling that I love so much about live music.

Even if I didn’t feel as physically close to the music as I wished in that way, though, DRAMA still used the intimacy to their advantage, with Via Rosa flashing her warm and contagious smile to encourage the crowd to dance and have fun. By far, the most endearing moment of the night was when she stopped singing and, through and embarrassed giggle, told the crowd that we were throwing her off because she wasn’t used to having the audience singing along with her so enthusiastically.

😥 😥 😥 AWWWWWW 😥 😥 😥

You guys. That was so sweet. It made my entire week and (almost) warmed my cold, dead heart.

Ok, fine. It 100% made me really happy.

Together, these two were able to create an atmosphere that felt inviting and personal – a skill of showmanship that I don’t think can be taught. And of course it helped that their music sounded great, as expected. I truly hope to get the opportunity to see this act grow for a long time to come.

Also listen to their newest single here: