Last night was not a show I would typically go to. I had never heard of either of the acts playing. I had no expectations and honestly, I kind of wanted to stay home and just soak in some more aloe (my sunburn from Warped Tour on Sunday is still ridiculously painful).

Driving past 7th Street Entry, on my way to the parking ramp, I was shocked to see the line that stretched for half of the block. I would like to think I’m pretty in tune with what’s popular and what’s not, regardless of what genre, but this completely caught me off guard. Here I was thinking that it would just be me and a handful of people at this show. Surprisingly enough, when I got up to there door there was a “Sold Out” sign swinging in the wind. How is this a sold out show?! I’ve never even heard of Zella Day or the opener, Lany. Am I really that far behind the times?

I had a feeling I was a bit out of my element when I walked in and was surrounded by college girls. In my world, that’s a bad sign. I’d rather be surrounded by a bunch of thirty something year old guys with their beer bellies hanging out.The fact that I was surrounded by a bunch of glammed up women in high heels just means that this was more of a social gathering instead of a concert. Man, was I wrong.

Lany was the opening act. They are a three piece synth-pop band from Los Angeles with catchy, yet dreamy, pop songs. There were songs where I almost fell asleep standing up just due to the dreamyness and the pure calmness of music. Then, right when my eyes were too heavy for me to keep open, and I was ready to lay down on the bench in the back of the venue, they would play an upbeat song that you couldn’t help but move around to. I was surprised by the amount of people that knew who these guys were. People were singing along to every word and swaying back and forth to every note. The girls in the crowd were swooning over the singer, who may as well have been a model. The boyfriends in the crowd seemed annoyed but got their revenge as soon as Zella came onto the stage.

Zella Day is a force to be reckoned with. Her voice is more powerful than the emotional screamers and growlers that I’m typically listening to. For such a petite girl, Zella has one of the biggest voices I have heard in awhile and it was refreshing even though it was not my cup of tea. Her show was not the most exciting show I have ever seen and the crowd was pretty tame for my taste (my blistered sunburn was so thankful for that). That being said, there was something about her that kept me at that show instead of going home after a song or two like I had planned on.

Everything about Zella seemed calm, soft spoken, almost shy until she would open her mouth and you would hear that big voice. That’s when it went from an American Idol audition to a concert. It was Lana Del Rey meets Janis Joplin’s drug habit (but only taking the good, happy pills). It was the music that would be on stage at a modern day Woodstock. You could almost smell the patchouli incense coming out of the guitars but you could also hear the passion and the rock influences in the music.

The way she had the crowd going was amazing. Usually, I’m one of the people hanging onto every word being sung while people look at me like I’m crazy. Last night, the roles were reversed. I didn’t know a single song, let alone a single word but everyone else in the crowd did. It’s such a weird sensation to be on that side of it. I almost felt like I wasn’t worthy enough to be there. It was a sold out show and the constant stream of people trying to get in the door only to be turned away, would have killed for my ticket. Here I was, completely out of my element, hogging that one ticket that could have gone to a true fan. But maybe that’s better use of a ticket because both Zella Day and Lany just earned a new fan that will definitely go see them next time they are in town.

I walked in not knowing anything about either band but walked away with two new bands to add to my ever expanding listening list.

Line Up:

Lany

Zella Day

Venue: 7th Street Entry

Sausage Fest Meter-     -32 out of 10

Average Age of the Crowd- 24

Crowd Surfers- None

Spotted Flying Through The Sky- N/A

Broken Bones- N/A

Drunkards Taken Out By Security- N/A

Found in the Pit- N/A

Overheard in the Crowd- “What’s with these hats?!”- referring to all of the big, floppy Pharrell looking hats in the crowd and on the stage