Showcase: Allen Stone @ The Getty (06/16/12)

Allen Stone makes art history in front of 4,000 people, #afterthebreak…

Allen Stone at the Getty Center/Museum

06/16/12

(re-edited: 11/11/23)

==Highlights==

Four times.  That’s hard for me to put down on paper.  Record breaking too in our short history.  I never covered an artist more than three times.  Never wanted to either.  That was all tossed out the window when I saw B4M/GN fav — Allen Stone — was headlining at the Getty Museum for their free “Saturdays off the 405” series.  Felt like a bonus to the full crazy day at Make Music Pasadena.  “why not?”, I told myself.  Not only will there be hair-raising tunes, but also vibrant sophisticated wine with the bright lights & coastal breezes of Los Angeles providing the sexy ambiance.  Something about good music and art that gets the blood pumping.  We were in for a good time.

There’s no argument.  Allen Stone is AMAZING!  My friends said the same thing to me last night when we exploring the Getty.  He’s just one of those soulful artists that will send chills down your spine while you’re shaking your hips and touching your loved one.  Wait…I’m not going to sit here and waste time repeating what has already been said.  If you’re new, read this!  That’s all you need.  I’ll wait…

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Fun times!  Okay back to last night.

Could sense Allen was very comfortable as he belted out a full hour long vibing set that felt similar to his Troubadour show.  What does this mean?  Essentially all the predicted powerful hits:  like Unaware, Sleep, Satisfaction, Say So, his cover of Bob Marley’s “Is This Love“, and the “You Got Served” dance battling anthem — Nothing To Prove.  To make 4,000+ enthusiastic patrons get nasty in the middle of a well established museum would’ve been unheard of…if I wasn’t apart of it.  Because grinding is the proper thing to do in the middle of million dollar sculptures and fixtures.  Who knows when that will ever happen again?

What caught me off guard was his cover of “Six Years” by the virtually overlooked Swedish artist — Tingsek.  A new song?  Yeah, couldn’t believe it either.  Showed a different side to Allen as he fused the indie-jazz-fusion-pop into his soul styling and made it sound like a completely new song.  Despite sounding quite similar in comparison.  Definitely worth checking out! Will update this section when I upload it.  All our videos have been uploaded and are featured here!  Forewarning you:  it’s a bit shaky.  My secondary camera-person did her best to avoid the big heads in front of her.  Good thing YouTube has a feature to clean it up.

The crowd was huge!  Read this morning it was 4,000+.  Nice balance of Stone fans and others just looking to have a good time.  Even if the patrons came for the beautiful California sunset and tasty wine, the extremely long line that ventured into the lobby after the show to ‘Meet Allen’ spoke magnitudes of how much he touched everyone in the marble courtyard in short time.  A sight that didn’t go unnoticed when they were kicking all of us out of the museum and Allen was still chatting.  See…character.  Said it before.

Finally I will say this:  If you want to impress your date with something better than a dinner & movie…go check out “Saturdays off the 405”!  It’s perfect for lovers.  Pray you get an act like Allen Stone too.  The only bad thing is the traffic, so get their early.  The view, at sundown, is worth every moment of car frustration.  Next one is in July.  Mark your calenders!

Big thanks to Allen Stone & The Getty for putting the cherry on top of a industrious-crazy-long Saturday of incredible music!

==Value==

Free Allen Stone?  That’s a offer you don’t turn down because he’s opening for Al Green soon.  One time felt like a fluke, but two times really tells you how humble an artist Allen really is.  And he’s only going to get better throughout this tour.  If you have a chance to see him…clear your plans.  He will blow your mind every time.   Hopefully you won’t have to pay more than $100.  Still totally worth it seeing how this time around parking was only $10.

==Photography Notes==

Out of the four times I have shot Allen Stone, this was by far the best because I wasn’t fighting dark neon lights or security guards.  Just me and my ‘Powershot’.  Felt very comfortable.

Overly excited fans did crop a shot or two with their fingers.  That’s expected and didn’t stop me because that’s what I love about concert photography.  The more shots I get of fans taking pictures while I’m capturing an artist is the definition of an ‘Guerrilla Night‘.

 ==Picture Selects==