Our fifth Allen Stone showcase megapost, #afterthebreak…
Allen Stone, Yuna, and Tingsek at The Fonda Theatre
10/19/12
(re-edited: 11/13/23)
Concert Thoughts:
I wrote in our Getty Showcase wrap-up that I was going to take a break from the soulful Allen Stone for awhile. Four showcases for one artist was record breaking in our little sites history for I had never covered an artist like I have with this wonderful up and coming performer. Traveled all over Hollywood/Los Angeles just to see him perform — in the damp dark Echo, atop of Andaz Hotel off sunset, in the world famous Troubadour, and finally in the Getty courtyard containing historic art pieces overlooking coastal Santa Monica. What marvelous journeys.
However changed my mind last month when tickets went on sale for Mr. Stone’s solo show at the Fonda Theatre. “Just one more”, I told myself. Then I’d quit. Thus certifying that I was and kind am a Allen Stone addict. Never thought it would come to this but certified it last Friday night at The Fonda Theatre. Five showcases. Over 1000+ pictures. All trying to hype an artist who’s voice is pure magic. Whose music is powerful and meaningful. Who doesn’t fall into the modern pop music machine. A true artist. There has been no one better. [A close second would be Ben Howard, but that’s just my personal opinion.] Not saying this to suck up. It’s how I feel.
This time around Allen had Tingsek & Yuna help open the show. Magnus Tingsek is an Swedish artist who most of you probably don’t know about it. Been around since 2005 with a handful of records under his belt. Found about him last time I saw Allen Stone at the Getty when he performed a cover of Tingsek’s “Six Years”. We recorded it and blew up on Youtube. So when he opened the jam packed Fonda thought it was kind of cool. Sort of the same style of Folk Rock as a Sondre Lerche. Melancholy ballads with some upbeat blues. Liked the songs at the end of the set. Got everyone on the floor swaying. Tingsek returned for Allen’s encore where they performed his song — “Six Years” — as a duet. To the lay person’s eye, look like they were long lost brothers. Blues brothers? More like soul ‘brothas’. Here is their performance of Six Years that closed the show:
Up next was Malaysian singer-songwriter — Yuna. Another artist who is big outside of America who has successfully made the USA jump. Yuna garnered heaps of buzz this year with her self-titled 2012 record that featured producing credits from Pharrell Williams. The punch drunk crowd wasn’t really feeling her. I was. Not many artists can pull off a ukulele. Plus, drunk hipsters are the worst.
The highlight of her set was her cover of Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin’ Bout You”. She built the whole background beat using her voice and microphone loop machine. Wish she did more of it. Watch it here…wasn’t shot by me.
Props to The Fonda for stepping up where The Music Box failed. Everything was scheduled perfectly. Not much downtime. It’s hard to stick to schedule. Very impressive Fonda. You gander extra points just because you’re attached to my favorite bar — The Blue Palms. The smoothness is just a perk.
Think I have said all I could possibly say about Allen Stone over the past write ups. His soulful voice, being alongside the best band in the world, and all that jazz. Blah blah. The only difference is the showmanship. Being on tour for over a year…Allen has increase exponentially as a performer/showman. This felt like the perfect Allen Stone show: All the hits from his second self-title LP, get nasty time, a few tracks from his overlook first record with the meaningful personal stories from when he first started on this road, covers of Marley’s “Is this Love” & Rufus & Chaka Khan”Tell Me Something Good” minus the ‘sex & candy’, and psyche Thriller interlude.
All the kids now are getting the best version of Allen Stone. To sell out the Fonda and almost every other venue around LA shows to me and the world how special an artist he is. Said it before and I’ll say it a x100– he’s only going to get better and better. And the six time we cover him will be another noteworthy event.
Don’t believe me here are the last 10 minutes of the show:
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Thank you Allen Stone, Yuna, Tingsek, and the Fonda for hosting another wonderful showcase. Best of luck on your tour. Our raw guerrilla pictures below are our gifts to you. Thanks for reading and sorry for typos.
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==Yuna==
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See the rest of our pixs here!