Showcase: Jasmine Ash @ The Hotel Cafe (06/21/12)

 

A ‘Darling‘ Showcase, #afterthebreak…

Jasmine Ash at The Hotel Cafe

06/21/12

== Highlights ==

Oh Darling‘s leading lady has gone solo..for the summer.  Backed by Phantom Planet‘s founding members (Jacques Brautbar and Sam Farrar), Jasmine Ash took the stage Thursday night at Hollywood’s ‘Hotel Cafe‘ performing a handful of tracks from her new album, Beneath The Noise.  The sheer size of the crowd, which featured a music celebrity or two, was lost to me until I turned around halfway through and saw lines of moving shadows swaying in the dimly lit darkness.  All howling after each and every song.

Ms. Ash‘s subtle, and yet very powerful, voice  — reminiscent of popular female acts (e.g. Bjork, Katy Perry, Michelle Branch, & Ingrid Michaelson) — sound amazing bouncing off the brick walls.  Her deep empowering lyrics to catchy simple hooks were quite infectious for the rest of the night as I returned to my car.  Because when a stranger looks at you funny for singing “La La La” on the street, you know you are way beyond hooked…especially in ‘Holly-weird’.  Plus her entire solo catalog feels like it was made for some unwritten romantic comedy.

[Don’t believe me?  Check out her performances of “Undefeated” & “Killer” from last night now!]

 Jasmine & Her ‘Planets‘ played fast and loud almost the entire set.  The high pitch vocals, hard hitting drums, swipes of the guitar strings, to tambourine smacks kept my foot tapping for the full 45 minutes.  She did duet with Sam for a love song, in which they recommended that all the lovers in the room wrap themselves around each other.  For what good is a love song if there isn’t a touching going on?  Didn’t look back to see if anyone did, but like to think so.

It was quick, bundles of fun, and really showcased all aspects of why I love this fresh new artist outside her Oh Darling collective that will be returning sooner than later.  Until then if you’re looking for the soundtrack to your love life…then look no further than Jasmine Ash‘s “Beneath The Noise“.

Big thanks to Jasmine, Hotel Cafe, and Sideways Media for sponsoring such a brilliant talent.  May your future be bright.  Until next time…

-J

[PS: Sorry for typos.  Wrote it really fast]

== Photography Notes ==

The Hotel Cafe is a hard venue to shoot at for anyone without a $1000 camera.  I’ve seen even veteran level photographers take time playing with their settings during a set.  The intimate-soft-lighting is set in a way where the light is focused on the center down the middle to the back curtain.  Leaving some shade off to the side.  It’s a very generic-low maintenance set up due to the quick turn around between acts.

I get it and that’s why I love shooting here.  The more hopeless the fight, the more my fire burns.  Because if I can get an amazing shot from the back wall here…it makes my night.  A near impossible task.  No matter what: when I walk out of the doors, have a new measuring stick for the next performance when it comes to ISO, Shutter Speed, and positioning.

Last night pictures weren’t my best work.  Sorry to say.  Got a handful of gems.  Most of them needed filters to bring out all the best aspects of the composition.  Jacques Brautbar and Sam Farrar were in the dark spots most of the night.  Thus massive amounts of natural blurs happened.  They work from an artistic standpoint, but wasn’t my intention.  Jasmine looked amazing in her vintage detailed beige dress.  My close up shots really captured the unnoticeable glitter around her eye lids.  It gave her a ‘star child’ persona on stage.

Enjoy the slideshow!

== Picture Selects ==