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Rilan @ The Peppermint Club 5/26/17 // Photo by Derrick K. Lee, Esq. (@Methodman13) for www.BlurredCulture.com.
Rilan @ The Peppermint Club 5/26/17 // Photo by Derrick K. Lee, Esq. (@Methodman13) for www.BlurredCulture.com.

Los Angeles, CA- I’ve always been of the opinion that a polished artist showcase is pretty damn essential if you want to make it in the music industry. It’s the equivalent of a job interview; you need to leave a good impression otherwise you won’t get a call back.

On May 26th, 2017 at the Peppermint Club in Los Angeles, I was  invited to check out a showcase performance by Rilan Roppolo p/k/a “Rilan”. Note to aspiring pop recording artists out there: if you need some tips on how to leave an impression, you may want to ask Rilan if he’s got any for you. The dude put on one helluva show.

His electronic dance/pop music was solid enough, but it was his live performance that really impressed me. It was a theatrical performance, with sharply synched choreography supported by a quartet of skilled dancers, that made all of the “male Lady Gaga” comparisons make sense. Rilan is a showman in the purest sense of the word, and you could tell that he must have spent months perfecting every move, and every note, that was performed that evening.

The performance wasn’t just limited to energetic dance numbers as three-quarters in to his performance, his dancers left the stage, the stage lights turned a deep shade of red, and he sat behind a keyboard to perform a pair of passionate ballads. This moment was used to highlight the wide range of moods that he was able to express, and you could see all of the emotions on his face and in his eyes.

He then continued his set by turning up the “hype” factor of his performance with his dancers coming back on stage and him performing songs in the audience, encouraging (and persuading) attendees to dance with him and his ensemble. I’m sure that he had friends and family in the crowd, but the excitement and energy he was able to pull from the crowd was palpable, and would surely have impressed anybody enough for a call back.

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