Los Angeles, CA- As the year winds down, I take stock of all of the shows that I’ve attended and organize the notes and photos that I’ve taken from each outing. I go to a lot of shows… perhaps too many… and there will be times when I neglect posting thoughts and galleries on acts that I’ve caught because they may not have been the act that I was tasked to report on and I simply didn’t have enough time at that moment. Well… now that I have a bit of time, I get to remedy that problem.
On September 29th, I was able to see VAVÁ perform an opening set for Lauren Ruth Ward’s record release show at the Bootleg. VAVÁ is Vanessa Wheeler, formerly of the band LeoLeo, and her performance prompted be to purchase her four track EP from bandcamp. While it was a relatively short set, I was obviously duly impressed with what I heard.
Stylistically, it’s hard for me to pinpoint where her music comes from or what category it should fall into. There are definitely pop elements to her compositions (catchy and pleasing melodies and hooks), but it also consisted of an amalgam of art rock with jam band elements while maintaining an ethereal aura. I often try utilize a “sounds like” thought process when I listen to a recording artist for the first time, and my first thoughts was that VAVÁ’s music were the offspring of musical genes taken from Sia, Florence, St. Vincent and Dave Matthews.
Whatever it is, it’s uniquely VAVÁ’s and I truly enjoyed it.
Follow VAVÁ’s on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
LIVE CLIPS
Vava at Bootleg Theater 9/29/17. pic.twitter.com/MDq3dVWrW5
— Derrick K. Lee (@methodman13) December 7, 2017
Vava at Bootleg Theater 9/29/17. pic.twitter.com/luy0Keshej
— Derrick K. Lee (@methodman13) December 7, 2017
