Raffaella Opens for Del Water Gap at the El Rey

The El Rey is a beautiful venue. From the crystal chandeliers, littered with hidden, shining blue and purple LEDs to the red drapes that matched the red walls - it’s a ballroom straight out of the golden days of Hollywood.

I arrived just after doors, all of the fans scrambling towards security trying to get into the theater before the rest to get the best spots possible. Everyone was in their indie-best - Doc Martens, vintage dresses, 90’s jeans, freshly dyed hair, and costume jewelry. Inside the venue, clumps of friends were posted about, taking fit-check photos for their Instagrams and videos for their Snapchat stories. This was not just a concert to them, but an event - a moment to be remembered.

First up of the night was local indie-pop artist Chloe George. When George first walked up onto the stage, she barely could look up from the ground. The theater was packed with eager fans - of Del Water Gap. She was a newcomer at our mercy and you could tell she was wary, at least at the outset. But then the first few notes of her opening song left her lips.

Her eyes rose with the audience's volume, as they erupted with cheers and her confidence only grew from there.

For the rest of her performance, she had a goofy smile and a buoyant skip in her step. She was pure, bubbly joy. But her voice was pure, deep-rooted passion and emotion. Despite her giggly personality and tiny frame, she was an old-school vocal powerhouse.

Although she only played a few songs, she made an impact. For the entire break between George’s act and the second opener, audience members were buzzing about the performance. I caught several groups of friends hunched over a phone, stalking either Chloe’s Spotify, Instagram, or Apple Music.

But soon enough, the lights dimmed once more, and all eyes turned back to the stage for the performance of up-and-coming pop star Raffaella.

Raffaella strutted onto the stage with beauty-queen-level glamor. She had a slyly debonair smile gleaming across her face as she made her way toward the mic. Then away she went.

She started her set with an unreleased song “Come to nyc” (coming to streaming services August 12th) Her sweet bird-like vocals cooed softly over the audience. Although there wasn’t much energy to her performance, there was a strong charisma - cool and casual - but still just as engaging and dazzling.

Raffaella was a true “it girl” and she made sure we knew it. From her corseted top, purposely messy top knot, princess smile, and subtly sexy movements - she made it clear that she was the next pop girly without even needing to try. Her songs exuded that same it-girl energy, but with a tender vulnerability to soften the glittery edges.For, a true “it girl” isn’t perfect - she’s confident in herself, imperfections and all. And that night, Raffaella proved herself to be that confident being.

She ended up closing her set with another unreleased single called “Lipstick”: a song she described as a “mating call” for her current boyfriend. It was a campy-cute love song about driving to the places you love with the person you love. It was the perfect song to end her set and get everyone ready for the main event: Del Water Gap.

Del Water Gap bounced onto the stage with higher energy than a nuclear collision. He and his band jumped right into the first song of the night: “Better Than I Know Myself.” Del Water Gap was practically glowing - not just from the way the lights hit his face - but from the pure passion and vivacity he radiated while onstage. Even when the sound went out towards the end of the song, he kept moving and grooving as if nothing had happened. He was electric, even when he didn’t have electricity.

The only downside of the night was, surprisingly the crowd. The grand majority of attendees barely moved an inch even during the danciest of songs. The most movement I would see is the occasional person rummaging through their purse, filming a verse or two for their story, and then putting their phone back away. It seemed as if the majority of concert-goers weren’t there for the music, but for the social media boost. However, there were still a few clusters of true die-hard fans scattered throughout.

In particular, off to the left side of the stage close to where I was standing was a group of three girls - all clearly best friends - dressed in their very best scream-singing the words to every song and dancing as if no one was watching. I spent half of the show watching them instead of the stage. Their fun was contagious. When I eventually made eye contact with one of them, they immediately pulled me into their circle.

Their names were Ally, Chiara, and Jessie and I ended up hanging with them for the rest of the night. We scream-sang and moshed to Del Water Gap’s cover of Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated.” We swayed to his heartbreaking ballad about long-distance love, aptly named “Distance.” We just let ourselves go and get lost in the music.

I was so lost, that I didn’t see a fan hand Del Water Gap a bouquet of flowers. But I did see, towards the end of the show, Del Water Gap jumped right into the audience to sing “Perfume” with everyone and hand out the flowers that were gifted to him to all of his fans. The crowd went from LA cool to a true frenzied sea of fans. The energy at the end of the night was like fireworks. Colorful, bright fireworks.