PICTURE THIS: Papa + Wardell + Moses Sumney @ El Rey Theatre, LA 12/6/13
It’s been a long time coming for duo Darren Weiss and Daniel Presant with their project Papa. 2013 has been huge, from their residency at the Bootleg Theater in January, to the release of their debut full-length Tender Madness in September, all leading up to their first time headlining the El Rey Theatre in December.
Moses Sumney
To start off the night they brought out local Moses Sumney to work his strong vocals and looping magic. Very rarely does an opener stop the audience in their tracks, completely silencing them, but Sumney managed it with ease, his fluttering in and out and over itself.
Wardell
Wardell
Sumney is a hard act to follow, but brother/sister based group Wardell did the best they could to hold their own, getting the crowd on the right level to move.
Finally, the red curtains parted to reveal Weiss atop his drum kit, triumphantly swinging a mangled chain above his head. The on-stage four piece was joined by three backup singers, including Sumney and Rachel Fannan of Only You. After their signature instrumental intro, they immediately rolled into “If You’re My Girl Then I’m Your Man”.
Papa
Papa
Powering through selections from Tender Madness and A Good Woman Is Hard To Find EP, Papa punctuated the end of their set with a cover of David Bowie’s “Modern Love”, complete with a guest saxophonist.
Papa
Papa
Papa
We’ve been lucky enough to see Papa grow through the years – from opening for the likes of Girls and Ra Ra Riot to headlining bigger and bigger shows, even getting crazy sans shirts for nearly an entire show. With what we’ve seen them accomplish this year alone, we can’t even imagine the heights that the coming years will take them.
Papa
Miss out on the madness? Check out more photos of Papa and friends HERE.