American Idol fan favorite and multi-instrumentalist musician, Alejandro Aranda, also known as his stage name Scarypoolparty, stepped under the spotlight at Swedish American Hall, a historic venue in the heart of San Francisco this past Saturday night. The intimate show offered a lucky audience of less than 300 to experience an intimate show that is part of Aranda’s first ever tour, which sold out within seconds online.
Loved and admired for his incredibly unique music abilities and down-to-earth personality, the 24-year old dishwasher turned American Idol runner up performed an original setlist decorated with extraordinary guitar riffs that complements his soulful vocals completely as he sings about love, loss, and internal conflict.
The show starts off with his captivating Idol audition piece, “Out Loud”. Other key highlights include “10 Years”, a delicate yet powerful song written for someone he cared about go through divorce: “As I walk away, they say you don’t need me anymore, because I don’t need you anymore”. He follows it with “Millennial Love”, which emphasizes the importance of experiencing life outside of a screen, and “Cholo Love”, a seductive piece about being in a relationship and the only piano song that evening.
Aranda also introduces a few new singles, before ending the 80-minute show with “Poison”, a song on the pain from a one-sided love. In live fashion, Aranda effortlessly graces each performance with extra goosebump-inducing instrumentals that are fresh and heard for the first time.
Between songs, Aranda connected with the audience in a different way through sincerity and humor, sharing reflections on being authentic as an artist on national television, and gratitude for his journey since then. He exchanged personable conversations with a diverse, fan-filled crowd who call themselves ‘Alejomies’, thanking them for connecting directly to his music instead of focusing on his private life.
Beyond music, the Pomona, California native offered words of inspiration and encouraged self-compassion and compassion for those around us. “The thing that life is teaching me, is that each moment is very precious. On a daily basis, it starts with our personal being, personal health, and personal happiness within our hearts.” Accompanied with some self-deprecating humor, he adds that “I am not perfect”, reminding us that we’re all human and should “love each other because we’re one and the same”. His gratitude comes from living with purpose because “all this can be gone tomorrow so it’s important to take advantage of every opportunity.”
Recently signed to Hollywood Records, releasing his new single and music video, “Tonight”, Aranda is busy on the road working on his debut album as Scarypoolparty.
Last month, he added a second sold-out fall tour, which will begin in Berkeley, CA on October 10. With a huge smile, Aranda is excited to be integrating more electronic music into his repertoire. “It’s going to be really loud. After this tour, a lot of the music I’m going to put out is totally me.”
Check out my gallery from the show below…
Scarypoolparty @ Swedish American Music Hall, San Francisco CA 7.13.19
