Zealyn brings quality openers to Gasa Gasa for low-key Monday night concert

Electro-soul singer Zealyn performed at Gasa Gasa in a show that enthralled listeners and yet managed to remain intensely personal, on Monday, October 2. Though the audience may have been markedly smaller than anyone could have anticipated, every attendee doubtlessly left the concert in the highest of spirits.

Quality over quantity, perhaps?

Realistically speaking, of course, the overall lack of a substantial audience was due both to the relative obscurity of the performing artists and the questionable decision to hold a concert on the most universally detested day of the week. Despite these factors, however, both Zealyn and her openers put on remarkably memorable shows.

Zealyn herself, touring currently for last year’s critically-acclaimed Limbic System EP, boasted a repertoire of atmospheric, darkly melodic alt-electronic songs to which virtually all present couldn’t help but to sing along. Exemplifying the professionalism and charisma as only befitting an American Idol finalist, she enraptured the audience from start to finish, at one point walking off stage and into the audience where she sang, mic-less and acapella, the first verse of one of her singles. After the show, she stuck around and got to know the audience personally.

It wasn’t just Zealyn who spent time getting to know the audience. Opening band Valise, a fiercely enthusiastic alt rock four-piece hailing from Dallas, Texas, mingled with listeners before and after their show, afterwards giving out free pins straight from their band’s merch table. And they certainly weren’t an act to miss either; with the melodic unpredictability of Mutemath coupled with the on-stage dynamism of Young the Giant, Valise is a band to keep an eye on in the future.

The show was, however, debatably stolen in its entirety by the very first act of the night. Indie-soul artist Josh Mosier—a Tulane University junior whose rabid friends and fans made up 80 percent of the audience, and then left promptly after he left the stage—proved to be the veritable breakout artist of the night.

Propelled by the strength of singles Karma and My Love, Mosier’s performance was both passionately soulful and irresistibly engaging. His setlist featured down-tempo, vocals-driven refrains and electric guitar-laden anthems alike, perpetually keeping the audience on its toes while simultaneously evidencing the diversity of his musical ability.

Be on the lookout for Mosier, Valise and Zealyn in the future; all three reside on the cusp of mainstream popularity.

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