Photos: Smashbox Presents PLAY MOCA with Zola Jesus and Active Child

Musicians and Artists joined forces to a collaborative series of concerts under the the stars and skyscrapers of downtown LA on August 17th, 2012. The summer music series, PLAY MOCA, aims to bring together a diverse group of musicians and artists to collaborate in a series of visual and musical performances, highlighting the cultural vitality and diversity of the city of Los Angeles.

The second of three music events, PLAY MOCA was successful with a full house of people walking through the museum and hanging outside waiting to see the eclectic and ever amazing electronic musician Active Child and headliner Zola Jesus.

When Active Child hit the stage, there was an ignition of sound and visuals. Between the incredible outdoor stage with giant floating balloons in the air, warm summer breeze, beautiful visuals performed by the L.A. Dance Project projected on a screen at the back of the stage, and the eclectic electronic sounds of Active Child, it couldn’t get better than this. Front man, Pat Grossi, is classically trained and mixes the electronic music with his harmonic voice and a harp. Yes, who plays a harp these days? Pat Grossi does, and he does it damn well. Their music is futuristic yet classical and only makes sense that their latest LP, You Are All I See, is self described as a, “sonic ambition…that sounds cosmically huge and yet intimate all the same.”

Soon after Active Child finishes their set, you can only imagine how excited the crowd were for headliner Zola Jesus. Under the twilight sky and cloud-like roof of giant white balloons, this is the perfect setting for Nika Danilova, the brain child of Zola Jesus, to draw the audience into her symphonic universe. Like a siren in the night, Danilova powers through her set with ease and grace. She demands attention through her music not to mention her kooky stage-fashion (remember her halo wreath she wore at the Guggenheim?). With her trio of musicians and clouds of smoke, Zola Jesus fails to disappoint and even jumps into the crowd at the end of the show to dance and sing with the audience.

All photos by Pamela Lin