It takes an immense amount of courage to confidently step into your identity as a young adult, especially in this day and age with the seemingly endless bad news cycle surrounding us all. Nonetheless, Violet Grohl is proudly proclaiming herself to be so much more than her famous father’s daughter. Violet’s music may exude 90s nostalgia, an era spearheaded by her father’s contributions to grunge juggernauts Nirvana and rock royalty Foo Fighters, but she’s dead set on crafting her own musical persona. Friday’s performance at Downtown LA’s Moroccan Lounge was a success in that respect.

Violet’s debut solo album Be Sweet To Me is dynamic, intricate and passionate; a wholehearted testament to the era preceding her birth yet one that held so much weight for her on a personal level. The tracklist is distinct yet all-encompassing with shoegaze and punk-adjacent tracks like “Often Others” and “Applefish” being sandwiched in between dreamy pop ballads like “Mobile Star” and “Pool Of My Dreams.” The contrast works well in the grand scheme of things, showcasing Violet’s versatile style. In a live setting it particularly excelled thanks to a well-thought-out setlist.

Kicking the show off with “Bug In The Cake,” Violet exhibited her melodic vocal delivery and cool, calm and collected stage persona. The high energy continued into “THUM” before slowing down a tad for “Last Day I Loved You,” an earworm-worthy ballad in its own right. “Cool Buzz” followed with its moody atmosphere. Soon after came the plethora of live debuts which the excited crowd was more than happy to witness. A whopping seven tracks were played live for the very first time including “Stimulant Breakfast,” “Big Memory,” “Pool Of My Dreams,” “Applefish,” “Sun Is Blind,” “Often Others” and “Plastic Couch.” Among the performances of the night was also a faithful cover of Ween’s track “Transdermal Celebration” from their 2003 album Quebec.

Towards the end of the show, Violet took the time to introduce her band to the audience, spotlighting Ainjel Emme on bass (and backing vocals!), Salar Rajabnik on guitar and Anthony Paul Lopez on drums. Each of their musical skills coupled with Violet’s burgeoning talents as a frontwoman made for a polished performance, one that sounded faithful to the album’s spotless production while avoiding the predictability of a straightforward track by track playthrough. The live renditions brought just the right amount of spunk to the songs, openly exploring the grittiness of the guitar, the sharpness of the drums and the raw emotions conveyed through the vocals. All in all, it’s clear that Violet’s debut as a performer and a musician is destined to go far; this level of conciseness and assuredness is impressive for an artist at this stage in their musical career and one can only imagine just how much more there is to come in the near future.

Violet Grohl Setlist

1. Bug In The Cake
2. THUM
3. Last Day I Loved You
4. Cool Buzz
5. Stimulant Breakfast
6. Big Memory
7. Mobile Star
8. Pool Of My Dreams
9. Applefish
10. Transdermal Celebration (Ween cover)
11. Sun Is Blind
12. 595
13. Often Others
14. Plastic Couch