Rex Orange County plays a high school Prom

Rex OC at the Shrine Auditorium, LA by Jacob Alvarez and edited by Savanah Alvarez

Largest solo show for singer

First show/press of 2020!!! I had never been to the Shrine Auditorium, so I was not sure what to expect. It was as if I was shooting in a high school auditorium during a talent show. This was a nice feeling of nostalgia as the venue was mostly full of young kids and tweens with their parents, and they mostly sang to the tracks playing before Rex took the stage. These tracks included “Biking” by Frank Ocean which I really enjoyed (his best work). Once Rex got on, the room filled with screaming; it was almost too much. As photographers, everyone had to choose to shoot from one side of the room in an aisle so it was very awkward and limiting. However, I am pretty happy with the photos I got. Rex, although still young in the game, really is a great performer. He always had the audience in the palm of his hands, and it seems now that he can stand on his own rather than an opener for a bigger act. Just two years ago, he opened for Tyler at the Expo hall, now he sold out two nights of the auditorium on his own with no opener. I was not a fan of his Pony album, yet the tracks he did play were in fact catchy. It’s always nice to get like a second chance in a way or new perspective on tracks when they are played live. Live music is better as Uncle Neil would say. The best part of the night in my opinion was the covering of a Grease classic, “Hopelessly Devoted to You” which he crushed. It was more intimate and fit perfectly with Rex’s love ballads. He’s got a bright future and if you were at the show, you could see it.

PS: Check out our gallery of photos from the performance!