Photos by Caroline Sanchez
I always imagined that being serenaded with your lover over a fancy dinner would be romantic. But on stage and in front of 2,000 people? My stomach would be doing flips.
Filipino-Australian pop singer grentperez (Grant Perez) closed off his Backflips in a Restaurant US-Canada tour at the Wiltern in LA last Saturday. Opened by bedroom-pop artist Rocco, the two were peas in a pod, their humor and chemistry with the audience building on throughout the night. And as the last of 36 shows, it’s obvious they wanted to end with a bang.
The teenage-heavy crowd was loud before the show, chatting excitedly about merch they scored and summer plans. But as the lights dimmed to reveal Rocco, clad in a tasseled leather jacket, their voices melted away. Rocco’s EP Her Favorite Flowers played on a loop while I poured over my weekly readings last winter — slow melodies making dense 19th century literature as bearable as possible. Familiar ballads mixed with covers, unreleased bits, and oldies filled the room.
“Be Careful With My Heart” is usually a soft request, but live, heavy drums and quickening vocals changed their lyrics to a demand. Smooth songs like “Nectarine,” unreleased and brimming with airy instrumentals, were interjected with electric guitar solos and announcements that Rocco would “do something sexy.” He successfully riled up the crowd for “Only Boy” and they faithfully chanted back the chorus. As the song transitioned into the brutalizing lyrics of “Come on, don’t leave me / It can’t be that easy, babe” of “Nobody Noticed” by The Marías, heartbroken cries filled the air. Rocco ended with “Baby Blue,” a romantic single off of his upcoming debut album Skin and Bone, and announced its accompanying tour in the fall before exiting the stage.
The Wiltern was then transformed from a concert venue to a fine establishment: G’s Bar and Grill. The carved columns melted away for a table set for two at center stage. Decorated in red-and-white picnic gingham with a vase of flowers, it was flanked by bartender/drummer Ichi and chef/bassist/guitarist/violinist Timi. Placed around them were potted plants and tall lamps. To the right was a neon sign with the restaurant’s name. Behind a window illuminated by warm orange tones, restaurant manager grentperez took the stage.
The appetizer was “Nice to Meet You,” the opening track to Backflips in a Restaurant. grentperez bounced around the stage in sync with flickering lights, the excitement palpable in every jump. Backflips in a Restaurant shows a marked evolution in grentperez’s developing sound. His earlier works “When We Were Younger” and “Conversations with the Moon” lean indie pop, inviting Rex Orange County and Laufey fans alike. His newest music — especially “2DK,” “Need You Around,” and “Movie Scene” — explores this sound by adding elements of groovy R&B and acoustic folk. These fun tracks helped mellow out the deep cuts, and the constant flirting between grentperez and his musicians helped too.
“Clementine” is inspired by one of the most heart-wrenching movies I’ve ever seen, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And while I refuse to watch it again, “Clementine” manages to encapsulate the memories of a lover slipping away in, “Color it grey / Until I forget you / Like I never met you / My dearest Clementine.” As climbing drums reached the final high notes, I was filled with nostalgia.
The show’s highlight began after a brief intermission announcing mysterious, soon-to-be arriving guests. Two lucky girls were invited on stage to sit at the dining table. With the audience at his back and accompanied by a violinist, grentperez performed the soft ballad “Yours to Keep” exclusively for the lucky couple. The music was gentle, the lights were glowing, and a warmth was creeping up my neck to my cheeks. Even though the couple seemed a little embarrassed, they couldn’t help but lean in for a kiss. And the audience, including me, couldn’t help but cheer. But the moment didn’t end there; offering to let them stay in the best seats in the house, grentperez dived into “12065.” Titled after the approximate distance (km) from LA to Sydney, his hazy vocals were backed by a rich violin melody.
“Everest” prompted a switch from the acoustic guitar brought out during “Girl at the Station” to the electric guitar. Its ringing bells and lingering instrumentals transitioned into the intro chords of “Reason Why,” which the crowd tried to listen quietly to. Hand-holding and easy swaying under violet lights ramped up with “Ego,” a biting single that confirms the end of a relationship, the other’s ego being too much to handle.
grentperez’s performance was interjected with mouth trumpet solos, whistling competitions, anime voice actor impressions, and drinks poured by a sommelier. Because it’s the last show, the band declared it perfectly okay to be drinking on the job. When the wine bit transitioned into fan-favorite “Cherry Wine,” phones flew into the air as voices rang out “Why are you standing all by yourself? / Those shoes were made for dancing with someone else.”
But all restaurants have a last call, and at the Wiltern, confetti was on the dessert menu. Colorful paper rained down by the thousands to an eager crowd wanting to hold onto the night’s fuzzy feeling. “Silver Lining” and “When the Day is Done” were the last songs in the two-part encore. They were light and lively, and elicited waving hands at grentperez’s urging. The night was a romantic, comedic, and everything-in-between kind of spectacle. G’s Bar and Grill is closed for now, but will reopen in the fall for the UK-Australia leg of the tour. If you can, try to catch it then.
Listen to Backflips in a Restaurant here:
