Rocco is an up and coming pop artist who has come a long way from making songs in his bedroom. Known for his songs “Baby Blue” and “hold me, never let go,” the young artist has quickly established his stylized brand of heartbreak pop. Melody driven love tunes coiled with equally engaging rhythms easily capture the essence of teenage adolescence. This connection to the emotions of youth is what made his first ever festival performance at Outside Lands 2024 a joy to watch.
Rocco emerged onto the stage to the cheers of his adoring audience, before quickly sliding into his first song, “Clouds.” The down to Earth song about the head-in-the-clouds feeling of love was amped up by the booming drums, a great start to the set. The song finished and the artist told the audience how in love with them he was, to which the crowd responded with equal words of affection. Rocco then told the audience to have some fun for the next 40 minutes of his set, before putting down his guitar and queuing up his next song.
The opening chords of “Boy in Love” strummed out of the speakers and Rocco started to soulfully walk around the stage. Part way through the song, the musician introduced his guitar player who he called Mikey. The audience gave Mikey some love and the song ebbed and flowed its way to a conclusion.
Before the start of the third song of the set, funky rhythms started on the drums and Rocco addressed the crowd. He asked the teenage audience to raise their hands if they had ever been I love, to which they obviously respond with a resounding cheer. He asked a few more relatable question about the troubles of young love before introducing his song “be careful with my heart.”
Rocco led the audience in a lyrical series of “la-las” to sing as the song began. The rhythm section led with a hemiola-like feel as Rocco’s triplet patterned lyrics wafted over the crowd. The artist then turned to Mikey and told him to “do a little something right here,” and Mikey launched into a soulful guitar solo. The crowd was taken through their series of “la-las” at the closing bars of the tune, and erupted in applause after the song concluded. Rocco rewarded them with a satisfied thumbs up, before jokingly telling the newcomers they showed up at the right time because he was almost finished.
The fourth song of the afternoon was “Steal This Night.” The tune’s Latin inspired groove was accompanied by an ethereal echoing from the synthesizer. Before the fifth song, an “I love you Rocco,” escaped from the crowd. Rocco then acknowledged his growing adoration, before jokingly telling the crowd to hurry up. The fifth song of the set was “Every Kind of Way,” and with the way the musician was grooving, the crowd could tell Rocco loved this song. After the song ended, Rocco introduced the rest of his band mates, including his older brother on bass.
The sixth number in Rocco’s set was introduced as a song about finding that special someone. The crowd immediately responded to the opening bars of “Always Do” and swayed with the familiar anthem. For his second to last song, Rocco played “Baby Blue,” one of his most popular and what he claimed as his favorite. Everyone in the audience recognized the poppy chorus and sang along to the familiar words.
Rocco then told the crowd he has one more song left and an enthusiastic “no” erupted from his fans. The song “what am i to you?” was described by the artists as kind of a sad song. Rocco told the audience that if they never got a text back from the one they loved, this was the song to let it all out. He put a filter on his mic that brought the song closer to a crooning love melody than a pop ballad. As he moved from verse to chorus, Rocco looked as if he were about cry himself. With the seventh song over, “what am i to you?” brought an emotional climax to an emotional performance.
The big emotions and bigger talent Rocco brought to the Outside Lands 2024 stage not only connected with young festival goers, but teased an amazing weekend with more incredible performances to come.
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Featured Image Photographed by Caleb Velasquez/BruinLife
