Photos and review by Jennie Book
@jenniebookphotography

Alejandro Aranda, alternately known as Scarypoolparty and Hondo, headlined the Echo in Los Angeles on August 6, 2026 on a bill with three other acts: TJ Minor, Tyler Stone, and the duo Afterthought. The Echo is an intimate venue and was the perfect space for all four performers, with lyrics and bass you could feel in your chest, and where the front row fans were in heaven being so close to their favorites.

TJ Minor was up first and was great. He admitted to being nervous but had nothing to be nervous about, even though hearing that never helps anyone’s nervousness. The crowd was into his music, and he brought up a friend to perform a track that sounded great, and he has a song called “Disposable” that has all the earworm earmarks of becoming a hit. By his last song he was in the zone and looked comfortable and super natural onstage, and I think left with a lot of new fans.

Tyler Stone played next and had a few technical difficulties at the top, but then got right into his set which was more mellow than Minor’s. He was charmingly chatty, and when I think about his set I picture dedication to his craft and gratitude. He talked about being very grateful to be there, on stage and in life, and he told us to tip our bartender, which was classy. He also stuck around through the end of Alejandro’s late-finishing set, and seemed to be a genuine appreciator of music.

Afterthought is made up of two talented guys who seem like they timecapsule-ed in from the late 2000s, and so their music has kind of a retro feel but is current at the same time. A portion of fans in the room seemed to be there expressly for them, and their songs are crazy catchy and their voices complement each other perfectly. Check out the track “I Am Nothing If Not Bitter” and it won’t leave your brain for a week. The night of the show their brand new album had just dropped, so that’s available to buy and stream too.

Alejandro Aranda took the stage around 10:15 and played past 11:30, just he and a guitar and a pedal and a laptop filling the room with music like it was his lifeblood. And that’s how it looks, like if he couldn’t play the guitar he would die. He seems shy, but he’s masterful at what he does. He wears a baseball cap down low over his face, but then pulls it back once in awhile to smile. He played a 7, 8, 9? minute guitar solo that was mesmerizing and somehow never got boring for a second. Some of the set sounded like the Cure to me, some of it reminded me of Anything Box and Claude, some of it was emotional like Grayson Chance. But making comparisons came and went pretty quickly, because up on stage Aranda was always very uniquely his own artist.

He talked about getting his music back, and I don’t know everything that entails, but it’s a good thing. He talked about how he’s been using the same microphone for decades. His parents may have been in the back of the room and I may have briefly hijacked his father’s seat while gearing up my cameras. He told the crowd not to let anyone physically or verbally abuse them. At the end he asked the lighting tech to turn the lights down so he could could dance, and then he danced while he played. I don’t want to mention American Idol, but maybe it’s important to, I don’t know, so about that I’ll just say that for years and years I was one of those people that watched every episode of it, from day one up until the pandemic season, and Aranda is unrivaled. I’m allowed to say that; it was an actual competition after all. Thank goodness he went on that show so that a large amount of people got to witness his genius and will keep following him as he grows.

On the way home I listened to The Smiths, and thought about the lucky fans who got to see this west coast tour. This leg is finished, but for news and info, keep your eyes on @scarypoolparty in case other dates are announced in the fall.