Ville Valo's Triumphant Return to Los Angeles

Ville Valo returned to the stage triumphantly at the Belasco, ready to show his adoring Los Angeles public what he was made of. As expected, the first of two nights in the City of Angels sold out in an instant, creating high demand and a very packed venue.

The band wasted no time getting into the grooves of “Echolocate Your Love” as soon as Valo hit the stage. With that, it felt like the collective air in the room had shifted and transformed the historic Los Angeles theater into a sea of emotional investment from the crowd. No matter what was said or sung, it was met with fervent singalongs and infectious cheers, proving that even after all these years, Ville’s fanbase is still devoted.

As the frontman alternated between Neon Noir songs and those of his HIM days, it quickly became apparent that his debut solo album had made its mark in the music world with songs such as “The Foreverlost”, “Loveletting” and “Heartful of Ghosts” all being met with equal excitement and appreciation as classic HIM tracks like “Wings of a Butterfly”, “Join Me In Death”, and “When Love and Death Embrace”.

Ville’s incredible vocals shone throughout the evening and he gave a platform to the rest of the band to showcase their own individual talent. In the encore, we were treated to classics “Soul on Fire” and “Funeral of Hearts” alongside the two brand new tracks “Salute the Sanguine” and “Saturnine Saturnalia”.

For many, the show certainly felt like a night of nostalgia - cleverly intermixed with new material expressing the frontman’s new musical direction. His breathtaking performance and showcase of new and old material earned him the approval of both his old and new fans and a night they won’t be forgetting any time soon.

Anabel Dflux

"Anabel’s teenage love for music manifested in her desire to photograph musicians and their various escapades. Having shot her very first musician portraits at the age of 16 and her first concert the same year, her music photography career began rolling very quickly. Despite the industry’s hardships and tumultuous statistics, Anabel persevered in her desire to be a part of the music industry, albeit in a photographic sense. Since then, she has worked tirelessly with hundreds of bands—from Grammy Award winners to local talent—creating visual content for their projects, albums, tours, and social media."