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Nikka Costa, the rouge-haired pop-and-soul singer, played to a packed house at the El Rey theatre in Los Angeles. Her only support act was DJ C- Minus, and he spun from the time the doors opened at 8PM to 10PM. In the meantime, the guests of the El Rey got antsy. The line in the women's bathroom stretched out into the lobby of the building, with murmurs of angry ladies asking, "When is she going to start playing!? I've been here since 8!"

The row of fans that lined the front of the stage waited impatiently, and kept lifting up the curtain to sneak peeks at the stage before she had made her appearance. Eventually, around 10PM, the curtain finally rose and Costa's band entered the stage, playing her hit song, "Everybody's Got Their Something." Costa was clearly excited to be playing in Los Angeles, as she and her band members are all Angelinos, and her zeal and enthusiasm for playing showed through with her all out stage performance.


Nikka Costa belts it out to her loyal fans | Photo: Alexis Roberts

Her music is driven by funk and soul. You can't help but dance to her songs when they play, and neither can she. She is a ball of energy on stage; highly animated and dramatic, while belting out every note, giving everything she's got. Alas, with so much moving around on stage accidents can happen—especially when proper undergarments are not worn. A highlight of the set for all of the boys who were dragged to this show by their girlfriends was when Costa's off-the-shoulder-top went slightly more-than-off-the-shoulder, exposing a breast to the room full of on-lookers. She didn't seem to care, or even miss a beat, as she pulled it right back into place and kept on going. However, for the rest of her set she was much more diligent to be sure of where her top was.


Costa leads the crowd in "Like A Feather"'s infectious clap-along | Photo: Alexis Roberts

Other highlights included her hit song "Like A Feather" (which you may know from a Tommy Hilfiger commercial in 2001), a few acoustic songs in which Costa played her guitar and the house lights focused only on her, creating intimate moments between Costa and the audience. The biggest highlight for fans was probably the announcement of a new record, which got everyone in the room even more riled up and excited. The new album is set to be titled Pebble to a Pearl, and is tentatively schedule for a September 23rd release, according to her Myspace blog. The night offered loads of crowd sing-alongs (as well as super-fans trying to sing along to the new songs that they didn't know the words to) and a lot of moving and dancing, from herself and from the audience.


Costa gets intimate with the mic and the crowd | Photo: Alexis Roberts

Costa has such a broad and eclectic range of fans, which is probably because her music is just that: broad, eclectic, and can't really be pigeon-holed into one of the many sub-genres of rock that other artists find themselves stuck in. This offers her the freedom to continue staying creative and not have to worry whether or not it will hold up with the fans. She is the mother of one baby, Sugar, who is probably very proud to have one of the coolest moms on the planet.

—Alexis Roberts
07.07.08