After Brat summer was co-opted by the massive festival crowds of the ever-theatrical performer Chappell Roan, perhaps Geneva Jacuzzi may be the perfect soundtrack to chillier weather those same audiences may be looking for. The LA-based performer has long been establishing herself with recordings inspired by hypnagogic pop and Italo-disco, as well as with high-concept performances. In fact a recent hometown show in support of her newly released album Triple Fire reminded fans just how hard the artist commits to staging her live sets.
If you missed the sold-out Lodge Room show, we were lucky enough to get a backstage pass to see how all of Jacuzzi’s costumes and other frills from the night came together. In fact, maybe it’s even more beneficial to showgoers who did make it out that night to see the amount of planning that went into the performance, with hours of pre-show problem-solving required to deliver such a captivating performance—to say nothing of the equally lengthy post-show period of scrubbing makeup off in the shower. “My shows are a big production, so there’s lots going on in these hours before stage time,” Jacuzzi notes of the photo diary she shared with us. No kidding!
Find her words along with photos by Jen Rosenstein below, and check out Triple Fire here if you haven’t already.
In order to do a quick costume change, I needed to hide one costume under another. Here’s the combo of both looks which by accident created its own look that I think I like the best. I didn’t realize until I saw these pics.
Lots of makeup layered to get that pancake white. I used to do a mime look on tour, so I’ve perfected the technique. The wig was basically styled on-the-fly as well. This took a good hour to get off in the shower after the show.
I get by with a little help from my friends. Talented stylist and costume designer Stacy Ellen Rich helping me get into this multi-layered costume she designed.
Only the sexiest of dancers can grace the stage: Byron Adams and Ian McPherson.
It’s a wireless headset microphone pack and it needs to be wired under my wig and costume. Rapid costume changes need to be well thought-out—otherwise we run into problems on stage. This thing goes on my head even before makeup.
Everything happens last-minute and on the fly at a Jacuzzi show. Here’s me doing a final powwow with the dancers before going on stage—running through the set list, the cues, etc. And also a little pep talk from yours truly.
The boys carrying me from the backstage into the audience for the grand entrance in the back of the room. They carried me to the stage for the opening song, “Laps of Luxury.”
100 beach balls blown up and bagged. Just chilling backstage. Ready to be bounced around the venue.
The final result: heavenly creatures.
Then down to Hades!
Heaven and Hell on Earth.
Big aftershow party! My mom came!
Let them eat cake! The Lodge Room makes a special cake for sold-out shows. And this was sold the fuck out!
