Saturday night felt like an intimate friends get together as fans came out to the Teragram Ballroom to see Christian Gates at his hometown show co-headlining with Dutch Melrose, and support from Alejandro, No Love For The Middle Child, and Evander who absolutely took their role seriously. Each opener did a phenomenal job of getting the crowd ready for Christian, they each offered something different with their sets. Evander gave us an intense performance while absolutely shredding on the guitar with his pop sound that had hints of R&B, Hip-Hop, and Rock throughout,creating a really unique sound that I personally became a big fan of. While No Love For The Mild Child gave us a pop-rock performance that was unique in a lot of ways, he brought out a cello and played that during his song “No Sleep” which caught me off guard but in a good way! Also having the crowd light up the venue with their cellphones. Alejandro then gave us an intimate acoustic performance that had the crowd completely mesmerized by his vocals and wide-range sound.
Dutch Melrose
Dutch Melrose who co-headlined alongside Christian Gates gave us the performance of a lifetime. This was my first time seeing Dutch Melrose live and I can safely say, it won’t be the last! Dutch has a very interesting sound and style; he came out wearing a unique jacket that gave a vintage race car jacket vibe but in a modern way. Throughout his entire performance fans were dancing and singing their hearts out, specifically I saw two little kids at the front right against the stage who were having the time of their lives.
Dutch was great with interacting with the fans, as he would take fans’ phones while it was recording and record himself on stage then make sure the fan was in frame as well and then hand it back to them. At the end of his set, Dutch Melrose handed out roses to the audience and those two little kids I mentioned previously got one and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a kid more excited and cry happy tears like they did. Dutch created a memorable experience for everyone in attendance.
Chri$tian Gate$
Christian Gates, the Orange County native took the stage and brought the energy up x100 and that energy transferred into the crowd. Every person in attendance was jumping around and having a great time. Christian wore an all-black fit that was unique to his style, you could tell he put a lot of time and effort into it. As the show continued, I was looking around and I noticed that a lot of fans who didn’t know each other before tonight had become friends through their shared taste in music and were singing their hearts out together. Even the people up in the VIP balcony was jumping and making it known that they were enjoying every minute.
As the set slowed down just a little, Christian thanked everyone for coming out to support, mentioning that this was his hometown show so it meant a lot to him that everyone took the time to come out and see him live. It was a heart-warming moment that showed how much Christian Gates loves, respects, and trusts his fans which was refreshing to see. As things started to amp back up, Christian jumped off stage and got into the crowd for the beat drop so him and every fan could start jumping together which created such a memorable moment for everyone, especially those directly surrounding him. If you ever get the chance to see Christian live, do it! He puts on a great show and you could even bring your kids if you wanted.
GALLERY: Chri$tian Gate$ and Dutch Melrose at The Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles (January 18, 2025)
