Rio Romeo Visits Nashville: Live Photo Gallery & Portraits

Rio Romeo performed at The End in Nashville, TN recently. For those of us who didn’t attend Bonnaroo, it was a pretty quiet weekend for some of the venues here in Nashville. But that only made this show much more intimate which is exactly what I enjoy. This was my first time attending a show at The End.

I arrived early to get some portraits of Rio before the show started. I was greeted by them at the door and we walked inside the venue. We took a couple of photographs inside the venue and then a couple outside as well. Once we finished we sat and talked for a bit. We talked about how they are also from California, like myself, and we also discussed a bit on how the tour has been so far.

The doors opened at 7pm and fans started trickling into the venue. The show started with fellow Nashvillian pop artist Coleman.x opening the night for them. Coleman.x is a self-taught producer and writer, native to Alabama. His music was catchy and emotional, expressed in an electric-pop sound. I loved how expressive he was on stage. He had such a powerful stage presence.

Finally, Rio and their band walked on stage and they took their seat next to their white piano. Rio is greeted by their cheering fans. They encouraged some audience participation throughout their set and their fans did not hesitate to oblige. Rio’s music can be described as theatrical, indie-pop punk. The song I was most drawn to was “Everyday is the Best Day of My Life” which was written about their brain injury following a serious skateboarding accident. This song perfectly captures the sentiment of the isolation and delirium someone would feel post-recovery, which are feelings I can relate to oh so well. This song was just released this June.

Towards the end of their set, Rio invited their fans to introduce themselves to the people around them and then welcomed anyone who wanted to dance to the next song. I can’t describe to you how much love I felt in that room. It was incredibly sweet. Rio was incredibly engaging. They smiled the entire time and you can feel how much they love what they do and how much they love their fans. Rio finished the night with “Dyltgir?” with no surprise, everyone’s participation.