Creative, mysterious, gutsy, and rock n’ roll. That’s one way to describe Jesse Jo Stark, the daughter and designer of the fashion family brand Chrome Hearts, but as of late she is the badass rock-glam singer who dominates the stage. She grew up listening to a variety of music styles, and since 2014 she has been recording head-banger tunes like “Dance to the Cramps” and “Baby Love” and strutting into country territory with “Driftwood” and “Silver Kiss.” Her latest album Doomed has a variety of emotions and sounds including, "So Bad” featuring the Neighborhood’s Jesse Rutherford, a disco-influenced track with “Pussycat” and the jump-inducing beat in “Trippin.”
Most nights in Los Angeles are a blur of streaming traffic lights, forgotten promises and parties. From across the street the Echo seemed to have its usual Saturday night buzz of fans with black clothes, leather jackets, boots and platform shoes. As you got closer however, you could see muscle tees and sweaters with the words Deadly Doll and heavy eyeliner on fans who trailed below the “Sold Out” marquee of the local rock artist’s album release show on October 15.
At 10pm the bandmates initiated the entrance of the ghoul queen of glamour with “666 in the Suburbs” – a perfect fit for the show’s location since the song encapsulates the anxiety and dark side of being in the Hollywood lens. Jesse Jo bewitched the stage with a latex blood-red dress and raven boots as she shattered expectations like mirrors of one’s doubting self. This was Jesse Jo’s second show since the Covid-19 pandemic put live entertainment on pause, and she advised the audience to come together and enjoy themselves. “Leave your ego at the door! None of that L.A. shit!”
“Leave your ego at the door! None of that L.A. shit!”
The second song of the night was the macabre romance track “So Bad” as Jesse Rutherford joined her on stage for the duet. A gargoyle was perched on stage, a monster mask hung from a microphone and later merged onto the bass guitarist’s face as the fog machine set the scene à la creature feature with the hostess in clad latex. The props weren’t there to commemorate the Halloween season but to represent the growling guitar riffs, the starry night eye makeup and songs of life and death that define the singer’s album Doomed.
She led the crowd through a set of her 2019 EP Dandelion with the title track about a lover’s lonely haze while being too deep in a relationship that you can’t get enough while fans made offerings, such as glowing rings, a dead bouquet of roses, and a custom leather jacket.
Jesse Jo reigned the stage like a bat at moonlight, seducing the audience with the wrenching “Lipstick,” a song she wrote about the torment of loving someone while purging the pain they caused. Her piercing cry on the heavy punk track “Fire of Love” proved she has the guts and attitude to challenge what people know about rock n’ roll. The blazing guitars, thunderous drums, and the audience’s screaming vocals electrified the room.
The stakes are high and Jesse Jo has proven to kick them down while in latex boots and her powerful vocals claim the night like lightning. You’ve heard the phrase “rock never dies” but everything has a death bed until it has been resurrected and that is what Jesse Jo Stark has achieved.