{"id":483303,"date":"2026-10-03T00:18:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T00:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/483303\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T00:18:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T00:18:12","slug":"this-performance-inside-an-arts-district-soundstage-is-unlike-anything-else-in-l-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/483303\/","title":{"rendered":"This performance inside an Arts District soundstage is unlike anything else in L.A."},"content":{"rendered":"

A chance to be present and experience something new\u2014without the interference of phones\u2014is increasingly rare in today\u2019s world. Which is one of the reasons I was so intrigued by The Light We Leave Behind<\/a>, an \u201cintimate immersive water, sound and light experience\u201d popping up in the Arts District through October 11.<\/p>\n

Created by Emmit Fenn\u2014an L.A.\u2013based artist, composer and producer who\u2019s worked with artists including Billie Eilish and companies like Apple and Netflix\u2014the experience is, in essence, a concert on the water, but the\u00a0mysterious nature surrounding the event and the design elements of the space elevate it to something that\u2019s utterly tranquil, a bit otherworldly and wholly unique.<\/p>\n

I checked out the Light We Leave Behind at rush hour in the middle of a particularly hectic week\u2014so the note on the invite saying \u201cthere is no need to rush\u201d was particularly appreciated. Once you arrive at the space\u2014a soundstage at East End Studios, set right under the already-iconic arches of the Sixth Street Viaduct\u2014you\u2019re led into the Snow Lounge, which took my breath away. At the center of a cavernous dark room is an illuminated 30-foot tree being lightly dusted with snow in real time. Sidle up to a bar where Tea at Shiloh\u2014a late-night teahouse also in the Arts District\u2014is serving a choice of three teas, which provide\u00a0some coziness\u00a0in the chilly space. If you arrive at your entry time, you can relax for a full half-hour in here.<\/p>\n

\"The
\nPhotograph: Gillian Glover for Time OutThe Snow Lounge at the Light We Leave Behind <\/p>\n

After appreciating the peace and quiet for a bit, staff members\u00a0will lead you\u00a0through near-total-darkness to the Water Room, which is another showstopper. Plush beds are arranged in a square around the focal point of the space: approximately 70 glowing lightbulbs on concrete pillars, peeking out from shallow water that covers nearly the entire floor of the room. You aren\u2019t allowed to take your own photos and videos in here\u2014your impulse\u00a0will be to capture it on your phone, but it\u2019s actually freeing to just be in the moment\u2014but it\u2019s quite a spectacle.<\/p>\n

You walk across the water to get to your seat\u2014and the staff takes meticulous care to guide\u00a0you, shining flashlights across the large stones rising up out of the water\u2014but\u00a0I was curious if there had been any mishaps.\u00a0\u201cDuring some of the earlier iterations of the show, we definitely had a few people accidentally step into the water or even completely forget there was water next to them and put a purse or jacket straight into it which is\u2026definitely not super fun,\u201d says Fenn. \u201cBut we learned pretty quickly from those moments, and thankfully, these days it rarely ever happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the center of all those lightbulbs and water is a set-up for four musicians, who emerged without ceremony and began to play as the lights shut off. But it turns out this wasn\u2019t just an elevated version of the candlelight concerts you see advertised on Instagram\u2014rather, Fenn has devised a way to connect the lights directly to the musical system, so they sync up in a very satisfying way. One repeated note on the piano meant that one lightbulb was gently flashing. Musical swells from the entire ensemble meant that the entire surface of the water was illuminated. The program leans classical and contemporary\u2014in addition to piano, there\u2019s violin and even some saxophone action\u2014and Fenn composed\u00a0many of the pieces specifically to interact with the environment.<\/p>\n

\"The
\nPhotograph: Courtesy The Light We Leave BehindThe Water Room at the Light We Leave Behind <\/p>\n

My favorite part of the night was near the middle of the set, when the lightbulbs all switched to blue, and rainfall cascaded around the musicians in a circle. It felt like being cozy in bed in the middle of a rainstorm\u2014and since the room is so huge,\u00a0at times I almost felt like I was outside.<\/p>\n

The performance lasted for an hour and change\u2014at which point, plot twist, it turned out Fenn was the incredible pianist playing in the dark the whole time. He shared a bit about the inspiration of the show, thanked everyone for coming, and then we were led out to the Gallery, where you could learn more about the creative process behind the project and purchase\u00a0minimalist\u00a0merch.<\/p>\n

The Light We Leave Behind\u00a0intentionally shakes up the typical concert experience. Says Fenn, \u201cWe really want to show people that music can be presented in a completely different way than what we\u2019re used to. A show doesn\u2019t have to begin when the first note is played and end when the music stops. The space, the way you\u2019re welcomed, how you sit, what you smell, what you experience before and after, every little detail, all of it can be part of the performance. That\u2019s what\u2019s exciting to us, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re constantly chasing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ticket prices reflect the limited-time nature of the engagement and the ambition of the production\u2014$145 will get you reclined seating and the Snow Lounge experience before, with complimentary tea. A patron ticket for $250 includes a curated gift bag and VIP parking. Both options promise \u201can evening unlike any other\u201d\u2014and I do think\u00a0Fenn and his team\u00a0deliver on that promise.<\/p>\n

The Light We Leave Behind runs Thursdays through Saturdays until October 11. There are multiple performances each evening, starting as early as 4pm, with the last show at 10pm. You can buy tickets here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A chance to be present and experience something new\u2014without the interference of phones\u2014is increasingly rare in today\u2019s world.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483304,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7579,48,52,51,47,50,49,7995,420],"class_list":["post-483303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-categories-things-to-do","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-news-events-festivals","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}