AT THE HISTORIC VENUE, THE MINT IN LOS ANGELES, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2024
As the 2nd opening act and special guest for NiNi’s Debut concert show, I had the fortunate opportunity to have seen and captured some new moments once again of one of the most talented and exciting musicians I have ever seen Live on Stage. She is Mia Asano.
By Don Marcelo
I first saw Mia Asano with a collaboration performance with another artist named Ally Piper as Mia x Ally on tour when I covered and shot their set for another renowned venue in LA at The Echo in Echo Park, CA. During that time, I had no idea about Mia and Ally, but from what I briefly saw on Instagram, I became intrigued and took on the assignment. And I’m so glad I did and covered her set for that venue because I was immediately SOLD to what I saw and heard on that night back in March of 2024 where they performed a long set with music selections covering both originals and hard rock cover songs.
Fast forward to The Mint LA in November 2024 on this night, Mia Asano continued where she had left off flying Solo this time with a new band from the first time I saw her. She and her electric violin sparked the night as soon as they got on stage and electrified the crowd with her stunning performance once again and was embraced by both new and old fans of hers.
What sets her apart from other violinists that we normally see perform is that she rocks out hard and loud and full of intensity and passion. With Mia, she defies the norm that we often hear and associate with of violinists by incorporating modern music with classical sounds. For her performance, Mia’s classical style is combined and infused with a lot of industrial, progressive, new age, and heavy metal rock songs during her set. She has a band that plays with her that adds the grittiness that we often hear and see with rock bands. While performing, Mia moves around and rocks out so much and so hard without missing a beat playing her electric violin. There’s head banging. There’s hair twirling, There’s bending backwards. There’s kicks and jumps. And there’s non-stop smiles from beginning to end. Her smile is so contagious that you can’t help but also give a big smile back to her.
For her set, she covers everything from a Power Rangers song, to The Pirates of The Caribbean, to her originals, and to Star Wars. One might even say to her to “Use the Force”, Mia. But I say this, she doesn’t need to “Use The Force.” MIA ASANO is THE FORCE! a TRUE FORCE OF NATURE on stage. One must really come and see and hear one of her shows to understand what I mean by this. Truly unique. Truly fun. Truly exciting to see something that we don’t often see on stage, an electric violinist who commands with so much power and grit and having so much fun playing for her audience.
I can’t say enough how much I truly enjoyed seeing Mia’s performance once again. I’m so glad to have seen her back in March of 2024. I wish I could have seen her perform at Cruel World Festival with Ministry this year since I love Ministry and have covered their set in the past (I tried but the festival was so strict with photographers and I didn’t get approved). But I’m so glad to have seen her once again in November 2024. And I’m so glad to have finally met her in person. Thank you for all your hard work, Mia! We hope to see you use “The Force” once again and attack and destroy “The Kraken” using your “Power Rangers” gift of power with your electric violin.
FOLLOW MIA ASANO on all her socials to find out more:
https://www.miaasano.com
https://x.com/miaasanomusic
https://www.youtube.com/@MiaAsano
https://www.tiktok.com/@miaasanomusic?lang=en
https://discord.gg/sVKEnDWZ2R
Photo Gallery of the performance by © Don Marcelo Photography 2024
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