This was during “Your Lips Are Red”, from her 2007 debut LP. Before this number, Sumney had been charming enough to get the entire Bowl to shush each other on command, but “Lonely World”, with its concluding team-percussion, revealed Sumney to be a brave and adept performer on the large stage, accomplishing in 20 minutes what many others have trouble doing in an hour.

Sticking to his guns with his esoteric blend of guitar looping and loosely defined vocal melodies, Sumney made the most of his brief appearance by bringing with him an army of backing musicians for his last song, “Lonely World”. Setting the tone for the evening was a brief, four-song set from Los Angeles rising star Moses Sumney, who like most in his position, displayed disbelief and honor at performing at the iconic venue. On a night that most of America turned their attention to celebrity beef and Kanye for president, the Bowl served as a reminder that there are choices for where we find our entertainment, on where we focus, and that art and music aren’t limited to what we see on television award shows.

Sure, the VMAs attracted more celebrities and certainly more attention outside of Southern California, but the Hollywood Bowl still managed to get some big names (Beck, Justin Timberlake) out of the house to witness a triumphant, sold-out co-headlining bill from R&B legend Erykah Badu and one of music’s preeminent performers in St. Last night, while Downtown Los Angeles became a hotbed of newsworthy activities that spun into a mourning for pop music, music television, and culture as a whole, the Hollywood hills provided something quite different.

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