Show Review: Alejandro Aranda Brings Incredible Intimiate Performance to Washington DC
Alejandro Aranda
w/ Jake Swamp and the Pine
DC9
Washington, DC
June 12th, 2026
Review by Jared Stossel
Main Photo Credit: Jared Stossel
By happenstance, I ended up in Washington, DC, and an invitation to see an artist that I’d never heard of before fell into my inbox. Last night, with around thirty other people in the room, multi-instrumentalist genre-hopping artist Alejandro Aranda (aka Hondo) took the stage for an intimate acoustic set at the nestled-away DC9 in Washington, DC. Aranda is thirty-one, and he’s already better at guitar than most of his contemporaries, including some of the legends I grew up idolizing. Aranda’s set clocked in around forty-five minutes, and it left a lasting impression on me. Sometimes quality is greater than quantity.
Aranda’s show was opened by Jake Swamp and The Pine, the solo project of singer/songwriter Drew Zieff. While usually backed by a full band, Zieff performed solo, armed with only an acoustic guitar and a plethora of emotionally packed folk-rock songs that showed serious craftsmanship. Zieff’s voice is excellent, and it’s only matched by the self-depricating humor that accompanied his banter in between songs.
I’ve been racking my brain since last night’s show, and I really don’t know who else to compare Aranda’s playing to, but the only guitarist that comes to mind is Eddie Van Halen. There was no one else like Van Halen in the way that he played guitar; it was as if he and the guitar had some kind of spiritual connection that we could only see but were unable to truly comprehend. Aranda plays without a pick and is able to manipulate the fretboard of an acoustic guitar in a way that calls to mind the late Van Halen. Yet he’s able to do it while singing.
Aranda played songs throughout his set that were emotional and heartfelt. In between songs, he’s mild-mannered and seems genuinely appreciative of everyone in attendance, sharing brief stories in between tracks. “The last time I was here was three years ago, I think?” he said, looking out at the audience. “That was my first show ever. That’s wild.”
When I’m invited to a show, particularly for an artist that I’ve never seen or heard of, I try to go in blind. I want to experience their music as they intended it, and then I’ll do a research deep dive later on. I learned that Aranda was the runner-up of the seventeenth season of American Idol. He was the only contestant in the show’s history to play seven original songs, despite being asked to perform covers. With his contractual obligations now fulfilled as the runner-up, he is free to pursue whichever route he chooses. Good. His set in DC proved that he is destined for far greater things than American Idol.
Alejandro Aranda’s current tour continues tonight at Nikki Lopez in Philadelphia, PA. For tickets, you can click here. Aranda will also be performing in Northern California at Brick and Mortar in San Francisco, CA on July 23rd and at Harlow’s in Sacramento, CA on July 25th. For tickets to the San Francisco show, click here. For tickets to the Sacramento show, click here.
