Oh my Million Young !! it was an anticipated show for K-Spot and myself , finally ending in a saturdaynite supersatisfaction! i admit the whole one man with beats/ chillwave tip is pretty trendy. i will also admit that usually i love it. Washed Out, Memory Tapes, Ducktails, Toro Y Moi...you're all pretty tasty. With the exception of ducktails i've seen each of these bands live.. and well, Million Young takes the ice cream cake. Teen Daze was a solid opener. One lil guy, some nice ambience, sweeping synths, a few hits on the sampler for beats and gunshot effects. kidding, hee hee. Excellent match for Million Young.. when its just one person up there, hopefully they have charisma. And Teen Daze did. Thankfully dancing to his own tunes in a way that seemed very authentic raising his hands in the air.. this type of behaviour can really annoy the shit out of me. but like washed out, teen daze was charming and inviting, both personally and musically. nice jokes and an "I LOve Lone Star!" thrown into the mix.
The finale of course was Million Young, who i thought was going to set up with just a laptop. Curiosity had already risen when a drum kit was backlined so hrmmm..... could this be an actual live band performance?!? Did Mike Diaz bring his homies from Florida along for tour?!? OMG yes indeed! (apparently 5 ppl in a sedan we were told) A four piece Million Young played a full set from Sunndreamm EP and Be So True EP. I can say much about shows not having dull moments, hell, most of them do.. but this entire set filled the room with blissful noise and dancey beats way hotter than most chillwavers.. god that was terrible, ha. i must say no offense to any one man showmen, but the sound was 100 times more tremendous when it wasn't just a computer making it. The kick drum was throbbing, loud and unsampled guitars, and the same filtered and ethereal vocals from the recordings..it came together so miraculously. Perfectly placed samples when used, perfectly proportioned free space, intricate 80's synth blips, bells, and tons of energy. Even the slower songs like "Mien" and "Day We Met" were not lets-get-drilled-and- sway..even these songs had requisite beat acknowledgment. heads bobbed, feet tapped, hips shook. and geez when "CYnthia" and "Weak Ends" came on, it was like watching Delorean at FFF fest. One couldn't help but dance, smile, laugh, and lose their wits for a moment..hell maybe even better due to sheer proximity to the band and the crowd. apples and oranges. both delicious.
I can never say enough about bands putting the fun into performing. as much as i already liked Million Young recorded, my fandom has increased from seeing them play live, with such a grand stage presence, vivacity, and humility. AKA no pretense or ego to get in the way. real instruments can always enhance virtual ones.
coupla highlights:
*When the first few notes of "Calrission" came on KSpot and I turned to each other and said "this is my favorite!" last nite really couldn't have been sweeter
*Million Young outro of Gorillaz wha? neato!
*realizing that i don't always know where the bands i like are from but pretty sure that Yo Majesty was the only one from Florida i marginally liked until now. Thanks Million Young, maybe i shoulda looked into that garage punk booze cruise docking outta Fla ;)
*million young is an oxymoron in the context of age. wow, i love that shit!
stay young lovelies. here's "Mien"
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