Toro y Moi & Panda Bear at First Avenue
Tour Dates & with special guest Panda Bear * with Nourished by Time ^ with Kassie Krut Read More
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I find it interesting that the genre term dance is, on the hand, such an evocative term (the dark nightclub, the sweaty people with arms in the air), and yet, on the other hand, completely fails to be descriptive of the music itself, as dance music can incorporate so many other genres. A Thursday night show highlighted a variety of dance music with co-headliners Panda Bear and Toro y Moi kicking off their tour with First Avenue as the first stop.
The opener was Nourished by Time (Marcus Brown). The Baltimore-based artist was leading a trio, with guitar and keyboards backing him. The vocal style is a rich baritone with a good underlying beat. Those dual keys and well programmed backing music make a deep background that Brown’s vocals, switching between singing and rap, make a great contrast. This is a major step forward from his performance opening for Dry Cleaning just two years ago (which itself was quite enjoyable!). Dancing across the stage throughout, this was lively and set the table for the acts to follow. This R&B infused set was a perfect appetizer to the next artists.
I spoke with Brown afterwards and asked about that increased confidence as a performer. He said a lot of it was simply doing more tours. The show in Minneapolis with Dry Cleaning may have been his third show ever and was without any backing band. Having gone on tour with Magdalena Bay, and having been on two European tours, he now has a clear notion of what is good as a performer. It’s the equivalent of doing a thousand reps in the gym. He holds a special place for the great opportunity with Dry Cleaning. Having his friends on stage (and being able to pay them), is a big part of being more confident. Asked about what is next, Brown said a new album called The Passionate Ones will be coming out this summer. The album is done, and Brown enjoyed putting all of his creativity into it and is extremely proud of the result. Asked what advice he would give, he said that love and creativity and following your dreams really matters. Creativity needs to be a birth right for us; trying not to be afraid is a place that artists should strive for.
Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) splits his creative time between his solo work and the experimental alternative band Animal Collective, of which he is a founding member. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, writer and singer, and has been cited as a key figure in the chillwave revival of the 2000’s. Panda Bear’s eighth album, Sinister Grift, drops at the end of February and we were getting a sneak peek.
Panda Bear was performing as a quintet and was absolutely at peak comfort level, playing guitar and leading the band. This is straight up professional music making and the positive cycle between the band and the crowd was a delight to watch. A long instrumental build up on the fifth song, Buoys, gave all of the members of the band a chance to lean into solos, while also driving a great overall sound. Panda Bear was hitting on all cylinders, and the backing band accentuated all of the best Animal Collective tendencies while being a uniquely different sound. The guitar work from Lennox drove Shepard Tone, with spoken word lyrical verses from the keyboardist. The upbeat music made for a rollicking good time and a very loud crowd. With up to four vocalists on given songs, the background harmonies were complex and strong. Ending on Tomboy, Panda Bear finished a great set.
Toro y Moi (Chazwick Bundick; aka Chaz Bear) was the final artist. Toro y Moi gives the impression of a trickster god, like Hermes, to me. A single main artist using two names and the dual French and Spanish language band name. And like the trickster gods of old, Toro y Moi isn’t easily categorized. Over the course of his work, he has ranged in his influences from chillwave to R&B, with nearly everything in between. Their tenth studio album, Hole Erth, was released in September, 2024 and was the focus of this tour.
This is one of the more interesting set ups I’ve seen, with all four members of the band in a tight cluster at the back center of the stage. The set up really focused the attention on that small portion of the stage, so that when Chaz Bear moved away toward the front, it was truly noticeable. He’s a super charismatic performer, bringing the crowd along emotionally. There were plenty of dancers in the audience bopping along to the beats being laid down by this heavily R&B influenced music. A good second tenor vocal gives Toro y Moi range into the falsetto with backing keys and music that support that. An ask of applause from those who had seen the band back in the day at 7th St. Entry got more cheers than could actually have been possible, but was met with a kind “thanks for sticking with us”. There’s a very good level of showmanship that is impressive. Toro y Moi has a certain verve that is hard to describe, but that the audience felt and reacted to subconsciously. The band also kept moving through their songs, with a hefty list, including older favorites like Rose Quartz and Freelance mixed in Starlink and Tuesday off the newest album. Some of those older songs got major cheers from the audience, and the dancing that ensued on stage and on the floor was genuine and a fun reminder of how dance music can elicit a pure joy. It was quite the start to the tour and future audiences can rest assured of a fantastic show.
thaddeus ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com |
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