Our friends over at All Things Go and Neon Gold Records sure know how to put together a great show. Two Thursdays ago, I had the awesome privilege of seeing The Knocks at “All Things Gold,” a running series of events showcasing amazing up-and-coming artists and DJs. I have been to a few of these and have always come away impressed with acts like Reptar, Monarchy, and RAC, but none have impressed me more than The Knocks.

The Knocks’ music easily lends itself to a upbeat dance party, but what really killed it for me was the ten minute long “live remix.” Adding live percussion to popular tracks like Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek,” Usher’s “OMG,” and The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done” (note: in the last ten years, has there been a more fun hook to sing than “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier”?). The duo play again at U Street Music Hall on March 6th. I strongly suggest you be there to dance with me this time.

The Knocks At U St Music Hall | Mistaken For Strangers

Trevor Powers of Youth Lagoon lived up to the hype, delivering a confident and moving performance to a sold out crowd of about200 people at the Red Palace in DC on Sunday night. The 22 year old from Boise, Idaho, coupled with a touring guitarist, performed for a little over an hour in an intimate setting surrounded by diffused red lamps at the front of the stage that gave just enough light to make out the silhouettes of the duo. The set was fluid and polished with Powers playing every song from his recently released debut album The Year of Hibernation. It’s hard to believe that only a year ago the young and talented multi-instrumentalist was unsigned and sitting in a lecture hall completing his undergraduate degree. Towards the end of his senior year, he released a few tracks on his Bandcamp website and was quickly signed to a two album deal with Fat Possum Records. Just to give you a perspective of the talent within Fat Possum, the Black Keys, Andrew Bird, Band of Horses, and the Walkmen are all featured artists under this powerhouse label. There’s a familiar trend these days with bedroom synth-pop solo projects exploding on the scene without warning, but there seems to be something different about Powers and his music that makes one feel this is just the beginning to his story.
Take a listen to any of the tracks on his debut LP and you will hear the fragile vocals that sound as if they are a room away mixed loosely with minimal synthesizers, a flowing keyboard, and clean guitar riffs in the foreground. The reverberated and seemingly timid vocals were exaggerated with a double recording method Powers created by first recording the vocals dry, without music, and playing them into an empty four car garage with recording equipment capturing them for a second time. This gives the vocals on the album a hollow feel but blends nicely with his technical keyboard compositions and catchy guitar licks. There is a consistency throughout the album, with several tracks full of self-reflection and childhood nostalgia with memories ranging from the posters on his bedroom wall to swimming in lakes near his family’s campground.

Powers opened the show with the track “The Hunt.” The song set the tone for the evening with a slow beginning of soft vocals and piano that gradually built in all directions to fill the room with a full band sound of percussion, guitar and keys, combining with Powers voice that cut through the mix with power and confidence. Unlike the album that almost attempts to hide Powers’ voice, the live performance emphasizes and celebrates his ability as a singer. The second track played, “Posters,” is my favorite on the LP. It seems to give the most insight into who Trevor Powers actually is. It identifies his motivation and struggle in life with lyrics like “I took it on myself / to find out why / I’m the way I am / but I can’t find a conclusion” and ending with line “you make friends quickly / but not me.” Although the thoughts may seem simple and cliche, the way he delivers them gives him value – his timing and intangible musical balance just seems to work. The next track played, “Seventeen,” is another example of Powers’ nostalgia for his teenage years and the influence his family has had on his life with the chorus line “my mother said to me, ‘Don’t stop imagining, the day that you do is the day that you die.’” Powers has admitted in numerous interviews that he’s struggled with extreme anxiety his entire life and a lot of his lyrics express this reality. Although you couldn’t tell with his presence on stage – a seeming cool wit about him, joking around with the crowd in between songs and performing each song methodically. Powers continued the set with the tracks “Cannons,” “Bobby.” and “Montana” in diligent fashion. He only paused to acknowledge and give credit to his close friend Tyler T Williams for the production of the “Montana” video which unsurprisingly blends beautifully with the track and captures Powers expression of love, loss and letting go. The set continued with the track “Afternoon,” the first track that really put Youth Lagoon on the map when it began showing up on every indie blog across the country and was played on repeat on Sirius XMU. The track immediately grabs your attention and stays with you well after it’s over. Don’t be surprised if it shows up on a commercial or movie soundtrack in the near future. You can watch a live recording from this show below. The show concluded with the track “July” and an encore performance of “Daydream,” which is the most upbeat track of the LP. It was a perfect sign off from Powers that left the entire crowd in applause with everyone feeling more than satisfied. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday night. If you can’t catch Youth Lagoon on tour this winter, be sure to look for them on the docket for the major musical festivals next year and make sure to follow them on Facebook.

Youth Lagoon at Red Palace | Mistaken For Strangers

Call him nerd rap. Call him emo rap. Say he’s just doing it for the girls. But no matter what you say about him, his show at the Fillmore Silver Spring on November 1st proved this about Childish Gambino: if he’s not already a force to be reckoned with in the hip-hop world, he will be very soon.

Just a quick note about the venue: if you haven’t already, read this really terrific article by the Washington City Paper about the Fillmore Silver Spring. This was my first time going to a show up there and while it was nice (as one would expect from a brand new concert hall), it seemed to be lacking the soul that exists and places such as 9:30 Club, Black Cat, or Rock N Roll Hotel – almost a Disney-fication of those places, the kind of thing that would exist as a replica in Epcot. There also still seem to be some kinks that need working out – when we showed up at 8, the line wrapped around the block… and then another block. While it only took around thirty minutes to get in after waiting in line, I’ve never seen that kind of hold up at any other venue in the area (probably because other venues don’t require you to take every single thing out of your pockets and then digitally scan your ID card). Once inside, it wasn’t overly crowded or uncomfortable at all. I recommend that if you do decide to venture up there for a show, try to get there early and avoid the lines.

The opener for the show was SoSuperSam, a DJ out of Los Angeles. After her 2010 mixtape, Cruel Summer, she garnered a good bit of hype and acclaim and was hired by clients such as Casio, Complex Magazine, House of Blues, and Urban Outfitters. She played a good mix of hip-hop before the show – nothing spectacular or mind-blowing, but just a lot of upbeat more modern stuff that the crowd seemed to vibe to. There wasn’t any noticeable mixing or anything like that but it was a good warm-up for the show to come later. She just released a free mixtape on her site, check it out and see what you think.

That said, it didn’t seem like Childish Gambino (AKA Donald Glover, formerly of Derrick Comedy, former writer on NBC’s 30 Rock, and currently starring as Troy in NBC’s Community) needed much of a warm-up – he sauntered on stage with his live band and immediately launched into a one-two punch of “Hero” followed by “Freaks & Geeks,” and of course, the crowd went wild, singing along to every word and jumping up and down. This was not just another actor turned rapper. Glover was kinetic, jumping around on stage, running from side to side, climbing on top of speakers, and generally not settling down to rest for one second. The live band definitely helped with the atmosphere, building the intensity when necessary and making the beats from the songs sound that much better than they did on record.

After that, he slowed it down a little bit by singing “So Fly” – cracking up halfway through the song when someone near the front yelled something to him, which he responded to after the song by wishing “happy birthday” to whoever it was. Throughout the entire show, Glover did a great job interacting with the crowd – jumping into the front row, slapping hands with concertgoers, and even at one point grabbing a girl’s cell phone that she was using to shoot a video of the performance and rapping right into it before giving it back. You could tell he really knew what it was like to be a fan of music and appreciated all the love he was being given on stage.

He continued running through a medley of his earlier songs before playing a cover of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” in the background as the screen proclaimed “John Legend’s Voice” and instructing the crowd to clap – and clap they did, jumping around the whole time before Gambino launched into his Adele-sampling “Do Ya Like.” His Grizzly Bear-sampling “Bitch Look At Me Now” got another huge response from the crowd, and they continued to sing along to “Break (All Of The Lights),” “I Be On That”, “Difference,” and “Bonfire.” At one point, he launched into “You See Me,” a new song from his upcoming Camp, with the lyrics projected on screen behind him – within 15 seconds of the song starting, he had the crowd jumping and yelling along to the words. Now that’s swag.

After leaving the stage, the crowd was immediately chanting “Gam-bin-o” and it didn’t take long for Glover and his band to return for the encore. He came back out with his shirt wrapped around his neck, launching into a freestyle referencing Silver Spring, DC, and the crowd. He performed a few more songs (including a new one, “Firefly,” off Camp), seemingly feeding off the crowd’s energy, before ending with “Not Going Back.” He then genuinely thanked the crowd and seemed impressed with the sold-out audience before the lights came up and everyone filtered into the streets of Silver Spring, still buzzing with the post-concert high.

When all was said and done, this was one of the best live shows I’ve seen in a long while – Glover was energetic and electric the whole time, constantly moving around and keeping the crowd going with the flow. The live band played to his strengths and made already good songs sound amazing. And the crowd was more into it than a lot of shows I’ve seen, singing along to every word, bouncing and clapping and yelling, even to the new songs they may never have heard. I’ve been a fan of Gambino’s work for a while and even I was blown away with how dynamic and thrilling his live show really is. Despite getting his rap name from an online Wu-Tang name generator (yes, really), Childish Gambino deserves all of the hype and acclaim being thrown his way. Expect to see much more of him very soon.

Watch the video for his latest single, “Bonfire,” and be sure to pick up his new album Camp when it drops on November 15.

Childish Gambino at Fillmore Silver Spring | Mistaken For Strangers