Typ1

by Raj Rudolph

First of all let me preface this review by saying that there are very few live acts I would hop on a train and go to Paris to see live – The Young Professionals is easily one of them.

When I heard that TYP were making their first public show at La Gaite Lyrique in Paris, I immediately cancelled everything I was doing to make sure I was in attendance – this included my high school reunion in the States too.

Yes, a TYP show is truly are an unmissible event in my music calendar.

Having been the first music blogger to champion TYP, it's been such a joy seeing them go from strength to strength from their first two amazing videos for D.I.S.C.O and 20 Seconds, falling in love with their debut album 9am to 5pm, 5pm To Whenever and having it rule my iPod for over a year; from them getting signed to Universal in France and learning that Live Nation had scooped them up – I can easily say without a doubt that TYP are the most exciting electronic pop band of the moment.

Typ2 

TYP definitely remind me of Pet Shop Boys in their hay day if I am to make a comparitive. Their stage setup is super simple with amazing background visuals. The magic of their live set lies within the pure strength of the songs – all of which are intelligent prose that transends well over a disco beat. Their Robert Palmer-esque backing dancers shift seemlessly from sexy office workers tapping on their PCs to fierce dance divas slaying the crowed as the show crescendos into their big anthemst in D.I.S.C.O. and 20 Seconds – with the latter proving to be the biggest crowd favorite.

At the end of the show, the crowd was chanting so hard the signature chorus of 20 Seconds in such a strong fever that TYP actually came out and did the song again as a second encore. It was truly a sight to witness and quite an accomplishment for a rather new pop band to cause such a fan frenzy.

Typ3

My favorite parts of the show was in way of tracks With Me and Fuck Off Berlin.

With Me is by far my favorite song from the album as it  is so tender and gentle yet it resonates extremely well live and hits the concergoer straight in the bleeding heart.  

Fuck Off Berlin is quite the anthem too and lead singer Ivri Lider explains that the song was written as a reaction to the question bands get asked most often – "What's your favorite city?" I still can't quite figure out if TYP love or hate Berlin, but whatever the opinion, this song is pure MEGA.

Another highlight of the show for me was the visuals during Dirty Messages. Ivri Lider explains to the crowd that the song is an ode to modern communication and if you listen closely to the lyrics you can quite easily see the picture of what TYP is painting here. If you didn't listen to the lyrics, you might be suprised by the visuals as words like blonde, whisper, hard, porn, lick, suck, fuck, ass, finger and dirty subliminally flash in front of you – it's such a strong and powerful statement.

If you didn't quite know about TYP when you see them live, you're in for a treat in way of Lana Del Rey cover Video Games as well. In my humble opinion, TYP do the song way better than the original, taking it from sad sappy suicide to uplifting pop that hits a homerun.

With only one album underneath their belt, TYP most certainly proved that they are headed for the big leagues. Usually with every success story in pop, new artists have to pay their dues and start out in small clubs and venues to get noticed – however this is not the case with TYP. Their first show had well over 1500 attendees and was sold out in Paris. Can you imagine how well other international pop audiences will take to their live show? It's unreal and well-deserved.

If you aren't a fan of TYP by now – you should be. Beg to get their CD released in your territory and do what you have to to get your hands on it – it's one of the most brilliant, inspired and modern and progressive pieces of music art that is out right now. Forget about all those "in the club" and "hands in the air" artists right now that are putting out dull, soulless dance music, TYP and their live show will most certainly restore your faith in electronic pop.

Typ6

It wouldn't surprise me to see The Young Professionals selling out in America the same way Depeche Mode did at the Rose Bowl in 1988. They say pop music is cyclical and it's quite easy to say that TYP are at the forefront of this music trend in electronic pop.

You heard it hear first on EQ.

I got to interview TYP backstage right when they came off too – look for that all very soon right here.