Photo by Michael Baca
We’ve all been there. You get to a concert early and you’re forced to sit through the opening act. It can be so dreadful, you wait it out until the headliner comes out on stage. You didn’t buy the ticket for the opening act right? Sometimes it isn’t that bad. When the headliner picks the perfect opener you could become hooked as soon as that first beat hits. This past Saturday when I had the chance to check out M83 live at the Brooklyn Bowl, I had one of those rare instances where I became captivated by an opening act. LA based YACHT clearly set the tone to a perfect night ahead.
My ticket was scanned and I proceeded to the general admission floor. Instantly, I was struck with the stage presence of lead singer Clare L. Evans. Like a more impactful Annie Lennox, she captured my full attention. (Seriously, I want to be as cool as her!)It was perfect mix of 80’s style synth pop met with a very Debbie Harry-like vocal. The party began in an instant. Every song they played was a bop worthy nostalgic dance floor hit. The song they closed out on ‘I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler’ I have not been able to escape it. Yet, with such a bop worthy tune came lyrical structure that makes you think. YACHT knows exactly what it means to make music and what power they possess as artists to make a truly political statement. They even can make it fun with a song like ‘I Wanna Fuck You Till I’m Dead’ which of course is about exactly what you think it is about.
Some may think it’s crazy to jump on a yacht in the middle of the desert; but after jumping on the synth driven YACHT, I’ve been sailing to an island called musical bliss!