Apparently, the notion of attending a show at a ballroom registered with the early-20s crowd at the Toro Y Moi show as its visual aesthetic featured bow ties, crisp and intricate designs, along with suspenders and vintage fedoras.
That said, it wouldn’t have been a stretch to see a jazz ensemble saunter onto the stage in respect to the Gatsby-era garb and slickness of the crowd.
On a warm Monday night in downtown Phoenix, the Crescent Ballroom played host to three dynamic sets of performers and provided an energetic crowd for them.
Heading the show was YUS, a local solo artist who used a couple mixers to produce his sound. The hauntingly slow and heavy beat mixed well with his airy vocals that floated over the grounded instrumentals.
The audience was receptive and engaged with his performance and especially enjoyed his meek and quirky humor between songs.
Following YUS’s performance was the Tempe band Factories, whose highly intricate experimental pop sound exploded through the packed crowd as they played songs from their upcoming album “Together,” a greasy rendition of the band The Postal Service — appropriate because of their band name.
The level of camaraderie and respected jovialness that existed between the group members were memorable aspects of the performance. Throughout the set, the members were jumping up and down or running in place with genuine smiles stretching their faces.
When it seemed the ballroom had reached its capacity, more people moved between each other like Tetris blocks to get a chance to hear the upcoming set of Toro Y Moi.
After setting up the equipment, the band took awhile to return and the audience vibrated with anticipation for the upcoming set.
Once they emerged to the stage welcomed by cheers formed from deep longing, they slayed the audience into a euphoric hip, limbs and head swaying reverie by playing their most popular track “New Beat” in a cool and relaxed way that did not match the exuberance of the audience whatsoever.
The energy that erupted the from formed was the apex of the performance. However, the band was able to hover around that initial energy with a highly entertaining and fun set, filled with stretched and fuzzy melodies, psychedelic beats and percussion that whipped the ears of the audience with a wet towel of sound.
Between one song, the Toro Y Moi, bandmates drank Smartwaters in unison, which was fitting, as their youthful vocals splayed over sophisticated beats relayed the dissonant paradox characteristic of the band.
Altogether the set was about 12 songs, and the encore capped the innocently fun show, sending the crowd humming the spirited tracks through the dry Phoenix air in its wake.
Reach the reporter dgburns@asu.edu
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