ARTICLE BY CHERYL CHENG
PHOTO BY B. VENTI
APRIL 17 | LOS ANGELES—The first time I saw Youth Lagoon‘s Trevor Powers, it was during his tour for debut album The Year of Hibernation. He performed alone on stage, and it was a rather hushed affair befitting that album—an intimate collection of songs you might listen to in your bedroom. This could translate to a dull live show, but instead, the performance was quite affecting. The Hibernation songs were that emotionally powerful.
Now touring in support of his sophomore effort Wondrous Bughouse, Powers has expanded his sound and scope. For tonight’s “Localchella” show at the El Rey Theatre, he was backed by two guitarists and a drummer, which was necessary to fully convey the lush sounds of the new album. In contrast to Hibernation, Wondrous Bughouse is louder and more expansive. It goes beyond the bedroom.
Not one for in-between song banter, Powers kept the dialogue to a minimum, though he did comment, “This place is beautiful,” as he looked admiringly at the El Rey Theatre‘s chandeliers. Since this was the Wondrous Bughouse tour, the majority of tonight’s set list featured songs from that album; Powers nearly performed it in its entirety. One of my favorite new songs, “Mute” sounded fantastic live. A song rich in musical complexity, it builds slowly and effectively with the addition of each new instrument. The same could be said for “Dropla,” which plays a perfect balance between the spacey keyboard effects and the steady drumming—all as Powers repeatedly sings, “You’ll never die.” Nevertheless, it was the songs from Hibernation that had the greatest impact on the audience. After all, you never forget the album when you first fell in love with an artist. When “17” was performed toward the end, the fans were euphoric. As Powers sang the refrain, “When I was 17, my mother said to me, ‘Don’t stop imagining. The day that you do is the day that you die,’” the audience enthusiastically sang along.
For the encore, Youth Lagoon closed with Hibernation track “July.” It was another slow build-up to the crescendo of the chorus, which had Powers singing, nearly shouting, the words, “Five years ago, in my backyard I sang love away. Little did I know that real love had not quite yet found me.” Beautiful. The song slowly faded away toward its conclusion, and the band then waved good-bye. It was the perfect way to end the night.
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