Years & Years, w/ Tei Shi at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (23 September 2015)
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Tour Dates
10/04/15 Austin City Limits Music Festival
10/09/15 Birmingham O2 Academy Birmingham 10/10/15 Norwich Univ. Of East Anglia LCR-Union 10/13/15 Sheffield O2 Academy Sheffield 10/14/15 Leeds O2 Academy Leeds 10/16/15 Newcastle O2 Academy Newcastle 10/17/15 Glasgow ABC1 10/18/15 Manchester Albert Hall 10/20/15 Liverpool O2 Academy Liverpool 10/21/15 Bristol O2 Academy Bristol 10/22/15 Cardiff Great Hall 10/24/15 Brighton The Brighton Centre 10/26/15 Southend-On-Sea Cliffs Pavilion 10/28/15 London O2 Academy Brixton 10/29/15 Kiss Haunted House Party 10/31/15 Vevo Halloween 11/04/15 Belfast Mandela Hall
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But, as evidenced by their recent sold-out performance at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, we may be talking about the electronic pop act, for some time to come.
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Tei Shi
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The evening began with a brief but highly enjoyable 30 min. set by Tei Shi (aka Valerie Teicher) and her self-described dreamy blend of “mermaid music”. Teicher, with shoulder length dark hair and wearing a striped turtleneck, brought along two electronic bandmates with her, and an ethereal light show more involved than you usually see from any opening act.
The globetrotting Teicher is out in support of her recent EP, Verde (Mermaid Avenue/ Mom + Pop Music) and emerged for her first time ever in town, under a hazy, atmospheric array of lights opening with, ‘Can’t Be Sure’, which was full of dark, brooding beats and celestial, layered vocals.
Tei Shi (Valerie Teicher)
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Her bass heavy Beyoncé cover of ‘No Angel’ turned the song upside-down and the set ended with ‘Bassically’, another heavy bottomed song that stopped on a dime, then morphed into something greater. Any fan of Banks or Phantogram, is encouraged to hear what you might be missing with Tei Shi.
The stage dimmed and a repeated electro loop brought Years & Years to the stage for their hour-long headlining set. The band’s debut album, Communion (Interscope/Polydor) entered the UK charts at number one when it arrived in July, and everyone on this side of pond is quickly getting the message as well.
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Olly Alexander
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Lead man Olly Alexander was dressed in a simple white t-shirt and smiling often, flanked by Mikey Goldsworthy – synth, keys, bass ; Emre Türkmen – synth, keys, sampling, guitar; and Dylan Bell – drums.
Alexander looks and sounds half his age (25) but has been on stage, singing and acting for more than half his life, so looked very comfortable amongst all the equipment and a light rig meant for bigger venues.
“This is weird…thanks for coming!” Alexander exclaimed, clearly overjoyed by the screaming, sold-out crowd, also mentioning he visited Minnehaha Park and Waterfall, previous to the gig. An early highlight was fifth single ‘Desire’, played early on, and the slow and pensive ‘Memo’ with Alexander moving to keys as well.
Olly Alexander & Tei Shi
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‘Shine’ received a roar from the receptive crowd (some coming as far as Dallas for the show) and opener Tei Shi re-emerged for a memorable duet on a Blu Cantrell cover of ‘Breathe’. After finishing their main set with ‘Real’, the crowd was not satisfied and immediately began chanting “King” until the band returned to the stage to honor their request of the group’s biggest song to date, with everyone jumping, hands in the air to the song.
Like their album title, there was a communion (“the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially on a mental or spiritual level”) of fans to greet Years & Years on their initial trip here- the diehards are already converted and the word is spreading quickly. The band plays the Austin City Limits Festival today, which can be streamed online.
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Years & Years at Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (23 September 2015) |