Global indie-pop sensation and one-man band, Youngr whipped the Sonia crowd into a frenzy as he built his electro-fire beats and silky smooth hooks from scratch.
A 360-degree fortress built of interlaced keyboards, mixers, guitars, and drums stood on an empty stage around a lonely, black leather stool. Instead of seeing a 12-piece band come out to play this orchestral collection, fans erupted as a massive wave of orange-yellow hair bounced with cheetah-like grace up to the stage. Modern synth-pop phenom Youngr looked like a rock star from a time gone by, dressed as a snake-hipped, British rocker, with a wiry frame, loose-fitting silk shirt, tight plaid pants, and dark red boots. Waving to the Sonia crowd, Youngr smiled with boyish charm as he jumped inside his musical cage.
One step at a time, he started building each song from scratch by picking up an instrument, playing it for a few seconds, recording and looping the sounds, and then putting it back down. Like watching a game of Jenga in reverse, he carefully layered one sonic brick on top of the next, all while bopping his head to the beat and blinding the audience in a blaze of snares, symbols, and synths.
Youngr had a real slickness to him, a grace in his movements, as he seemed to dance around this circular musical structure, transitioning seamlessly from instrument to instrument. He reminded of a master bartender stylishly flipping the bottles to pour the best cocktail you’ve ever had.
Among the dozens of instruments he played, Youngr seemed to have a love affair with the drums; every time he got back on them, he was hitting them like he’d been missing ‘em—leaning back and smiling as he played. Performing hit songs like, “Sweet Disposition” and “Out of My System,” Youngr would jump on the drums right at the peak of the song, exploding in a burst of positive energy as the crowd met him with dance elation.
Many of Youngr’s songs are about the joys of being young and footloose, painting pictures of international adventures and romantic exploration, singing out, “I’ll go get messed up on an island / do it all while I’ve got time.” More poignantly though, he also explores the other side of joy, addressing the struggles today’s youth face in trying to experience it. On songs like, “93” he examines the connection between technology and social isolation, singing, “We’re overloaded with wires / They’re running through us like fire…Back then they didn’t Snapchat / They’d just chit chat / Let’s have a think about that.”
Youngr’s songs are extremely catchy, with addictive, feel-good vocal inflections, velvety soft delivery, and fast-paced, celebratory dance beats that fill the listener with youthful energy and warmth. None better exemplify these qualities than his massive international hit, “Ooh Lordy.” The song takes the listener straight out of the barber shop, looking so fresh and so clean, ready to get down with their bad selves and maybe even dance down the street. When he played this jam, the audience starting dancing so hard they created their own breakdancing circles
Youngr smiled start to finish that night, and the audience smiled back. People could feel that he was doing his part to lift them up. He sat down with Sound of Boston after the show and told us, “I want Boston to know that I’m just here trying to spread love and positivity with my music and that’s all I want to do.” True to form, about halfway through the show, he said with a smile to the crowd, “Are we having fun? Yeah?! Because fun is about being together, right?”