Last year I knew that the young Brooklyn duo, MS MR were on to something good after hearing the first single, "Hurricane" off of their debut EP Candy Bar Creep Show. Carrying a Florence and the Machine familiarity but with a youthful soul driven synth-pop twist, MS MR hits with a freshness that's profound and different than all the other synth-pop-rock acts out there today. The more I listened to the EP the more I liked it and... I listened to it a lot.
As the long awaited May 10th release of their first full-length album Second Hand Rapture approached the super fun electro-charged dance pop girl group CSS announced their summer tour with none other than, you guessed it MS MR! Doubling my excitement to see both acts at one (if not both) SF shows was the fact that both bands would be performing their respective brand new music.
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| CSS @ The Great American Music Hall 6/17/2013 Photo by: Nikki DeMartini |
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| CSS @ The Great American Music Hall 6/17/2013 Photo by: Nikki DeMartini |
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| MS MR @ The Great American Music Hall 6/17/2013 Photo by: Nikki DeMartini |
Arriving early for the June 17th show at the Great American Music Hall I was anxiously
excited to see how MS MR would fare in what can at times be a tough city to "sell" for breaking bands. In all of my show going experiences never have I ever witnessed a supporting act get the reaction that MS MR got that fateful Monday night. As every song of their set came to an end it was met with loud bountiful applause and chill inducing cheers.
excited to see how MS MR would fare in what can at times be a tough city to "sell" for breaking bands. In all of my show going experiences never have I ever witnessed a supporting act get the reaction that MS MR got that fateful Monday night. As every song of their set came to an end it was met with loud bountiful applause and chill inducing cheers.
What's more they managed to get the SF crowd dancing which isn't as easy as of feat as one may think especially with indie band fans.
Adding to the enjoyment of seeing MS MR live was witnessing the humble yet elated response to this crowd reaction from front woman, (MS) Lizzy. Like me she was visibly in awe: Her inescapable smile said it all as she continuously, genuinely thanked everyone, taking time to take it all in between all of the songs including hot tracks off the EP and LP, "Fantasy" and "Hurricane".
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| MS MR @ The Great American Music Hall 6/17/2013 Photo by: Nikki DeMartini |
MS MR effortlessly transcended the Second Hand Rapture vibe live with an utmost engaging enthusiasm and an undeniable dynamic stage presence. When they vacated the stage I thought to myself; that is one tough opening act to follow...
I was super excited when MS MR announced their headlining tour at the end of the summer. Delightfully surprised to see that they were slated to play not one but TWO shows at The Independent in San Francisco October 15th & 16th I acted quick to get my tickets to the second show. Both shows sold out in a mere 48 hours and then due to growing popular demand a third show was added on October 21st! It's kind of silly but since being behind them from the very beginning
I was giddy to see that their budding success was indeed blooming, booming even.
Most of the sold-out show goers that night made it out to catch Wildcat! Wildcat! and for good reason. The indie-rock LA based boys harmonize well for a grit-ish synth-rock band no matter which one of them was on lead vocals. They got the night started off on the right foot playing tracks off their (pretty new) self titled debut.
Keeping the good times grooving was my friend , Bay Area radio personality, Miles the DJ spinnin' some new alternative tunes which was a pretty cool addition. Not too many rock acts have DJ intermissions no matter what genre of rock they fall into.
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| MS MR @ The Independent 10/16/2013 Photo by: Marc Fong |
Most of the sold-out show goers that night made it out to catch Wildcat! Wildcat! and for good reason. The indie-rock LA based boys harmonize well for a grit-ish synth-rock band no matter which one of them was on lead vocals. They got the night started off on the right foot playing tracks off their (pretty new) self titled debut.
Keeping the good times grooving was my friend , Bay Area radio personality, Miles the DJ spinnin' some new alternative tunes which was a pretty cool addition. Not too many rock acts have DJ intermissions no matter what genre of rock they fall into.
Soon enough once The Independent was more or less filled to capacity the house lights dimmed which meant one thing... it was time to see MS MR headline!
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| MS MR @ The Independent 10/16/2013 Photo by: Marc Fong |
Under a kaleidoscope of blinding strobe lights they made their way to the stage; showing off her legs for days in pink lame pants, Lizzy automatically greeted fans with her infamous grin while her counterpart Max wore his game face, they jumped right into "Bones". After a brief hello to San Francisco Lizzy and Max made eye contact initiating the powerful, tom-tom drum driven "No Trace". It was the first song of the night that displayed Lizzy's immense vocal range and it would not be the last.
Up next was the uppity fun "Salty Sweet" pumping up an already pumped crowd as Lizzy brought the swag, swaying her hips and gyrating to the beat. Falling into the playfulness set forth by MS MR, the crowd suddenly started a very appropriate clap along (a "clap track" is featured on the recorded version) leaving the leading lady visibly happy at the end of it. Clearly fans as well as the band were all happy to be there and we were all ready, willing and eager for the show to continue.
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| MS MR @ The Independent 10/16/2013 Photo by: Marc Fong |
"It's the second sold out show!" she exclaimed "Three here at The Independent and we are so pumped to be here!!" and right when she had riled fans up Max attempted to clam things down, "we're gonna slow things down a bit. . . this is a romantic one."
Their contrasting crowd interaction continued on this way: Lizzy unpretentious and forever grateful, while at times Max let his inflated ego show.
Though this didn't effect MS MR's performance it was something I noticed having seen them before. This glimmer of arrogance dimmed their heartfelt shine a tad in my eyes but hopefully this arrogant air went unnoticed with MS MR first timers.
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| MS MR @ The Independent 10/16/2013 Photo by: Marc Fong |
Though one of my favorite tracks off Second Hand Rapture, "Twenty Seven", wasn't on Wednesday night's set list MS MR did execute a soulful cover of one of my favorite singles this season; Arctic Monkeys', "Do I want to Know?" The MS MR cover was eerily wonderful as they didn't stray too far from the original but also didn't play it too safe by keeping the song sounding exactly the same. Lizzy's voice compliments the song to a tee and the bluesy angst heard on "Do I Want To Know?" fits well with MS MR's grab bag theme of restless mixed-emotions.
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| MS MR @ The Independent 10/16/2013 Photo by: Marc Fong |
As MS MR continues to grow the size of the venues they play shouldn't because their charismatic booming essence might get lost in bigger venues.
Venues like The Independent and Great American Music Hall suit them and their show well and I imagine DC's 9:30 Club and NYC's Webster Hall would too.
Venues like The Independent and Great American Music Hall suit them and their show well and I imagine DC's 9:30 Club and NYC's Webster Hall would too.
With just one LP thus far, MS MR opted for no en-core saving their big hit "Hurricane" for the last song of the night while the crowd created a hurricane of their own applause, whistling and hollering and before I knew it the show was over.
Lizzy told SF fans during the show that night that they "exceeded expectations, as usual" but I think we just rose to the occasion. MS MR exceeds expectations live and if you have any doubt about it I suggest you go see for yourself.
I for one am excited to see where the road takes Lizzy and MS MR and I can not wait to hear what's next!
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| MS MR @ The Independent 10/16/2013 Photo by: Marc Fong |
SET LIST:
Bones
No Trace
Salty Sweet
BTSK
Fantasy
Think of You
Artic Monkeys cover: Do I Want to Know?
Head is Not My Home
This Isn’t Control
Dark Doo Wop
Ash Tree Lane
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