Live music is back baby and we are here for it! The Mountain Goat Valley Crawl was an incredible introduction to the live music world post COVID and we loved every minute of it.
Kicking off our night was YB. at Black Bear Lodge. I’d given a few of his tracks a listen the day before so I thought I’d check him out. The vibe was pumping from the minute I walked up the stairs and it sailed through the whole set from start to finish. Backed by a band and female singer, YB. rolled through his short but fun filled set featuring tracks such as Don’t Crash and Waiting. Not only did he play the guitar but he also sung like an angel and I was sucked in the entire time. For an underground artist YB. sure had some die hard fans and they made sure he felt the love the entire time. YB’s set went from Sunday session vibes to hyped up Saturday pre drinking beats and a little sprinkle of everything in between. It was a lot of fun being apart of the crowd supporting his set and I would 100% do it again.
Next up was Alt Fiction and holy hell what an incredible performance! These kids played like seasoned pro’s and I fell in love with them from the first note. Sitting in one of the booths at The Zoo I couldn’t keep still in my seat whether I was drumming on the table or tapping my toes the beat was contagious and it took over my entire body. Alt Fiction played some of their most popular tracks such as Can’t Get It Right and People You Know and the crowd went wild. People were standing up from the tables and dancing around the venue and those that knew that words were singing at the top of their lungs. Lead vocalist Will Tyler had the most incredible voice that at times I wondered if it was really coming out of him. For a band of brothers they really did show cohesiveness as a band and their stage presence and professionalism was admirable.
Running quickly back over to Black Bear Lodge I made it just in time for PNK FME. If you took Flume’s electronic backing tracks and mixed it with the vocal sounds of Post Malone you would get PNK FME. I’m not kidding, if you closed your eyes it sounds like Postie and Flume had a musical love child. From the minute the music started I didn’t stop dancing. I could feel and hear the emotion and passion behind every word and I quickly became completely infatuated by him. PNK FME played tracks such as Not Okay, Dark Demons and Hypomania as well as I Know But You Don’t featuring live vocals from Emily Coulston. The thing I enjoyed the most about PNK’s performance was his stage presence. His energy was contagious taking over the whole room so naturally it was like he could do it in his sleep. PNK FME is a performer not just a musician and I enjoyed every second of his set.
I love hip hop so I will never pass up the opportunity to discover a new band in that genre so I went to see Order Sixty6 at Black Bear Lodge. Order Sixty6 reminded me of the musical vibes back home in New Zealand, that laid back beat with catchy lyrics that just makes you feel good kind of vibes. Having only really skimmed over a few of their tracks the day before the crawl I was going in with no expectation’s but these boys well and truly stepped up and showed off and performed an amazing set. My favourite track was Showcase. Not only did they perform that song the best with all their choregraphed danced moves but the contagious groove of the backing track has been stuck in my head for days and I’m not complaining. The best thing about Order Sixty6 was that they looked like they were enjoying themselves the entire time. There wasn’t a single second where I felt disengaged, in fact I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage the entire time. The boys also performed Suburbia, Peace.exe, Neighbours and more showcasing a range of different tempos, lyrics and styles. Order Sixty6 should be very proud of their performance and I had a lot of fun jumping around and singing with their crowd.
We have missed live music so much here at YEAH; But Seriously Though as we are so glad that everything is starting to open again. Bring on 2021 and thank you Mountain Goat Valley Crawl!
