After seeing three entirely unique approaches to crafting psychedelia last night all lined up in succession, it is clear that this mega-bill of independent forces undoubtedly has to be one of the tours of the year to pass through NOLA. Toro Y Moi has been on the radar for a good while now for anyone keeping tabs on the chillwave nebuli, and Chaz Bundick’s band is helping carry the torch for a growing legion of fans of this loosely-related musical realm (many of whom will probably be right back in the house next Tuesday for Washed Out). Toro Y Moi‘s new EP Freaking Out furthers the argument that the frontman’s music doesn’t fit neatly into any stylistic boxes anymore. Toro Y Moi, although mostly Bundick’s brain child, is a complete band on the road, with an advanced, futuristic sound and a broad enough stylistic range to allure and appease the diverse (and large) audience in the chic Toulouse Street bordello. It seemed everyone was being completely zoned into the groovy flow of the short but sweet headlining set. Continue on below for few words about all three sets, some animated .gifs to put the night back in motion, a full photo gallery and a couple video clips from the show.

Bass Drum of Death

Went into this set as a completely blank slate as to Bass Drum of Death’s music, except for the fact that a band wielding such an awesome name has a lot to live up to and the grizzly bunch more than lived up to it, blowing through 8-10 songs in just a half-hour window with fury, blasting their dingy garage rock out to the unsuspecting crowd (although by the looks of the aggression ensuing on the floor, there were definitely a handful of fans who came specifically to see this band). I was as impressed by this set as the two that would follow and there’s more than a fighting chance that this young band could achieve a great deal of success down the road with such a gigantic and kickass sound. Also, it’s always good to see act 1 of 3 incite a little early game moshing, sets the tone for a good night in the mix.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

For some reason, aptly describing this band has escaped me ever since checking out their debut self-titled LP (Fat Possum Records) last week. UMO (an also appropriate name given the band’s international flavor and recent rise from obscurity) has the rare ability to go from highly accessible and delightfully scuzzy beat-pop of a casual tune like “Ffunny Frends” (see video below) into a kaliedoscopic mesmerizer jam with great ease. Also, this New Zealand-by-way-of-Oregon power-psych trio are absurdly talented, apparently well-read in an array of genres, not limited to post-punk, funk and grunge rock, all of which are synthesized into the equal-parts (a) grating, (b) unpolished yet tight, (c) extraterrestial sound. Also, any drummers out there need to check out what wunderkind Julien Ehrlich of UMO is doing on the skins, the kid can already lay it down with the likes of just about anyone, infusing a little more muscle into the sound.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Ffunny Friends

Toro Y Moi

After the first two bands had already made it well worth the price of admission, it was time for the main event, one that didn’t get going ’til around 12:30. Nevertheless, after a couple hours of buildup it was well worth the wait to see Bundick’s long overdue first show in New Orleans. I had high expectations for this set but wasn’t quite sure how this thing would translate on the live stage. It was clear out of the gate that Bundick travels with more than just a few hired hands and also prevalent that these guys operate on the same musical channels as any proper band should. Bundick was pretty reserved, taking to the front of the stage a couple times briefly with mic in hand. But what he lacked in showmanship he more than made up for in focus and he conveyed a sense of genuine gratitude to the crowd, tersely thanking the audience for getting rowdy right out of the gate (there was even an early brief attempt at chillwave/crowd-surfing before security kibosh’d it).

Being a still-new band with such a currently-evolving sound it is important that all parties involved are swimming on the same current, and after Monday night’s late night sessions, it seems that this band will only get better and better (in a comparable fashion to maybe LCD Soundsystem?) as Bundick continues to push boundaries and follow new muses in the studio, the quartet seamlessly flowed across genres without losing the flow. Jazzy, funky and fun, the set ran the gamut, delivering classic chillwave “Still Sound” (does classic chillwave exist yet?), a batch of new Prince-esque dancefloor-rarin’ jams like “Freaking Out” and “Saturday Love” and a few brilliantly layered synth/live instrumentation hybrid segments that pushed well beyond the four sonic walls of their prior studio composition. Toro delivered the goods, and most importantly, this set was insanely fun, capping off one of the best nights of music I’ve seen all year.