Toro y Moi-- Turner Hall Ballroom, November 1, 2013

It is hard to describe Chaz Bundick (better known by stage name "Toro y Moi"'s music).  If you took late 80's-early '90's Prince sprinkled in vintage rock guitar riffs, added a lot of synthesizer, threw in some loops and a dash of funk, combined them all into a blender and hit the "pulse" button and you might get the idea.  Often described as one of the core contributors to the "chill wave movement" (whatever that is), Toro y Moi are a unique act to say the least.  With lots of smoke and a pulsating light show, they certainly were entertaining and got the mostly late 20-something crowd dancing and enjoying themselves.  The show, as expected, drew heavily from this year's release, Anything in Return.  Show opener, "Harm in Change," the first track off of that album, was as energetic and fun as one would expect.  At their best, Toro y Moi jammed out their numbers and lead to some interesting sonic grooves.  At their worst, after about 30 minutes, all of the songs started sounding the same.

Opening for Toro y Moi was Los Angeles electronic duo, Classixx.  Donned in retro 1980's baseball jackets, they did a great job of getting the crowd jumping and dancing to numbers like "Holding On" (which sounds like 1980's pop with loops and samples thrown in).  While many people seemed to really enjoy this act, I had a hard time "getting it" as I really don't understand how electronic music is being performed live.  The guys weren't singing, but there were vocal tracks, and the musicians did more head-nodding and in-place dancing behind their rigs than anything else from my vantage point.  It was fun for an opener though.

The most amusing part of this show was the wacky crowd.  Perhaps the fact that it was the day after Halloween had something to do with it, but from a large man with retro high-tops and glasses that would blink in neon colors to a woman dressed like some sort of Willy Wonka creature, to a beekeeper and a bee, to folks who, to be quite honest, I wasn't sure if they were dressing up for the show or wearing a Halloween costume, this was a good people-watching show to say the least.

Grade: B

Photo courtesy of Stephen Bloch