photo courtest of Bennet Perez
I recently started reading Slash’s autobiography (bare with me), in which he mentions that a friend of his listens to a band’s live performances first in order to decide if they’re worth listening to. Well, I can say with confidence that Whatever Mike and Rozzi are absolutely worth your time. Whatever Mike is an independent queer artist based in New York. They blend genres like indie pop, electronic and hip-hop with a spiritual twist. Rozzi is an indie pop singer who got her start in 2012 after being discovered by Adam Levine. Rozzi’s lyrics tell stories of her life amid soulful ballad-like instrumentation.
When I looked online to find out more details about the concert, I didn’t see anywhere that there was an opening act, so when Whatever Mike came on stage, I was pleasantly surprised. Opening acts usually have to work harder to win over the audience, but Whatever Mike was such a joy to be in the presence of — I couldn’t help but fall in love with them right away. They performed without a band (with the exception of a couple of songs accompanied by brett castro on acoustic guitar), a scary feat if you don’t have a powerful enough voice. Luckily for everyone, Whatever Mike delivered. The highlight of their set was their song “manufactured love.” Listening to it made me want to drive around Malibu at sunset. From Malibu to Lorax-core to crying in the rain, each of their songs had such a distinct, unique feel to them. Whatever Mike was aware that much of the audience didn’t necessarily know who they were, but that didn’t trip them up. Somehow, they were able to get the crowd to sing a song they didn’t know with them – if that doesn’t speak to their showmanship, I don’t know what does. If you take away anything from this review, it’s this: Stop getting to concerts late! You never know if you’re about to discover your new favorite artist! Check out their newest single “Lost Anyways” right now and make sure to keep your eyes and ears open for their album “word to the trees” out soon.
Now, onto Rozzi. This show was one of two to promote the deluxe release of her EP “berry,” (which is out right now), so the audience were the first to hear two extra songs before their official release. You could tell that this album held real significance to her and that she really cared about the lyrics she was singing. Rozzi told the story behind certain songs, but really, the lyrics were so well written that the songs spoke for themselves.
As for her actual performance, I can count the amount of times she messed up on one hand: One, one time. Rozzi might, quite possibly, be the best live singer I’ve ever seen. If someone told me she was lip syncing, I would believe them. I mean, who sounds that perfect live? Now, I don’t mean to compare queens to each other, but Rozzi’s voice is somewhere in between Lady Gaga and Karen Carpenter, yet something entirely her own. That being said, sometimes less is more. Rozzi has such an incredible range — no one can dispute that — but just because you can hit a difficult note, doesn’t mean you have to in every single song. She has one of the best female voices I’ve heard in years, and part of that is because she’s a true alto and leans into it. So when she all of a sudden reaches for these high notes, I can’t help but feel she’s selling herself short. There’s no need to rely on this party trick of sorts when her lower voice is just as good, if not better. But of course, that is just preference, and the audience certainly did not agree. They went crazy for everything she did.
Rozzi did not go on alone, and it would be downright offensive to not discuss the insanely talented musicians who went on with her. She had two backup singers — Kayla Carpenter, a woman with an entirely powerful voice of her own, and Johnny DelToro, who Rozzi essentially pulled off the street, met an hour before the show, and pulled out all the stops to learn the lyrics to her songs. As talented as Rozzi is, the show would not have been as successful without her band. Everyone on that stage had insane chemistry, building off of each other all the time.
One thing’s for certain: you need to check out Whatever Mike and Rozzi right now! Run, don’t walk to wherever you listen to music and add “word to the trees” and “berry” to your playlist!