Boy Pablo: Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds — Review
From YouTube virality to a stage in Leeds. Rachel was lucky enough to catch Boy Pablo’s vivacious indie-pop whilst they were on tour in the UK, and here’s her review of the night.
This young band from Norway have done phenomenally well, especially considering that they have only released two EPs since 2015. They started to gain some traction on YouTube, with their breakout hit ‘Everytime’ amassing almost 15 million views, at least the last time I checked (gotta love the YouTube algorithm — and these guys’ rhythm, am I right?). To be honest, that’s how I found out about them: a quintet of chilled out dudes that look like they’d be in the audience of their own gigs if they weren’t on the stage, putting on a show.
As the indie genre can be such a catch-all label, I’ll try to be more specific. The band are on an independent label (777) so they fit at least one of the requirements of ‘indie’, and their music does have guitars — so does other indie music — but their music is also jangly, with hints of disco and saccharine, lovesick lyrics. So, maybe they are their own genre: Pablo-pop?
One thing is for certain, they are hard to define, conventionally speaking, but there’s something so wholesome and rose-tinted about how they deal with topics of teenage dating and anxiety about self-presentation. This makes them somewhat of an outlier when placed next to other artists writing about love and speaking to our generation. It’s not all about the hard and fast world of ‘pulling’ online, in clubs, and general promiscuity, and more about the awkwardness of said ‘pulling’ and addressing further awkward moments like that first sober kiss. But it’s not all so awkward with Boy Pablo, as they do have one song called ‘I’m Really Tired This Day Sucks’; a lighthearted ditty about their lead singer, Pablo Muñoz, dropping his friend’s guitar.
So, what were they doing in the UK? Well, they’re still on their worldwide tour, which began in North America in July and continued on to the UK. Next stops: France, America (again), Asia, and then, by February of next year, back to Norway.
However, this was Boy Pablo’s first time stopping in Leeds at The Belgrave Music Hall, the venue which hosted BBC Sound of 2018 longlisters Superorganism earlier this year. It has a lower bar, upper bar, and a very spacious dancefloor directly in front of the stage. Luckily, there are also side benches and elevated platforms bordering the walls, so I was able to wedge myself in to the closest platform seat about fifteen metres from the front of the venue. It allowed me to see everyone on stage at the same time without having to crane my neck or stand.
What about the support act, too? Well, Jimi Somewhere definitely made his presence known, taking on some of the stereotypical Soundcloud rapper characteristics — obnoxiously dyed hair, bass-heavy backbeats, and angsty lyrics about depression and (yes, a running theme here) more teenage romance — a bit of a juxtaposition to Boy Pablo, but still focused around an infectiously interesting persona.
His music bore the tropes of similar artists who’ve cut their teeth on the website Soundcloud: Yung Lean, Lil Xan, and Trippie Red came to my mind. However, not all was doom and gloom — as the mention of those names might elicit. He did show his slightly less ‘sadboi’ side with his last song, ‘Seventeen’, encouraging the crowd to wave and jump along, despite having to restart the song halfway through due to technical issues.
Between the two sets the room started to feel more hectic, and anticipation grew, when at around 9:30, Boy Pablo casually picked up their instruments and played their first song, ‘Yeah’. Immediately, everyone began singing along, even those who were sober.
As well as playing their discography — both EPs — the night included plenty of audience interaction and ad-lib from the band. The highlights of the evening included cover-segments where the band played ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynard Skynard (Sigmund sang); ‘Beat It’ by Michael Jackson (Eric took to vocals); an acapella segment of ‘Afternoon Delight’ by the Starland Vocal Band; and even a cowbell solo (by who else, Eric). Gabriel, who played the guitar like an angel consistently, even Hendrixed with his guitar behind his head momentarily during their performance of ‘Everytime’. When you know how to play your instruments seriously, you can then play them with confidence, and, as the guys are all good friends, it was touching to see them interact with each other onstage how you could imagine they might off the stage.
It was a shame that the set only lasted for an hour, as the audience was so absorbed by everything that was going on throughout. However, they did make up for it when it came to their encore: a five-minute extravaganza where they broke out arguably their best song from their second EP, ‘Feeling Lonely’.
To say that Boy Pablo know showmanship is an understatement. They probably eat it for breakfast. But, even the numerous ‘ad-lib’ segments did appear to be a little over-rehearsed. They did all go to music school in the Norwegian city of Bergen so, of course, they know how to put on a show. But at times, it all felt a little too deliberate.
I also felt a bit sorry for some of the other band members, as the show was mainly dominated by Pablo’s presence (necessarily) and Eric’s presence (sometimes unnecessarily). It would’ve been nice to see the other band members shine as well. OK, OK, I know that Eric is supposed to be the hype-man, but part of me thought he had enough energy to hype up Jimi Somewhere’s set, too.
Overall, though, it was a fantastic night and I would highly recommend seeing Boy Pablo live. It was probably one of the few times where I’ve sung and danced along to every song a band has played, and genuinely felt lost in the cheerful atmosphere they brought with them. And that’s coming from someone who is usually quite pessimistic.
For more about Boy Pablo, hit the link below. There you’ll find tour dates, music, and more.
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