Photos By: Rachel Frank
By: Amanda Martinek
The Casbah was packed Wednesday, with a crowd full of sleepy-eyed hipsters still coming down from Tame Impala the night before. It’s not often that two incredible bands from down-under grace our town in the same week, but what can we say? #BLESSED. Unknown Mortal Orchestra, originally hailing from New Zealand, played a sold-out sizzling San Diego dance party that we’ll never forget.
The night opened with Vinyl Williams, an experimental pysch band from Los Angles. They put the crowd into a trance, with large fluffy hair and endless jam sesh spacey songs that got everyone feeling trippy.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra took the stage next and the dim room lit up with excitement. UMO, who started after a mysterious Internet track made by lead singer Ruban Nielson’s went viral, weaves together modest 70’s-style indie rock with alluring lyrics that hit home and a twinge of soulful r&b.
Nielson launched straight into playing tracks off their 2011 self-titled debut, 2013’s II that include hits like “So Good At Being In Trouble” and “Swim And Sleep (Like a Shark)” and “From The Sun”. I was mesmerize by the eyeball tattoo on his throat.
Everyone went wild, dancing and singing along, feeling all the feelings of isolation and heartache and odd observations that ring true to us all. Unknown closed with the hit off their newest album Multi-Love, a funky, sexy track about a international polyamorous relationship. For the encore, the band brought up their tour manager Tommy who did a stunning sing-a-long rendition of Sabbath’s “War Pigs”. The band’s fifth time in San Diego was amazing and we hope they come back soon.