Toro y Moi at the Opera House

Toro Y Moi

It was a nice crisp day turned into a cool dry night. I swung by the Opera House to catch much-hyped band Toro y Moi, early enough to see the Unknown Mortal Orchestra for their full set. The group from Auckland, NZ was math/prog rock UMO and suffered from what seemed to be 3 players on 3 different tracks. The drummer was trying to hold it together while the bass was playing what was remeniscient of old goth bass lines and the guitarist was alternating between guitar freak-outs and trying to find a groove. It didn’t seem to really gel except in rare moments.

After doing a quick sound check Chaz Bundwick, principal of Toro y Moi, and his touring band came to the stage and it appeared like the crowd was ready to get down to their funky grooves. Playing as a four piece with Chaz playing keys and dropping very Herbie Hancock-style solos into songs, they had the crowd nodding along but never got revved up enough for a full on dance party. Too bad, as it seemed that the people were willing but the songs could only sustain groove momentum for short bursts before evolving off into some indie rock tangent.

Toro y Moi was most successful when they could settle into a nice little hook and allow Chaz’s sunny vocals to lead the way to the dance floor. Sounding really blissful was ‘Still Sound’ from the Underneath the Pine album. Especially good was the single ‘I Can Get Love’ from the ‘Freaking Out’ EP with it’s house beat allowing people to get their dance on. Also adding to their troubles was a pretty poor mix, burying Chaz’s vocals in the murk of the sounds. Ultimately it was the little things that undermined the show. The goods were there, just not fully utilized.