Chillwave on a Chilly Night

Chazwick Bundick, king of the hipsters, graced Boston with his presence on September 16th at the Paradise Rock Club. Bundick is famous for his work under the moniker Toro Y Moi, an experimental electro-funk (or “chillwave,” as it has been dubbed on the Internet) outfit that has played in everything from the Pitchfork Music Fest in Chicago to full European tours.
The night got off to a slow start due to the tardiness of the first opener, Ava Luna. The band showed up almost 20 minutes past their set time and scrambled to set up their minimalist rig. Consisting of a few toy Casio keyboards and old Fender amps, I was skeptical that they would impress the crowd. Thankfully, I was wrong.
Starting off with a beautiful vocal harmony by their three backup singers, Ava Luna kicked it back to the 60’s with sweet sounding, soulful rhythm and blues. Carlos Hernandez, the band’s nerdy-looking lead singer, belted out jazzy highs and lows, and for a second, I was in disbelief that the sounds I were hearing were coming from this person’s mouth. The entire set was fantastic and I found myself wishing that they weren’t so late so I could have heard more of them.
After Ava Luna quickly snatched up all their gear and thanked us for being so patient, they hustled off stage. Next up was Unknown Mortal Orchestra, a band that claimed to be from Portland, even if their down-under accents spoke otherwise. This was somewhat of a drastic shift from Ava Luna. The three-piece played speedy, classic rock infused riffs with fast tempos and gritty vocals. Half of their songs consisted of super sharp guitar tones that I covered my ears to. Some of the audience was digging it, but it is more probable they were dancing due to copious amounts of Pabst rather than the music itself.
After a dragged-out set by the trio, Chaz and his boys finally took the stage. The venue exploded with the giddy cheers of the audience as Chaz shyly grabbed the mic and uttered, “Hey, sup.” Toro Y Moi then dove into a lava-lamp infused myriad of funk with Bundick’s high, breathy voice taking the charge. The crew played their hits, such as “Talamak” and “Blessa,” to a head-bopping, film-camera-loving, sold-out crowd – and it was great. For such a shy acting person, Bundick showed a performer’s prowess as he aggressively sung his funky lines and jammed out on his Korg R3.
This show surprisingly matched the underground hype that it had been receiving and I was thankfully surprised by the night’s acts. Let’s just hope Chaz doesn’t win a Grammy like Arcade Fire did, otherwise half the people that were there will deny ever seeing him.