The crowd was torn between conflicting aesthetics — imagine a blend of “Alice in Wonderland” and Y2K futurism — creating a sense of having traveled back to the 2000s, ready to log into Myspace and receive a movie from Netflix in the mail.
But don’t be misled — that’s what the performers want. This is just the beginning of Magdalena Bay’s Imaginal Mystery Tour.
After releasing its sophomore record “Imaginal Disk” in late August, Magdalena Bay — consisting of pop duo Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin — embarked on its North American tour. Lewin, who attended Northeastern University, returned back to Boston on Sept. 18 for the show.
The tour included openers Kumo 99, Valgur and Nourished by Time. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Valgur, a small psychedelic-pop band hailing from Oaxaca, Mexico and singing exclusively in Spanish.
Although I hadn’t heard of the band prior to the concert, I was blown away by the members’ stylistic congruence and stage presence. Their theatrics featured swords, white veils and faux exorcism, which transcended the language barrier and energized the audience. It was a perfect amuse-bouche for the show to come.
So, once the audience heard a hushed “hello” from Tenenbaum, Magdalena Bay’s lead vocalist, her entrance was almost entirely drowned out by drills whirring, cheering crowds and lullaby chimes.
This was when the performance began.
Anyone familiar with the pair’s social media presence knows about the fantastical worlds they create for their albums and the various characters being played.
From the first track, “She Looked Like Me!,” the woman singing on stage wasn’t the Tenenbaum fans know. This was an entirely different character: the protagonist of the concert.
The dramatics that the audience was prepared for all came to a head as the drums scaled back and a pulsing beat entered the foreground. This was paired with a looking glass that switched from images of eyes, brains and plant cells to a figure that resembles our protagonist: a titular doppelganger.
This all led to the climax of the song, where Tenenbaum and the audience all scream out, “SHE LOOKED LIKE ME.” This perfect blend of auditory and visual excitement made the crowd palpably electric — as if they too were met with a new yet worryingly familiar face looking back at them from the mirror.
The next standout moments came shortly after, with the tracks “True Blue Interlude” and “Image.”
The two tracks worked with “She Looked Like Me!” to form the bulk of the album’s messaging. While “Image” explores the theme of transformation, “True Blue Interlude” serves as an infomercial for this imaginary treatment shown in the “Image” music video.
As Tenenbaum perched on elevated steps, pitching the transformative power of the “Imaginal Disk,” we saw the looking glass tempting us with images of said disk.
This led to the track “Image,” where Tenenbaum stood up and threw her head back, as if accepting the disk. The song began, and she sang to tell us how close we were to meeting our “brand new image,” using abstract images to show the different boons that come of this new form.
Though this might seem esoteric for a pop concert, the duo did an excellent job of conveying the narrative for the hardcore fans while setting up an atmosphere for those who are just there for the ride.
In fact, the most dynamic part of the concert came with the song “Chaeri” from their first album, “Mercurial World”.
The song started very tame, but as it progressed, the beat ramped up more and more until the bridge. As the audience continued to sing their lines, Tenenbaum began her section quietly, saying “Let it come alive / Let it grow! / Better cut and dried than unknown!” until eventually building up to a full-on screaming proclamation.
It was at this point Tenenbaum did something that genuinely shocked the audience: She jumped into the crowd and joined them as they screamed, jumped and raved.
This act made the concert feel more personal, as if the audience was not just a crowd of people cheering, but a group drawn together by shared love for the duo’s music.
The zeal continued to build and eventually reached a fever pitch with their encore: “The Beginning.”
As the duo came back on stage, accompanied by the song’s introductory piano notes, the crowd was ready for the end of a once-in-a-lifetime performance, capped off by cheers of, “So if you feel low, sit back enjoy the show!”
If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to check out Magdalena Bay next time they’re on tour — and, like a butterfly floating in amber, let them make the moment eternal.
