REVIEW: The Mowgli’s, Jukebox the Ghost @ The Royale 3/28
By Kate Evans
Opening the night was Los Angeles trio Twin XL. The band consists of vocalist Cameron Walker-Wright, bassist Stephen Gomez, and guitarist John Gomez. Their walk-on track had a dystopian robotic voice that said “pay no attention to the end of the world” which pulled the audience right in to their set. The pop band had the audience captured throughout their set as they performed songs off their debut EP How To Talk To Strangers which came out earlier this year. In the middle of their set they revealed to the audience that it was not only their first time playing in Boston but it was also their first ever tour. They were a huge hit and gave a lot of high energy in their performance.
Up next was the first headliner of the night, The Mowgli’s. The Los Angeles six piece opened their set with the crowd favorite “Say It, Just Say It” and everyone around erupted into cheers. They performed the entirety of their new EP American Feelings along with songs off all 3 of their albums. When they played “Real Good Life” the entire room began to jump with the beat causing the ground to shake. The band delivered each and every song with a pure and raw emotion that can only be experienced in a live setting.
Vocalists Katie Earl and Colin Dieden spent a portion of the night interacting with the audience and telling multiple dad jokes on stage. Earl became very serious as she told the audience that she read a heart wrenching story in the newspaper earlier that day. She began the story by explaining that there was a peanut walking down the street. Then she looked the audience dead in the eyes and said, “and he was assaulted.” Bad dum tss. The pair continued with their collection of bad dad jokes in between songs.
Leading up to their hit single “I’m Good,” Earl gave a warm speech to the audience. She told everyone, “A little bit more love, kindness, and passion will go a long way to make this world a better place. We also believe that starts right here right now with everyone one of us.” She then thanked Boston to which she referred to earlier in the set as a “warm, friendly, and loving city.” The screen behind them played a montage of videos fans sent in of them laughing and having fun doing various activities that was put together by the band’s drummer Andy Warren. They began and ended their set with an energy that the audience quickly matched and never let up.
The final headliner of the night was D.C. natives Jukebox the Ghost. Throughout every song of their set the audience did not stop jumping no matter what. The band announced they had been together for around 10 years and thanked the audience for supporting them. They decided to play an old song for the people who have been with them for years and revealed the song “Miss Templeton’s 7000th Dream” was written about the antichrist. The band delivered a high energy set that left the audience satisfied.
