REVIEW: MORAT @ BIG NIGHT LIVE 2/14

By: Shandra Back

Bass reverberations filled the hall at Big Night Live on Tuesday, February 14. The electronic squeal of anticipation met with screams from the audience and signified the end to the waiting game. Blinding lights flashed to black and a silhouette beating on colored boxes could only mean that the show had begun.

“¡Buenas Noches Boston!” screamed Juan Pablo Isaza of the Colombia-based band Morat. He was accompanied on stage by none other than Juan Pablo Villamil, Simón Vargas and Martín Vargas while on tour for their new album: Si Ayer Fuera Hoy which translates in English to If Yesterday Was Today. With no opener, the band jumped right in and delivered to the audience exactly what they had come to see. This was the first concert they had ever played in Boston and the line wrapping around multiple street blocks reflected the excitement of the band’s Beantown debut.

Big Night Live became a wave of blue as the band jumped right into “Segundos Platos,” a fan favorite of the new album. While the energy of each song played was reflected by the colored drums and lights filling the foggy room, the dress code of the night was black. Simple. Just like the lighting and visuals. It felt like an intimate show, yet the entire place was packed tight with fans.

The intimacy of the atmosphere continued as the band reminisced about the evolution of their sound. Since first meeting at the age of five, the members explained the ways in which their messages and meanings have grown along with them. A true brotherhood band, the Bogotá-based musicians laughed, hugged and jammed out together all throughout the night.

A full breath could not have been drawn between transitions. The last beat quickly became the first of the next song. Emotions became malleable as the band hopped from banjo solos to heartfelt piano performances to head-banging mini moshes center stage.

Throughout the night Juan Pablo Isaza would challenge the crowd. Throwing his hands up over his head, voice echoing over the already blasting crowd. “¡Más fuerte, más fuerte!” “Louder, louder!”

Bursts of autotune and electronic beats appeared sporadically. While the band always stuck to their underlying tones of folk, pop and rock, they infused a range of sounds to their traditional sound in various songs throughout the performance.

Fan classics like “Aprender a Quererte” and “Mi Nuevo Vicio” were mixed in with the new which only contributed to the brotherhood nostalgia vibe that accompanied the entire show even amidst the head bangs and bounces back and forth on stage.

The end of the show following the encore wrapped up in a most heartwarming anticlimactic way. Colored lights lowered, fog fizzled and the lights came back on. Yet the band didn’t disappear. Instead, they lingered, laughing with each other before making their way to center stage. The Bogotá-based brotherhood grabbed hands and bowed like just finishing up a high school play. As the audience began to disperse, they remained interacting with the front, throwing picks and drumsticks into the crowd for the lucky ones who wouldn’t have to wait in line for a much pricier keepsake at the exit.