![\"\"](\"\/wtbu\/files\/2024\/09\/582A5364.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nPhotography by Rachel Bernstein<\/p>\n
Review by Kendal Evans<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s here, Imaginal Disk. Say hello, it\u2019s you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Boston was sucked straight into a simulation when Magdalena Bay stopped at Royale Wednesday night for their Imaginal Mystery tour.<\/span><\/p>\n Magdalena Bay is an alternative synth-pop duo from Miami, Florida, and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. The duo is comprised of Mica Tennenbaum and Matthew Lewin. The Imaginal Mystery tour follows the release of their second studio album, \u201cImaginal Disk,\u201d which dropped on August 23rd, 2024. The duo sees a lot of love on the underground pop circuit, and for good reason. \u201cImaginal Disk\u201d has scored high praises from critics and fans alike, with some calling it the best pop album of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n The show began with support from Mexican psychedelic-pop duo Valgur, comprised of siblings Hugo and Elizabeth Valdivieso. They began their set with a reading of bible verses in Spanish, which set the tone for their set and prepared the audience for their brand of strange. They donned black hoods, and Elizabeth carried a sword and often wore a white mesh sheet draped over her head. Their entirely Spanish set consisted of songs from their two studio albums: \u201cZapand\u00fa\u201d and \u201cArmaggedon.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Elizabeth delivered on the vocal end, with her best performance being on their set closer, the title track, \u201cArmaggedon.\u201d Their sound and performance art were dark and sometimes off-putting but worked for the type of music they make and the overall vibe of the set. Valgur will continue to support Magdalena Bay until September 23rd, after which Nourished By Time will take over as the opening act.<\/span><\/p>\n Then, around 9:10, we entered Imaginal Mystery. The giant biblical angel set piece lit up with a darting eye, and the instrumentals for the introductory track \u201cShe Looked Like Me!\u201d flooded the room. The set piece flashed between different psychedelic, uncanny-valley visuals from the duo\u2019s music videos as Mica\u2019s beautiful vocals captivated the high-energy audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The audience remained enamored and energetic as the set continued in chronological order of \u201cImaginal Disk,\u201d with the next two songs being \u201cKilling Time\u201d and \u201cTrue Blue Interlude.\u201d During \u201cTrue Blue Interlude,\u201d Mica welcomed us Bostonians to the Imaginal Mystery Tour. Then, the biggest hit from the new album, \u201cImage,\u201d came on, and the audience went wild singing along. Mica\u2019s performance was all around stunning, with her ethereal vocals, Violet Beauregarde-esque wardrobe, and enthralling stage presence.<\/span><\/p>\n The set continued through the chronology of \u201cImaginal Disk,\u201d sprinkled in hits from the duo\u2019s first studio album \u201cMercurial World.\u201d My personal favorite track run of the night began with the fifth track from \u201cImaginal Disk,\u201d \u201cDeath and Romance,\u201d and ended with \u201cTunnel Vision,\u201d all in album order. I was completely immersed in the simulation.<\/span><\/p>\n A short while later, the band played \u201cChaeri\u201d and facilitated some audience interaction. As the bridge began, Mica asked the audience to repeat after her, \u201cThree, four down to the floor; lose control a little more,\u201d and then, \u201cno matter what happens, don\u2019t stop!\u201d The outro was magical as the audience sang the phrase over and again, Matt shredded on the guitar, and Mica delivered insane vocals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The back half of the set ended with quite underrated b-sides of \u201cImaginal Disk,\u201d as well as the band\u2019s most popular song, \u201cKillshot,\u201d which got the audience dancing a ton. But even as the tempo of some of the songs slowed, the performance remained extremely high quality and the audience stayed super into it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The last song before the encore, \u201cThe Ballad of Matt and Mica,\u201d got the audience dancing and singing like there was no tomorrow. It acts as a reprise of the first track from the album and of the night, so it gives the show a nice sense of closure. The audience shouted along, \u201cbang-bang!\u201d until Matt and Mica bid us farewell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For the encore, the duo very ironically chose to perform \u201cThe Beginning,\u201d which was actually a great closing choice. It\u2019s a very fun and upbeat track that allowed us as an audience to reminisce on the Imaginal Mystery experience. The refrain, \u201cIf you\u2019re feeling low, sit back, enjoy the show,\u201d made me want to relive the whole show over again from the start.<\/span><\/p>\n Going in, I was very curious to see how such a liminal album would translate to the stage, and it\u2019s safe to say that I was very impressed. Any pop-music enjoyer should, at the very least, give \u201cImaginal Disk\u201d and the rest of Magdalena Bay\u2019s discography a proper listen. But seeing them perform gave the album a whole new breath of life and only heightened my high sense of appreciation for the project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Catching a show is absolutely worth it, as this was one of the most captivating live performances of the year. The Imaginal Mystery US Tour will continue through early October, with dates across the East Coast and the South.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Photography by Rachel Bernstein Review by Kendal Evans \u201cIt\u2019s here, Imaginal Disk. Say hello, it\u2019s you.\u201d Boston was sucked straight into a simulation when Magdalena Bay stopped at Royale Wednesday night for their Imaginal Mystery tour. Magdalena Bay is an alternative synth-pop duo from Miami, Florida, and is currently based in Los Angeles, California. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24057,"featured_media":42774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1895,1525,1523,15,1530],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42773"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24057"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42773"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44227,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42773\/revisions\/44227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"\/wtbu\/files\/2024\/09\/582A4614.jpeg\")
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