Concert Review: Crush Club Gives THE YAS To House Of Yes

I begin my review with an admission. I love the documentary Paris Is Burning. The acclaimed film brought light to the fabulous and tormented vogue scene; that for however fashionable and forward in spirit could not seem to move the hearts of those politically backward in LGBT rights. With confetti falling from the sky, voices that could compete with ancient Greek Choirs, and glorious dancing, the House of Yes became a literal embodiment of its name thanks to Crush Club and the night’s felt grand homage to the “fabulousity” of this film.

Admittedly, again,I did not know what to expect with Crush Club. I was going in completely blind BUT ready to DANCE. That is according to my friend, who eagerly awaited their stage entrance as if it was biblical. When you go with a friend who hypes up an act so much, you can be leery as to whether it will measure up like, now I fear seeing Hamilton. Yet, my buddy was RIGHT about Crush Club and that some artists ride on energy. Crush Club is 100% about a good time, which not all artists are so explicitly aiming their concert for that. They assume a good time is a side-effect or a given, but Crush Club treats fun like a mission, of which failure is not an option and TC Milan and Le Chev are the captains of this latin-funk/electro-disco version of Star Trek. Like any duo they are “ying & yang” to each other, but just imagine that “Ying & Yang” decided to go from symbols to intergalactic personalities. TC Milan is basically Freddie Mercury re-incarnated and bathed in pixie dust, moxie, and anything that shimmers. He covers the entire stage with his presence, riffing it up with back-up vocalists, encouraging the crowd to get-down, and treating his vocal chords like a piñata; he strikes them for candied notes to fall. Honestly, when he and the back-up singers harmonize through their vocal range, I grew a set of wings and began to fly. Like a true entertainer, when he feels the spirit, he is GONE, and you follow suit. It is that feeling of escapism that connects him to Le Chev, who plays his guitar and synths as if they are magical doors to “somewhere else”. It is for this reason that I was so struck by their performance and recalled Paris Is Burning. In at time when escape is so desired, they showed the joy that makes you want to stay.

It is odd the moments that become political, especially when they do not need or asked to be. Crush Club’s role as power-pop purveyors and LGBT “empowerers” in NYC made the night of deliciously cartooned euphoria feel like a statement to all haters that you could just stick a confetti canon where the sun does not shine. Let Crush Club add color to your life through music, and Click Here To see Their Upcoming Dates.