Concert Review: NVDES Turns Mercury Lounge Into A Discotheque
NVDES turned Mercury Lounge into a discotheque of sorts; where lead singer, Josh Ocean, became more intrigued with people watching each other than him. For Josh, NVDES is a vessel for music, which is their visual and splashy soundscape are meant to grab your mind.
Seeing red-lipped lemons dance in margarita glasses or an ass with a face blowing smoke out of it are not usual sights, but I have to say they impress. These are the type of things you will see at a NVDES concert that will make you go “What?”. Yet, I could not help but feel that, for Ocean, if he did not push, at least, one boundary, he would have not called it a good show. He wants you to think outside of the box or rather your “mental walls”, which is why he puts so many details and colors in both his music and his backdrop. Asking for the lights to dim, he commanded the crowd to dance with each other. It was as if he did not feel vital to the night as much as the audience was. Thus, he bounced and paced around like a mad genius putting together emojis, fruits, and instagram pics in the form of instrumentals that feel 100% Millennial. NVDES define their music as Laptop Punk, and I can, definitely, see that! Yet, they also carry a Beastie Boy vibe of intergalactic, funk melodies that encourage you to break rules, laws, and and any code of conduct Bernie Sanders would deem a “snooze”. That kind of “bigger than life” attitude turned Mercury Lounge into a club setting, and could fill a venue as big as Brooklyn Steel easily, especially when it came to new songs from NVDES’ LA NVDITÉ, Vol. 2.
When I say this upcoming EP is a bop; its because it is! More than ever, NVDES is making music that smashes together their collective electiveness and mass appeal. You wanted to dance in the strange and exuberant world that was songs such as “Do Your Thing”, “Everyday” and “Walls”. The key to their new, sweetened sound is the backing vocals of VJ Drey When her and Josh come together its is like nails and glitter have been tossed together to give a razor, neon shine. Ocean has no problem screeching and tearing his vocals to get to the meat of a message, while Vj Drey gives brings a cool R&B element. Together you want to vogue under moonlight, of which NVDES’ LA NVDITÉ, Vol. 2. comes out December 8. Click Here for more information on NVDES.
