Live Nation presents: Yungblud, July 1, 2023, in Wallingford, CT
Words and photos by: Chantel Malin
Yungblud brought his summer tour to The Dome at Toyota Oakdale Theatre on Saturday, July 1. The atmosphere was clear even well before doors opened, with eager fans standing in lines wrapped around the venue waiting to claim their spot on the GA floor. The show attracted an incredibly diverse audience, ranging from small kids sitting on their parents shoulders to see over the crowd to a grandfather in attendance with his grandchildren, all united by their love of the same music.
Sophie Powers opened the evening, wasting no time in getting the audience amped up. At only eighteen years old, the emerging artist has already developed a sense of self so clear it could be the envy of her peers many years her elder. Having carved out her own genre landing somewhere between pop punk, electronic pop, and indie rock, the artist’s energy was palpable and the perfect way to start the night. She played her newest release “Bathroom Floor,” a cover of Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box,” alongside a selection of other originals - all featuring her unique delivery of gut wrenchingly honest lyrics wrapped up in an almost impossibly catchy parcel. Hailing from Canada, her only struggle of the night was learning how to pronounce “Wallingford,” a task the audience was more than happy to help her with.
The Regrettes were up next, tearing the stage up with an incredibly high-energy set that had singer Lydia Night darting and spinning around, eventually even throwing her shoes off. The band insisted on the a reciprocation of energy, demanding the audience open up the pit for diving straight into a nine song setlist, and declaring their love for Wallingford when the concertgoers obliged. After a cover of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own,” the band gave us a short break - “this is your one break to sway, then we’re jumping and moshing,” in Night’s own words - during the song “Pumpkin.” After sharing that Wallingford has been their favorite stop on the tour yet, they closed out with “Poor Boy,” not letting up on the energy until the very last moment.
Then it was time for the highly anticipated set from the evening’s headliner, Yungblud. Known for his boldness in sound and visuals, Dominic was not shy about his intentions in the slightest, with the screen backing the stage flashing “OPEN THE PIT” as he and his band walked on before launching into “superdeadfriends.” It quickly became clear the concert would be a symbiotic event between performer and audience - with an exchange of water tossed over a sweaty audience, and a bouquet of flowers tossed on stage from a fan, which was very happily received. Perhaps the most repeated phrase of the night was “jump,” and Yungblud’s fans were all too happy to oblige - wholeheartedly agreeing with Dom’s exclamation of “this is the best night you’ll ever have.”
Dom and his drummer had a bit of fun with the audience, instructing concertgoers to scream, jump, and even boo, the latter of which brought about some laughs - all the while drummer Ben Sharp sneakily changed his tempo to elicit the same change in the audience. Yungblud finally made the audience pinky promise to jump when he says so, which they most definitely did, before jumping into “fleabag.” The lyric “nobody loves me” evoked a bit of irony, as thousands of tightly packed fans sang those lines right back, certainly filling the room with immense amounts of love. The singer even jumped onto the railing to immerse himself even more amongst his audience, stopping to high-five perhaps his smallest fan - a young boy watching the show from atop a parent’s shoulders - before running back to the stage. After a resounding audience call back at the end of the song, Dom declared that while the Oakdale may be one of the smallest venues on the tour, it’s been the loudest.
In a demonstration of total trust in his fans, Yungblud invited a fan on stage to pick the next song of the evening. She made the choice of “California” over “Psychotic Kids” before returning to the floor, overwhelmed with emotion and all but radiating joy from what she called “a life changing experience.” Dom and his band closed out their main set with “I Think I’m OKAY,” a 2019 collaboration with Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker. The band returned in the encore to perform Yungblud’s newest single “Lowlife,” his first release since his 2022 self-titled record. They then closed the evening with “Machine Gun (F**k The NRA),” a song title that echoes the phrase spray painted on some of his stage setup - and one that is a bit alarmingly relevant these days, particularly in America. Yungblud left the audience with full hearts and some ringing ears, all of us feeling a little bit less alone after an evening spent screaming heartfelt and emotional lyrics with a roomful of like-minded people, and eagerly awaiting his next pass through Connecticut.
Check out the full gallery of Yungblud below!
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