As soon as the last second on the clock expires at the Super Bowl, confetti, in the colors of the winning NFL team, rains down on the crowd. People cry tears of joy, babies are made, and pure elation emanates from the winning team and its fans. Wednesday night at Terminal 5 was kind of like that with Oh Wonder.
The London-based duo of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West played a strobe-filled set to the sold-out crowd. Throughout most of the performance, Oh Wonder was back lit by a huge “OW.” Like the stage, their music is perfected minimalism. It is not oversaturated with sounds, but carries a light and atmospheric pop vibe that the crowd can dance and sway to.
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Beginning in September 2014 the pair amassed international recognition with their unorthodox approach to presenting a debut album- recording and releasing one song each month. At Terminal 5, Oh Wonder played the majority of tracks from that album and a new song, “My Friends.” Many in the crowd sung along during “Without You” lamenting, “Can’t pick up the phone without you/ I’m a little bit lost without you.”
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While performing, Vander Gucht and West feed off of each other. At times their vocals are distinct and then cross over into one breathy voice, like in “All We Do.” The last song before the encore was “Drive.” The darker track about a failing relationship is somehow warm and blissful when they sing “Cause loving you, loving you is too hard/ All I do, all I do is not enough.” When Oh Wonder returned to the stage for the encore they performed “Technicolour Beat.” As the song built in the end confetti erupted from the stage and engulfed the crowd in color. The alt-pop duo is on tour in North America through early November.
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Article: Alx Bear
